Lilith

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Summary: MacDonald, and the truth about Hell
Review: A few people have rejected Lilith because they have assumed that George MacDonald does not believe there is such a place as hell. A few have refered to C.S. Lewis book "The Great Divorce" in which Lewis says MacDonald was a universalist.

I guess you could say that MacDonald was a universalist in the sense that he believed that God loves all people and his love is eternal. I guess you could say that MacDonald was a universalist in the sense that though God's patience may end with a person it does not mean that God has stopped loving that person (a loving parent warns a child because they don't want the child to suffer, but when their patience does run out and they do finally punish the child, Do they punish because of love or hate? When they didn't punish, they didn't punish because of love, and when they do punish, they also punish because of love. This is the kind of character, the God of MacDonald possesses).

MacDonald is perhaps one of the most misunderstood characters in modern Christian history.

From what I've read of MacDonald's discriptions of hell they are far more frightening than any other picture painted by any author that I have ever read. According to MacDonald God's wrath burns because of his love and there is no escaping his love. He hates the sin because he loves the sinner. He will destroy that which destroys those he loves. And he loves everyone. Sin will not reign for ever even in Hell. God's punishment is purposeful for the person being punished according to MacDonald ("love always hopes, love always perserveres...").

Lewis' book "The Great Divorce" is excellent. However, it is a shame that Lewis has a fatal flaw in his imaginary discussion with MacDonald (in "The Great Divorce") about heaven and hell (his argument sounds good but it is misleading). In Lewis' "A grief observed" he comes closer to a true picture of the true God.

Lewis, while disagreing with MacDonald about God loving all men for all eternity, cannot escape the conviction that MacDonald was a very godly man who knew God better than he did.

One of the rules of good hermenutics (interpretation) is that the majority of verses interpret the minority of verses when there seems to be a contradiction. How many verses are there in the Bible which say God loves all people? How many verses are there which say that his love is eternal? How many verses are there which say he shows no favouritism? And how many verses are there which say that God's love ends for anyone? (None. Some people just twist a few verses to try and obtain that meaning).

Here are a few mysteries which Biblical scholars need to try and understand if they are to grasp the nature of God's love and what this means regarding heaven and hell.

I was eternally dead yet I live (while I remained as I was I was eternally dead).

All men have to die twice (a death to selfishness and a physical death, there is no escaping either death. The death to selfishness must be eternal).

A certain kind of person can not enter heaven and no one can help him in because of who s/he is (thank God he can change hearts, he can change a person so they can enter into his presence).

Unless we forgive we will not be forgiven (there are hundreds of verses which talk about our behaviour and where it will lead to).

God's love cannot be earnt, even by believing the right things.

Thank God for MacDonald, he opened my eyes up to the fact that I should not place my confidence in my imagined position with God or where I think I'm going. I put my confidence in God's eternal and unchanging love, which does not depend on what I do or believe. (How I respond to his love will determine what form his love takes, maybe I will have to be punished. But the punishment will be at the hands of one who loves me and knows that it is necessary because I wouldn't listen any other way. So the sooner I listen the better.)

Without trust and obedience to perfect righteouness, who is Jesus, there is no salvation. No where will you find MacDonald disagreeing with that statement.

There is no escaping God's love.

Don't be too quick to judge MacDonald. It is not wise to be quick to judge godly men. That is why the crucified Jesus and killed the prophets.

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Summary: Completely Crazy and Unrealistic
Review: All of MacDonald's work is interesting, but Lilith is by far the best. It's a pity that some who only know his stories for children are not sufficiently moved to read Lilith, a very adult, dark, poetic, delightful excursion into uncharted regions of the human soul. A truly unique and worthy classic.

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Summary: MacDonald's Masterpiece
Review: All of MacDonald's work is interesting, but Lilith is by far the best. It's a pity that some who only know his stories for children are not sufficiently moved to read Lilith, a very adult, dark, poetic, delightful excursion into uncharted regions of the human soul. A truly unique and worthy classic.

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Summary: Not bad for universalist heresy.
Review: Another reviewer has described Lilith as an anti-Calvinist allegory; however, universalism, with its fundamental denial of free will, doesn't fall far from the Calvinist tree. Although the characters in Lilith might choose particular actions in any given situation, in the final analysis, on the big ticket item they have no choice. They will serve, period. And MacDonald's denial of the extistence of hell isn't so much anti-Calvinist as it is anti-Christian orthodoxy.

So, despite the many good things that can be said about Lilith (e.g., its mythic characteristics, its depiction of and elaboration on the nature of grace, its presentation of God's benevolence, its depiction of evil as a privation, and its description of the punishments meted out for sin even though MacDonald opines this punishment is only temporary), in the final analysis it is fundamentally heretical in its denial of the reality of hell and the existence of free will. Therefore, it is a book better left unread. Read Lewis' Perelandra instead (a book which obviously owes much to Lilith).

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Summary: Magnificent,awe-inspiring,thought provoking,spiritual tour.
Review: As has been said by C.S.Lewis,MacDonald has a gift which is difficult to define.A mythopoetic painter,is as close as I can come.He uses images as symbols of thoughts,ideas,spiritual states,and as has been said,shocks you into a more completely awake state than many will ever reach in their lives. Mr Vane,the central character,steps through a mirror,(possibly the same mirror written about by his friend,Lewis Carroll,in 'Through The Looking Glass.')In the world of the mirror,he finds that it is "-the business of the world to so make a fool of you that you know yourself to be one, and so begin to become wise."This is the book to which C.S.Lewis was referring in his book title,'Till we Have Faces,'as he watches the dance of the people whose spirits have not yet developed to the point where they yet have more than a flesh and blood body surmounted by a skull with lidless eyeballs,their uncontrolled passion stark and staring,though yet more well-developed than the poor skeleton couple who now need each other as they never did in life,and now must learn to love by need.From bog-worms to the demon vampire Lilith,saved by her ex-husband,Adam,from the noble Mr.Raven,who has haunted a magnificent library for generations,to the precious,innocent little ones,who will not grow to be stupid,cruel giants,all of the characters,teach the reader something of his own needs,his own sad character flaws,and how only a holy death can purify his motives.As do his other works,this one has inspired not only Lewis & Tolkein,but Madeline L'Engle,who quotes MacDonald in her books,and may have awakened the same gift in Charles Williams,another friend of Tolkein and Lewis.This and his other book,'Phantastes,' may be the greatest fairy tales ever written. The writing may not be perfect,but the content is right on.

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Summary: Literary Soup--Get your waders
Review: Breaking with my normal bias and preferences in the written word, I really enjoyed this little book in spite of the fact that the storyline is incredibly bizarre, fragmented and difficult to resolve in many places. This book is not for everyone.

Lilith is built upon a very old myth about the first wife of Adam-an angelic being-who was said to have been very rebellious and eventually was replaced by the more subservient human Eve (Lewis also references this myth in "That Hideous Strength"). I am not altogether certain where or how the story originated except that the Hebrew word which is translated "night specter" is lilyt, which must have somehow given rise to the story about the female demon who seeks to over power men. At points in the MacDonald narrative Adam reverts to King James old English in addressing Lilith, a touch I found a little disturbing. While the character of Lilith embodies the flesh in all of us-not just women-the use of the KJV linguistic style between Adam and Lilith seemed to adhere to the perceived rightness and superiority of the male-oriented theology of the middle ages (when the original myth was likely to have gained momentum as a means of shaming women into more subservient roles).

MacDonald uses this ancient myth to create a fantastic tale about the battle between spirit and flesh but in the telling he divulges vast philosophical/theological thoughts that take considerable energy to wade through. In the absence of realism, the philosophical core makes up for other narrative flaws. But, it's a very difficult story to read and absorb quickly. I made it about ¾ of the way through several months ago but was only able to pick it up again to finish recently.

The world MacDonald creates in this book is incredibly opaque and over-painted with layer after layer of meaning. One could drill down into each sentence in some places and find a wealth of unending content to explore. It's almost a stream of consciousness style that leaves the reader feeling like they've just fallen, somehow, between the written words and their meaning. Often times I felt like I was barely touching on that deep significance before being carried away on a completely different current. He changes gears very quickly and uses an abundance of metaphorical images that get very mixed together like literary soup. I don't doubt that MacDonald had an incredible mind, but his manner of presenting the material is difficult to follow at best.

It is easy to see MacDonald's influence in Lewis' writings, although I would say that Lewis wields words (and ideas) a little more kindly.

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Summary: Pale Galilean
Review: David Marshall Christian Fundamentalist and author of Jesus: True Son who teaches in an obscure Japanese college (the Asian equivalent of Jerry Fallwells Liberty university, or Bob Jones university) proffers a review that's a melange of mooniesm & unitarian universalism. People don't read such authors as MacDonald or C.S. Lewis because of their religions but because they're good WRITERS. Such sloppy effete preaching evinces the most ignorant criticism possible, the critic reads his own inadequacies into the text. Embarrassing. Tolkien's & Lewis's repeated admonitions NOT to read their books as allegories or parables is lost on such crude literalist's, and even Lewis's non-fiction is read because they're written by him not because of their subject. Unless you see a thematic continuity between Lewis and the authors of the Left Behind series you'll have to dismiss Marshall's ideological misreading. Poet W.H. Auden could hardly have admired these writers for such simplistic reasons. Lafcadio Hearn a fantasy writer of MacDonalds own time regarded Christianity with mostly contempt. Known as Koizumi Yakumo in Japan.

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Summary: WOW!!!
Review: Deep, philosophical, spiritual, this is one of the best books I've read all year. It made me think about my beliefs and offered so much insight into Christianity, although not conventional views. The story explores the battle between good and evil. MacDonald's conclusion to this struggle is utterly profound. "Annihilation itself is no death to evil. Only good where evil was, is evil dead. An evil thing must live with its evil until it chooses to be good. That alone is the slaying of evil." This story captures the heart of forgiveness, redemption, and that of the Christian God. This book is not for everyone and it wasn't an easy read, but if you like to reflect on spiritual and philosophical issues, this book was written for you.

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Summary: A Real Treasure
Review: I cannot believe Lilith is still in print! What a wonderful find for those who come across it. If you love C.S. Lewis, you will likely find fascinating a book by one author who inspired him: George Macdonald. Lilith is not what would be considered popular fiction. It is, instead, allegorical, layered science fiction. But for those who enjoy literature, other worldly adventures, and good stories, this book is for you! Plus, you can tell all your friends how you found this great, classic treasure.

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Summary: Simply Amazing
Review: I don't think I even know how many times I've read this novel as it is truely my favorite. Each and every time I do, however, I see something I missed or understand something about the world I didn't understand or see previously. I am an avid fantasy reader but no author of the hundreds of fantasy novels I've read can even touch the world that George MacDonald creates in Lilith. The fact that it was written in the 1800's boggles the mind considering the depth that the author goes into theory of parallel universe and basic perception of "who" you are. From a Christian perspective, I think the word "pure" is what comes to mind often when reading this novel or Phantasies. George MacDonald also has several childrens stories which my nephews love, The Light Princess for instance. Whether your reading for spiritual reasons or strictly for a wonderous journey in the world of fantasy George MacDonald is, as C.S. Lewis said, "The Master".