Activities for the Wordless Book: A Short History of the Wordless Book

The Scripture Lady loves creating activities for the Wordless Book! Here is one called “A Short History of the Wordless Book.”

WORLDWIDE HISTORY OF THE WORDLESS BOOK FROM 1866 TO TODAY

To truly understand the wonder of this book, let’s begin with its history.  In 1866 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, Charles Spurgeon told about an old preacher who wanted to remind himself of what God had done for him.  He clipped three colored papers together; a black page, a red page, and a white page.

The black page reminded him of his sinfulness; the red page represented Christ’s blood poured out for him, and the white page stood for the cleansing he received.  Mr. Spurgeon challenged his listeners to “read” this book with no words and added, “May God the Holy Spirit help us do so to our profit.”

Nine years later in 1875, D. L. Moody used this little book in Liverpool, England and another page had been added.  The gold page represented heaven.

Fanny Crosby, the blind author of hundreds of famous hymns, loved children.  “Tell us a story, Fanny,” they often begged.  Fanny would bring forth her WORDLESS BOOK and tell them the story again and again.

In 1895 the WORDLESS BOOK traveled to India.  Amy Carmichael and her helper made a satin flag of gold, black, red, and white.  They raised it up in a cart pulled by oxen and went from village to village using it as a text to spread the gospel.

Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) began to print the WORDLESS BOOK in the United States in 1939.  They added the green page to represent Christian growth.  It was CEF who published instructions on how to use the book and gave Scripture verses for each page.

This article is by LaVonne Gunderson

Here are some other links to great information on The Wordless Book:

*  A Telling of the Wordless Book Story online from Berean.org

*  Charles H. Spurgeon’s sermon on The Wordless Book

*  The Wordless Book Printables from Spell Outloud

*  Scripture Lady’s Wordless Book Game

*  Scripture Lady’s Wordless Book Song as part of The Scripture Lady Sings the Gospel CD

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“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Romans 3:23