“I have noticed that young people have a strong desire to read and broaden their horizons We should meet this desire, or to put it more accurately, take advantage of it by getting a hold of good books, biographies, etc. Translate good books that are easy to read. Allow them to get insight into the work and lives of holy men and women. Skjulte Skatter Publishing could become a repository for books like these.” 1
Johan Oscar Smith wrote this in a letter to his brother Aksel in 1918. However, the brothers’ commitment to this cause had long been reflected in the magazine’s content. From the very beginning, they had published short excerpts from works by a wide variety of authors.
What most of these texts had in common, however, was that they promoted in various ways the message of sanctification, which the brothers were so eager to convey.
Johan goes on to write in the letter:
“Quite often I have been strengthened in faith by reading about these spiritual heroes. It ignites and fans the flames of zeal, and this is needed because people so easily fall asleep.” 2
The spiritual heroes
The Smith brothers thus found many examples of “spiritual heroes” in the history of Christianity —people who shared their own longing.
Important sources for the Smith brothers included a number of authors from their own time or the recent past, such as the German sanctification preacher Georg Steinberger and the Welsh author and preacher Jessie Penn-Lewis. The French mystic Madame Guyon, whose works were widely read by many free church Christians, is also well represented.
The same goes for the Swedish priest and preacher Nils Peter Wetterlund. In the early 1930s, Johan O. Smith also included large sections of a book written by the American theologian and preacher Reuben A. Torrey, which defends the Bible’s authority as the word of God.
But early Church Fathers such as Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, and Polycarp of Smyrna were also included.
The magazine’s archives also contain excerpts from other well-known authors. One of these is Thomas à Kempis, the author of The Imitation of Christ. His writings were included eight times. The book is considered the second most widely read book in the world (after the Bible) and is regarded today as a Christian classic.
In total, excerpts from over 40 different authors were published between 1912 and 1917. The selection was later expanded further. This gives an idea of the breadth of the Smith brothers’ own reading.
At all times
Although Smith was quite blunt in his criticism of many of his contemporaries—preachers and Christian leaders alike—he was far from being a nostalgic who longed for a bygone era. Smith realized that in every era there had been people who kept this message alive. In one of his articles in the Hidden Treasures magazine, he writes, drawing on the prophet Ezekiel, chapter 22, verse 30:
“And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.”
Smith first writes about the biblical heroes who have stood in the breach to defend the land. He goes on to write:
“God has continued to seek for people who would stand in the gap during times of apostasy, and down through the Dark Ages until today, He has found men and women who have been willing.” 3
Johan O. Smith’s description of the “spiritual heroes” whose stories so strengthened his faith therefore also applies to a whole host of other Christian authors, including people who lived after Smith’s time, right up to the present day.
In fact, there is a wide range of Christian figures from all eras and from very diverse backgrounds who have been moved by Christianity’s message of sanctification.
Many of them took considerable personal risks by speaking out against the sins of their time. Many were imprisoned and even lost their lives.
A keen interest in sanctification
A common thread among many of these has been a keen interest in sanctification.
Not merely as a phenomenon to be observed, analyzed, and contemplated.
But as a concrete, life-changing message given by God to humanity through Jesus.
The purpose of this website is to promote the message of sanctification. We believe one of the best ways to do this is precisely by highlighting, publishing writings by, and telling the stories of the various “spiritual heroes” from history.
In their own way, in their own time, and in their own environment, they have each helped to promote sanctification—in writing, in speech, and in their lives.
Learn more
Here you can read the previous articles in this series:
Part 1 – What is Sanctification – and why is it important?
Part 2 – What does it mean to follow Jesus?
Part 3 – Johan Oscar Smith and Sanctification
