loaf and cup

The Father Brown stories do not advance an approach to police reform or a strategy for border security. They certainly do not provide anything like a detailed blueprint for reimagining public safety. However, G. K. Chesterton’s short stories do invite the Christian to think again (and in a wonderfully winsome way!) about the role the church might have in ensuring a safe and just society. Whatever Chesterton would have made of the debates over subway safety or border security, his stories challenge us to think about how and by whom the order and safety of society are secured, and by what means evil and violence are overcome.

Which sorts of persons, wielding which sorts of power, best provide for a safe, orderly, and just society?