And he called the woman Eve, (Genesis 3:20).
I’m sure many of you are familiar with the name C.S. Lewis. And perhaps also that of J.R.R. Tolkien. You might not have known that they were good friends and taught at Oxford at the same time. They could often be found discussing their writing projects with a group of friends at a pub in Oxford called “The Eagle and the Child”. They referred to as “The Bird and the Baby”. They called their circle of friends The Inklings.
But do you know who inspired both Lewis and Tolkien to write fantasy with a deeper spiritual meaning? It was a Scottish preacher and writer named George McDonald. For any of you who have read Lewis’ “The Great Divorce”, you might remember that McDonald is the narrator’s guide in heaven. Lewis is famous for saying that McDonald “baptized his imagination.”
One of McDonald’s best-known works is a piece of fiction titled “Lilith” that was published in the mid-eighteen hundreds. The book takes us from our world into a world beyond as the narrator follows a mysterious old librarian through a mirror in the protagonist’s house. It served as the inspiration for the wardrobe in “The Chronicles of Narnia”. I read the book a number of years ago and thought the story was great, but the language and writing style were archaic enough that most of my friends (they all ride motorcycles, so you know what I mean) would never read it. So, I decided to adapt it and bring the story into modern times with modern language. The result is a book that became available this week on Amazon with the title, “Lilith Redeemed”.
Like Narnia and Middle Earth, the land beyond the mirror is populated by Kings and Queens and talking animals. It is an epic story of the struggle between good and evil. At the heart of the book is the character on which Lewis based his White Witch in “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”: her name is Lilith.
In Jewish mythology, dating to the eighth century, Lilith was a angelic being who was Adam’s first companion before he married Eve. This is obviously not biblical, but much of what is contained in the story is. When Lilith rejected Adam, Adam got Eve, and Lilith became the lover of the Shadow (an image of Satan). Her redemption is at the heart of the story.
I think I’ve done a pretty good job on the book. It is available in hard copy now and should be available as an e-book by the end the week. It would be great if you bought it and spread the word about this classic, made readable in my updated “based upon” effort. Thanks.
To see a preview, go to: http://www.amazon.com/Lilith-Redeemed-Bob-Beltz/dp/1515004481/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1439323541&sr=8-3&keywords=Bob+Beltz