Forthcoming: Kerry V. Magruder, George MacDonald & the Scientific Imagination (Hamden, CT: Winged Lion Press, 2026)
Forthcoming: Magruder, Kerry V. George MacDonald & the Scientific Imagination. Hamden, CT: Winged Lion Press, 2026
This book is the first volume of an aspirational larger project, Love and the Cosmos: Trinitarian Perspectives on Science with T. F. Torrance and C. S. Lewis and Their Friends. In subsequent volumes the author hopes to explore at greater length many of the themes introduced here.
From the index:
Torrance, David W.: 246
Torrance, James B.: iii-iv, 246
Torrance, Thomas F.: 121, 139-40, 142, 178, 226, 234, 240, 246, 274, 277, 288
From the book:
“It is not the things we see the most clearly that influence us the most powerfully; undefined, yet vivid visions of something beyond, something which eye has not seen nor ear heard, have far more influence than any logical sequences whereby the same things may be demonstrated to the intellect. It is the nature of the thing, not the clearness of its outline, that determines its operation. We live by faith and not by sight.”
— George MacDonald, A Dish of Orts.
Numerous overlaps or convergences are evident between George MacDonald and the writings of Thomas F. Torrance and his brothers James B. Torrance and David W. Torrance. Among these are (1) the importance of developing a Christian theological instinct understood as a well-formed imagination or a disciplined intuition open to in-depth reality. Another is the ideal of (2) knowing things according to “the nature of the thing,” kata physin (“according to its nature”). Both of these are suggested in this quotation. With respect to the latter, if the scientific method is understood as kata physin, then methods of inquiry must become more and more aligned with the nature of the object of study as knowers progressively develop whatever methods most appropriately disclose the object in its own terms. A simple corollary of this principle is that there is no universal scientific method applicable to all fields. Rather, methods of inquiry, discovery, testing, and verification will vary according to the varied natures of the different subject matters. Cf. Marty Folsom, “John Macmurray’s Influence on Thomas F. Torrance,” Scottish Journal of Theology 71, 3 (2018): 339-358; and Travis M. Stevick, Encountering Reality: TF Torrance on Truth and Human Understanding, Emerging Scholars (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Fortress Press, 2016). Other major areas of agreement between MacDonald and the Torrance brothers are (3) imaginative realism (or semantic realism, intuitive realism); and (4) contingent order, including contingent history (or contingent freedom). In addition, MacDonald and the Torrances understood (5) faith and reason as intimately related rather than as separate intellectual domains, and all (6) rejected natural theology as an independent or autonomous path to genuine knowledge of God.
Many readers of the Torrance brothers have long enjoyed reading them alongside MacDonald. Cf. the introduction to Gary W. Deddo and Catherine A. Deddo, eds., George MacDonald: A Devotional Guide to His Writings, The Devotional Library (Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 1996). It is not surprising, then, that James B. Torrance was an avid reader of MacDonald. Nor is it surprising to find major overlaps and convergences between Kerry Dearborn’s study of MacDonald’s theological milieu and the figures favorably discussed in Thomas F. Torrance’s survey of Scottish theology. See Kerry Dearborn, Baptized Imagination: The Theology of George MacDonald (Routledge, 2016); and Thomas F. Torrance, Scottish Theology: From John Knox to John McLeod Campbell (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1996); #1996-598. These two books together comprise a helpful introduction to Scottish Trinitarian theology in the 19th century.
(pp. 245-246)
George MacDonald’s embrace of the imagination as an instrument for apprehending reality heals a deep-seated cultural split between science and wonder. That split is characterized by two opposing kinds of realism: on one hand, a positivist realism or reductionism which reduces reality to nothing but what is evident to sensory perception, and, on the other hand, an imaginative realism which apprehends the as-yet unseen, unknown, and unfinished in-depth realities which lie beyond and beneath the surface appearances of things. With special attention to MacDonald’s novel Thomas Wingfold, Curate and 19th-century geology, this interpretative essay explores how MacDonald’s holistic integration of reality, given the perceptive and creative role of the imagination, applies to the natural sciences as well as to literature and the fine arts. The imagination is then given legitimate scope to play as the source not only of wonder but also of creative discovery within the very fabric of natural science. Without imagination, the sciences perish.
Advance praise
“This magisterial survey not only places MacDonald in the context of the developing science of the nineteenth century, but also shows him as a person in and through whom the necessary conversation between Science, the Arts, and Christianity was taking place. In a world in which the three great forces of Science, Art, and Religion seem fearful of one another, even hostile, we need to hear that conversation now even more than the Victorians needed it then. This is not just an historical survey, it’s a vital contribution to a current debate. Magruder draws fresh insights from MacDonald, insights about the role of the Imagination in all three spheres, the kind of imagination that does not lead us away from reality but rather takes us deeper into the heart of things. I strongly commend this book to anyone who longs for integration and hope in a world of disintegration and despair.”
— Malcolm Guite, Life Fellow, Girton College, Cambridge; poet and author of Lifting the Veil, Mariner, Galahad and the Grail.
“As a son of a scientist and as an artist, a work that connects science and imagination is a portal of creative refreshment for me. Kerry’s George MacDonald and the Scientific Imagination proved to be a treasure-filled map. This is a monumental work of integration, a deep well of resources for scientists and artists, historians and teachers alike. Kerry beautifully lays out MacDonald’s vast and soaring realms of imaginative realism to open our eyes and hearts toward the vista of wonderment.”
— Makoto Fujimura, artist and author of Art Is: A Journey into the Light.
“This book invites us to consider afresh the role of wonder in the pursuit of knowledge and the extent to which we already use imagination to move beyond what we see or otherwise sense — what we call facts — in our attempt to attain deeper levels of understanding. A timely and thought-provoking exploration of how we come to know the world, it encourages us to approach that task with curiosity, humility, and both scientific and theological reflection.”
— Marc Foggin, author “Thinking Like a Mountain: Exploring the Potential of Relational Approaches for Transformative Nature Conservation”; Honorary Research Associate, School of Geography and the Environment, Oxford University; International Director, Plateau Perspectives.
“Like awakening in the night to the scent of life-giving rain on a dry and weary land, the major theme of this book — poetry includes science — strikes the reader with unexpected hope. For far too long, we have lived as though scientific inquiry must be stripped of art, poetry, music, and story, as if imagination were an intruder rather than a companion to truth. Dr. Kerry Magruder reminds us that this was neither always so — nor need it remain so. Drawing on a remarkably wide historical vision, he brings into conversation figures as diverse as George MacDonald, C. S. Lewis, and J. R. R. Tolkien alongside Copernicus, Kepler, Darwin, and Einstein. The result is not a forced synthesis, but a lively exchange across disciplines often presumed incompatible: poetry and physics, theology and philosophy, geology and narrative. From Plato and Aristotle to Augustine and Newton, among many others, this book traces a long tradition in which imagination and reason were convivial fellow discoverers. What has science to do with imagination? In this engaging and accessible work, Dr. Magruder — under the guidance of that great master of imagination, George MacDonald — offers a compelling answer: everything.”
— Glenn Horn, philosopher and author of L’histoire des idées à Paris.
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