W. D. Howells - "The Albany Depot"

Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne - "Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, V14"

Bjornstjerne Bjornson - "Poems and Songs"

John Bunyan - "The Works of John Bunyan Volume 3"

New Philadelphia Book Publisher Highlights Local Talent
Book and Publishing News from Publishers Newswire(tm)

Looking for Child to be on Cover of a New Book, 'The Model Child'
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Philadelphia literary world will celebrate the launch of two new players today, April 10th: Kay Square Press, a new publishing company focused on Philadelphia-area artists, their stories, and their art; and Kay Square's first release, 'With the Rich and Mighty: Emlen Etting of Philadelphia' (ISBN: 978-0-9815129-0-7), a critical biography by Kenneth C. Kaleta.

FlatSigned Press Alleges Don Imus Remarks Damage Legacy of President Gerald R. Ford
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Nathan Yungerberg, an accomplished model scout and professional child photographer is launching a nation-wide casting call to find the cover model for his highly anticipated book release, 'The Model Child: A Parents Guide to the Child Modeling Industry' (ISBN: 978-0-9817018-0-6).

Books: To Infidelity and Back

H >> Henry F. Lutz >> To Infidelity and Back




First, these problems are largely educational, legal, social and
philanthropic, and as such should be solved by the united effort of
all the good citizens of the land. Keeping in mind the New Testament
principles that are to guide us, we can readily see that Christians
should do many things that the church was not ordained to do. The
church, as a church, should not go into politics and business. On the
other hand, the church, through its spiritual ministries, should
inspire its members to enter business, politics, philanthropic
associations, etc., in order, as far as possible, to incarnate
Christian principles in their life in the world. We may differ as to
the finer distinctions, but none of us would advocate a union of
church and state or of church and business. As this is a nation in
which Christians can control the laws, they can do much through good
citizenship to solve these questions and bring these classes within
the reach of the spiritual gospel. One of the great duties of the
church in behalf of these people is, through their spiritual
ministries, to constrain their members to make and enforce proper
laws for their education, protection and improvement. Christianity is
the religion of a book, and the first thing needful to bring these
classes to an intelligent Christian faith is at least a common-school
English education. Those of us who have lived in cities that are
largely foreign know that the public schools are doing more to bring
these classes within gospel reach than all other agencies combined.

Second, I wish to throw out a warning against engendering or
encouraging the class spirit which we find so severely condemned in
the New Testament. In the New Testament we read nothing about
churches for different classes or about different classes as separate
missionary problems, but the effort is to reach all classes through
the local churches along the line of least resistance. The best thing
on earth for these various classes is that they might be brought into
vital touch with the best Christian people in our local churches.
Some have even gone so far as to claim that we cannot reach the slum
element, but must leave that to the Salvation Army, etc. If that is
true, so much the worse for our Christianity. A truly New Testament
church is the incarnation of the wisdom and love of God for reaching
any and all classes of people. The class spirit is the outgrowth of
ignorance, prejudice and selfishness and is always sinful among
Christians. Our experience with tuberculosis and with the modern
complicated industrial and political systems, is thrusting upon us
anew Christ's teaching about the brotherhood of man or the solidarity
of the race. On the whole, it is true that the race suffers or
rejoices, rises or falls, together. We condemn the segregation of
foreign races in different sections of our large cities. But the
segregation of the better, or at least more fortunate, classes, is
just as bad and more disastrous to the welfare of the city. Social
settlements and institutional churches are manifestations of the
Christ spirit, but they are only proxies and excuses for the mass of
Christians and but samples and crumbs in place of the square meal
that a square deal would supply. What these institutions are doing in
a comparatively unnatural and artificial way is simply a hint of what
could and would be done if all church-members would practise the
Christ spirit in all their daily walk and conversation. To give a few
dollars to help pay a few mission workers to live Christ in the slum
districts is all right, but is no adequate substitute for all
Christians giving all their life to uplift and save their country and
the whole world. The best institutional church is the one that
through its spiritual ministries inspires its members to live Christ
in politics, in business, in society, in the home and everywhere
else. So far as possible, let us minimize and discourage the class
spirit in every way, shape and form. It is marvelous what the true
Christ spirit will do along this line. A church of Christ was
recently organized at Romney, W. Va., with two-thirds of the members
foreign born. With a few days' effort nineteen Italians recently
joined the Christian Church at Uhrichsville, O. Similar results have
followed faithful efforts in New York City and at many other places.
If in love and faith we would make a serious effort to reach these
classes through the local churches, we would do ten times more to
reach and help them than by seeking to reach them as classes.

In the third place, we must avoid the materializing tendency of the
age in our gospel work. The constant tendency is to lose sight of the
spiritual, invisible and eternal, to be blinded by the things of this
world and to be conformed to them. In reading popular books on Home
Missions we cannot but be grieved at the flings and thrusts at the
old evangelism and the laudations of the new evangelism. For the
context shows that the teaching is away from the spiritual and
eternal salvation of the individual, which the New Testament makes
the chief and ultimate thing, to the material and temporal things of
this earth, which the New Testament makes a means to a higher end. To
prove that the old evangelism is defunct, attention is called to the
fact that seven thousand sectarian congregations did not have a
single convert in an entire year. But can that be said of true New
Testament evangelism? How prone we are to forget that only a
comparatively few can attain unto worldly success according to the
standard of public opinion and none so as to be satisfied with the
effort. For the more we get the more we want in wealth and fame and
pleasure, and none of these things in themselves bring happiness or
well-being, which is the real thing the soul hungers for. Who can
estimate the eternal good B. F. Mills did while he pointed
individuals to the Lamb of God and thus filled their souls with new
life, hope and courage to do and to dare for self and others because
"of the joy that was set before them"? But in an evil day he became
spiritually near-sighted and spoke about saving society rather than
the individual, and now he is reputed to be a hotel-keeper,
ministering to the material comforts of his fellow-men. Oh, what a
fall was there! But only an example of multitudes who have become
near-sighted and unfruitful through a so-called new evangelism that
is not new. While giving good works their proper and important place,
let us never forget that to save the individual soul for eternity
through the gospel is the chief work of the church, and that it must
ever subordinate the temporal and material to the spiritual and
eternal.

Furthermore, it is well to remember that our sectarian neighbors,
having largely lost faith in what they once considered their
distinctive mission, are naturally turning much of their energy to
general educational, philanthropic and civilizing work. Under the
circumstances it is natural and proper that they should give
relatively more of their energies to this kind of work than we, as we
have a distinctive mission that demands our chief effort.

The classes enumerated above present indeed great missionary
problems. We should keep in mind the entire field and never plan for
anything short of reaching, as soon as possible, every creature with
the gospel. But accepting the guidance of the Holy Spirit, revealed
in the New Testament, we must go to the ends of the earth as a body
united in Christ and his truth, along the line of least resistance,
ever keeping in mind the spiritual and eternal salvation of the
individual as the ultimate aim.

These things being true, I still believe, as we have always taught,
that the reunion of God's people on the primitive gospel is at
present the overshadowing issue before us and that in working for its
accomplishment we are doing the utmost in our power to solve all
missionary problems. Christ can never conquer with a hopelessly
divided army. Sectarianism ties up three-fourths of the men and money
and kills three-fourths of the spiritual power that could otherwise
be used to solve all missionary problems. Unite all saints in Christ
and set free these forces, and within this generation the world will
believe and know that Jesus is the Christ whom God sent into the
world (John 17:20, 21, 23). I believe that God has providentially
prepared both us and the field, and unless we perform the mission set
before us he will raise up another people through whom to bring about
Christian union on the primitive gospel, to our eternal shame, but to
their eternal glory. Thus it seems that, pre-eminently, our neglected
fields lie among the teeming millions of America, ripe unto the
harvest for our plea, but who, through our negligence, have not even
heard that there is such a plea.

Grapes of Eshcol have been gathered from every corner of our land,
proving that it is a land flowing with milk and honey for primitive
Christianity. Look at the wonders done in Oklahoma. Go to Southern
California and see the recent record. Go to the great Northwest, both
in Canada and the United States, and see the ripeness of the field.
If we turn to the southeast we gather just as large clusters of
grapes in Florida and along the coast. See the marvels accomplished
in Washington, our capital. Two churches offered to us because we are
non-sectarian. Turn to Baltimore and see the marvelous growth. Two
fields offered to us because we stand for Christian union. Look at
the recent and abundant fruit in conservative Pennsylvania, or pass
on to New York and see the wonders at East Orange and in Brooklyn
among the Russians. Wherever we turn, the field is riper than ever
and we must haste to garner it in or the abundant crop will perish.
The heart of the country is already largely ours. Let us go forward
with enlarged numbers and renewed vigor, knowing that the God of the
harvest is with us and we are well able to possess the land. While
greatly increasing all our other activities, let us push the Home
Society to the front where it belongs according to every principle of
Scripture, mercy, economy, efficiency and common sense. If we will
renew among us the zeal and self-denial of the pioneers of this
movement, we will soon gloriously triumph to His honor and praise.