The "Wordless Book": The Visual and Material Culture of Evangelism in Victorian Britain

The Wordless Book is widely used today in programs of Christian teaching and evangelism across the world. It consists of a series of blank pages which are colored in accordance with religious symbolism (black in reference to sin, red in reference to the redeeming blood of Christ, and so forth). It i...

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Dettagli Bibliografici
Autore principale: Janes, Dominic (Autore)
Tipo di documento: Elettronico Articolo
Lingua:Inglese
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Pubblicazione: Taylor & Francis [2016]
In: Material religion
Anno: 2016, Volume: 12, Fascicolo: 1, Pagine: 26-49
(sequenze di) soggetti normati:B Spurgeon, Charles H. 1834-1892 / Großbritannien / Evangelizzazione / Bibbia illustrata
Notazioni IxTheo:KAH Età moderna
KBF Isole Britanniche
RH Evangelizzazione
Altre parole chiave:B Baptists
B Tracts
B Nineteenth Century
B Color
B Images
B Britain
B Dwight L. Moody
B Charles H. Spurgeon
Accesso online: Volltext (Verlag)
Descrizione
Riepilogo:The Wordless Book is widely used today in programs of Christian teaching and evangelism across the world. It consists of a series of blank pages which are colored in accordance with religious symbolism (black in reference to sin, red in reference to the redeeming blood of Christ, and so forth). It is employed as a way of engaging those who cannot read the words of the gospel, particularly the very young and the illiterate. It was employed by British and American missionaries from the later decades of the nineteenth century in Africa, India, China and elsewhere. This article explores the context of the invention of The Wordless Book by Charles Haddon Spurgeon and its popularization by Dwight L. Moody. Firstly, it is explored for what it can tell us about the visual culture of Christian evangelism in the second half of the nineteenth century. Secondly, it is considered as a mass-produced material object that was circulated together with hundreds of thousands of Christian tracts. However, unlike their textually rich companions, the books without words have not been preserved in library collections. The study, therefore, of the appearance and subsequent disappearance of Victorian wordless books also provides us with valuable insights into the perceived importance of texts and abstract images during this period.
ISSN:1751-8342
Comprende:Enthalten in: Material religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/17432200.2015.1120085