The following pamphlets and booklets herein reprinted are from the pen of Mr. F. G. Patterson. While information as to him personally seems to be limited, we can judge from his writings that he was a well instructed brother and quite active among brethren back in those promising years between 1865 and 1880 before the devastating cleavages among gathered saints had left them bowed and broken. His written ministry extends over a period of about twenty years, 1864-1884.
It is the concerted judgment of those responsible for the papers herein reproduced that this brother F. G. P. had a special line of ministry most valuable and needed for the present day. Practically all his books and pamphlets are out of print, but it is hoped that in due time, if the Lord permits, most, if not all of them may be again available.
F. G. P.'s insistence on the obligation of the church to maintain in practice the scriptural truth, "There is one body", is most timely at present. "Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit" is the exhortation in Ephesians four, and for the church of God to deliberately ignore her responsibility to hear and obey this clear call is the most flagrant kind of Laodicean indifference. We feel distinctly that if these articles, so ably written by F. G. P., were according to the mind of the Spirit in the seventies and eighties of the last century, they are equally true today. God's principles of truth and practice do not vary with changing conditions in the great house of Christendom. To be not only in the doctrine of, but in the practice of, the truth of Ephesians four is the great privilege of faith at the present time. If it leads to a narrow path and a rejected testimony, let us not draw back, for "He is faithful that promised; He cannot deny Himself." May God, by the Spirit, abundantly bless the following able ministry to His dear saints today.
C. H. B.
September, 1944.