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This thesis explores the potential fruitfulness of drama for Christian theology through a close analysis of particular dramatic works by Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957). This project contends that to determine the extent to which drama can be more than a mere metaphor in theological writing, it is vitally important for theologians to attend to specific instances of dramatic performance. The approach of this project is, therefore, one of taking time over particular plays, examined with sensitivity to the circumstances of the original productions of these works. Through such close study of Sayers’ plays, a case is made for drama’s capacity to show forth God’s action in history. At the heart of the theology which emerges from the plays is an incarnational and participatory dynamic: a movement which brings embodied, time-bound specificities into an intimate relationship with the excessive, uncontainable, superabundance of divine being. This thesis aims to contribute to the growing body of work which is discovering deep resonances between drama and theology. It also makes a significant contribution to the study of Sayers’ writings. Whilst Sayers’ detective fiction and other prose, in particular her book The Mind of the Maker, has received attention from scholars interested in theology, the theological significance of her plays has been overlooked. The thesis examines in detail four of Sayers’ dramatic works. Chapters Two and Three each treat works written for broadcast on BBC radio: first, Sayers’ 1938 nativity play, He That Should Come; second, her series of twelve plays depicting the life of Christ, The Man Born to Be King, broadcast between 1941 and 1942. Chapters Four and Five discuss plays written for performance in ecclesial settings: The Just Vengeance, commissioned as part of a festival at Lichfield Cathedral in 1946, and The Zeal of Thy House, the Canterbury Cathedral Festival play for 1937.

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This study centres on the biblical and theological work behind Dorothy L. Sayers' 12-part play-cycle, The Man Born to be King, aired on the BBC between 1941-42. Investigation begins by testing various unsubstantiated statements by biographers and scholars through a line-by-line analysis of the scripts, the results of which can be found in two large tables of information about how Sayers used each pericope in the Gospels (Appendix A) and a list of every known biblical reference within the play-cycle (Appendix C). Sayers' reported privileging of the Gospel of John gives way to evidence that Synoptic content outweighs Johannine by sheer bulk of material while preference is clearly given to stories that appear in both John and the Synoptics. Sayers' reported avoidance of the Authorized Version gives way to limited but consistent use of the AV for the narrator, for Old Testament quotations, and a special use of the Coverdale Psalms from the Book of Common Prayer. A study of Sayers' six secondary sources shows significant influence upon historic details and characterisation. By covering new ground through in-depth script and source analysis, these studies reveal, expand upon, and often contradict previous assumptions regarding Sayers' sources and working process. In the area of theological studies, investigation begins with Sayers' own claim that she had no original theology—that she merely re-stated the Church's teaching. First, Sayers' identity as an Anglo-Catholic is explored to understand what she means by ‘Catholic' and ‘the Church'. Having thus located Sayers within a particular tradition, Sayers' Christology (building upon her emphasis on the Creed) and Eschatology (building upon her chosen theme of the Kingship of Christ) within the plays are considered within their broader context of early twentieth-century Anglo-Catholic and wider theology. Sayers' theological originality is then proposed in relation to how she brought theology to life in dramatic form.

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This thesis offers an important reconsideration of the place of the Second World War within larger narratives of religious change in the twentieth century. While many scholars have subsumed these crucial war years within accounts of inter-war change, or dismissed them as a period of mellow or austere religion, the Second World War provides a significant opportunity for an analysis of religious change that relies on a confluence of vectors. International geopolitics, political consensus, myths of national cohesion, physical constraints, technological developments and currents in ecclesiastical thought each played a role in shaping the religious culture of wartime, one that the author describes as a “spiritual consensus” that prized unity and commonality over difference. This thesis also opens up an important new front for the history of modern Christianity in Britain. The relationship between mass media, religion and national culture has been under-examined by scholars, as has the particular ways that media shapes mental environments. The relationship between the Churches and the Ministry of Information seems to have sat in a penumbra between disciplines, leaving the rich trove of documents at the National Archives about the activities of the Religions Division of the MOI relatively unexamined. This thesis discusses in detail the global and domestic role afforded to an ecumenical Christianity in MOI propaganda. It also adds to existing scholarship that has emphasised the significant place afforded to Christianity in identity construction during the war, and its importance in the articulation of the narratives through which the urgency and necessity of the conflict was understood. / This is a study of the British Broadcasting Corporation’s religious broadcasting practices during the Second World War and its aftermath. Using documentary sources from the BBC Written Archives Centre and the National Archives, this thesis argues that the wartime context allowed the articulation and development of a particular kind of “BBC Religion,” one that celebrated commonality over difference, emphasized the importance of accessibility, and focused on individual rather than communal worship. BBC Religion was an important site of national propaganda and national identity construction, and was central to the celebration of key civil religious festivals, including the National Days of Prayer. BBC Religion provided listeners with daily prayers, devotionals, talks and entertainments to offer psychological and spiritual support during a time of crisis. Religion can be an effective tool of persuasion, particularly when propaganda builds on pre-­existing beliefs and loyalties. The Ministry of Information and BBC used a generic, practical Christianity as an “ecumenical weapon” to foster unity in Britain and between Allies. This thesis argues that the medium of radio and the technological and physical constraints of war shaped the particular articulation of BBC Religion. While the BBC helped foster a “spiritual consensus” during the war, this consensus quickly degraded in the in the aftermath of the conflict. Instead, the BBC articulated principles of tolerance and liberty in a more straightforward way, celebrating the return of regional and religious diversity in radio programming. In 1948, the BBC broke with its former “ban on controversy” to allow Bertrand Russell to openly question the existence of God on the air for the first time. This study offers a revision to “caesura” and “gradual-­declinist” narratives of religious change by suggesting that religious change in the mid-­twentieth century may be more episodic in nature, and that current historiography would benefit from an approach that considers the formation, development and adaptation of multiple discursive Christianities. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This is a study of the place of religion in British public life during the Second World War. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was tasked with creating popular, upbeat entertainment that could boost the morale of the nation while reminding listeners of the reasons to stay committed to the fight. They created a “BBC Religion” during the war, one that emphasised unity by stressing commonalities between all kinds of Christians, and offered psychological and spiritual comfort to listeners in a time of crisis. The Religious Broadcasting Department created engaging content that prized accessibility and simplicity above all, commissioning beloved programmes, including C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity, Dorothy L. Sayers’ The Man Born to be King, and Lift Up Your Hearts, a precursor to Radio 4’s Thought for the Day. When the urgency of the conflict passed and victory became assured, this BBC Religion ceased to serve a propagandistic function. Instead, the post-­war BBC celebrated diversity and respected differences in religious belief and interpretation instead of forcing conformity.