The pioneers of this movement were men of vision. They believed, with Martin Luther, that the gift of printing superseded the gift of tongues, and they wisely invested funds in the printed page. To show the immense value of the printed page, I quote from Eastern Tidings, a secular journal in Korea:
"Wisely and well has this mission [Seventh-day Adventist] seen beyond the more limited horizon that bounds most of us, and put emphasis on books, thus reaching a world where no missionary goes, a world that nezier comes to church, a world that is proud, and old, and distressed, and needs the light of hope as much as any. I propose that we take off our hats to Seventh-day Adventists, and make a deep how. They have had more sense and vision than the rest of us. All other things pass away ; the printed page alone remains."
"A Roman Catholic Cardinal is quoted as saying, 'Every Seventh-day Adventist is a Luther, and they with their pernicious literature are the worst enemies of the Catholic Church in the world, and the only true Protestants to be feared.' "—April 15, 1933.
I am a profound believer in the literature ministry, and often think how thankful we should be for the printed page, which carries the message to quarters which the voice often fails to reach, and preserves the impressions of truth when the sound of human words has died away. True, leaden type will never take the place of the human voice, but we ought to be thankful for the blessed aid it renders.
"Literature can go everywhere. It knows no fear, never tires, can be multiplied without end by the press, can travel at little expense, needs no public room to tell its story. It can tell it in the kitchen, parlor, shop, factory, store, or railway train. It takes no note of scoffs, jeers, or taunts. No one can betray it into hasty expressions. It never quarrels, never loses its temper, never answers back. It sticks to its story, and can tell it over and over again."
What a thrilling history might be written concerning the power of literature. Richard Sibbs wrote a little tract entitled "The Bruised Reed." A tin peddler gave it to a boy named Richard Baxter, who, after reading it, was brought to Christ. He in turn wrote a "Call to the Unconverted." Among the thousands saved through this tract was Philip Doddridge, who wrote the "Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul." This fell into the hands of
Wilberforce, the great emancipator of the slaves in the British colonies, and led him to Christ. Wilberforce wrote a "Practical View of Christianity," which fired the heart of Legh Richmond, and he wrote the "Dairyman's Daughter." Before 1849, as many as four million copies of this treatise were circulated, and it has testified for Christ in more than fifty different languages.
J.Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, was led to Christ by a tract. Thousands in this movement today are in the church because of the printed page. Many use it and see results.
All our literature should be simple and tactfully written, and it would be well if all the texts were printed in full. We meet people today who do not possess a Bible, and many who possess Bibles are too indolent to look up the texts. A striking text makes an impression.
We have an excellent variety of tracts today. The tract list should be larger than it is at present. If we could have a greater variety, there would be no need for an evangelist to spend money on duplicators. Duplicated sermons should be dispensed with. We should be concerned about the unemployed members in our churches. I believe the literature ministry can solve this question for us. All cannot be colporteurs, but all can help to scatter the tracts and other literature which are available.
