'The incredulity of Father Brown' was published in 1926; I am not strictly reading Chesterton's works in order. One topic that I did not encounter before to such an extent is black magic: this bundle of stories is teeming with references to the supernatural.
In one particular story, 'The dagger with wings', Father Brown is confronted with some statements he supposedly believes: 'The man who is hounding us all to death is a hell-hound, and his power is from hell.'. Father Brown answers: 'All evil has one origin', but he does not go farther. Later, he confesses to believe in the Devil, but denies belief in some sort of witchcraft. At the end of the story, the confrontation becomes more intense; Father Brown is told 'You ought to stand for all the things these stupid people call superstitions', 'It's your business to believe things', and 'You do believe in everything'. On these assumptions, Father Brown can only say 'No', without further explanation.
The other stories in the bundle have similar cases, in which people tell Father Brown what he believes (or should believe). I can learn some things from the way this priest calmly states what he believes or not, even when people surrounding him suppose him to believe all kinds of nonsense.
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