I'm not completely sure how I first heard of George MacDonald, but i suspect it was through C.S. Lewis. my folks had a couple of his books. I have always loved fantasy [Lewis, L'Engle, Williams, Tolkien, Carroll, Milne, etc.], so I was intrigued by MacDonald's offerings. 

The first MacDonald book I read was Phantastes, which I fell in love with. the second was Lilith, which I also fell in love with... but not right away. 

Having grown up conservative evangelical, then having been part of a communal Christian ministry in the early '70s noted for its extreme conservatism/legalism and its emphasis on the supreme  importance of "correct" beliefs and intolerance toward those who differed - as soon as i realized MacDonald was suggesting universalism in Lilith, I put the book down. although I really didn't understand it, the idea of a God who wasn't vengeful and violent with a hair-trigger temper seemed heretical, since that was how God had always been presented to me, and since so many bible verses were spun accordingly.

A few years later, as I began to question how God had been presented to me, how certain verses were interpreted, and what I believe the bible truly says about his nature and behavior, I went back and re-read Lilith, and found it deeply inspiring. I've read it at least three more times and, when trying to explain my Christian universalist beliefs, I always refer to Lilith and the concepts therein, because MacDonald does such a wonderful job of presenting these concepts [Robin Parry is my favorite proponent of these beliefs].

Words and music by Bill Canonico