David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into human hands.”

• 2 Samuel 24:14

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless.

• Genesis 17:1

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

• Hebrews 11:1-4

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

• John 13:34-35

SPOILER ALERT WARNING

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

None in this writing.

“Friday …
“The Catholic padre makes no bones about it. ‘Both started,’ he says, ‘by denying God, and no figs could grow from that thistle.’ But I have no such rational grounds for saying, ‘I told you so.’ For me to say, ‘I object as a Christian’ would be rather like saying ‘I object as a native of Norfolk’ -the one qualification bearing about as much relation to my conduct as the other, and being just about as geographical. I don’t demand that my bootmaker should have Christian principles. I don’t object to an atheist barber – though, come to think of it, I suppose nothing in theory need prevent an atheist barber from cutting my throat if he feels like it. The law is framed on the assumption that my life is sacred; but upon my word I can see no sanction for that assumption at all, except on the hypothesis that I am an image of God- made, I should say, by a shockingly bad sculptor. And if I see no sanctity in myself, why should I see it in Finland? But I do. It seems altogether irrational. All the same, I still have the sense of liberation. ‘Fall into the hand of God, not into the hand of economic humanity.’ One can say it now without feeling obliged to apologise for one’s class prejudices….
“Saturday
“Like the gentleman in the carol, I have seen a wonder sight- the Catholic padre and the refugee Lutheran minister having a drink together and discussing, in very bad Latin, the persecution of the Orthodox Church in Russia. I have seldom heard so much religious toleration or so many false quantities….”

• Dorothy L. Sayers, Lord Peter’s Diary Entries, Published in the Spectator, c. December 1939

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

This Dorothy L Sayers quote needs a little explanation.

While C.S. Lewis was making his radio presentations on BBC radio that became Mere Christianity, the Spectator requested Ms. Sayers to write a series of letters.  It basically became a series of diary entries from various characters in the Peter Wimsey sphere of influence.  The thought behind the letters was to entertain and distract the people of Britain from the stresses of the war while informing them about blackout procedures for their home, rationing, and other changes in lifestyle.  She only wrote these letters for about two months.

The “letters” started 13 November 1939 and on 30 November 1939, Russia invaded Finland.  This led to the Catholic priest’s starting comment that they both ignored God.  But to set the Finland invasion into context, Hitler wanted to invade Poland, but he thought Russia might come to the aid of their neighbor Poland.  Hitler negotiated an unholy alliance with Russia in August 1939.  Merely days later, Hitler had German soldiers dress in Polish uniforms to attack the German frontier.  Since the “Polish” started the war, Hitler sent his blitzkrieg forces tearing through Poland.  France and England declared war, thus starting World War II.  Note: Hitler had annexed Austria and Czechoslovakia with only a stern warning out of PM Chamberlain prior to the war starting.

Germany was acting on Hitler’s plan, but Stalin needed to mobilize before they could do their part in the alliance, to “annex” Finland.

And for those who are thinking that Russia and the USA were uncomfortable allies in World War II, the Germans were running low on fuel, so they attacked their “ally” Russia in June of 1941. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, which led to the USA joining the fight against the Axis powers, and Great Britain, Russia, and the USA became uncomfortable allies.

Stalin persecuted the Russian Orthodox church.  Finland was secular progressive, in their own way in those days.  Thus, both had ignored God.

Thus, Lord Peter is probably carrying secret documents through the streets of London acting as a courier, since he had been a Major in the army in World War I, and he overhears the Catholic and the Lutheran talking about the Russian invasion.  I think part of her humorous discussion and analogy is that loose lips sink ships, and maybe the two church leaders should have kept their mouths shut in the first place.

And the “Fall into the hand” comment by the priest is an “adapted” quote from 2 Samuel 24.

But on the other hand, you have a Catholic and a Lutheran sitting down, having a drink, and they have one thing in common, their faith.  Oddly how the two might consider each other religious “enemies” in other circumstances.  Beyond faith, is there much that they have in common?

Actually, there is a lot that they have in common.  Sadly these days, pollsters have asked people who claim a belief in Jesus and most Catholics claim to be Catholic and definitely not Christian.  I think people understood better in Sayers’ time and the distinction was Protestant versus Catholic.  But then, I have had Presbyterians who bristle at the word “Protestant.”  How dare you say “Protestant?”  We are “Reformed!”

When they get that huffy, I usually remark, “Well, excuse me. I guess I am a Reformed School drop out.” (that is, a Reformed Theology School of Thought, as it is taught. And since the names have changed, juvenile delinquents used to be required to attend “reform school.” Thus, my bad joke.)

But just in a few paragraphs, we can see the battlelines.  Not of war, but of religious dispute.

But I hold to the title of a book by Fritz Ridenour, published in 1971, How to be a Christian without being Religious.  I cannot find my copy that is now 55 years old.

In the book, Mr. Ridenour tries to focus on Christianity as a relationship with our Savior and not a bunch of religious rules.

And is that not why Catholics and Protestants cannot get along?  Is that why Reformed Theology followers distance themselves from Protestantism?

But Jesus gave us one command, and we cannot get that one right.  We are to love one another.

Closing Prayer

Father, guide me.  We have faith in common with many other people, but with the denominations at each other’s throat, do we demonstrate that faith at all?  Lord Peter marveled at two differing approaches to faith talking to each other and he was amazed.  But that was fiction.  Can we find common ground, so that we can begin to follow the command that Jesus gave us, to love one another?
In Thy Name I pray.
Amen

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.