Showing Forth God's Act in History

Offers an analysis of the theology of the Anglican writer Dorothy L. Sayers (1893 - 1957), through close study of Sayers' dramatic works

Frances Clemson offers a critical analysis of Sayers' theology through close attention to her dramatic works and to the context in which they were first performed, arguing that Sayers' theology is most fully developed in and through her drama. Clemson also demonstrates how the theology instantiated in these works can reconfigure contemporary discussions about the relationship between theology and the arts. Clemson starts with providing an overview of Sayers' life and work, and situates her discussion within the landscape of existing theological engagements with drama, differentiating her argument from other works which use drama primarily metaphorically or analogically. Clemson introduces the methodological approach of her examination in terms of the close attention to Sayers' plays and their performance context. She concludes her discussion drawing together the case made across the books that Sayers' books enact a theology in which knowledge of God and attentiveness to human historical existence go hand in hand. Clemson clearly demonstrates that Sayers' theology merits greater attention than it has yet received, and emphasizes the importance of the close study of particular dramatic works and their performance contexts for ongoing work in theology and the arts.