"It is not in the nature of politics that the best men should be elected. The best men do not want to govern their fellowmen."
-----George MacDonald
Saturday, July 01, 2006
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These are only hints and guesses, Hints followed by guesses; and the rest Is prayer, observance, discipline, thought and action. -----T.S. Eliot
2 comments:
Dear Christopher -- I just came across your 'bio' on GMD, from the PBS site? and wanted to let you know that it's got some major errors in it.
*" MacDonald rejected realism as a viable mode of storytelling. Although realism was the dominant form of writing in the 1870s and '80s (think of the novels of George Eliot and Anthony Trollope), MacDonald rejected it"
GMD actually wrote more than 20 'realistic' novels, à la Trollop and Eliot, only very explicitly Christian, in addition to his fantastical works. (some of which have been badly paraphrased and significantly editied/chopped (sometimes in a manner which misrepresents, or omits, theological views) in the US by Michael Phillips for BethanyPress)
*" as well as [rejecting] the increasing Victorian reliance on science and rational experiment."
clarification: while GMD rejected *reliance* on science and rational experimentation as being the ultimate source of truth, he did love Science passionately (he trained as a mathematician and chemist, originally thinking of becoming a doctor), and believed that our ability to think things through rationally was a God-given gift...just not one to be idolized.
* "For MacDonald, realism and science constrained and damaged the imagination, placing limitations on the world of the spirit and the inner life." GMD actually spends time explictly showing how *both* Poetry and Science, in their true forms, are Holy things, which can bring us closer to understanding God, and that Science cannot exist without Imagination.
*" His career as a Congregationalist minister ended after only three years, when his sermons were found to be objectionable and lacking in sound dogma."
MacDonald's salary was dropped considerably when part of the congregation objected to [loosely, as nothing more specific is recorded]: 1)that GMD would not declare that he was 100 percent sure that those who had died without ever hearing the Gospel went straight to Hell 2)it was overheard that he wondered if maybe there might be animals in Heaven 3)he read 'German literature', which at that time was regarded quite suspiciously in England among the less educated. GMD decided it would be best for all concerned if he left, as the salary was so low, and there was obvious discontent, for he was not about to assert views he was not sure of just to please people. It should be taken into account that the church had actually out and out fired the two men before GMD. A number of folk from that congregation remained life-long friends. And archival letters show that there were people in the congregation who tried to convince him to stay. In the next couple of years doctors told GMD that he could not be a minister due to his life-long battle with Bronchial attacks which continuously threatened his life (and killed many members of his family). By then his first book (a book-length poem) was recieving a lot of attention, and GMD was encouraged by friends and strangers alike to focus his ministry through the written word -- some even giving him money to help him get by while starting to do so.
Seeing as you seem to be an 'Inkling-ish' person, I thought you might appreciate some of these clarifications. Lewis read GMD's 'realistic novels' avidly, as well as the fantasy -- Wheaton College has a bunch of Lewis' marked-up copies. Chesterton of course would have not been able to love GMD so much if GMD did not value the rational AS WELL AS the mysterious Imagination...seeing them as necessary 'team-players' so to speak, rather than rivals.
Most books published on GMD thus far are seriously prolematic/erroneous when discussing his theology in particular (often with a lot of the biographical stuff too!), but theologian and Inklings scholar Kerry Dearborn has a book coming out in a few months which should be excellent. Probably the best existing resource right now is the 2005 spring issue of Christian History, entirely dedicated to GMD (and even in there you will find contradictiong opinions....but that's scholarship!). Much of it is available on-line.
kjohnson
kjohnson, thanks for the helpful clarifications. I have to admit, I don't remember where I gleaned that biography in the first place. As I recall I posted it more for the fact that it put MacDonald in context for many of my friends and readers who aren't familiar with his work in the least. Having said that I clearly didn't read it very carefully and I'm thankful for your wider clarification here. I just back ordered a copy of the Christian History issue. Thanks for the tip!
Drop me an email with your info. I'd love to dialogue with you further.
Best regards,
Chris
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