DISCOVERING THE CHARACTER OF GOD

George MacDonald lived from 1824 through 1905 and is now regarded by many as a spiritual philosopher.  There are those who would not feel able to receive him as an evangelical theologian for he was something of a free thinker. Probably he would not want to have been called an evangelical either even though he was a Scottish Minister who wrote sermons and novels as well, in fact it was the latter that he was more famous for in his day.  His influence upon people like C.S. Lewis is well documented, especially in respect of his fairy stories in which allegorically he sets forth much spiritual truth.  This particular book is something of an anthology from sermons and novels and poems too.  The editor Michael R Phillips has used more up to date English compiling this anthology and is probably the most prominent person responsibility for bringing Macdonald to the attention of the church in the latter end of the twentieth century.  He has done a good job.  His presentation is intended to bring to the fore Macdonald’s doctrine of the nature of God emphasizing His loving character linking it to his insistence that there is a harmony between God’s mercy and justice.  Macdonald had a highly developed sense of God’s presence in every facet of life and the creation, he truly was alive to God in ways that many of his readers need an awakening into.  He wrote poems, fairy tales, fantasies and symbolic myths too and all these were vehicles through which he sought to show forth God and His ways.  Probably it his understanding of the human soul coupled with His knowledge of God that is the abiding legacy of his writings.  For those seeking propositional truth perhaps Macdonald will not be so satisfactory, but for those who are developing the intuitive side of their person along with the intellectual there will be food for much meditation and thought in this taste of Macdonald.  For this man all the relationships that exist between creatures are rooted in their view of the character of God, distorted understanding of God leads to inevitable distortion in every relationship with the creature.  Only by coming to grips with knowing God intimately and truly can the vital questions of life be properly answered.  So, here is a primer on this Scottish author that will need to be read slowly, a little here and a little there.