Wenn Gott seine Wahrheit ganz deutlich machen will, lässt er sie Fleisch und Blut werden. Als er sich den Menschen und Engeln selbst offenbaren wollte "wurde das Wort Fleisch und wohnte unter uns, und wir sahen seine Herrlichkeit." Der Mensch ist die große Offenbarung Gottes. Alle Ehre dem "geschriebenen Wort Gottes", aber die entscheidende Offenbarung Gottes dem einzelnen gottabgewandten Menschen gegenüber erfolgt in der Regel nicht durch die Bibel, sondern durch einen "lebendigen Brief". Verwandelte Leben, "neue Geschöpfe", triumphale Erfahrungen, Saulusse die zu Paulussen werden - das muss in jedem Zeitalter das unwiderlegbare Zeugnis der Christen sein. Gegen solch eine Demonstration der Macht und Gnade Gottes kann keine Skepsis dauerhaft triumphieren.
Lyman Beecher sagte einmal: "Ein Herz, das von der Liebe Gottes entflammt ist, ist die größte erschaffene Kraft im Universum." Aber um eine solche Kraft zu sein, muss das Herz diese Liebe nicht nur selber fühlen, sondern von ihr durchglüht werden. Millionen Gemeindeglieder auf dem toten Boden trockener Orthodoxie, die sittsam aber weltlich leben, haben weniger Kraft als ein einziger Mensch, in dessen Innersten eine große Vision brennt wie bei einem Paulus, Luther oder Wesley. "Ihr seid meine Zeugen", spricht der Herr.
Dieses Buch ist eine Zusammenfassung der Geschichten von "vierzig Zeugen". Ihre Lebensumstände und Glaubensüberzeugungen sind ganz verschieden. Einigen ist Gottesfurcht schon in die Wiege gelegt, bei anderen war der Herzensboden erst so widerstandsfähig, dass nur die Gnade ihn überwinden und das Herz verwandeln konnte. Und so lernen wir viel von denen, die sich um den Erlöser der Welt versammelt haben, und wir hören ihre vereinten Stimmen, die verkünden, dass Jesus Christus "ein mächtiger Retter ist", "der bis aufs Äußerste zu erretten vermag" und "denen helfen kann, die versucht werden".
Hannah Whitall Smith (1832 - 1911)
Was a lay speaker and author in the Holiness movement in the United States and the Higher Life movement in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. She was also active in the Women's suffrage movement and the Temperance movement. Hannah Whitall Smith’s book The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life (1875) is an extremely popular book of Christian mysticism and practical Holiness theology. It is still widely read today. She wrote her spiritual autobiography, The Unselfishness of God And How I Discovered It, in 1903.In 1870 Hannah Whitall Smith wrote what has become a classic of joyous Christianity, The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life. The title barely hints at the depths of that perceptive book. It is no shallow "four easy steps to successful living." Studiously, the writer defines the shape of a full and abundant life hid in God. Then she carefully reveals the difficulties to this way and finally charts the results of a life abandoned to God. What is the Christian's secret to a happy life? It is best summed up by her chapter entitled "The Joy of Obedience." Joy comes through obedience to Christ, and joy results from obedience to Christ. Without obedience joy is hollow and artificial.
Hannah Whitall Smith1832-1911
Hannah Tatum Whitall Smith was a lay speaker and author in the Holiness movement in the United States and the Higher Life movement in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. She was also active in the Women's suffrage movement and the Temperance movement.
Hannah Whitall Smith's book The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life (1875) is an extremely popular book of Christian principles and practical Holiness theology. It is still widely read today. She wrote her spiritual autobiography, The Unselfishness of God And How I Discovered It, in 1903. Many publications of that book omit the three chapters which explain how she became a Christian universalist.
Hannah Whitall Smith was a Quaker born in Philadelphia in 1832. Her book 'The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life' has become a classic. Published in 1870, it was a beacon of encouragement in the age in which it was written, and continues to inspire men and women to a more joyful life with Christ. It has sold nearly 2 million copies.
Smith was by no means a dour servant of Christ but rather, her life expressed the joy found in complete surrender. The 'secret' to a happy life, is to trust implicitly in the promises of the Bible. Her goal was not to impress the scholar but to elevate the simple man or woman who longed for a more consecrated way of living.
On a theological level, the sad climax of Hannah's life and ministry was similar to that of her husband. She was raised in the Society of Friends (Quakerism), and for some time was associated with the Plymouth Brethren. She was probably saved under their influence, and thus came to know something of the growth truths.
US evangelist, reformer, suffragist, author. She championed feminist causes and the right of young women to attend college; co-founded Women's Christian Temperance Union. Deeply practical, her writings deal directly with the day to day struggles of ordinary people. She weaves her scriptural theology in and out of the stories of people's lives.
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