George Macdonald In The Age Of Miracles

The Bible is full of miracles. Yet how do we make sense of them today? And where might we see miracles in our own lives? In this installment of the Hansen Lectureship series, historian and theologian Timothy Larsen considers the legacy of George MacDonald, the Victorian Scottish author and minister who is best known for his pioneering fantasy literature, which influenced authors such as C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, G. K. Chesterton, and Madeleine L'Engle. Larsen explores how, throughout his life and writings, MacDonald sought to counteract skepticism, unbelief, naturalism, and materialism and to herald instead the reality of the miraculous, the supernatural, the wondrous, and the realm of the spirit. Based on the annual lecture series hosted at Wheaton College's Marion E. Wade Center, volumes in the Hansen Lectureship Series reflect on the imaginative work and lasting influence of seven British authors: Owen Barfield, G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, George MacDonald, Dorothy L. Sayers, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams.

Actions, it is often said, speak louder than words. But in the life of Christ - as George MacDonald shows - both spoke with an equal volume. Much attention is often devoted to what Jesus said while He was on earth, but many in our modern age are puzzled by the miracles. What are we to make of them? MacDonald - wise and gentle as ever - invites us into the miracles as a doorway into the inner life of Christ that we may intimately know Him and His Father. (Summary by Jordan)

I HAD just been looking long and sadly at Holbein's plowman, and was walking through the fields, musing on rustic life and the destiny of the husbandman. It is certainly tragic for him to spend his days and his strength delving in the jealous earth, that so reluctantly yields up her rich treasures when a morsel of coarse black bread, at the end of the day's work, is the sole reward and profit to be reaped from such arduous toil. The wealth of the soil, the harvests, the fruits, the splendid cattle that grow sleek and fat in the luxuriant grass, are the property of the few, and but instruments of the drudgery and slavery of the many. The man of leisure seldom loves, for their own sake, the fields and meadows, the landscape, or the noble animals which are to be converted into gold for his use. He comes to the country for his health or for change of air, but goes back to town to spend the fruit of his vassal's labor.

Haunted Childhoods in George MacDonald reconsiders the nature of death and divine love in the stories of one of Scotland’s most slyly subversive writers for children.

The Christian faith depends to a great degree on persuasion. In one of his letters to early Christians, the apostle Paul wrote, "Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone" (Col. 4:6). Yet rhetoric—the art of persuasion—has been largely ignored by most Christians. In this book, James Beitler seeks to renew interest in and hunger for an effective Christian rhetoric by closely considering the work of five beloved Christian communicators: C. S. Lewis, Dorothy L. Sayers, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Desmond Tutu, and Marilynne Robinson. Moreover, he situates these reflections within the Christian liturgical seasons for the essential truths they convey. These writers collectively demonstrate that being a master of rhetoric is not antithetical to authentic Christian witness. Indeed, being a faithful disciple of Christ means practicing a rhetoric that beneficially and persuasively imparts the surprising truth of the gospel. It means having seasoned speech.

This book challenges the status quo of studies in literature and religion by returning to “experience” as a bridge between theory and practice. Essays focus on keywords of religious experience and demonstrate their applications in drama, fiction, and poetry. Each chapter explores the broad significance of its keyword as a category of psychological and social behavior and tracks its unique articulation by individual authors, including Conrad, Beecher Stowe and Melville. Together, the chapters construct a critical foundation for studying literature not only from the perspectives of theology and historicism but from the ways that literary experience reflects, reinforces, and sometimes challenges religious experience.

"Be thou the well by which I lie and rest; Be thou my tree of life, my garden ground; Be thou my home, my fire, my chamber blest, My book of wisdom, loved of all the best; Oh, be my friend, each day still newer found, As the eternal days and nights go round! Nay, nay—thou art my God, in whom all loves are bound!" In 1880, the prolific author George MacDonald self-published a long poem in book form as a gift for his friends. He called it, in full, A Book of Strife in the Form of the Diary of an Old Soul. It contained a new seven-line stanza for each day of the calendar year, written as prayers expressing MacDonald's longings, struggles, and joys in everyday life. The Diary was originally printed with a blank page facing every page of poetry so that readers could supplement MacDonald's diary with their own. This feature in particular, along with the spiritual wisdom and literary artistry of the text itself, was beloved by C. S. Lewis, who gave a copy of the book to his future wife, Joy Davidman, as a Christmas gift in 1952. Now in this deluxe edition, MacDonald's classic devotional resource is again available with the blank pages he envisioned alongside the complete text. With a new introduction and explanatory notes by historian Timothy Larsen, the beloved writer's prayers find new life for enthusiasts and first-time readers alike. Complete text of MacDonald's classic work—one poem for each day of the year Thoughtful layout with a blank page for journaling opposite each poem Introduction and annotations by historian Timothy Larsen Deluxe features including cloth binding and bookmark ribbon