Orthodoxy

For the last two weeks, I have been rereading 'Orthodoxy'. It certainly bears rereading very well; I actually followed the arguments much better this second time (especially since I had never encountered Chesterton before I read 'Orthodoxy').
In the last chapters we see why Chesterton actually became a Christian. After he concluded that

Orthodoxy is not only (as is often urged) the only safe guardian of morality or order, but is also the only logical guardian of liberty, innovation and advance. If we wish to pull down the prosperous oppressor we cannot do it with the new doctrine of human perfectibility; we can do it with the old doctrine of Original Sin. If we want to uproot inherent cruelties or lift up lost populations we cannot do it with the scientific theory that matter precedes mind; we can do it with the supernatural theory that mind precedes matter. If we wish specially to awaken people to social vigilance and tireless pursuit of practice, we cannot help it much by insisting on the Immanent God and the Inner Light: for these are at best reasons for contentment; we can help it much by insisting on the transcendent God and the flying and escaping gleam; for that means divine discontent. If we wish particularly to assert the idea of a generous balance against that of a dreadful autocracy we shall instinctively be Trinitarian rather than Unitarian. If we desire European civilization to be a raid and a rescue, we shall insist rather that souls are in real peril than that their peril is ultimately unreal. And if we wish to exalt the outcast and the crucified, we shall rather wish to think that a veritable God was crucified, rather than a mere sage or hero. Above all, if we wish to protect the poor we shall be in favor of fixed rules and clear dogmas. 

At this point in Chesterton's spiritual journey, he has not yet committed himself; he has not taken the 'leap of faith'. He merely points out that he has a lot of facts and arguments which point in the same direction. He realizes that as a democrat and as someone who rejects materialistic dogmatism, he has the freedom to accept miracles.
Chesterton's ultimate reasons to accept Christianity, however, circle around his realization that there is life and truth and joy in the church. If the unpromising dogmas of the church have such good consequences, if he has already learned so much, perhaps there is more than he knows at this moment. In this church of Christ, there is life, and within its boundaries there is the true possibility of joy.