Back in the 50's, much play was made by Brooklyn about AH Macmillans book entitled "Faith on the March". Published by Prentice-Hall, it's the only time that I've ever known the WT openly advertise a product that was supposedly not of it's own making.
Interestingly, all UK congregations received a letter from the WT with a request to every active publisher. Each publisher was to visit their local library and ask that the book "Faith on the March" be reserved for them. The idea was that the libraries would feel compelled to order the book and put it on its shelves because of the sudden enormous demand that would occur.
It actually worked. Our local library promptly stocked the book in response to the many requests for it. I found it vastly amusing, particularly when my Mum dutifully went to collect the reserved book and put it on our bookshelf alongside the copy that we'd bought earlier. As far as I know, no members of the public actually asked for the book, but every JW in the area had the very same copy on their private bookshelf over the next couple of years.
Here's how the WT aclaimed the book in 1957:
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A new book in the field of inspirational literature has just been released by Prentice-Hall, Inc., of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and is available at principal bookstores in the United States and Canada. It offers a stirring and dramatic message of hope to persons of every religious background. It is the book Faith on the March written by A. H. Macmillan, carrying the subtitle on the jacket, "My life of joyous service with Jehovah’s witnesses." Here is outlined, not just the story of one man’s faith, but the faith of an entire religious movement that has successfully carried it through some of the stormiest years any religion ever experienced.
As stated in a letter to the reader written as a foreword by N. H. Knorr, president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society: "This book is more than the story of one man’s growing faith. I believe Mr. Macmillan has made a sincere effort to capture and portray the very essence of the religion that he acknowledges has given meaning to his life. He reveals Jehovah’s witnesses as human. He admits their mistakes and . . . reveals their hopes, and presents sound Scriptural reasons for the appeal of these hopes to all kinds of men. The book is a straightforward and truthful account. It is unique only in the personal experiences of A. H. Macmillan. In many other respects it could be the story of any one of hundreds of Jehovah’s witnesses whom I have known."
It is on this theme that the pattern for the book is set in its opening chapter, "A Turning-Point": "Today people are feeling after religion, because life without the truth about God and man does not satisfy. These people fumbling about don’t know where this world is going. Once I, too, did not know. I did not know where I myself was going. . . .
"What I have found thousands of people are still finding every year. And they are people just like you and me, because they come from all nationalities, races, walks of life and are of all ages. Truth is no respecter of persons. It attracts all kinds of persons and those who are following it find themselves being drawn ever closer together, away from a world that is showing a rapidly diminishing regard for personal, or even national, integrity.
"Now I do know where I am going. I am confident too that I know where the world is going. . . . When I first began to look for these answers they were not nearly so apparent as they now are. In fact, the evidences we now accept as everyday occurrences did not even exist. They were at that time only prophecies of the Bible that were being interpreted in many different ways by different groups. But one group of earnest Bible students presented matters in a way that made sense to me. Now I see my confidence was well grounded.
"You ask me why I am still an active part of that movement, why my zeal is keener and my conviction stronger than ever? I’ll tell you. It’s because I’ve lived to realize already much of the hope that so filled my young life. It’s because I’ve lived to see prophecies of the Bible which we held dear and sacred—yet which were mocked and scorned by unbelievers—already come true. It’s because I’ve lived to see this same movement hunted and persecuted by those who claimed to serve God until it lay beaten in death—only to survive and come to rebirth in a new way of life, reorganized for an even more powerful work, yet dedicated to the same standards of righteousness which have characterized its operation from the beginning. I have seen this movement hold fast to those standards, refusing to compromise them for the sake of expediency. I have seen ambitious men rise up within the organization and seek to pervert it, only to meet with complete defeat because the majority of those associated with this movement are unalterably dedicated to serve God, not man. I have found companionship, yes, real brotherhood, with people of all races and nations. These are the things I have desired from my youth.
"Can you tell me why a man who—not once, but many times—has seen things come into existence that he was told he would see; why a man who has watched the outworking of God’s foretold purpose and the fulfillment of prophecies;—can you, I ask, tell me why such a man should not have faith? My faith is stronger each day. And having seen so much come true already I am more and more confident that those things for which I still hope will some day be realized as well."
Growing out of this theme is the true story of a "faith on the march." The author’s long association with Charles Taze Russell qualifies him to narrate this beloved man’s early search for truth, the trials encountered and the rapid growth of interest in the message of the "dawn of the Millennial age." He carries the reader into the year 1914 with the hopes for the "end of the world" expected at that time, then explains why 1914 was not a disappointment and gives clear-cut evidences that the "time of the end" for Satan’s world did arrive that year. The internal rebellion that followed C. T. Russell’s death is graphically portrayed, providing an answer to all willful opposers of God’s organization. The 1918 trial of the Society’s officers, including the author himself, and their subsequent Atlanta prison experiences are detailed, followed by the uncertainty for the work upon release, then the growing enthusiasm and ultimate joy over the birth of the New World society. Legal battles, mob violence, the change in organizational structure to conform to primitive theocratic standards, international expansion, how the work is financed—all carry the reader through J. F. Rutherford’s administration as second president of the Society and into the third presidency, that of N. H. Knorr.
The author presents a living record to prove that religion is not a philosophy just to control man’s behavior or a formal ritual to prepare the "soul" for a "hereafter." He argues that the right religion is a way of life, a changed pattern of thinking in order to conform to specific requirements God has established for all who will have his approval. He pictures a completely New World society that is living that religion right now, that is rising out of the present order of greedy, wicked and selfish systems; a society that is composed of people from all races, kindreds and tongues, yet united in the common worship of God.
He shows this new way of life became necessary because of the disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, and how, as a result, death has stalked through the earth with no one to stop its ravages. He reminds the reader that Jesus Christ redeemed mankind by giving his life as a ransom nearly two thousand years ago, yet the enemy death still reigns supreme over humanity with Satan still at large as the god of this system of things and interfering with any attempts men make to improve their position. Only Jehovah God can correct the situation. His purpose to do so and how he will accomplish it form the theme of the entire Bible. "Whether we benefit by God’s program of activity depends entirely on how we view it and whether we are willing to accept it and gladly fulfill his requirements for us."
This is a book for our generation. It is born of a need of a world seeking stability, faith and assurance. With nations armed to the teeth with the most deadly weapons ever invented; with fear, hatred and suspicion sitting at the conference table; with distrust and deceit undermining even hard-won peace negotiations and efforts at disarmament—how small a spark would be needed to set the world aflame? Yet here is a hope that is tangible, reasonable and real.
From the pages of this book emerges a story of courage, of lives well spent, of self-sacrificing men who lived only for service to their God and to their neighbor. Here is evidence of hundreds of thousands of persons grasping and devouring knowledge, persons who are being rewarded with peace of mind and security of heart. These see and face the issue squarely: "Will you continue to support and bear up a system of things that has filled the earth with suffering, sorrow, sin and death? Or will you choose, and fit yourself for God’s love-filled new world?" Here is a story of faith tried and purified in the crucible, yet it is a joyful account filled with radiant optimism.
Speaking of the hope held out in the Bible the author asks in a closing appeal: "Too good to be true, you say? On the contrary, would it not be poor reasoning to conclude that fallen man could think of a better arrangement for the future of creatures, made in the image of Jehovah, than the all-wise loving Creator? . . . Have you ever asked yourself: ‘How much do I really love God? If I were to find that God’s Word, the Bible, contradicted what I have always believed, which would I follow? If I had to choose between some respected or dearly-loved individual and my Creator, what would be my decision? If I were suddenly forbidden by law to worship God, if continued worship might cost me my life, what would I do?’
"You may some day be confronted with such circumstances to determine whether you have the right religion. It may be a real battle for you, but I am sure that if you make the right choice it will give you peace of mind and will be pleasing to God. I have been faced with each one of these decisions and many others also, and today I am more determined than ever to keep on in my faith. It has made life worth living for me. It is still helping me to face the future without fear.
"I hope my story will help you to do the same. If it does, then it will have been worth the telling."
A. H. Macmillan<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
heh. Great stuff, eh?
Englishman.