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I don't review books I don't like!
*****= An all-time favorite |
****The Hope of the Gospelby George MacDonaldSunrise Books, Eureka, California, 1989. First published in 1892. 240 pages. A Sonderbooks’ Stand-out of 2003: #3, Nonfiction Rereads C. S. Lewis once said, “I regard George MacDonald as my master.” Discovering the Heart of God and Knowing the Heart of God, are wonderful introductions to the teachings of George MacDonald. Edited by Michael Phillips and collected from MacDonald’s fiction and poetry as well as his sermons, the selections are arranged by topic and in shorter segments. The Hope of the Gospel is a book of sermons published as written by MacDonald himself in his lifetime. I recommend the books edited by Michael Phillips as an introduction to his writing. If, like me, you are intrigued and want to read more, there are five volumes available of his sermons, Unspoken Sermons, Volumes 1-3, The Hope of the Gospel, and Miracles of Our Lord. I’m currently re-reading some of these books slowly, savoring them and mulling over the wisdom. Whatever you may think about George MacDonald’s theology, it’s obvious that here is a man who deeply loved the Lord. He also had a deep knowledge of Scripture, but more importantly, a deep knowledge of Jesus. The easiest way to review his books is always to mention some of the lines I have underlined: “Upon obedience our energy must be spent; understanding will follow.” “The Lord never came to deliver man from the consequences of their sins while yet those sins remained.” “He came to work along with our punishment. He came to side with it, and set us free from our sins.” “Not for any or all of his sins that are past shall a man be condemned; not for the worst of them needs he dread remaining unforgiven. The sin he dwells in, the sin he will not come out of, is the sole ruin of a man. His present, his live sins—those pervading his thoughts and ruling his conduct; the sins he keeps doing, and will not give up; the sins he is called to abandon, and clings to; the same sins which are the cause of his misery, though he may not know it—these are they for which he is even now condemned.” “This is what he came to deliver us from—not the things we have done, but the possibility of doing such things any more.” “Anything in you, which, in your own child, would make you feel him not so pleasant as you would have him, is something wrong.” “He came to make us good, and therein blessed children.” “Unhappy men were we, if God were the God of the perfected only, and not of the growing, the becoming!” Reviews of related books: Exploring Universalism Phantastes Copyright © 2005 Sondra Eklund.
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Reviews by Sondra Eklund