Reasonable Faith, Faithful Reasonableness

In "The Blue Cross," G. K. Chesterton's first and most famous story about the priest-detective Father Brown, the hero suspects that his traveling companion, who is also dressed as a priest, is in fact an impostor attempting to steal the valuable relic he is carrying. At the end of the story, the police arrest the would-be thief, and Father Brown reveals the moment when he knew beyond any doubt that his companion was a fraud. During their theological conversation, the supposed priest had called reason into question. In "The Secret Garden," the second Father Brown story, the criminal turns out to be the police inspector from "The Blue Cross." The inspector is an atheist who hates the Catholic Church and is desperate to prevent a potential convert's changing his will and leaving his extensive fortune to the institution. He murders the catechumen, but is ultimately discovered by Father Brown.