Last week I met up with another expatriate Kiwi, Carolyn Kelly, who’s doing postgraduate study at the University of Aberdeen. Her doctorate in systematic theology is focusing on George MacDonald and the Baptised Imagination, looking at the ‘creative’ self and revelation.

This week I stumbled upon “Back of the North Wind“, a blog developed over the past year by “Donal Grant”, a recovering fundamentalist in California. His blog discusses theology, philosophy, religion and life inspired by the writings of George MacDonald, and perhaps others such as CS Lewis.

MacDonald’s capacity to write fantasy influenced other writers such as J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and Madeline L’Engle. He influenced me too, through my reading of his fantasties “At the back of the North Wind” and The Princess and the Goblin when I was about 11 or 12. Reading the world through MacDonald’s eyes opened my imagination and creative capacity to new levels.
George MacDonald has his own MySpace page, (administered posthumously of course), an entry at Wikipedia, and fan sites at www.george-macdonald.com, and the George MacDonald Society.

MacDonald, a congregationalist minister, was not admired by his colleagues when he challenged the Calvinist doctrine of subsitutionary atonement. He preferred to look at the Christus Victor understanding of atonement in which Jesus died to deal with sin rather than the wrath of God against sin. I can see how MacDonald’s work would be helpful for a recovering fundamentalist.