Iain Murray relates a fascinating point about salvation that Spurgeon made in his ongoing discussion of Calvinism:
"Be it never forgotten by us that the salvation of a soul is a creation. Now, no man has ever been able to create a fly...Jehovah alone creates...No human or angelic power can intrude upon this glorious province of divine power. Creation is God's own domain...Regeneration is not the reforming of principles which were there before, but the implantation of a something which had no existence."
For C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, good (i.e. other-worldly and divine) magic always creates - take Aslan in The Magician's Nephew, or Illuvatar in The Silmarillion making Elves - whereas evil magic always attempts to create, but only manipulates and ultimately destroys a good creation - the Orcs in The Lord of the Rings, which are twisted Elves, or the White Witch in Narnia making it always Winter. As Frodo tells Sam in The Return of the King in reference to whether Orcs drink and eat:
"No, they eat and drink, Sam. The Shadow that bred them can only mock, it cannot make: not real new things of its own. I don't think it gave life to the orcs, it only ruined them and twisted them."
For as long as I recognized the centrality of creation as only God's domain, I failed to recognize how salvation is the creation of a totally new man, not just the "reforming of principles which were there before," as Spurgeon says. So, I suppose in some ways Tolkien and Lewis are good Calvinists, after all ;).
3 comments:
Interesting point, Leila. On one hand, God is creating something new with in us (2 Cor. 5:17). On the other hand, salvation is simply restoring what we lost in the fall, which was the ability to display the image of God.
Leila, I think you already recognized the creative work of God in salvation. After all, He gives us a NEW heart. You have recognized that for a few years now, if I remember correctly. Perhaps you did not tie it to the word 'creation,' but you knew that God gives a new heart. How else would you be able to tell if Tolkein & Lewis were good Calvinists?
That's true, Curtis. I guess I just never linked the ideas together...
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