So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.

• Acts 24:16

holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith.

• 1 Timothy 1:19

They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.)

• Romans 2:15

So God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.

• Genesis 1:27

SPOILER ALERT WARNING

If you intend to read this book, the following may give away the mystery

“And then it happened – the thing he had been half-unconsciously expecting. It happened suddenly, surely, as unmistakably as sunrise. He remembered- not one thing, nor another thing, nor a logical succession of things, but everything- the whole thing, perfect, complete, in all its dimensions as it were and instantaneously; as if he stood outside the world and saw it suspended in infinitely dimensional space. He no longer needed to reason about it, or even to think about it. He knew it….
“He called on me, sir, with an anti-vivisectionist pamphlet” – all these things and many others rang together and made one sound, they swung together like bells in a steeple, with the deep tenor booming through the clamour:
“The knowledge of good and evil is a phenomenon of the brain, and is removable, removable, removable. The knowledge of good and evil is removable.”
Lord Peter Wimsey was not a young man who habitually took himself very seriously, but this time he was frankly appalled. “It’s impossible,” said his reason, feebly; “credo quia impossibile,” said his interior certainty with impervious self-satisfaction. “All right,” said conscience, instantly allying itself with blind faith, “what are you going to do about it?””

• Dorothy L. Sayers, Whose Body?

“Lord Peter realizes that the doctor must have perpetrated the crime, but the horror of the deed and the duty that now rests on his shoulders trigger a flashback- memories of tragedy and heavy responsibility from the war. It is only after a few days of rest that he is able to return to his work and pass on his intuition to Inspector Sugg of Scotland Yard. The amoral doctor, who at one time was in love with the wife of Sir Reuben Levy, must have switched the murdered body of the financier with that of a medical cadaver.”

• Carole Vanderhoof (editor), The Gospel in Dorothy L. Sayers, Selections from Her Novels, Plays, Letters, and Essays

Boilerplate

In this mini-series, I will fulfill a promise.  Some time ago, published 14 January 2025, I wrote a brief synopsis of the book, Subversive by Crystal Downing.  The post is called A Subversive Christian.  In that book, I talked about the three books in the photo above.  And I especially wanted to do a mini-series on the book on the right, The Gospel in Dorothey L. Sayers. 

Note that the title uses the preposition “in.”  Dorothy L. Sayers did not write a fifth gospel.  She did not write as if inspired directly by God.  The canon of Scripture is complete.

But in stating what this is not, then what is it?  All Christians have the Holy Spirit within them, guiding them.  When being a Christian is something you have inside you and through you, then your life will reflect that.  This book is how you can see various aspects of the Christian life in the works of Dorothy L. Sayers, mystery novels, plays, letters, and essays.

After the Introduction, it starts with Whose Body?  The editor’s attribute of a Christian that she focuses on is “Conscience.” Whose Body? is her first detective fiction novel featuring her main character, Lord Peter Wimsey.  Then in Death Must Advertise, we find Lord Peter has a couple of middle names.  His full name is Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey.

But we will stay in the Introduction for more than a  week.  There are at least a half dozen quotes just in the introduction that look interesting.  I am not in a hurry to speed through this book.  I was not in a hurry to start it with me being over a year since I promised to make it into a mini-series.

But I would hope people could read my short stories and see the gospel being acted out in the characters in my fictional stories.  Deviled Yeggs grew up in a family of safe crackers, robbing from others.  He set out as a policeman, and then homicide detective, to redeem the family name but learning each person must have Christ redeem them individually.  Deviled’s wife, Trinity Naomi Tesla (TNT) Yeggs, was nicknamed “Nitroglycerin” (Glyce for short) by her parents because she was explosive when shaken.  But she found calm and peace in her husband’s arms, and eventually she found the same comfort and peace in the arms of Jesus as she faced “shaky” experiences.

Even when not writing about Jesus directly, the Good News (Gospel) appears in many ways in what a Christian writes.  Let’s enjoy this journey with possibly my favorite author (outside the Bible with C.S. Lewis in a tie with her), Dorothy L. Sayers.

Discussion

The quote from Whose Body? that is made above is near the end.

But the book starts with a four-letter word, okay after an “Oh!”  Lord Peter Wimsey is a block away from his abode, he realizes that he left his catalog behind.  The cabbie has just negotiated Piccadilly Circus.

Words from a Christian author rarely start, “Oh!  Damn!”

But Dorothy L. Sayers’ mystery writing career started that way.  I am sure that the cabbie had more colorful language in mind as he had to turn around, right at his destination, at the worst time of day on one of the busiest streets because the guy in the back seat forgot something and it couldn’t wait.  And this meant negotiating Piccadilly Circus two more times before this nightmare was done.

All that confusion and excitement before we ever see the first dead body in all her fiction…

And what a dead body it was.  Picture a man lying in a bathtub.  He was seemingly sunning himself as he was spotted by neighbors through an open window.  The body, totally naked, only wearing pince nez.

To most people, they have no idea what pince nez are.  They were a popular form of eyeglasses, with a spring loaded grip that rested on either side of the bridge of the nose.  In other words, there were no pieces that went over the ears.  And if you have had your nose broken a few times as I have, pince nez rest across the bridge of the nose at an angle, due to scar tissue, and I could never master reading with them.  If you cannot picture it, think Teddy Roosevelt.  His glasses had no ear pieces, thus pince nez.

But why did the body have glasses on, regardless of style.  He was in a tub.  No water. But people get in tubs to take a bath.  So, why have glasses for reading in a tub in the first place?  And what would a dead man be doing trying to read?  And why have the tub (back before indoor plumbing) placed in front of the window?

And let’s complicate matters.  The case is a case for Inspector Sugg.  Lord Peter has no jurisdiction at all.  He is not a policeman.  He is the best friend of Inspector Charles Parker of Scotland Yard.  Parker will later become Lord Peter’s brother-in-law, marrying Lord Peter’s younger sister.  If Lord Peter was Duke of Denver, then he might have clout.  But no, Lord Peter’s older brother was the Duke.  Lord Peter just got the title of “Lord” due to almost being the Duke of Denver, the son of the Dowager Dutchess of Denver, for those who love alliteration.

Lord Peter helped Charles Parker with the more ticklish of cases because he had fun exercising his brain.

But in his mental lapse, he left a catalog behind and his mother, the Dowager Dutchess of Denver, Honoria Lucasta Delagardie, needed said catalog.

In the pages before the quote from the book, Peter and Parker were having a conversation.  Parker is amused that Peter enjoys making friends, and the young doctor had all the qualities of being a wonderful friend.

Always by his side is his valet, Mervyn Bunter.  Whenever Wimsey got an idea, he yelled, “Bunter!” and almost immediately Bunter was by his side, “Yes, m’Lord.”  Bunter had been Lord Peter’s batman in World War I.  The batman is the aide, valet for an officer.  Don’t worry.  I never had a batman.  But Bunter remained in service to Lord Peter even after they both married, but that fact is near the end of the series.

But the editor, Mrs. Vanderhoof, points out that upon getting embroiled into this mystery, Lord Peter had something “trigger a flashback- memories of tragedy and heavy responsibility from the war.”  Her statement almost sounds laughable, but the circumstances were dire.  Lord Peter went into a mental state that nearly turned him into a vegetable.  Bunter became Sgt. Bunter.  And Lord Peter became Major Wimsey.  Lord Peter Wimsey suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), but in World War II it was called Battle Fatigue. But in Lord Peter’s war, the war to end all wars, World War I, it was Shell Shock.

After some time wrestling with the concept of following his conscience, the solution finally came to him.  He had to convince Inspector Sugg to arrest his new friend, the “good” doctor.

In the meantime, the doctor realizes that Lord Peter has figured it out.  He is found with a handwritten note to Lord Peter in his hand.  He quickly reaches for the hypodermic needle that would end his life, but Inspector Sugg and crew stop him before he can administer the poison.

This is a case of life or death, and we might not have many of those in our lifetime.  But we have struggles with our conscience all the time.

Ah, but some do not.  Thus, the Latin phrase in the quote from the book which means “I believe it because it is impossible.”  We cannot remove the knowledge of good and evil, yet there are those who have ignored conscience enough to pull it off.  They still have a conscience, but their conscience only speaks to their deaf ear.

Yet, Lord Peter’s conscience argues between a wonderful person that is a new friend…  Could that person ever do anything evil?  And if that is the only person in this case that has motive, means, and opportunity, then Lord Peter must choose to follow his conscience instead of his heart.

Now those kinds of problems we have a lot.  God breathed life into man and woman and created them in His own image.  What does that mean?  We have the choice between good and evil.  And we have something inside us that says what the good choice is.  Adam was created with it.  It was part of being created in God’s image.  Without a sin nature, Adam only knew the good.  But once Adam sinned, he had the knowledge of good and evil, and he was plagued with a sin nature that caused him to do what he did not wish to do.

But we have the choice to do good or evil.  Down deep inside, we know what we should do.

The first question is whether we want to do good?

Then, the next question is our choice of overcoming our desires to not do good?

Can we send a good friend to the gallows knowing that there are two sides to that friend?  And if so, is that friend really a “good” friend?

This first discussion from the Gospel IN Dorothy L Sayers is a hard one for each of us.  Was this crime a one time thing?  Is death by hanging a fit punishment for a momentary lapse in judgment?  And who am I to judge such a thing?  Should I not want justice for the deceased?

This has been lengthy in that the characters needed to be introduced.

Closing Prayer

Father, guide me.  I find myself lusting over a bit of chocolate, but that is minor compared to seeing someone do something against the law.  Do I get involved?  Could others be put in harm’s way?  Could I save a life?  When it is within my power, I am duty bound by that sense of what is good that you placed in my heart.  Give me the courage to seek justice for the wronged person.  And, Lord, may I never ignore the conscience You so carefully placed in my heart.
In Thy Name I pray.
Amen

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.