Wordless Book
Encyclopedia
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
evangelistic book. Evidence points to it being invented by the famous London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon, in a message given on January 11, 1866 to several hundred orphans regarding Psalm 51:7 "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." It is called a "book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
", as it is usually represented with pages, although it can be shown on a single page or banner.
The book consists of several blocks of pure color that, in sequence, represent a nonverbal catechism
Catechism
A catechism , i.e. to indoctrinate) is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present...
about basic Christian teachings for the instruction of children, the illiterate, or people of different cultures. However, the presentation of the book is meant to be a verbal experience, providing the "reader" a visual cue to expound Christian doctrine extemporaneously
Extemporaneous preaching
Extemporaneous preaching is a style of preaching that was popular in the late 19th century among Baptist , Methodist, Unitarian, and some Presbyterians preachers, such as Blackleach Burritt...
or in impromptu
Impromptu
An impromptu is a free-form musical composition with the character of an ex tempore improvisation as if prompted by the spirit of the moment, usually for a solo instrument, such as piano...
situations.
Variations on a theme
Spurgeon’s concept only contained three colors: “first was black, the second was red, and the third was pure white”- BlackBlackBlack is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
: representing the sinful stateThe Fall of ManIn Christian doctrine, the Fall of Man, or simply the Fall, refers to the transition of the first humans from a state of innocent obedience to God to a state of guilty disobedience to God. In Genesis chapter 2, Adam and Eve live at first with God in a paradise, but the serpent tempts them into...
of humanity by nature. Usually referred to as the dark page. - RedRedRed is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
: representing the blood of JesusJesusJesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
. - WhiteWhiteWhite is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...
: representing the perfect righteousnessRighteousnessRighteousness is an important theological concept in Zoroastrianism, Hinduism , Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
which God has given to believers through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ his Son.
By 1880 at least, the book was being widely used in evangelism among orphanage
Orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...
s, Sunday school
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
s, and in cross-cultural missions.
Different versions came about when Dwight Lyman Moody added another color: gold (after white) – representing Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
- in 1875. Hudson Taylor
Hudson Taylor
James Hudson Taylor , was a British Protestant Christian missionary to China, and founder of the China Inland Mission . Taylor spent 51 years in China...
and missionaries of the China Inland Mission
China Inland Mission
OMF International is an interdenominational Protestant Christian missionary society, founded in Britain by Hudson Taylor on 25 June 1865.-Overview:...
used the four color version in open-air preaching
Open-air preaching
Open-air preaching, street preaching or public preaching is the act of publicly proclaiming a religious message to crowds of people in open places...
and individual evangelism. It has been used by missionaries and teachers such as Jennie Faulding Taylor
Jennie Faulding Taylor
Jane Elizabeth "Jennie" Faulding Taylor , was a British Protestant missionary to China with the China Inland Mission. She pioneered the work of single women missionaries in China and eventually married the founder of the mission, James Hudson Taylor, after the death of his first wife, Maria Jane Dyer...
, Amy Carmichael
Amy Carmichael
Amy Wilson Carmichael was a Protestant Christian missionary in India, who opened an orphanage and founded a mission in Dohnavur...
, Fanny Crosby
Fanny Crosby
Frances Jane Crosby , usually known as Fanny Crosby in the United States and by her married name, Frances van Alstyne, in the United Kingdom, was an American Methodist rescue mission worker, poet, lyricist, and composer. During her lifetime, she was well-known throughout the United States...
(who was blind), and modern day Child Evangelism Fellowship
Child Evangelism Fellowship
Child Evangelism Fellowship is an international evangelical nonprofit organization founded by Jesse Overholtzer in 1937, headquartered in Warrenton, Missouri, United States. The organization lists as its purpose to teach the Christian Gospel to boys and girls and to get them involved in local...
which added a fifth color: green (after white, before gold) - representing one's need to grow in Christ after salvation
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
. Some modern Baptists add a sixth color: blue (after white, before green) - representing baptism
Believer's baptism
Believer's baptism is the Christian practice of baptism as this is understood by many Protestant churches, particularly those that descend from the Anabaptist tradition...
.
Color cosmology
The success of the Wordless Book in communicating with East Asian peoples is arguably due to the influence of "color cosmologyCosmology
Cosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...
" (Wu Xing
Five elements (Chinese philosophy)
The Wu Xing, also known as the Five Phases, the Five Agents, the Five Movements, and the Five Steps/Stages, are chiefly an ancient mnemonic device, in many traditional Chinese fields....
) or color psychology in Chinese culture. For example, in Chinese symbolism, red is the color of good luck and success, and is used for decoration and wedding attire (during the traditional half of the wedding ceremony, while the bridal attire in the modern half is usually white). Money in Chinese societies is traditionally given in red packets
Hong Bao
Hong Bao was a Chinese eunuch sent on overseas diplomatic missions during the reign of Ming emperors Yongle and Xuande. He is best known as the commander of one of the detached squadrons of Zheng He's fleet during the Seventh Voyage of this fleet to the Indian Ocean .-Early career:According to the...
; while white is the funeral
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
color instead of black.
Different forms
Wordless books have been put into many forms for easy use and insertion into everyday situations. Among these are wristbands and various sports gear, including soccer balls, basketballs, and volleyballs.See also
- Color symbolism
- 19th Century Protestant Missions in China
- Christianity in ChinaChristianity in ChinaChristianity in China is a growing minority religion that comprises Protestants , Catholics , and a small number of Orthodox Christians. Although its lineage in China is not as ancient as the institutional religions of Taoism and Mahayana Buddhism, and the social system and ideology of...
Two books published by Child Evangelism Fellowship under the title "The Wordless Book"
- ISBN 9-90117-036-2
- ISBN 9-90117-026-5