In His Steps - Couverture rigide

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 1565637941 ISBN 13 : 9781565637948

Synopsis

Book by Sheldon Charles M

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

In His Steps - What would Jesus Do? by Charles M. Sheldon. A CLASSIC – COMPLETE NEW VERSION. In His Steps is a best-selling book written by Charles Monroe Sheldon. First published in 1896, the book has sold more than 30,000,000 copies, and ranks as one of the best-selling books of all time. The full title of the book is In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do?. Though variations of the subtitle "What would Jesus do" have been used by Christians for centuries as a form of imitatio dei, the imitation of God, it gained much greater currency following publication of the book. Chicago Advance, the original publisher, failed to register the copyright in the proper form. Other publishers took advantage of this, publishing the book without paying the author royalties. Thus lower prices and multiple publishers led to larger sales. In His Steps takes place in the railroad town of Raymond, probably located in the eastern U.S.A. (Chicago, IL and the coast of Maine are mentioned as being accessible by train). The main character is the Rev. Henry Maxwell, pastor of the First Church of Raymond, who challenges his congregation to not do anything for a whole year without first asking: “What Would Jesus Do?” Other characters include Ed Norman, senior editor of the Raymond Daily Newspaper, Rachel Winslow, a talented singer, and Virginia Page, an heiress, to name a few. The novel begins on a Friday morning when a man out of work appears at the front door of Henry Maxwell while the latter is preparing for that Sunday’s upcoming sermon. Maxwell listens to the man’s helpless plea briefly before brushing him away and closing the door. The same man appears in church at the end of the Sunday sermon, walks up to “the open space in front of the pulpit,” and faces the people. No one stops him. He quietly but frankly confronts the congregation—“I’m not complaining; just stating facts.”—about their compassion, or apathetic lack thereof, for the jobless like him in Raymond. Upon finishing his address to the congregation, he collapses, and dies a few days later. That next Sunday, Henry Maxwell, deeply moved by the events of the past week, presents a challenge to his congregation: “Do not do anything without first asking, ‘What would Jesus do?’” This challenge is the theme of the novel and is the driving force of the plot. From this point on, the rest of the novel consists of certain episodes that focus on individual characters as their lives are transformed by the challenge.

Biographie de l'auteur

Charles Monroe Sheldon was an American preacher and inspirational writer during the time a religious social-reform movement was prominent, known as the Social Gospel period. The group, mostly liberal Protestants, dedicated themselves to the betterment of industrialized society through application of the biblical principles of charity and justice. In 1889, Sheldon founded the Central Congregational Church in Topeka, Kansas. He would read a series of his stories to the evening congregation and those stories proved popular when printed. The most successful series, In His Steps, concerned the inhabitants of a town who pledged themselves to live for a year as Jesus would live. It was first published serially in 1896 and in book form in 1897 and for 60 years was the largest-selling book in the United States after the Bible, with sales estimated at more than 8 million copies.

À propos de cette édition

• ISBN 10: 1565637941
• ISBN 13: 9781565637948
• Reliure: Relié