The Man Born to Be King

This is an amazing, beautiful, deep, heart-rending, uplifting work, based completely on the Bible but with a bit of dramatic license in order to present the life of Christ in the format of a radio play. Every page brings new insights into events which are almost overly familiar to me. I would love to see it performed by, say, a youth group or speech-and-debate club. I was already a huge fan of Dorothy Sayers from some of her other books, and I regret waiting so long to read this work. I have been buying copies for many of my friends who I know would enjoy it as much as I do. FYI: the original BBC broadcasts of this play from the 1940s can be found online, and I am enjoying listening to them as I read the text. [Update: these are not currently available, but several churches in both the UK and USA have performed these plays in the last few years, and some have posted their recordings online. I don't know if we can put links in reviews, but look for, for example, St Michael's Church in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, UK – they performed the last 5 plays during Holy Week 2012 and have done us all a wonderful favor by posting their recordings on their church website.]I am more than halfway through this book, and unfortunately there are some truly awful typos, the result (I assume) of the text having been scanned; for example, in the list of characters for the first play, Herod's name is given as "Heard," and elsewhere "carriage" becomes "carnage." The book should have been proofread before publication! I will be sending the publishers a list of errata as soon as I am done. I *am* grateful to Classical Academic Press for bringing this work back into print, and with such a beautiful cover; I hope they will incorporate the corrections into a new edition soon.UPDATE 18 Feb. (Ash Wednesday): Yes! Rob at CAP (see the comments on the reviews) asked for my list of errata, and says there may be a new edition as early as next month! Kudos to CAP for their commitment to excellence, and to the integrity of this work.

I wish I could give this book 8 stars. First of all, the quality of the used hardcover book was as described (very good condition); the content beyond compare. It was originally written as a series of 11 (radio) plays for the BBC during WWII, and stands the test of time. It humanizes Jesus and those around Him in the best possible way, with some wonderful little British idioms as a bonus (Matthew is Cockney!). I cannot recommend highly enough "The Man Born to be King."

Dorothy Sayers was a contemporary of C. S. Lewis. They belonged to a very small group of writers at Oxford who read their works in progress to each other, asking for ideas. She is well known for her Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries. In the case of this book, it was written as a series to be run on the radio in England. The story of Jesus, the Son of God, is told by means of conversations between Jesus, among his followers, and with members of the public. It is easy reading, no descriptions except those at the beginning of each chapter describing the nature of each character who will be heard in that chapter. You can read those or give them a pass. Her books are usually very wordy, could have done with some judicious cutting. This radio drama moves quickly. You know the story and how it ends, but I found it interesting to feel like I was with His followers, listening in on all the conversations.

Dorothy Sayers is one of the gifted writers of the 20th century, known by most for her Peter Wimsey novels. This series of plays, written for public broadcast by the BBC in the early 1940s, gives us a fully dimensional understanding of the public ministry, trial, and execution of Jesus of Nazareth. And His resurrection . If you have puzzled over the "flat" accounts in the Biblical gospels, it is because, Sayers would tell us, they are densely packed. Dorothy Sayers unpacks them for us with her true writer's skill. You will not put this book down. You will read it through and want to start all over again. (As C.S. Lewis did each year in Lent.)

Dorothy Sayers “The Man Born to be King” transports the reader into the times and life of Christ and reveals the “Mind of the Maker.” She breathes nuance and character into the gospels, all the time remaining faithful to the text and teachings revered by the church for over 2000 years.

So thankful to have stumbled upon this book based on a review of this book by none other than the timeless C.S. Lewis himself. A powerfully thought provoking play written for BBC radio on the life of Jesus. Dorothy Sayers was a brilliant mind and those who are avid readers (as well as those who aren't) should not miss this gem!

This series of plays on Jesus' life and ministry reflects Dorothy Sayers' genius as a playwright and her deep adoration of Jesus Christ the Savior. Her insightful rendering of the different characters - from the very human disciples to Judas to Pilate - saturates the writing with moving credibility. Required for a seminary class, it fully offset the other, laborious scholarly research reading.

A creative retelling of the life of Christ, Sayers is faithful to scripture; her skills as a secular author and her deep appreciation of theological truth answer deep questions....and raise the ultimate question to the reader: "who do YOU say I am?"

Dorothy Sayers must have soaked herself in the gospels before writing a remarkable drama setting forth the birth, life, death and resurrection of God's-man-sent-for-our-salvation. Not many grasp the heart of the good news, His Son becoming King, ruling over a new creation which will last into eternity. This dramatic story was read to us scene by scene when I was a pupil at High School and awoke a sense of excitement in me I had not known before even though I was brought up in the midst of a 'Bible-believing' church. I have returned to re-read it and find that it has lost none of its compelling sense of the growing drama of Jesus setting his face to living out his mission, that of the Suffering Servant sent for our salvation, just as the angels announced the night He was born to be King.

Met all my expectations and more. What a pity these plays, though a bit dated in speech just because their speech was so very contemporary when written! have fallen out of favour with media fashion and prejudice. Sayers' humour gives a piquant flavouring to "the greatest story ever told". Perhaps she's a bit too kind to Pontius Pilate, but her speculations about Judas' inner thought-processes and motivation are both fascinating and plausible.

I liked these plays based on the life of Jesus Christ as given in the four Gospels. Dorothy L. Sayers has obviously made a very close study of the Gospels and has used her creative insights as an author of repute to bring the story alive to modern people.

Extraordinary work. No longer feels at all controversial as it did 70 years ago. it's language is careful, though very well written, as you would expect from Sayers. I expected it to be a curiosity, but it is deeply engaging, thought provoking and moving. So a work of art, but also a challenging Christian statement.

Still lives up to its original impact- telling the story of Jesus- in a way that is very accessible. Good to perform