For McDonald's, the fairy tale was the way into reality.

The imagination, the way into the truth.

The hurt of the rose fire filled with the fragrance of flowers,

the connection with divine love, the connection with light breaking into the world through the gospel.

This is Pints with Jack, season seven, episode 36.

McDonald's Month. In the Age of Miracles. After Hours with Dr. Timothy Larson. Welcome everyone. Here on Pints for Jack, we are reading our way to the works of C.S. Lewis.

Today, we continue with Madonna's Month. So far, we've heard about McDonald's life story.

We've looked at his theology, his fairy tales, as well as his understanding of beauty, particularly

in relation to music.

In subsequent episodes, we're going to be discussing a George McDonald's reading plan,

if you want to get to know him better, as well as a roundtable discussion regarding

C.S. Lewis's anthology of McDonald's. But today I'm joined by Dr. Timothy Larson, and today's opening quotation comes from the end of his book, George

McDonald in the Age of Miracles.

Dr. Larson is McMannis Professor of Christian Thought at Wheaton College.

He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and he has been a visiting fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge, and All Souls

College, Oxford. He is the author of a number of books, including John Stuart Mill, A Secular Life,

The Slane God, Anthropologists and the Christian Faith, a people of one book, The Bible and the

Victorians, Crisis of Doubt, Honest Faith in 19th Century England, as well as the book which we'll be discussing

today, George MacDonald in the Age of Miracles, Incarnation, Doubt, and Re-enchantment.

Dr. Timothy Larson, welcome to Pites with Jack.

I'm delighted to be here. Thank you for having me.

Not at all. I really enjoyed your lecture series, which is available on the

...