The Whimsical Christian: 18 Essays

by Dorothy L. Sayers

In this book originally titled Christian Letters to a Post-Christian World, Sayers explores the underlying spirit and the direction of Western civilization as she considers topics ranging from popular theology and ethics to aesthetics, the meaning of creativity, and theories on communication.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Nonfiction, Christianity, Religion, Philosophy, Essays

275 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1987

About the author

The detective stories of well-known British writer Dorothy Leigh Sayers mostly feature the amateur investigator Lord Peter Wimsey; she also translated the Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri.

This renowned author and Christian humanist studied classical and modern languages.

Her best known mysteries, a series of short novels, set between World War I and World War II, feature an English aristocrat and amateur sleuth. She is also known for her plays and essays.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy...

Reviews

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great.

[Annie Riggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is an unfortunate and understandable assumption among plenty of non-Christians, (and Christians) that one must put away one’s intellect, or put away enjoyment, desire, or liveliness, in order to believe. Unfortunate because it is untrue, and understandable because that has often been the example set.

Anyone who has been tempted to assume this should read these essays.

Sayers is a fully integrated and seamless person: one whose agile mind, comprehensive intelligence, artistic sensibility, and lighthearted wit has taken God seriously, and has put Christian doctrine in its rightful place as the framework through which we can make sense of our world.

[Amy Fischer · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic collection of essays from Dorothy Sayers. One or two of them didn't catch my interest (mainly one picking apart details of Holme's 'Red-headed League', but otherwise, witty, engaging, and thought provoking. I appreciated the literary essays included (Oedipus, Faust, Dante, etc.) and her insight there as well.

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm finding that all my seemingly original curmudgeonly opinions have already been held, for example, that bad art is a sin. I'm adding Sayers to the pantheon of prickly dead women on whom I have crushes.

[Hallie Dumas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dorothy Sayers is currently sitting unopposed as my choice for who’d I’d most like to have dinner with, dead or alive. This essay collection was a good reminder that there really is nothing new under the sun.
Sidebar: prior to this every Christian book I’ve really loved was written by a man. And I never considered the impact of reading something so wonderful from a female Christian author. I feel an easier kinship with someone I take to be “more like me” and more like every major spiritual influence in my life (shocker, all women). So like, boys is this how y’all feel all the time??? Ok not all the time, but y’all do have a monopoly in literature especially the further back we go in history. Anyways I really did enjoy this and will have to put some time towards considering the lines of thought Sayers puts forward!

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

You're reading this collection of essays from 1940s and 1950s England and thinking how dated it is, then you come across this:
"And do we -- this is important -- when we blame the mess that the economical world has got into, do we always lay the blame on wicked financiers, wicked profiteers, wicked capitalists, wicked employers, wicked bankers -- or do we sometimes ask ourselves how far we have contributed to make the mess?"
Hmmmm.
But much of "Christian Letters" does seem dated and, worse, tedious. I had a hard time getting through some of the essays and didn't quite make it through some of the others.
I thought some were very good. The best section was a set of essays the compiler titled: "The Shattering Dogmas of the Christian Tradition." A better title, I think, would be: "Dogmas Matter." Better yet: "Doctrine Matters." To the Jesus People of the 1960s who said, "Don't give me doctrines, just give me Jesus," Sayers would have answered (had she still been alive): No. It matters what you believe about Jesus.
In "The Greatest Drama Ever Staged," she argues with those who say they are bored by recitations of various creeds in church. These people, she writes, must not be paying any attention to what those creeds say:
"If this is dull, then what, in Heaven's name, is worthy to be called exciting? The people who hanged Christ never, to do them justice, accused Him of being a bore -- on the contrary; they thought Him too dynamic to be safe. It has been left for later generations to muffle up that shattering personality and surround Him in an atmosphere of tedium. We have very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified Him 'meek and mild,' and recommended Him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies. To those who knew Him, however, He in no way suggested a milk-and-water person; they objected to Him as a dangerous firebrand. True, He was tender to the unfortunate, patient with honest inquirers, and humble before Heaven; but He insulted respectable clergymen by calling them hypocrites; He referred to King Herod as 'that fox'; He went to parties in disreputable company and was looked upon as a 'gluttonous man and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners'; He assaulted indignant tradesmen and threw them and their belongings out of the Temple; He drove a coach-and-horses through a number of sacrosanct and hoary regulations; He cured diseases by any means that came handy, with a shocking casualness in the matter of other people's pigs and property; He showed no proper deference for wealth or social position; when confronted with neat dialectical traps, He displayed a paradoxical humour that affronted serious-minded people, and He retorted by asking disagreeably searching questions that could not be answered by rule of thumb. He was emphatically not a dull man in His human lifetime, and if He was God, there can be nothing dull about God either."
I think that is a marvelous passage. I wish the rest of the book rose to its level.

[Peter Sprigg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has been something of a running joke in our family. I bought it at least 25 years ago at a discount at a Christian book sale. I had vaguely heard of it, and of Dorothy Sayers, who I knew was a mid-20th-century British writer who was also a Christian--sort of like C.S. Lewis, I thought. Every time we moved or were trying to declutter, my wife would try to get rid of it, because I hadn't read it--but I wouldn't let her. Well--I finally read it!

It wasn't quite what I expected. I'm not sure what was "whimsical" about it, because most of the 18 essays were pretty serious. And it was neither as entertaining nor as easy to read as C. S. Lewis's works. There were times I just didn't understand what she was saying. But she also had some fascinating insights into the relationship between literature and theology, so I plan to share it with my English major/seminary student son! :-)

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of essays, mostly taken from other collections of Sayer's essays. She was a careful and incisive thinker and an excellent writer. This is at least the second time I've read through this. The essays that struck me most forcefully this time around were "Christian Morality" (on lust), "The Other Six Deadly Sins," and "The Writing and Reading of Allegory." The two essays on the seven deadly sins I thought were as incisive as the Westminster Larger Catechism on the Ten Commandments. All in all, highly recommended.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dorothy Sayers has a clarity of thought and word that delight me. This volume included essays of more and less interest to me, but scattered throughout all were pithy gems that required writing down and/or reading aloud to my patient husband. I’m not sorry to have persevered to the end, through the essays of more obscure titles.

At least one essay — the last in the book — included untranslated German and Italian quotations. Somewhat disappointing for a reader who knows neither language. But I was able to gather enough from context to get by without translating Goethe or Dante.

[Cameron Barham]

“The Christian faith is the most exciting drama that ever staggered the imagination of man-and the dogma is the drama.”, p. 11

[Mariangel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of essays taken from other books by Dorothy L. Sayers. I had already read the ones taken from "Unpopular Opinions", and the two chapters from "The mind of the Maker". Some essays are very a clear explanation and defense of Christian theology and morality, and others are equality lucid literary criticism about Dante, Charles Williams, allegories and the stories of Œdipus and Faustus.

This book is not currently in print, however it shares 14 essays with Letters to a Diminished Church: Passionate Arguments for the Relevance of Christian Doctrine, which can be obtained. There are four essays that appear here and not in Diminished Church: Selections from "The Pantheon papers", "The dates in The Red-headed league", "Dante and Charles Williams" and "Œdipus simplex : freedom and fate in folklore and fiction" (the essays about Dante and Œdipus can be obtained in the third volume of her Dante's papers: The Poetry of Search and the Poetry of Statement Volume 3: On Dante and Other Writers). On the other hand, "Diminished Church" contains two additional essays, "The triumph of Easter" and "Why work".

Loved the irony in this paragraph from The Faust legend and the Idea of the devil:

" 'Nobility' is Satan's line, and he runs it for all it is worth. He is 'impaired', his pride is hurt, he has been deprived of his rights, his sufferings are acute, but he bears them superbly, he presents himself as the champion of all noble rebels, and the whole thing is so grand, and sad, and stoical as to deceive the very elect. What Satan does not mention (though Milton does) is that Satan did not in fact suffer any wrongs and undergoes no torments except those he has deliberately chosen. He plays for sympathy, and he gets it. As a friend of mine observed on this subject: "One can't help admiring anybody who fights so courageously a battle he knows to be hopeless, against somebody else who is omnipotent.' Indeed, one is so lost in admiration that one is led to overlook the fact that the battle was undertaken without any necessity and in a totally unworthy cause."

[Mike Szczepanik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dorothy Sayers isn't everyone's cup of tea. Her prose is more complex than C.S. Lewis's, so she's harder to read and comprehend. But it's worth the extra effort. There's a sharp intellect at work there with much to say that's still very relevant decades later.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thought-provoking and well-written, for people who like clever and beautifully-crafted language. The essay "Problem Picture" is brilliant--I find myself going back to it again and again.

[Mrs. C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was originally titled *Christian Letters to a Post-Christian World*, which I think is a better indicator of its contents. Fabulous stuff!

[Luke Paulsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two of my favorite writers ever, period, are J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. In search of ever more excellent content from them, I've delved into their essays and academic writings well past the point of diminishing returns. Even the best thinkers eventually wear thin and run dry.

Imagine my delight, then, when I discovered the existence of Dorothy Sayers. She's a contemporary, indeed a kindred spirit, to Lewis and Tolkien, and just as excellent in almost every way. Masterful, genre-defining works of fiction; brilliantly written, sharply reasoned, unapologetically Christian nonfiction; serious literary scholarship and a clearly articulated theory of artistic value-- and that's just the beginning. What's more, Sayers also has the distinction of being one of the first women to attend Oxford. Yet she isn't nearly as well known as Tolkien or Lewis, though she absolutely deserves to be.

The Whimsical Christian isn't Sayers's single best work, but it makes an excellent introduction to her nonfiction writing and scholarship. The first portion of the book reflects Sayers's strong interest in Christian creeds, theology, and dogma, and her conviction that they're not only accurate but also relevant and exciting, especially to creative artists. (Sayers covers the subject more fully in The Mind of the Maker, re-using some of the material found here.) Also included are several essays on the Church in modern society that I can only describe as "convicting". I'm usually reluctant to use that term in its Christian-subculture sense, but Sayers is so convincing and relentless that no other word will do. The collection wraps up with several works of literary criticism. These focus mostly on Dante-- Sayers's specialty-- but are fascinatingly wide-ranging in their arguments and sources.

This collection isn't perfect. Sayers's writing is tightly reasoned, but a bit minimalist. Her theological arguments in particular can run ahead of what she's able to effectively convey with words. And those who don't agree with her already will find plenty of opportunities to remain unconvinced. There's quite a bit of variation in pace and style, from the serious scholarship at the end to a couple of wild satirical pieces at the beginning. So the work is uneven-- but it's also very, very good. Highly recommended.

[John Martindale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dorothy Sayers seemed to me at times, a bit verbose and her prose were not always easy going, but still it was worthwhile reading her essays. I seen her quoted many of times by the likes of Philip Yancey and I knew she was a contemporary of C.S Lewis, so I wanted to read something by her. Below are some sections I underlined, I went ahead a copied them below



From Creed of Chaos?

"But if Christian dogma is irrelevant to life, to what, in Heaven's name, is it relevant?--since religious dogma is in fact nothing but a statement of doctrines concerning the nature of life and the universe. If Christian ministers really believe it is only an intellectual game for theologians and has no bearing upon human life, it is no wonder that their congregations are ignorant, bored, and bewildered."

"The final tendency of modern philosophy--hailed in their day as a release from the burden of sinfulness--has been to bind man hard and fast in the chains of an iron determinism. The influence of heredity and environment...the control exercised by the unconscious, of economic necessity and the mechanics of biological development, have all be invoked to reassure man that he is not responsible for his misfortunes and therefore not to be held guilty. Evil has been represented as something imposed upon him from without, not made by him from within. The dreadful conclusion follows inevitably, that as he is not responsible for evil, he cannot alter it; even though evolution and progress may offer some alleviation in the future, there is no hope for you and me, here and now... Today if we could really be persuaded that we are miserable sinners--that the trouble is not outside us but inside us, and that therefore, by the grace of God, we can do something to put it right--we should receive that message as the most hopeful and heartening things that can be imagined."

"The fallacy is that work is not the expression of man's creative energy in the service of society, but only something he does in order to obtain money and leisure. A Very able surgeon put it to me like this: "What is happening" he said, "Is that nobody works for the sake of getting the thing done. The result of the work is a by-product; the aim of the work is to make money to do something else"


From "The other six deadly sins"

"The difficulty about dealing with envy is precisely that it is the sin of the have-nots, and that, on that account, it can always fin support among those who are just and generous minded."

"the years between the wars saw the most ruthless campaign of debunking ever undertaken by nominally civilized nations. Great artist were debunk by disclosures of their private weaknesses; great statesmen, by attribution to them mercenary and petty motives, or by alleging that all their work was meaningless, or done for them by other people. Religion was debunk, leaning and art were debunked, love was debunked, and with it family affection and the virtues of obedience, veneration, and solidarity. Age was debunked by youth, and youth by age. Psychologist stripped bare the pretensions of reason and conscience and self-control, saying that these were only the respectable disguises of unmentionable unconscious impulses. Honor was debunked with peculiar virulence, and good faith, and unselfishness. Everything that could possible be held to constitute an essential superiority had the garments of honor torn from its back and was cast out into the darkness of derision. Civilization was finally debunked till it had not a rag left to cover its nakedness"

"Envy... tears down the whole fabric to get at the parasitic growths. Its enemy, in fact, is the virtues themselves, envy cannot bear to admire or respect, it cannot beat to be grateful. But it is very plausible; it always announces that it works in the name of truth and equality. Sometimes it may be a good thing to debunk envy a little."


From "Toward A Christian Esthetic"

"For occasional relaxation this is all right, but it can be carried to the point where...the whole universe of phenomena becomes a screen on which we see the magnified projection of our unreal selves as the object of equally unreal emotions...When things come to this pass, we have a civilization that lives for amusement, a civilization without guts, without experience, and out of touch with reality"

From "Creative Mind"

"To measure the length of anything, he required a yardstick; and his task will not be an easy one if the yardstick, instead of remaining rigid and uniform, develops a nasty trick of expanding, shrinking, bulging, curling about, or throwing out offshoots in different directions. But this is precisely the way in which language behaves. Words alter their meanings in course of time and in various context"

"Theology, for example, is a science with a highly technical vocabulary of its own;; and when (for example) a biologist ventures (as he frequently does) into criticism of other people's theology, he is likely to tumble into errors quite as grotesque as those made by popular preachers who adorn their sermons with misapplied scraps of biology"

From "the image of God"

"The "image" of God was modeled, we find only the single assertion, "God created", the characteristic common to God and man is apparently that: the desire and ability to make things"

"To complain that man measures God by his own experience is a waste of time; man measures everything by his own experience; he has no other yardstick."


From The greatest Drama Ever Staged"

"It is the neglect of dogma that makes for dullness. The Christian faith is the most exciting drama that ever staggered the imagination of man--and the dogma is the drama"

"We have very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified him "Meek and mild" and recommended him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies. To those who knew him, however, he in no way suggest a milk and water person; they objected to him as a dangerous firebrand. True, he was tender to the unfortunate, patient with honest inquirers, and humble before heaven; but he insulted respectable clergymen by calling them hypocrites. He referred to King Herod as "that fox"; he went to parties in disreputable company..."

[Courtney Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Dante's Inferno during an air raid was a turning point in Dorothy Sayers' life. She felt that she could no longer compose lighthearted mystery novels, and she began devoting her talents to more explicitly religious works, although even in her theological essays she always retained a humorous approach. The Whimsical Christian collects some of her best, most cogent and wittiest articles.... Read the full review at: https://catholicreads.com/2019/08/19/...

[Kathy England · Rating 4 out of 5]

While some of the letters in this book are literary critiques, Sayer's letters about Christianity are spot on, great food for thought. I've been watching for 30 years now as the United Methodist Church, to which I belong, has been becoming more and more progressive, more devoted to politics and money and whatever new cultural "obsession" exists than it has to actually focusing on God first; and I find that Great Britain was going through the same thing a century ago.

Dorothy Sayers was a contemporary and friend of C.S. Lewis, and her thoughts and writings fit right in with his.

[Tirzah L. O. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an excellent blend of theology and literary criticism. I highly recommend this book to those who love old books: poetry and medieval works, or if you are curious to get started in that realm of work.

Also theological topics on the importance of doctrine (and how it isn’t boring at all)
What are the Seven Deadly sins really, and maybe some Sherlock Holmes thrown in there.

Sayers is witty and personable and not overly sentimental in the least!

[Kenneth Litwak · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book. I knew that Sayers was one of the Inklings. I didn't know much more about her. Now I know that she was a serious literature scholar. Some of the parts didn't really work for me because they didn't seem to relate to the Christian faith, but since Sayers was a Christian, she was a "whimsical Christian."

[Jeff Beyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had not read anything by Dorothy Sayers before this compilation of 18 of her essays. In a word, she is brilliant! Such a clear and deep thinker.
I particularly enjoyed "A Vote of Thanks to Cyrus" on Biblical criticism. And Creative Mind " which opened me up to God's creative, poetic mind.
I can't wait to check out her Detective Fiction!

[Liz Busby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed what I managed to finish of this so far. In fact, much of my reading got bogged down in writing down quotes from Sayer's witty takedowns of the opposition. I definitely intend to return to this (and the second half of my 2023 Inkling reading list) as I get time in 2024.

[Jason Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great essays

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this collection of essays. They reminded me a great deal of those contained the posthumous Flannery O'Connor collection Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose. What does it mean to be a Christian? What does it mean to be an artist? Most importantly, what does it mean to be a Christian artist, and what obligations does such a person bear to both her faith and her art? Sayers tackles all of these questions with erudition and incisive wit.

Her "The Writing and Reading of Allegory" serves as a defense, on behalf of her friend C.S. Lewis, of allegory as a literary form (surprisingly, it seems that criticism of his Space trilogy was what prompted her response, rather than attacks on the Narnia books), and is an interesting 3rd party contribution to the debate between him and fellow Inkling J.R.R. Tolkien. And her "The Faust Legend and the Idea of the Devil" contains some interesting musings on the danger of sympathy inherent in trying to write a dramatically convincing Lucifer, and would bear re-reading following a perusal of The Screwtape Letters.

[Stephanie McCarthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a Sayers fanatic and having exhausted her mystery novels moved on to her theological musings. I'm very impressed, particularly by her views on the importance of the creative process in Christianity. I agree that humans seem programmed to create, but disagree that the process of creation necessarily brings us in sync with our religious selves. Creation can be both a key and a chain. Nonetheless, it was a refreshing approach to an intellectual defense of faith.

[Erik]

Recommended by James Schall in Another Sort of Learning, Chapter 2, as one of five books addressed to the heart of things.

Recommended by James Schall in Another Sort of Learning, Intro to Part Three, as one of Schall's Unlikely List of Books to Keep Sane By---Selected for Those to Whom Making Sense Is a Prior Consideration, but a Minority Opinion.

[Marlise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to give this a higher rating as 3
of the essays are inspiring and emotionally stimulating and just plain awesome. But so many of the rest were just ramble that I had to work hard to stay afloat with. So, I’m mixed about this compilation but I’m still glad I read it.

[Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this book of religious essays by the mystery writer Sayers. I wish more of her religious material was available in print. She's awesome.

[Alliee + · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of those right book at the right time moments.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a collection of essays by Dorothy Sayers. Some were faith based; others around literature. Overall, I enjoyed the essays.