Creed or Chaos? Why Christians Must Choose Either Dogma or Disaster (Or, Why It Really Does Matter What You Believe) [Paperback]

Dorothy L. Sayers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1999

Today you hear it even from many well-meaning Christians: "It doesn't really matter what you believe, so long as you're sincere." These pages demonstrate that such a "doctrineless Christianity" is not merely impossible; it's dangerous. Indeed, argues author Dorothy L. Sayers, if Christians don't steep themselves in doctrine, then the Christian Faith - and the world outside the Faith - will descend into chaos. It's a surprising argument these days, but once you've finished these lucid and often witty pages, you'll agree with Sayers that dogma is no exercise in hair-splitting about insignificant matters; it's a vibrant window into the splendor of God's truth, a window that each Christian soul needs. Doctrine is vital to your faith, to my faith, and even to the faith of the simplest believers. Each of us must make a stark choice: creed . . . or chaos! These pages show why there's no way you can avoid that choice - and they help you to choose wisely.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Dorothy Sayers is an apologist for the Christian Faith worthy to stand beside C. S. Lewis. -- Chicago Tribune

Not a dull sentence in it! -- Hartford Courant

Sayers defends Christianity as a religion for adult minds. -- The Saturday Review

About the Author

Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957), best known for her "Lord Peter Wimsey" detective novels, was also an acclaimed essayist who argued passionately for the relevance of orthodox Christian doctrine to living the Christian life.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 116 pages
• Publisher: Sophia Institute Press (December 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 091847731X
• ISBN-13: 978-0918477316
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #462,806 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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56 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Strong Blast of Orthodoxy, January 5, 2001

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Allen Smalling "Constant Reader," (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Creed or Chaos? Why Christians Must Choose Either Dogma or Disaster (Or, Why It Really Does Matter What You Believe) (Paperback)

It may come as a surprise to many readers that mystery-suspense author Dorothy Sayers ("Murder Must Advertise"; "Gaudy Night") was a first-rate theological writer as well. Although published nearly fifty years ago, to Miss Sayers' mind the world was going to hell in a handbasket (almost literally!) and it's a wonder we have survived for so long.

We've got to have dogma, she says--not partial dogma or silly dogma or nondogma masquerading as freethinking or tolerance. She lampoons the silliness of her own fellow Anglicans' beliefs in a kind of parody catechism. The section on Atonement begins, "God wanted to damn everybody, but His vindictive sadism was sated by the crucifixion of his own son . . ." She notes (quite accurately, I think) that it is nonbelievers who fear death the most, not staunch Christians, whereas a common-sense interpretation might lead one to think exactly the opposite. Sayers believes the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds must be taken literally--now, lots of people do but you will rarely encounter someone who argues the case so intelligently.

Stylistically and theologically, Sayers was so Anglo-Catholic as to be Catholic. As the preface to this book warns, Sayers occasionally uses "catholic" to mean the Christian church universal, sometimes "Catholic" to mean the Church of England (Anglican Church) and sometimes the Roman Catholic Church. It's easy to figure out what she means from context, though.

Like many radical conservatives (Ayn Rand comes to mind), Sayers is best on the attack. Another way of saying this is that she was better at diagnosing the problem than coming to workable solutions. She plumps for the dignity of individual labor in pre-mechanical settings so strongly that I suspected she had in mind the medieval past she knew so well (among her accomplishments Sayers was also a gifted medievalist). If that's the case, I doubt we can bring back the guild halls, get rid of the Diesels and keep the antibiotics, just like that. She is furious at the Church of England for being so namby-pamby about teaching dogma but at the same time must at least acknowledge that the C of E will lose attendance if it is too dogmatic.

None of this is to imply that "Creed or Chaos" is a blast from the past. It is well worth reading today because the issues it raises are still with us today. On the whole this book is witty, forceful and a pleasure to read. I couldn't quite give this book a "5" because I thought Sayers bit off a bit more material than she could chew, but this is a good read nonetheless.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An equal to C.S. Lewis as an apologist for orothodoxy., November 2, 1998

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This review is from: Creed or Chaos? Why Christians Must Choose Either Dogma or Disaster (Or, Why It Really Does Matter What You Believe) (Paperback)

Dorothy L. Sayers is the best christian apologist I have read next to C.S. Lewis. These two contemporaries both defend orthodoxy in the christian faith in a way that is enjoyable to read (in terms of scathing wit and very appropriate humor) and disturbing for its clear presentation of the failings of both modern christianity and modern society.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Choices, choices..., March 16, 2005

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FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Creed or Chaos? Why Christians Must Choose Either Dogma or Disaster (Or, Why It Really Does Matter What You Believe) (Paperback)

Dorothy Sayers, best known as the author of typically wonderful British mysteries, was also known in her lifetime as an engaging public speaker, and one of the topics she would speak about is the life of the church. A staunch and solid Anglican of Anglo-Catholic persuasion (read here, 'more Catholic than the Pope', in many respects), she in some ways shared a spotlight (and variously competed for the spotlight) with other such luminaries as C.S. Lewis.

This particular book, 'Creed or Chaos?' is a particular favourite of mine. Written in the 1940s, it is actually a compilation of pamphlets (or, perhaps more appropriately, tracts) that were issued along with her speaking engagements. This is a book of lectures, but these are no mere lectures. Sayers is a woman of wit and wisdom in addition to being a scathing and no-holds-barred critic of those things she finds deserving of critique.

There are seven essays in total, which deal with issues of art and culture, church and state, public and private morality, virtue, and more. The title of the collection comes from the fifth essay, 'Creed or Chaos?' in which Sayers argues for the necessity of strong dogma in the face of declining stability in the world. Watching the unfolding of events at the beginning of the second world war, after having lived through the aftermath of the first (which included the collapse of the old order in Russia), she lays part of the blame on the kind of touchy-feely Christianity that had come into vogue that was more concerned with feelings than with understanding and order. 'The thing I am here to say to you is this: that it is worse than useless for Christians to talk about the importance of Christian morality, unless they are prepared to take their stand upon the fundamentals of Christian theology. It is fatal to let people suppose that Christianity is only a mode of feeling; it is vitally necessary to insist that it is first and foremost a rational explanation of the universe.'

Perhaps my favourite section of the entire collection comes from the fourth essay, 'The Dogma is the Drama'. In this, Sayers puts forward a catechism based upon popular conceptions and misconceptions of what Christianity and its attendant dogmatic points are, and suggests that, as misleading as her witty answers might be, they still bear remarkable relation to the way in which Christian orthodoxy is perceived, not only by those outside the dogmatic faith, but also those inside.

Sayer's play, 'The Zeal of Thy House', was high in her mind during several of these lectures. In her essay, 'Why Work?' she looks at the vocation of work and labour, spinning the question around from being 'should we work for the Lord?' to becoming 'how can our work be work for the Lord?' Any work, artfully done, can be sacred in this context. She has particular ire for those who insist on the moral or pietistic purity of those who should really be chosen for their work for their directly related skills. With regard to her own profession, she lists the virtues of the actors (being on time, knowing their lines, etc.) and states that only after such considerations were made would any attempt be made to find out the piety of the actors. 'The worst religious films I ever saw were produced by a company which chose its staff exclusively for their piety,' she wrote. This excess of zeal with regard to the wrong aspects led to films so bad they would never be a credit to Christianity, no matter how 'good' the people involved might be with regard to morality and piety.

Sayers is also rather forward for her time at discussing sex, claiming that the primary sin of her time was seen as sex (in that regard, not much has changed!); hence the title of the final essay, 'The Other Six Deadly Sins'. Here she looks at sin and morality with her dogmatic lens intact, but also explores the ways in which human nature ignores the inconvenient on a regular basis.

This is a wonderful book, short and to the point, witty and serious, and surprisingly relevant to the church and world today.