Customer Reviews

Unspoken Sermons, Series I, II & III

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This complete collection of Unspoken Sermons is quite possibly the finest book I own. George MacDonald heavily influenced the writings of such notable thinkers as Oswald Chambers, Lewis Carroll, Mark Twain, Charles Williams, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkein, Dorothy Sayers and G.K. Chesterton, yet his work goes largly unnoticed today. This series contains all of George's unspoken sermons in one finely bound edition. Get it while you can.

I'm not sure what moved me to buy this book, but I'm thankful beyond words that I did. This man's depth and spirit are truly amazing. I completely lose myself while reading Unspoken Sermons. And I'm afraid that MacDonald has now spoiled me; I can't imagine coming upon another book or writer, other than the Bible itself, that will move me like this does. Read this book!

George MacDonald understood the Fatherhood of God. His depth of spiritual understanding and simplicity far outreaches any modern author I've read. Next time you're tempted to read the latest Christian best-seller, try the Unspoken Sermons and see if your life doesn't change. Mine did.

There are three series of sermons in this book. In each series, each sermon builds on the preceeding one so that they proceed logically. For example, the first sermon ends with the words, ".....written upon that dark wall of his imprisoned conscience, the words, awful and glorious, OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE." The second sermon is titled," Our God is a consuming fire," and the book continues on in that format.
While MacDonald is most well know for his fiction (Phantastes) his non-fiction is incredible. It is inspiring and written almost as poetry. And I have found that the truths that he demonstrates about God have worked/are working their way into my actual life.
The thing that I most admire about MacDonald is his fearlessness in asking the difficult question and his confidence that God's perfect character will be revealed in all things. He covers a wide variety of topics: heaven, hell, the "atonement", prayer, the unforgivable sin, the temptation of Jesus, etc. He truly believes that God is light and there is no darkness at all in him, and this seems to me to be the overriding theme in the writings here, and of all of his writings as a whole.
Simply put, this is a wonderful book. It may take some time to get used to the language (it isn't super contemporary English) so be patient. If you haven't read MacDonald before, be prepared to be challenged and changed. His emphasis is always on doing, not merely thinking. The one titled "The Truth In Jesus" has become very important to me. I have struggled with reconciling the mercy and wrath of God, and for me, MacDonald has shown how they coexist, and how ultimately, God is love.

This book quite possibly saved my faith. I have never found a more beautiful, yet simultaneously intellectual and thought-provoking book. After reading this, I have been devouring any George MacDonald text I can lay my hands on, and in all of them, I find a picture of God that is beyond any other I have enountered. MacDonald seems to understand (or at least articulate) better than any other author I have discovered God's character, how God relates to us, and vice versa.

I find myself wanting to give examples of what I mean, but I don't believe any summary I could provide would do his thoughts justice. You'll just have to read the book! You will be amazed, enlightened, and filled with joy, faith, and perhaps relief that there is a deeper way to look at Christianity than we often find in Christian writing.

One specific note: The sermon titled "The Eloi," on Jesus' cry, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" is perhaps the best single piece of writing I have ever read. No, not perhaps. It IS the best single piece of writing I have ever read. If you find yourself in the midst of the proverbial "dark night of the soul," and are not able to find God or feel his presence, I would make this first on your reading list.

Be blessed by this book. I have been.

Having worked my way through much of MacDonald's fiction and by recommendation of my son, I just recently purchased a copy of "Unspoken Sermons." Needless to say, this book will have a permanent place on my nightstand.
I wonder, has there ever been another man in history who thought as deeply about spiritual things as MacDonald did? I marvel at his ability to see into things. For example, in discussing the third recorded temptation of Christ (in the book of Matthew) in which the adversary offers rulership of the world if Christ will only bow down and worship him (satan), he notes:
"Could it be other than a temptation to think that he might, if he would, lay a righteous grasp upon the reins of government, leap into the chariot of power, and ride forth conquering and to conquer? Glad visions arose before him of the prisoner breaking jubilant from the cell of injustice; of the widow lifting up the bowed head before the devouring Pharisee; of weeping children bursting into shouts at the sound of the wheels of the chariot before which oppression and wrong shrunk and withered, behind which sprung the fir-tree instead of the thorn, and the myrtle instead of the brier. What glowing visions of holy vengeance, what rosy dreams of human blessedness--and all from his hand--would crowd such a brain as his!--not like the castles-in-the-air of the aspiring youth, for he builds at random, because he knows that he cannot realize; but consistent and harmonious as well as grand, because he knew them within his reach. Could he not, transfigured in his snowy garments, call aloud in the streets of Jerusalem, "Behold your King?" And the fierce warriors of his nation would start at the sound; the ploughshare would be beaten into the sword, and the pruning-hook into the spear; and the nation, rushing to his call ... Ah! but when were his garments white as snow? When, through them, glorifying them as it passed, did the light stream from his glorified body? Not when he looked to such a conquest; but when, on a mount like this, he 'spake of the decease that he should accomplish at Jerusalem'! ... 'Thou shalt worship the Lord they God, and Him only shalt thou serve.' Not even thine own visions of love and truth, O Saviour of the world, shall be thy guides to thy goal, but the will of thy Father in heaven."
Although I have read of the temptations of Christ numerous times and heard sermons preached on the subject, NEVER had I thought or heard about what those temptations might have encompassed as MacDonald writes. True, we cannot know for certain just what thoughts Christ had in those temptations, but we do know that they were not insignificant. They were TESTS and as such MacDonald brings meat and bone to them and allows us to experience the depth of them. Yet, in these temptations, Christ chose the will of the Father; that is, he resisted his own desire and chose to be totally obedient to God's plan, step by step as it unfolded, perhaps not understanding the whys but always knowing obedience was his duty first and last.
This is the model and inspiration every Christian needs, and MacDonald brings these things to our understanding so that we can fully relate them to our own lives.
There is no author who has so positively impacted my life the way MacDonald has, and I am forever grateful for the person who first introduced me to his works. Get this book! Read it slowly and carefully and think about what you read as it relates to your own life. You will be forever changed.

I have read a lot of Christian writing - not only Theology in basically all it's manifestations (Catholicism, all forms of Protestantism, Orthodoxy), but Literature as well (Paradise Lost, The Confessions of St. Augustine, The Pilgrim's Progress, The Divine Comedy). I am intimiately familiar with C.S. Lewis, Madeleine L'Engle, Tolkien, etc. I've also read thoroughly very talented Christian poets like John Donne, William Blake, John Milton, Edmund Spencer, etc.

And there is not a single writer like George MacDonald. His writing has the closest feel to the Gospels as anything I've ever read. He addresses Christianity in so many ways - logically, emotionally, practically, humanly. He portrays Christ in such a different way than anyone else I have ever read. He portrays a Christ that truly speaks to your soul.

There are truths in these sermons that cannot be found anywhere else. If you're feeling the flimsiness of "church" faith - if you want to get a better sense of what real, deep faith in God is about - I suggest you read these sermons. They have changed my life in ways I cannot express.

George MacDonald's collection of sermons has profoundly influenced my spiritual life.

Buy this book. At first you might be intimidated by the paragraph-long run-on sentances and slightly antiquated language, but after reading a couple of sermons you'll grow accustomed (read: learn love) to his verbose yet eloquent style of writing. This collection of Christian writings will edify, challenge, and inspire you regardless of your doctrinal background or spiritual maturity.

Without a doubt, the finest synthesis of Christian theology I have ever read. I have a library of tomes on theology, but this volume is in a class by itself. I have read it several times and continue to refer to it very frequently. It would be difficult to overemphasize how positively MacDonald's hopeful and joyous sermons have impacted my faith. If you want to enrich your faith, MacDonald's "Unspoken Sermons" would be at the top of my list of recommendations.

I came to learn of this work through another author on the subject of God's inescapable love, and the author (a professor of philosophy) mentioned that this book had an immeasurable impact on his life. I saved my money and purchased the book over 5 years ago, and I have to admit that it is by far the most influential and treasured book I own. I have been a Christian for over 20 years, and I have gone through many highs and lows. This book (I'm sure through God's providence) came at a particularly dark time of my life when I began to doubt the underpinnings of what I had been taught as a conservative Bible Belt Protestant.

What I found through reading this book was a God who was better than I had ever thought, a God who was worthy to be worshipped and loved. For the first time, I realized that it was alright not to accept certain notions of God or theology(like that there is a list sins that are unpardonable) and that these ideas truly made no sense and were contradictory to God's nature.

Of all of the sermons, my absolute favorite is Justice. If there is a more profound explanation of God's justice and love, I have yet to see it. This should be a must-read for all Christians and has profoundly influenced my worldview.

Be blessed and encouraged by reading this book. I find myself reading it over and over with fresh insight each time.