The Invisible Adventist Press (Part 1)

THE public will buy, pay for, and read Seventh-day Adventist books. And the results of even one book read by one non- Adventist can reach into eternity.

My concern is are we doing all that we can to expose the public to this good literature? We appreciate the good work of our colporteurs.

God has given us the literature-evangelist program, and many tens of thousands have been won by these courageous heroes of the cross. Other thousands will yet be won. Literature evangelism "canvassing" is a divinely ordained plan, and God for bid that we should lift our hands against the Lord's anointed. May their work grow and increase until the end of time!

But isn't the Lord able to give us much more than this? Can our thin ranks of colporteurs ever, in any given year, call on more than 2 or 3 percent of the homes in the United States and Canada? Does any one think the door-to-door canvasser is visiting every home in New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Detroit, San Francisco, Toronto, and Newark with Adventist books? Are the colporteurs entering the luxury apartments and high-rise condominiums where millions now live? And are there not tens of millions who will never send in a card for Bible Story, who could be reached by other books sold through other channels?

The answer to the first question above is Yes, He can; and to the last question, Yes, there are. And it is long past time we Seventh-day Adventists arouse from our slumber, for it is daytime and we must communicate with people if we hope to see them saved.

"But," someone objects, "we are already selling books everywhere. Where did you get the idea we aren't already 'lighting the world with literature'?"

The words "invisible Adventist press" are not my words, nor are they those of a detractor or enemy. This statement was made by a deeply concerned Seventh-day Adventist leader, Ralph S. Watts, at the quadrennial public relations meeting at Pine Springs Ranch, California, in 1969. Here is exactly what he said:

"As far as Adventist literature is concerned in the public life of the nation, our whole publishing venture is practically invisible. True, millions of dollars' worth of books are being placed in homes across the country. This is good as far as it goes, but where would one expect to find the press? . . . Publicly Adventist literature is invisible."

Unfortunately, Elder Watts is right.

For good measure, here's a quotation from an action taken at the editorial council in New York City in May, 1968: "We have not yet fully reached the masses with our message and we are far behind other denominations in our effective utilization of the mass media and other communication resources available to us today."

Have you ever wondered why the Adventist Church grows so slowly in the prosperous, developed countries? Surely a major reason is our silent, invisible press. Their voice is not heard.

Now you, brother, have had your hand up for a while. What would you like to say? "We've heard this talk about selling our trade books* in stores before. These things have been said for many years, but people won't buy our books at the stores. It takes the living salesman to place our books in the people's homes."

Thank you very much, brother. That is a common viewpoint, but let me give some chapters and verses. A few trials have been made, mostly by busy Adventist editors, to get our trade books out to the public. Here are some of the results:

One full-page advertisement in Publishers' Weekly brought for Flee the Captor, by Herbert Ford, not only orders for the book in English but also inquiries from other countries for foreign rights to this story of a heroic Seventh-day Adventist. An edition of 10,000 in the Dutch language has been brought out, and now a French firm is publishing a translation. The Sabbath truth, the second coming, temperance various phases of our message are in this book.

An ad in the March, 1966, Christian Herald brought in $4,000 worth of orders for Adventist books published by the Pacific Press. Books sold included Mind If I Smoke? (tobacco), Wonders of Creation (creationism), and Baptism Through the Centuries (baptism by immersion).

In another experiment I spent two or three hours making $15 worth of telephone calls, and took orders from a New York City publisher for three Seventh-day Adventist books. Thus far more than 1,500 copies have been sold, and the books are still selling. The three volumes are Alice Princess, a Seventh-day Adventist mission story; Dateline Sunday, presenting the Seventh-day Adventist position on Sunday laws; and Creative Techniques for Christian Writers, telling how Christian authors may write more effectively.

While it may be difficult at present to place quantities of our "hard-sell" doctrinal books in the bookstores, we can present many, perhaps all, phases of our message to the public if we will do it skillfully - creationism, religious liberty, health, temperance, biography, the Bible as God's inspired word, even theology.

Now, brother, your question.

"Can Ellen G. White books be sold through non-Adventist channels?"

Yes, I believe ways can be found. I don't believe we can simply take an armload of Patriarchs and Prophets into an evangelical bookstore, where the proprietor has been weaned on Canright, Van Baalen, and Talbot, and expect him to receive Mrs. White with rejoicing. But there are more subtle approaches. We could first build bridges of understanding with other books.

What happens when Seventh-day Adventist trade books get into the hands of the non-Adventist?

Several decades ago a student at the University of California in Berkeley, working on his doctorate in genetics, ran across a copy of a book by George McCready Price in the university library. The book was published by Pacific Press. That book, he later told me, changed his entire life. This man organized the Creation Research Society and took a prominent part in a campaign to neutralize the teaching of evolution in California textbooks. Now, just one week ago as I write this, this campaign has ended in victory. Under the title "California Downgrades Darwin" a front page news item says, "Darwin's story of evolution will no longer be the sole explanation offered for the origin of man in the public schools of California. The State's Board of Education voted unanimously here yesterday to adopt a new science framework that includes a variety of theories and gives them all equal weight." This decision could have national repercussions "because California buys ten percent of the nation's textbooks, and publishers generally make any changes the State Board wishes. . . . The State Board's action could incidentally revolutionize the science curriculum in the entire nation."

Now, brother, I see you have raised your hand again.

"What good can a book like Creative Techniques for Christian Writers do? It doesn't give the Advent message."

Thank you. As the politicians say, "I'm glad you asked that question." We have sold just over 150 copies to non-Adventists. One of these purchasers is a woman writing a book for Church Women United. After reading our book, she invited the author, Norma Youngberg, to write a chapter on what Seventh-day Adventist women are doing. Mrs. Youngberg accepted the invitation, wrote the chapter, and submitted it. The chapter emphasizes the Dorcas and welfare program of the church, and gives full credit to Ellen G. White as one who has led and inspired Adventist women in their welfare work. Upon receipt of the chapter, the author of the book wrote that it "was very inspirational to me, and the chapter on the work of the Dorcas was so interesting I am sure it will be one of the best in the book."

When we "sow beside all waters" many wonderful, unexpected things happen.

Adventist truth is, in fact, so powerful that it has converting power even when somewhat warped in the mind of a novelist, then translated to another language. Years ago Upton Sinclair wrote a novel called The New Pamela. This was the story, based on fact, of a simple, pure Seventh-day Adventist girl working in the home of a wealthy family. It tells among other things, how this Adventist girl shared her faith with those with whom she worked in the household, and giving them The Great Controversy to read.

A woman in Germany read a translation of the book into her language. Then, at the General Conference session in Detroit, 1966, Elder Otto Gmehling reported, "A book evangelist canvassing in a town in northern Germany met a student of music, the daughter of a high official. She had read the novel The New Pamela in which an American author describes the life of a young Adventist girl in the household of a millionnaire. On the strength of what she read in the book she began to live like an Adventist and to keep the Sabbath. At the invitation of the book evangelist she at tended our meetings and eagerly prepared for baptism." Review and Herald, June 21, 1966.

Now Upton Sinclair is dead, and it is up to us Seventh-day Adventists to write, publish, and distribute our own converting message from now on. To multiply the above results by a thousand, let us with God's help circulate a thousand times more of our trade books to the public. Millions have scarcely heard of Seventh-day Adventists, and many of those who have heard our name have only the foggiest notion who we might be. Many confuse us with Jehovah's Witnesses, Latter-day Saints, and others. Let us make the public conscious of who Seventh-day Adventists are and what we believe. Otherwise how can they possibly decide for our message?

(To be continued)