How we read may matter as much as what we read. What can we learn from the tradition about how to read the Bible spiritually? In this course, we will look in particular at Dorothy L. Sayers’s way of reading. Raised by an Anglican priest, Sayers was well-versed in the tradition’s way of reading Scripture. Sayers was a scholar herself, studying classical and modern languages. Although Sayers became famous for her mystery novels, her plays are her most theologically rich works of art, and she writes nonfiction in defense of their meaning. Sayers teaches us how to read spiritually, not only from her plays (some of which are adaptations of the Gospel) but also from her translations (particularly her Divine Comedy) and her apologetics.
In this course, we will read The Mind of the Maker, Letters to a Diminished Church, her essays on Dante, as well as The Zeal of Thy House and Man Born to Be King.