PREFACE

This volume went through a number of printings in Pakistan, where it was also translated into Urdu. In 1969 The Christian Literature Crusade published an international edition, which was a revised and enlarged. New Creation Publications republished it in 1976, and now, in 1988 a further printing has taken place.

The book was first written in 1959, when I was a missionary working in Pakistan. Two Muslim officials were captivated by the book and declared themselves–as a result of reading it–to be secret disciples. Many missionaries on the Indian sub-continent, as also Christian Indians and Pakistanis, told me the book had been most helpful. In 1973 when I was in Papua New Guinea, I discovered a group of missionaries who had virtually gathered around this volume, having been greatly helped by it. In fact over the years it seems to have served a useful purpose.

My own understanding of God's love has grown over the years, and yet when I re-read this small volume I think that the essence of what I know is contained in this book, even–in some cases–if only germinally. We had thought we would not republish it, but again–as in the past–there have been demands for it. The Principal of a theological college urged his students to read it, if only to grasp the truth of the Atonement, for he himself had discovered a new understanding of it. A clergyman said it had revolutionized his thinking in regard to God's love, and had deeply affected his life. A woman said it is the book to which she returns, time and again. Many such stories could be told. Even years after the last printing has been sold there are still enquiries by those who wish to obtain a copy.

So then, we print again. I know I would like to rewrite it, but somehow when a book is rewritten much of its charm and affects are lost. I myself consider it has weaknesses in regard to style and the arrangement of its materials, yet probably I would think this regarding most of the other books I have written. That it has been helpful to many and life-changing to some seem sufficient justification for reprinting it, and I trust it will continue to be useful.

Geoffrey Bingham.

Coromandel East, June, 1988