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C. S. Lewis and Dorothy L. Sayers

     There are two English writers who are very much alike in some ways, very much not alike in other ways. You may be familiar with both, certainly with C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), if not with Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957). Both deserve a lot of attention from those who believe themselves to be part of the Christian community but also from those who don’t, for the writings of each tell us not only a great deal about the Christian world which was their primary focus, but also about the world in general.

     Everyone (almost) has been touched by Lewis. If by nothing else, then by Narnia, (books and/or movies) and many who think Sayers a stranger have followed the investigations of Lord Peter Wimsey (books and/or movies). Both are known for their writings on Christianity, Lewis probably more so, but both in different ways wrote about various Christian truths. One major literary difference is that Lewis wrote those famous children’s stories about Aslan’s land of Narnia, but he never wrote detective stories while Sayers never touched children’s stories, but she wrote the Peter Wimsey detective stories (and the film scripts.).

     While both examined and explained standard Christian truths, and while both had a strong professional presence, they had remarkably different private lives. (Actually, they were so well known in their time that neither had much of a private life at all.) Both were incredible scholars and writers. Both went to Oxford University. Lewis lived there; Sayers lived in London. They corresponded and met occasionally.

     Although his scholarly reputation was secured by the publication in 1936 of The Allegory of Love and later by English  Literature in the Sixteenth Century, Excluding Drama, published in 1954, Lewis became famous first because of some radio talks he gave on BBC during WWII The talks had little to do with the war, but a lot to do with explaining Christianity eventually to millions of people when the talks were later brought together in Mere Christianity.  Lewis wrote more than thirty books including a science fiction trilogy, another novel, and many essays, Christian and literary. He gave many lectures and speeches which are now included in his published works.

     Lewis was as orthodox as he could be publicly and privately though he had little interest in the church or Christianity throughout his early life. He was wounded in France during WWl, returned to Oxford and spent the rest of his life there as a tutor and a Don. Until he was about 30, he totally rejected Christianity and religion in general, but in 1931, after a nightlong talk with a friend, and a motorcycle ride with his brother, he became a Christian, “The most reluctant convert in all of England”, he tells us in his autobiography, Surprised By Joy..

     After his conversion, Lewis went to Anglican church services regularly, did his work as a tutor and a scholar, cared for a dependent elderly woman, and had a social life which consisted mainly of talking to friends and taking long walks in the English countryside. He also became one of the most widely read and influential voices for Christianity in the Western world, and indeed in the whole world. His books have sold in the millions throughout the world. He did get married late in life, and while the initial commitment was a convenience to allow an American woman and her two sons to live in England, after a short time the relationship evolved into an ordinary, committed marriage. His idea of a good time seemed to be sitting around a table in a pub, drinking beer, and arguing about anything. His life was a long way from the life of another great mind, Dorothy L. Sayers.

     Sayers was also a  member of the Anglican church. She regularly attended church services, was one of the first women to  graduate from Oxford and wrote detective stories to make her living. So far as is known, she did not have a conversion experience comparable to Lewis’. While not a night-life loving socialite, she was hardly a decorous single woman. She rode a motorcycle, had various romantic interests, and had a son which, though she provided for his care while he was growing up, she never acknowledged publicly or privately.

     Dorothy L. Sayers was a scholar and an author. She did not write as much as Lewis—few humans could—but she wrote the Wimsey detective stories, many essays, plays, poems and translations of classical works. She also wrote a series of BBC radio plays. The Man Born To Be King, on the life of Christ. Sayers translated some medieval manuscripts, but her main scholarly Christian work was a translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy, so named not because it is funny, but because it ends in joy and happiness.

     Her translation came about in an interesting way. During the war, when the German bombers arrived overhead, the alarms sounded and those who could headed for the bomb shelters. On one of those nights, on her way to a shelter, Sayers picked up to read until the raid was over. The book was a copy of Dante’s Comedy in the original Medieval Italian. When the ‘All Clear’ sounded, she had resolved to write a new translation.  It is still in print.

     While she was working on the third book in The Comedy, Paradise, Sayers, overweight and in poor health, one night collapsed and died. The work was finished by her friend and editor, Barbara Reynolds. Sayers, as did Lewis, gave many lectures and talks most of which are now included in her published works.

     These two literary giants have together been a major influence in 20th century world culture. If you have come anywhere near Christian, medieval, and classical literature, you have met C. S. Lewis, and if you have spent any time in the worlds of classical literature and detective fiction, you have met Dorothy L. Sayers. Our world would have been different without them.