Lex Operandi, Lex Credendi: Dorothy L. Sayers's Theology of Work

What is Christian work, and how are we to do it? Is work a blessing or a curse? Dorothy L. Sayers’s practical theology of work and creativity can help the Church to re-evaluate what it means to be created in the image of God and correct her disordered relationship with work.

Although she is now best remembered for her Lord Peter Wimsey series of detective stories, writer Dorothy L. Sayers (1899-1957) emerged in the 1930s and 40s as a prominent lay theologian in the Church of England. Her interests were wide-ranging, but she was particularly concerned with the question of work and creativity: why work? Do the opening chapters of Genesis really imply that the necessity of work is part of the curse? What does it mean to work in a Christian fashion, and can it be done by those who work in secular professions?

Originally written as her master's thesis, Christine Pennylegion's text traces the development of Sayers's theology of work, and synthesizes it into five practical principles for the Church today.