I GLADLY respond to the suggestion that I write a Foreword to a new edition of this book, giving a few of the many instances of the wonderful ways in which God has graciously used it since it first appeared nearly thirty years ago.
I may say at the outset that I am constantly receiving letters from different parts of the world, written by perfect strangers, whose doubts have been removed and whose faith has been strengthened in the inspiration of the Bible through reading these pages.
Indeed, the demand for it is so widespread that, beside the American edition, it has been translated into eight different languages. In two foreign countries, it has actually been published in the form of a series of articles in secular newspapers and must thus have been read by many thousands of people.
The following concrete cases will, however, interest fresh readers:
1. Many preachers have testified to the help this book has been to them in their studies. One prominent London minister told me that he had made its contents the substance of many of his sermons. His actual words were: “Your book has often preached from my pulpit.”
2. I once received a letter from one signing himself, “A Working-Man” in which the writer said: “This book is the best food I have ever had both for soul and body!”
3. After preaching in Bath, a lady told me that during the World War she and her husband were both unconverted. A copy of this book however, came into her hands. She read it, and it led her to a heart-knowledge of the Savior. When her husband returned home, she gave it to him; he also read it, and it was the means of his conversion.
4. On another occasion, after preaching in Bristol, I was introduced to a young man who, I was told, had been converted through the reading of it. With a bright and happy face, he assured me with his own lips that the reading of my book had definitely led him to Christ.
5. In the spring of 1933, a young man twenty-two years of age wrote me saying that while a cynic and a skeptic he had borrowed this book, and having read it, immediately purchased a copy for himself. Then (to use his own words), he “devoured the contents four times.” “It is a wonderful book,” he added, “one that convinces one thoroughly,” and declared he was “going to read the Bible from cover to cover.” Finally, he thanked me “for making a Christian out of a cynic!”
6. In August, 1933, a gentleman of position wrote me as follows: “I recently sent a copy of your book to my son, who is a young officer in the Indian Army, and by this mail he writes: ‘I am finding Mr. Collett’s book most interesting; it is clearing up a lot of things which previously were difficult to understand.’” “As the book also has been a real help to me in confirming my faith, it is with pleasure and thankfulness that I pass on to you this tribute from my son.” To God be the glory!
S. C.