“ ‘Has it never struck you that a man who does next to nothing but hear men’s real sins is not likely to be wholly unaware of human evil? But, as a matter of fact, another part of my trade, too, made me sure you weren’t a priest.’
‘What?’ asked the thief, almost gaping.
‘You attacked reason,’ said Father Brown. ‘It’s bad theology.’”—G.K. Chesterton, “The Blue Cross,” in Father Brown: The Essential Tales, Introduction by P.D. James (2005)
Among the reasons we honor fathers on this day is for imparting values. With that in mind, I thought I’d look at a different kind of father today: the Roman Catholic priest immortalized by G.K. Chesterton—novelist, poet, journalist, essayist, friendly debater of George Bernard Shaw, and master of detective fiction.
The unassuming Essex prelate is taken for granted by nearly everyone, including the police and the criminals they try to catch. This series of detective stories by Catholic convert Chesterton can, of course, be read simply for the joy of unlocking a puzzle, just as you would a Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot story.
But along the way, you’ll also enjoy Chesterton’s masterful insights into human nature, including his much-anthologized “The Invisible Man,” or views on faith that overturn conventional notions of faith, as in “The Blue Cross.”
‘What?’ asked the thief, almost gaping.
‘You attacked reason,’ said Father Brown. ‘It’s bad theology.’”—G.K. Chesterton, “The Blue Cross,” in Father Brown: The Essential Tales, Introduction by P.D. James (2005)
Among the reasons we honor fathers on this day is for imparting values. With that in mind, I thought I’d look at a different kind of father today: the Roman Catholic priest immortalized by G.K. Chesterton—novelist, poet, journalist, essayist, friendly debater of George Bernard Shaw, and master of detective fiction.
The unassuming Essex prelate is taken for granted by nearly everyone, including the police and the criminals they try to catch. This series of detective stories by Catholic convert Chesterton can, of course, be read simply for the joy of unlocking a puzzle, just as you would a Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot story.
But along the way, you’ll also enjoy Chesterton’s masterful insights into human nature, including his much-anthologized “The Invisible Man,” or views on faith that overturn conventional notions of faith, as in “The Blue Cross.”
Chesterton’s amateur sleuth became an unlikely movie hero in The Detective (1954), renamed Father Brown upon its release in the U.S. It’s not one of the more famous entries in the filmography of Alec Guinness (see the image accompanying this post), but I think it’s unjustly neglected. It’s as difficult for me to imagine anyone else in that role as to think of another actor taking over another role inevitably branded by Guinness, spymaster George Smiley.
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