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A Great Man A Lot of People Don't Know

On Sept 18, 1905,  a great author, poet, and Pastor, George MacDonald went home to be with His Lord. Today is the 108th anniversary of his death.
Unfortunately, a lot of people have no idea who he was.
You may not know him, but did you know he was the person who C.S. Lewis and Madeleine L`Engle both said most influenced their writings.  He was friends of such writers, even influenced them, as Mark Twain, G.K. Chesterton, Walt Whitman.

As an  author he  who wrote with an amazing imagination, and utilized fantasy and fairy tales to share truth, morality and faith.  My introduction to MacDonald was years ago after reading a C.S. Lewis book in which he repeatedly referred to MacDonald's book Phantastes.  Lewis said that he had read the book and it changed his life because it opened up a world of imagination with faith.  I bought Phantastes and it began my MacDonald appreciation.

Born in 1824, in Scotland, MacDonald was raised in a farm family, but while many of his day stayed in their family vocation, he graduated from the University of Aberdeen, and then went to London to began training for Ministry - he was a Congregationalist.  At the age of 26, he entered Pastoral ministry at Trinity Congregational Church in a Scottish village of Arundel.  Interestingly, his emphasis on God's universal love met with little interest, and he was not successful.  Yet, he continued to speak, write and proclaim that God's love was the great need in human understanding.

He wrote over 50 works - fiction, fantasy, poetry and theology.  He broke from the Calvinist strain of the Congregationalists of the UK, and for that he is often criticized and even reviled by those who feel he moved away from orthodoxy.  Nothing could be more false.  He was not a true Calvinist, but he has a theology that is historically owned by the Church Fathers and is truly orthodox.

My appreciation for George MacDonald lies in his works of fiction.  He writes in a style that is simple and yet interesting to read.  If you have never read anything by MacDonald, I'd urge you to pick up one of his works and dive in....you will become addicted!

Peace

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