“It is the dogma that is the drama—not beautiful phrases, nor comforting sentiments, nor vague aspirations to loving-kindness and uplift, nor the promise of something nice after death—but the terrifying assertion that the same God who made the world, lived in the world and passed through the grave and gate of death.
Show that to the heathen, and they may not believe it; but at least they may realize that here is something that man might be glad to believe.”
—Dorothy Sayers, Letters to a Diminished Church (Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group, 2004), 21
posted at "Of First Importance"
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In "The Jesus I Never Knew," Philip Yancey comments, "With a start I recalled the Sunday school image of Jesus that I grew up with: someone kind and reassuring, with no sharp edges at all--a Mister Rogers before the age of children's television. As a child I felt comforted by such a person.
He continues, "Two words one could never think of applying to the Jesus of the Gospels: boring and predictable. How is it, then, that the church has tamed such a character--has,in Dorothy Sayers' words, 'very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified Him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies'?"
Yancey concludes, "The Christian church has always found ways to soften Jesus' strong words on morality. For three centuries Christians tended to take literally his command to 'Resist evil,' but eventually the church developed a doctrine of 'just war' and even 'holy war.' At various times small groups of Christians have followed Jesus' words about disposing of wealth, but most of these have lived on the fringe of a wealthy church establishment. Nowadays many of the same Christians who hotly condemn homosexuality, which Jesus did not mention, disregard his straightforward commands against divorce. We keep redefining sin and changing the emphasis. . . .At the same time, the institutional church expends much energy positioning itself against the sinful world outside."
Yes, the dogma is the drama that is powerfully played out in our individual lives before a watching world.
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