Storied Revelations: Parables, Imagination, and George Macdonald's Christian Fiction

by Gisela H Kreglinger, Eugene H. Peterson (Foreword by)

Overview

About the Contributor(s): Gisela H. Kreglinger is visiting scholar at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781498265201
Publisher:	Pickwick Publications
Publication date:	08/28/2013
Series:	Distinguished Dissertations in Christian Theology , #9
Pages:	250
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.63(d)

About the Author

Gisela H. Kreglinger is visiting scholar at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.

Table of Contents

Foreword Eugene H. Peterson ix

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction 1

1 George MacDonald: Poet and Theologian 4

2 Patterns of Subversion and Promise: Jesus' Parables 14

3 Patterns of Subversion and Promise: Romanticism 60

4 George MacDonald's Theological Rationale for Story and the "Parabolic" 102

5 Patterns of Subversion and Promise: Lilith 168

Conclusion 207

Bibliography 213

Author Index 223

Scripture Index 227

Subject Index 231

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"George Macdonald was one of the great storytellers of the Christian tradition. Convinced that living faith could no longer be sustained by tired old doctrinaire formulations of truth, he envisioned the Word made fresh through revitalizing imagination, poetry, and parable. This book is a winsome and perceptive exploration of MacDonald's subversive literary agenda. Custodians of archival Christianity should feel threatened, very threatened indeed."
—Glen G. Scorgie, Bethel University

"This perceptive and careful study traces the roots of MacDonald's insights in Jesus' own teaching practice, and reveals MacDonald as a skilled follower of Jesus' parabolic lead. Quite apart from its contribution to MacDonald studies, this is a book that reminds us once again in timely fashion that a gospel addressed to the mind and the will alone is unlikely to take root and grow. The seedbed of faith is an imagination taken captive by the kingdom of God and nourished by the holy spirit."
—Trevor Hart, University of St. Andrews

"In this illuminating comparison between the parables of Jesus and the fiction of George MacDonald, Kreglinger shows how both told stories that de-familiarize by using shocking versions of symbolic meaning that draw the reader into transformative participation in the kingdom of God. . . . With these insights, Kreglinger opens up in a fresh way the pervasively Christian nature of MacDonald's mature fantasy literature."
—Richard Bauckham, University of St. Andrews

Editorial Reviews

"George Macdonald was one of the great storytellers of the Christian tradition. Convinced that living faith could no longer be sustained by tired old doctrinaire formulations of truth, he envisioned the Word made fresh through revitalizing imagination, poetry, and parable. This book is a winsome and perceptive exploration of MacDonald's subversive literary agenda. Custodians of archival Christianity should feel threatened, very threatened indeed."
—Glen G. Scorgie, Bethel University

"This perceptive and careful study traces the roots of MacDonald's insights in Jesus' own teaching practice, and reveals MacDonald as a skilled follower of Jesus' parabolic lead. Quite apart from its contribution to MacDonald studies, this is a book that reminds us once again in timely fashion that a gospel addressed to the mind and the will alone is unlikely to take root and grow. The seedbed of faith is an imagination taken captive by the kingdom of God and nourished by the holy spirit."
—Trevor Hart, University of St. Andrews

"In this illuminating comparison between the parables of Jesus and the fiction of George MacDonald, Kreglinger shows how both told stories that de-familiarize by using shocking versions of symbolic meaning that draw the reader into transformative participation in the kingdom of God. . . . With these insights, Kreglinger opens up in a fresh way the pervasively Christian nature of MacDonald's mature fantasy literature."
—Richard Bauckham, University of St. Andrews

From the Publisher