The Whimsical Christian: 18 Essays

A strange title for a very thoughtful group of essays that every thinking person who considers issues of Christian faith should read. Ms Sayers is an intelligent,articulate and thought provoking apologist who writes on everything from ignorance of doctrine, the creative impulse,Dante, to the work of G.K.Chesterton, C.S.Lewis and Charles Williams. This work is a worthwhile read today, seventy years after the author of the Lord Peter Wimsey novels wrote them. It would make very good reading in preparation for several discusssions on the relevance of Christian faith in the world today.

Dorothy Sayers is one of my favorite authors of all time, and a truly amazing woman. Her fiction is fantastic, but her non-fiction is even better. This is a collection of essays which showcase her amazing intellect in a brilliant way. Read it.

With the exception of C.S. Lewis, Dorothy Sayers is the wittiest and most logically satisfying Christian apologist of the 20th Century. I would be hard pressed to say which is the better writer, but both stand at the absolute apex of modern English exposition. It is a shame that those who enjoy Dorothy Sayers' charming Peter Wimsey mysteries often do not delve further into her writings on theology, dogma, and ethics, which are equally charming and more consequential. Like Lewis, Sayers has that uncanny ability to make complex theological arguments both accessible and reasonable. "The Whimsical Christian" is a collection of some of Sayers' best essays on religious themes, including the creative mind of God, the necessity of the incarnation, and why personal morality matters. I urge those of you who love Dorothy Sayers the mystery writer to try Dorothy Sayers the essayist. I promise that you will enjoy it and that you will see a new side to a special author.