George MacDonald: Victorian Mythmaker

C. S. Lewis once remarked that his debt to George MacDonalds writings was almost as great as one man can owe to another . . . I know hardly any other writer who seems to be closer or more continually close to the Spirit of Christ Himself. Born in Scotland in 1824 MacDonald was educated at Kings College in Aberdeen and Highbury Seminary in London. As a Christian minister he indulged early his fondness--and skill--in the writing of poetry then fantasy and fiction as well as sermons. Quickly becoming known for his literary skills he became a popular writer and lecturer counting among his friends and fans Lady Byron Alfred Lord Tennyson Mark Twain John Ruskin Matthew Arnold and Lewis Carroll (who only published Alices Adventures in Wonderland at the urging of the MacDonald family). At the time of his death in 1905 he left behind a large volume of work that has had a profound influence on many writers including G. K. Chesterton C. S. Lewis J. R. R. Tolkien Madeleine LEngle and Frederick Buechner. This seminal biography is based upon a careful researching of thousands of letters written to and by MacDonald as well as personal papers and documents collected in museums and libraries in America and Europe. A noted MacDonald scholar Rolland Hein spent over a decade reading and researching these documents with a view to exploring those aspects of the life and experiences of this great author and saint that have so profoundly influenced many of the seminal authors of the twentieth century. To examine his long life as tirelessly and exhaustively and conscientiously as Rolland Hein has examined it must have required an almost overwhelming amount of work and years of time . . . We can be deeply grateful to Dr. Hein for his particular sensitivity to the profound role that religious faith played in MacDonalds life and for the erudition and insightfulness with which he has examined MacDonalds work in light of it. -Frederick Buechner Rolland Hein a professor emeritus from Wheaton College also graduated from Wheaton in 1954. Having recieved a BD from Grace Theological Seminary and a PhD from Purdue University he taught English at Bethel College St. Paul until 1970. His writings include The Harmony Within and Christian Mythmakers. He and his wife Dorothy live near St. Charles IL.