The Wordless Book — China’s Millions

August 30, 2007

This is an illustration called “Open Air Preaching in China” by Thomas Eyres published in “China’s Millions” January 1892. (Colors added by the writer for emphasis) The preacher is using “The Wordless Book” - a colored evangelistic tool used to communicate Christian truth - possibly invented by Charles Haddon Spurgeon in 1866. In his words, “The black …[at top] to remind … of [our] sinful state by nature, … the red leaf to call to … remembrance the precious blood of Christ, and … the white leaf to picture… the perfect righteousness which God has given to believers through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ his Son.” (Gold was a later addition to the bottom - representing heaven).

China’s Millions: China Inland Missions and Late Qing Society, 1832-1905
By Alvyn Austin / Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Banner-carrying Salvation Army marchers, stone-silent Quakers, jumpy Midwestern revivalists, and Prayer-book Anglicans all made up the mixed multitude sent to the Middle Kingdom by the China Inland Mission (CIM) in the nineteenth century. In China’s Millions veteran historian Alvyn Austin crafts a compelling narrative of the sprawling history of the China Inland Mission.

This book introduces readers to a remarkable array of sights, from the visionary, charismatic sect-leader Pastor Hsi, to the “wordless book,” a missionary teaching device that fit perfectly with Chinese color cosmology, to the opium-soaked aftermath of the North China Famine of 187779. Clear, readable, and well researched, China’s Millions digs deeply into the Chinese and Western past to tell a story of the strange yet hopeful result of two cultures colliding.

This is part of Eerdmans Studies in the History of Christian Missions series. These studies explore the significant, yet often contested, impact of Christian missions around the world. Bringing together monographs by established and emerging scholars, collections of essays on themes in the history of missions, and new editions of seminal primary texts, this series provides rich source material for studying the relation between religion and culture.Alvyn Austin, born in Calcutta to CIM missionaries, teaches history at Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario.

Posted in Charles Haddon Spurgeon, China, China Inland Mission, Missions, Preaching