Wordless Book

This article is about the Christian evangelistic book. For the narrative genre, see Wordless novel. For the alchemical text, see Mutus Liber.

Open-air preaching in China using the Wordless Book[1]

The Wordless Book is a Christian evangelistic book. Evidence points to it being invented by the famous London Baptist preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon, in a message given on January 11, 1866[2] to several hundred orphans regarding Psalm 51:7 "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."[3] It is called a "book", as it is usually represented with pages, although it can be shown on a single page or banner.

The book consists of several blocks of pure color that, in sequence, represent a nonverbal catechism about basic Christian teachings for the instruction of children, the illiterate, or people of different cultures.[4] The presentation of the book is meant to be a verbal experience, however, providing the "reader" a visual cue to expound Christian doctrine extemporaneously or in impromptu situations.

  1. ^ Taylor 1892.
  2. ^ Spurgeon, Charles Haddon, Sermon.
  3. ^ Spurgeon 1911, p. 565.
  4. ^ Austin 2007, pp. 1–10.