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A remarkable book called A bunch of everlasting; or, Texts that Made History was written by
by Frank Boreham, who lived from 1871-1959. He published this remarkable book in 1920. The reason it is called 'texts that made history' is because Boreham is exploring the scripture that the recipient identifies as the one that broke through his dead soul to revive it to regeneracy. Conversion stories are always wonderful to read, and his book is full of them. He delves into how the verse woke up a dead heart and it's a joy to read over and over how sometimes just a snippet of God's word regenerated a soul.
In Martin Luther's case, the Light dawned with the sudden understanding of the just shall live by faith. (Romans 1:17,Galatians 3:11,Hebrews 10:38)
Before we get to the everlasting text, here is about the author of the book, a short bio from the Frank Boreham Tribute site, regarding this Christian Preacher and prolific writer you should know. He died on May 18, 1959, in Melbourne, Australia.
Now here is the excerpt from Boreham's book, A Bunch of Everlasting and the text that awoke Martin Luther-
It was the unveiling of the Face of God! Until this great transforming text flashed its light into the soul of Luther, his thought of God was a pagan thought. And the pagan thought is an unjust thought, an unworthy thought, a cruel thought.
Look at this Indian devotee! From head to foot he bears the marks of the torture that he has inflicted upon his body in his frantic efforts to give pleasure to his god. His back is a tangle of scars. The flesh has been lacerated by the pitiless hooks Martin Luther's by which he has swung himself on the terrible churuka. Iron spears have been repeatedly run through his tongue. His ears are torn to ribbons. What does it mean? It can only mean that he worships a fiend! His god loves to see him in anguish! His cries of pain are music in the ears of the deity whom he adores! This ceaseless orgy of torture is his futile endeavour to satisfy the idol's lust for blood.
Luther made precisely the same mistake. To his sensitive mind, every thought of God was a thing of terror. 'When I was young,' he tells us, it happened that at Eisleben, on Corpus Christi day, I was walking with the procession, when, suddenly, the sight of the Holy Sacrament which was carried by Doctor Staupitz, so terrified me that a cold sweat covered my body and I believed myself dying of terror.' All through his convent days he proceeds upon the assumption that God gloats over his misery. His life is a long drawn out agony. He creeps like a shadow along the galleries of the cloister, the walls echoing with his dismal moanings. His body wastes to a skeleton; his strength ebbs away : on more than one occasion his brother monks find him prostrate on the convent floor and pick him up for dead. And all the time he thinks of God as One who can find delight in these continuous torments! The just shall live, he says to himself, by penance and by pain. The just shall live by fasting: the just shall live by fear.
'The just shall live by fear!' Luther mutters to himself every day of his life.
'The just shall live by faith!' says the text that breaks upon him like a light from heaven.
'By fear! By fear!'
'By faith! By faith!'
With the coming of the text, Luther passes from the realm of fear into the realm of faith. It is like passing from the rigours of an arctic night into the sunshine of a summer day; it is like passing from a crowded city slum into the fields where the daffodils dance and the linnets sing; it is like passing into a new world; it is like entering Paradise!
------------------
Further Reading--
You can read the Boreham book either online or download it here
It is available at Amazon here
Documentary video on Frank Boreham, Navigating Strange Seas part 1 of 4, here
7-part essay series on FW Boreham here
Warren Wiersbe on Boreham, here
by Frank Boreham, who lived from 1871-1959. He published this remarkable book in 1920. The reason it is called 'texts that made history' is because Boreham is exploring the scripture that the recipient identifies as the one that broke through his dead soul to revive it to regeneracy. Conversion stories are always wonderful to read, and his book is full of them. He delves into how the verse woke up a dead heart and it's a joy to read over and over how sometimes just a snippet of God's word regenerated a soul.
In Martin Luther's case, the Light dawned with the sudden understanding of the just shall live by faith. (Romans 1:17,Galatians 3:11,Hebrews 10:38)
Before we get to the everlasting text, here is about the author of the book, a short bio from the Frank Boreham Tribute site, regarding this Christian Preacher and prolific writer you should know. He died on May 18, 1959, in Melbourne, Australia.
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One of the 20 greatest preachers of all time? Why didn't I know this sooner! As Warren Wiersbe said, "I trust that a generation ignorant of Frank W. Boreham has not arisen." I will do my best to commend to you this writer, preacher, and Christian of excellent quality so as the Body, or even one of us, might become edified.
Dr. Frank William Boreham (FWB) was born March 3rd 1871 in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Although being raised in a Christian home, it wasn't until he left home to take up employment in London that he shortly afterward became a Christian. His conversion was so dramatic that he quickly sensed a call to be a preacher. But he realised that his ability to preach would be greatly enhanced by improving his ability to write. He also reckoned that a preacher's reach could be dramatically improved by writing. This resulted in him being published at quite a young age and gaining a profile that many preachers with much more experience had not yet attained. He was given a scholarship by the great Charles Haddon Spurgeon to Pastors College where his four year program was cut short when the College asked him to go to New Zealand and join the growing band of Baptist pioneers in a small town outside of Dunedin called Mosgiel. This town was largely the making of F.W. Boreham. It became the backdrop to many of his 55 best selling books that would go on to attain sales and re-sales of what is estimated conservatively to be around 20 million copies. Toward the end of his life, FWB was honoured by Queen Elizabeth with an OBE for Services to Preaching and Literature. He is regarded by Banner of Truth Trust as one of the 20 greatest preachers of all time.
Now here is the excerpt from Boreham's book, A Bunch of Everlasting and the text that awoke Martin Luther-
It was the unveiling of the Face of God! Until this great transforming text flashed its light into the soul of Luther, his thought of God was a pagan thought. And the pagan thought is an unjust thought, an unworthy thought, a cruel thought.
Look at this Indian devotee! From head to foot he bears the marks of the torture that he has inflicted upon his body in his frantic efforts to give pleasure to his god. His back is a tangle of scars. The flesh has been lacerated by the pitiless hooks Martin Luther's by which he has swung himself on the terrible churuka. Iron spears have been repeatedly run through his tongue. His ears are torn to ribbons. What does it mean? It can only mean that he worships a fiend! His god loves to see him in anguish! His cries of pain are music in the ears of the deity whom he adores! This ceaseless orgy of torture is his futile endeavour to satisfy the idol's lust for blood.
Luther made precisely the same mistake. To his sensitive mind, every thought of God was a thing of terror. 'When I was young,' he tells us, it happened that at Eisleben, on Corpus Christi day, I was walking with the procession, when, suddenly, the sight of the Holy Sacrament which was carried by Doctor Staupitz, so terrified me that a cold sweat covered my body and I believed myself dying of terror.' All through his convent days he proceeds upon the assumption that God gloats over his misery. His life is a long drawn out agony. He creeps like a shadow along the galleries of the cloister, the walls echoing with his dismal moanings. His body wastes to a skeleton; his strength ebbs away : on more than one occasion his brother monks find him prostrate on the convent floor and pick him up for dead. And all the time he thinks of God as One who can find delight in these continuous torments! The just shall live, he says to himself, by penance and by pain. The just shall live by fasting: the just shall live by fear.
'The just shall live by fear!' Luther mutters to himself every day of his life.
'The just shall live by faith!' says the text that breaks upon him like a light from heaven.
'By fear! By fear!'
'By faith! By faith!'
With the coming of the text, Luther passes from the realm of fear into the realm of faith. It is like passing from the rigours of an arctic night into the sunshine of a summer day; it is like passing from a crowded city slum into the fields where the daffodils dance and the linnets sing; it is like passing into a new world; it is like entering Paradise!
------------------
Further Reading--
You can read the Boreham book either online or download it here
It is available at Amazon here
Documentary video on Frank Boreham, Navigating Strange Seas part 1 of 4, here
7-part essay series on FW Boreham here
Warren Wiersbe on Boreham, here
I love to read about conversions. I get so thrilled!
ReplyDeleteI thought I read somewhere that Martin Luther would go up the Scala Santa in Rome on his knees. Scala Santa-“the holy stairs” –the idolatry of Rome. While he was going up is when his conversion took place. Correct me if I'm wrong please. I don't remember.