Lilith

Lilith

by George MacDonald

In my last post I mentioned George MacDonald’s book ‘Lilith.’ I have decided to go into it a little more deeply. I really enjoyed this book and it is one of my favorites. It is certainly a very interesting book, very thought provoking.

It is about a young man, Mr. Vane who is caught in the seventh dimension, and meets a number of different characters, including the first man, Adam, his wife Eve and their daughter Mara. Also, there is the evil Queen Lilith, the young, innocent princess Lona, the mysterious Persian cat, and the eccentric old gentleman, Mr. Raven. In the end, he finds his way back to the world he knew, but only after many adventures and trials that make him reconsider his world view.

It was a very good book, and I recommend it to older students and adults. But there was something about it that I did not particularly like, and which brought it down a little lower on my list of favorite books.

While Mr. Vane is trying to get out, he has several encounters with different people along the way, who, as the author points out are in some kind of ‘afterdeath’ trial. They evidently failed in their life, and are now in some kind of world between life and death, learning to repent and turn around, until eventually they become qualified to enter Paradise. In other words, the message of the book is that there ‘will be a final salvation for all people and no one is ever sent to hell.’ That is also the definition of universalism. And, if you look George MacDonald’s name up then you will see that he is a Universalist.

The reason I do not agree with this book is because of the author’s message. He is clearly trying to portray his universalistic ideas about salvation. That is that there is no such thing as an enternal hell and all people will eventually enter heaven because a loving God would never do otherwise.

Well, in my opinion, this is unscriptural.

…But fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matt. 10:28

It is better to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. Mark 9:47

…God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness reserved for judgment. 2 Peter 2:4 (by the way, Lilith, the wicked Queen in Lilith is an angel.)

According to MacDonald, even Satan himself will, sometime in the future, become ‘good’ again. In this book there is a House of Death and it is one place where the sinners are redeemed after death. When I read that I was completely baffled. What does the Bible have to say about that?

And the devil who decieved them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, and the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Rev. 20:10

So, clearly there are quite a few verses (this is not nearly all of them) that speak of God sending sinners to Hell. Are there any verses here that speak of some sort of redemption after death? No.

But that does not mean that there is no redemption in life.

Anyway, this is why Lilith, while being a very good book, is not a ‘great’ book on my list because it is all wrapped up in this one belief. Even so, if you know how to pick out the mistakes that the author made, it is worth reading and, again, I recommend it.