Other Bible Students

views updated

Other Bible Students

★1139 ★

The Church (in Augusta, Maine)

Current address not obtained for this edition.

The Church (in Augusta, Maine) is a fellowship that grew up around the ministry of Gene Edwards. Edwards, a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, was on his way to becoming an outstanding Southern Baptist minister, but during his early years in the pastorate became discouraged with the way the denomination treated people, which led to the further conclusion that Christianity, in general, was dead. Reading a copy of The Normal Christian Church Life by Watchman Nee led him to the Local Church (a Chinese movement that had developed out of the Plymouth Brethren) and through the rest of the decade he associated himself with Witness Lee.

In 1969 Edwards moved to Santa Barbara, California, where he associated with a group of independent Christians formerly affiliated with Campus Crusade for Christ, an independent Evangelical campus ministry. While living in Santa Barbara, Edwards broke with Witness Lee. The small group became known as the Church in Isla Vista (the name of the unincorporated community adjacent to the University of California-Santa Barbara). By the spring of 1973 there were approximately 225 members, but the group was decimated with internal discord, and a split cost it the great majority of support. The remaining members formed a commune and held all their possessions in common.

In 1976 many of the older members left Santa Barbara for various spots around the world (Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Hawaii, Thailand, and Nepal) where they began missionary work. Edwards worked for a year in Canada. Then in 1981, Edwards dissolved the work in Isla Vista and moved with some of the members to Maine. By this time, communal living had been abandoned. In Maine, Edwards established a new congregation. He also authored a number of books that have been widely circulated through Christian bookstores.

The Church in Augusta (and affiliated groups) follows a conservative dispensational Evangelical faith that carries with it the strong critique of denominational Christianity, which the Plymouth Brethren passed to the Local Church. Part of that critique included the unwillingness to accept any name other than "the Church" with some geographical designation to distinguish it from other groupings.

Membership: Not reported.

Sources:

Edwards, Gene. The Divine Romance. Gardiner, ME: Christian Books Publishing House, 1984. 207 pp.

——. The Early Church. Isla Vista, CA: Christian Books, 1974.

——. How It 'All Began. Isla Vista, CA: The Church in Isla Vista, (1975). 37 pp.

——. Letter to a Devastated Christian. Augusta, ME: Christian Books, 1984. 47 pp.

——. Our Mission. Gardiner, ME: Christian Books, 1980. 211 pp.

★1140 ★

The Church Which Is Christ's Body

Current address not obtained for this edition.

The nondenominational theme which was so pronounced in Plymouth Brethren thinking found an ally in the person of Maurice M. Johnson, a former minister with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MECS). Licensed to preach in Texas in 1912, he moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1921 as assistant pastor at Trinity, the congregation of Robert Schuler, the Methodist pastor. In 1925, he withdrew from the MECS, objecting to the Church's church-school literature and its ministerial training course. With seventy-five followers, he established an independent Maranatha Tabernacle, but two years later withdrew from it and from his role as a salaried pastor and "began to preach only as a minister of Jesus Christ in the church which is Christ's Body." As he traveled about preaching, a fellowship of Christians, both members and those called to preach, emerged.

The distinctive feature of this fellowship is its refusal to be known by "any denominational name," even such a nondescript name as the "brethren." The group also refuses to incorporate. Members do not use any titles, such as "Reverend," which would distinguish clergy and laity, though they do recognize divinely given offices of pastor, evangelist, teacher, elder, and deacon. In this age, there are no longer apostles and prophets. Members believe that all people who have been convicted of their sins, have personal faith in Christ, and have been added to his body are fellow-members of the church which is Christ's Body. Members of the fellowship think of themselves as merely "some members of the church which is Christ's Body," outside all man-made organizations. Whenever two or more Christians gather for fellowship they constitute a Christian assembly, a local manifestation of the church.

The fellowship teaches fundamental Christianity, including belief in the Trinity, the incarnation of Christ and his finished work on the cross, and the Bible as the only guide. Members see the Bible interpreted in terms of God's successive dispensations. We live in the dispensation begun at Pentecost, when believers began to be baptized by the Lord with one Spirit into one body. Ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper are not practiced in the present dispensation. Ordination is considered an act of recognition by an assembly that God has called an individual to the office of elder. Members do not object to saluting the flag and do not endorse conscientious objection to military service.

Assemblies are centers of aggressive evangelism. Ministers are supported by the assemblies, but do not receive a regular salary. A vigorous tract and radio ministry has been established. Maurice Johnson received mail in Orangeville, California, though there are no formal headquarters of the autonomous assemblies. Other leaders include Berl Chisum of Los Angeles, James Cox of Charlottesville, Virginia, and Jack Langford of Fort Worth, Texas. There are assemblies in Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, San Luis Obispo, Sacramento, and other places in California; Fort Worth, Texas; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Charlottesville, Virginia. No membership records are kept because identifying church members is considered a prerogative of God, the head of the church.

Membership: No membership records available.

Sources:

A Federal Court Acknowledges Christ's True Church. Fort Worth, TX: Manney Company, [1963].

★1141 ★

The (Local) Church

℅ Living Stream Ministry
1853 W. Ball Rd.
Anaheim, CA 92804

The group that is variously known as the Little Flock or the Local Church was founded in the 1920s in China by Ni Shutsu, popularly known by the English translation of his name, Watchman Nee (1903-1972). Nee was born into a Chinese Christian family, his grandfather serving as a Congregationalist minister and his parents faithful Methodists. He changed his given name, Ni Shutsu (Henry Nee) to To-Sheng (Watchman), as a constant reminder to himself that he was a bell-ringer whose purpose was to raise up people for God.

From a nominally religious youth, he was converted by Dora Yu, a Methodist evangelist, and soon afterward began working with Margaret E. Barber, an independent missionary through whom he discovered the writings of John Nelson Darby and the exclusive Plymouth Brethren. He adopted Darby's nondenominational approach to church organization and soon emerged as the leader of a small band of evangelical Christians. By the end of the decade he had made contact with that branch of the Brethren led by James Taylor and at their invitation visited England in 1933. They, however, soon broke relationships with Nee because of his unauthorized fellowship with the Honor Oak Christian Fellow-ship, a non-Brethren group headed by T. Austin Sparks.

From its modest beginning in Foochow, Nee's movement spread through China. During the 1930s, he traveled widely and founded congregations based upon his idea that there should be only one local church (i.e., congregation) in each city as the basic expression of the unity of Christianity (in the face of divisive denominationalism). More than two local churches were raised up by his ministry between 1922 and 1952 (when the Chinese revolution ended the spread of Christianity). Nee also authored more than 50 books, mostly on Christian life and church life. His mature view of the church is found in his most famous book, The Normal Christian Church Life. He also authored the The Spiritual Man, in which he developed his understanding of the tripartite nature of human beings as body, soul, and spirit.

The new People's Republic of China, following its rise to power in 1949, accused Nee (and by association the churches affiliated with him) of being a spy for the Americans and the Nationalist government. He was first exiled from Shanghai and then in 1952 imprisoned. He died in prison in 1972.

During the 1930s, Nee gained a follower in the person of Witness Lee, a former Protestant minister who founded, established, and became an elder of the church at Chefoo. He joined Nee in the ministry in 1932 and within a few years was among Nee's most valuable assistants. After a three-year absence fighting tuberculosis, Lee rejoined Nee in full-time work in 1948, on the eve of the Chinese Revolution. Nee sent Lee to Taiwan where the church was to flourish and spread around the Pacific Basin.

Members migrating to the United States brought the movement to the West Coast. Lee moved to America in 1962 and founded Living Stream Ministry. He has since been recognized as the leading full-time worker among the local churches, and has provided overall direction for the spread of the Local Church. He also has been a source for innovation in the movement by his introduction of several theological emphases not found in the writings of Watchman Nee and his initiation of several practices such as "pray reading" and "calling upon the name of the Lord," both of which have become the subject of controversy.

Organization. The Local Church affirms the unity of the church, the corporate nature of church life, and the direct head-ship of Christ over the church. Great emphasis is thus placed on church life, meeting together (several times a week), and the function and responsiblity of each member in keeping alive a relationship with God and sharing the duties of congregational life. In rejecting the clergy-laity distinction, a pattern for the practical expression of the church's life has been established.

The Local Church is organized as a fellowship of autonomous congregations, one in each city. Each congregation is led by a small group of elders, two to five men drawn from the congregation's recognized leaders, who teach, preach, and administer the congregation's temporal affairs. There are also a small number of men who have an apostolic function, who travel among the local churches as teachers and leadership trainers and start new congregations in those cities where the Local Church is not yet organized. Such men, designated workers, organize their efforts, more or less formally, as an independent ministry. In the case of Witness Lee, for example, his work is incorporated as the Living Stream Ministry, and is currently the most prominent apostolic endeavor among the Local Churches.

As with the Plymouth Brethren, the adoption of Darby's "nondenominational" stance created a problem as Nee's movement took no name by which to be denominated. The Local Church sees itself as simply the Church. The term "local church" is a convenient designation but not a name. Local congregations call themselves "The Church in (name of the city)."

The Local Church has generally spread through the happenstance movement of members who would organize a congregation in a new city or the efforts of the apostolic workers. The church in the United States was initially started by members who migrated from Taiwan. However, in recent years, with Lee's encouragement, the Local Church has adopted a new strategy, which they call the "Jerusalem Principle," by which church members as a small group migrate to a new locale for the single purpose of seeding a new congregation.

Beliefs. The local churches follow the teachings found in the voluminous writings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. A convenient summary is found in a booklet, "The Beliefs and Practices of the Local Churches" (reprinted in The Encyclopedia of American Religions: Creeds). The statement professes a belief in fundamental Christianity, similar to that if the Plymouth Brethren, and affirms belief in the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the virgin birth of Jesus, the substitutionary atonement, the resurrection of Jesus, His second coming, and the verbal inspiration of the Bible.

Particular attention, as might be expected, is given to a treatment of the unity of the Church, the Body of Christ. Sectarianism, denominationalism, and interdenominationalism are all rejected, and the oneness of all believers in each locality affirmed.

The Local Church sees itself in a history of recovery (or restoration) of the biblical church. Since apostolic times the full life and unity of the Church was lost but a recovery began with Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation and has continued through the pietist recovery of Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians, John Wesley and the Methodists, and more recently the Plymouth Brethren. Through the local churches the Christian experience of the riches of Christ (i.e., the enjoyment of Christ as life), and the practice of church life according to the Scripture are being recovered. Some elements of the recovery have become the focus of controversy.

"Pray reading" is a devotional practice that uses the words of Scripture as the words of prayer. Individuals or groups will, when praying, repeat words and phrases from the Scripture over and over, frequently interjecting words of praise and thanksgiving, as a means of allowing the Scripture to impart an experience of the presence of God in the person praying. "Calling upon the name of the Lord" as the very name of the practice indicates, is an invocation of God by the repetition of phrases such as "O Lord Jesus."

"Burning" is a term to denote a close contact with God. When a person impresses another with the message of the Gospel, that person is seen as having been "burned." "Burning" is also an occasional practice by which objects symbolic of a person's pre-Christian existence or of a phase of lesser commitment are destroyed in a fire. Like "burning" objects from a rejected past, "burying," literally a rebaptism, is symbolic of a newer level of Christian commitment, and members of a local church might be baptized more than once.

Membership: In 1991 the Local Church listed congregations on six continents. The largest numbers are in the Pacific rim countries. Taiwan has 200 churches with 60,000 members. The combined United States and Canadian membership is 15,000 in 265 churches. There are 16,500 members in Spanish-speaking congregations in South and Central America. There are also churches in Europe, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. In spite of the intense persecution, it appears that congregations have survived in mainland China, and that the movement actually spread over the last decades to include tens of thousands of people.

Since the demise of the Soviet Union, the Local Churches have initiated evangelical work in Eastern Europe and Russia. As of 1992 the Local Church had congregations in Moscow and St. Petersburg and was developing work in other countries as well.

Periodicals: Voice. Available from Living Stream Ministry, Box 2121, Anaheim, CA 92804.

Remarks: A controversy that emerged in the 1970s between the Local Church and some prominent voices within the larger Evangelical Christian community culminated in a series of legal actions in the mid-1980s. Different writers, some known for their battle against some of the new religions, the so-called "cults," attacked the Local Church for heresy and its development of unique forms of Christian piety. Several books were written and several items on the Local Church appeared in the Christian "anticult" literature. Claiming libel and unable to get an apology for what it felt were unjust criticisms that were harming its ministry, the Local Chruch instituted several lawsuits which brought retractions and apologies from all but one organization, the Spiritual Counterfeits Project, which had published a book attacking the church. That case went to court and in 1985 an $11 million judgement for libel was rendered against the Spiritual Counterfeits Project.

Sources:

The Beliefs and Practices of the Local Churches. Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1978.

Duddy, Neil T., and the Spiritual Counterfeits Project. The God-Men. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1981.

Ford, Gene. Who Is the Real Mindbender? Anaheim, CA: The Author, 1977.

Freeman, William T. In Defense of the Truth. Seattle, WA: Northwest Christian Publications, 1981.

Kinnear, Angus I. Against the Tide. Ft. Washington, PA: Christian Literature Crusade, 1973.

Lee, Witness. Gospel Outlines. Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1980.

——. How to Meet. Taipei, Taiwan: Gospel Book Room, 1970.

——. The Practical Expression of the Church. Los Angeles: Stream Publishers, 1970.

Melton, J. Gordon. An Open Letter Concerning the Local Church, Witness Lee and the God-Men Controversy. Santa Barbara, CA: Institute for the Study of American Religion, 1985.

Nee, Watchman. The Normal Christian Church Life. Washington, DC: International Students Press, 1969.

Roberts, Dana. Understanding Watchman Nee. Plainfield, NJ: Haven Books, 1980.

Sparks, Jack. The Mind Benders. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1977.

★1142 ★

The Two-by-Two's

Current address not obtained for this edition.

The group of Christians called "Two-by-Twos" in this text are also referred to as Cooneyites, Go Preachers, and Tramp Preachers, but they claim no name but Christian. All of these names have been placed upon this somewhat anonymous group by outsiders. The group itself, though numbering in the tens (some suggest hundreds) of thousands of members in the United States, has remained virtually invisible. Members shun publicity, refuse to acquire church property, and issue no ministerial credentials or doctrinal literature, believing that the Bible (King James Version) is the only textbook and that, to be effective, the communication of spiritual life must take place orally, person-to-person. The only printed documents are hymnals. The distinctive feature of the movement has been sending forth, two by two, unmarried teams of preachers who, "as they go, preach" (Matt. 10:7).

The Two-by-Two's originated with William Irvine (1863-1947), a Scotsman and member of the Faith Mission founded in 1886 by Mr. John George Govan (1861-1927). The mission, which worked in neglected rural communities, spread to Ireland. Irvine was a leader at Menagh in County Tipperary. Taking his direction from a literal reading of the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 10, Irvine began to feel that the Faith Mission's practices related to renouncing the world were not as strict as called for in the scripture. By 1899 he had begun independent work and in 1901 formally severed any connection with the Faith Mission. Among the young preachers who joined him was Edward Cooney, a strong leader and zealous worker, from whom one of the derisive names comes. Cooney and Irvine, unfortunately, had differences, and Cooney withdrew from working with Irvine.

In 1903 Irvine held a convention at which the pattern for the next decades were set. Ministers were to give over their possessions to the work, renouncing their former life. They took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Following the meeting, ministers were dispersed to carry the gospel around the world– Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, China, South America, and the European mainland. Irvine, George Walker and Irving Weir brought the movement to the United States. They were soon joined by Jack Carroll, his sister Mae Carroll, William Cleland, Tom Clarke, George Beatty, Tom Grooms, John Burns, and Alfred Magowan. By the end of the decade the movement had spread across the eastern half of the United States. In the South, black preachers added their efforts. By 1923, the movement reached Hawaii.

During the years just prior to World War II, Irvine began to predict the end of the dispensation of grace in 1914. His prophetic zeal, as well as conflict over his role as a general overseer of the movement, led to schism and the ouster of Irvine from leadership of the movement which has since been led collectively by the overseers in the various fields. Irvine moved to Jerusalem and lived there for the rest of his life, supported by a small number of followers.

The Two-by-Two's originated not as a doctrinal movement, but as a response by young Christians to follow the example and admonitions of Christ in their life. Membership in the group involved the acceptance of a pattern of renunciation of the world rather than allegiance to a creed. Beginning with the evangelical faith common to free church Protestants in England at the turn of the century, the group took the Bible as their only creed and have allowed considerable variation in expression and belief. The most orthodox presentation of their faith appears in their hymnbook. Critics, primarily former members, have published excerpts of sermons of leading preachers which indicate that a unitarian theology which denies the Trinity and emphasizes the role of Jesus and human example is a prominent perspective and that further doctrinal variation from evangelical belief is present. Two ordinances are observed: adult believers baptism by immersion (including rebaptism of those who come from other church bodies) and the Lord's Supper, which is observed weekly. Most emphasis is placed upon a holy life indicated by modes of dress, no jewelry (except wedding rings), and generally, no television. Women wear no makeup and do not cut their hair. Conscientious objection to war is general, but not mandatory.

The fellowship has an "episcopal" polity. The United States and Canada are divided into fields, typically a state or province, each with an overseer (also called "senior servant" or "elder brother"). The overseers acting in fellowship exercise general supervision of the movement as a whole. The members are organized into house churches of from 12 to 20 members presided over by a bishop (or local elder). Members meet on Sunday for the breaking of bread and during the week for Bible study.

The missionary and evangelistic arm of the movement is supplied by the preachers. These unmarried "servants" travel in teams of two as successors of the Apostles (Matt. 10:1-7). They move into a new community, hold evangelistic services and gather a following. Members of the house churches will support any evangelistic services in their area. The preachers do not draw a salary, but are supported by the free-will gifts of the members.

There is an annual group meeting, or convention, of each field. It typically is held on a large farm, with members camping while in attendance. In these meetings, matters of work, doctrine, discipline, and policy are aired, and decisions are made. There are house churches in all 50 states and throughout Canada. George Walker, the last of the original preachers in America, died in 1981.

Reportedly, Edward Cooney, following his break with Irvine, came to the United States and began his own variation on Irvine's movement. Recent reports indicate that a few members survive, some in North America, but that there are no preachers, and that it is a dying group.

Membership: Not reported. In the mid-1980s there were 96 annual conventions held in the United States, with an average attendance of from 500 to 2,000 each. That attendance would indicate between 10,000 and 100,000 members in the United States, and possibly twice that number in other countries.

Remarks: Only in the late 1970s did substantive literature on the Two-by-Two's become available. Since that time, individual researchers have appeared who have gathered the scant literature (such as notices of conventions). To date only one book, by an ex-member and his wife, has appeared (though at least one other major study is projected). In the United States, Threshing Floor Ministries, headed by a former member, is collecting data (which has been reviewed in preparing this item for the Encyclopedia).

Critics of the movement have charged that it has concealed its origins, especially hiding its association with Irvine and its recent origin, and that it has presented a false front of evangelical orthodoxy when in fact it is completely heterodox. Because of the difficulty in gaining authoritative material about the group, and the contradictory reports on its normative beliefs, no assessment of the doctrinal issue is possible. There is, however, little doubt of its rejection of its early (and to some extent) unhappy history.

Sources:

Crow, Keith W. The Invisible Church. Master's thesis, University of Oregon, Eugene, 1964.

Hymns Old and New. Glasgow, Scotland: R. L. Allan and Son, 1951.

Parker, Doug, and Helen Parker. The Secret Sect. Pandle Hill, N.S.W., Aust.: The Authors, 1982.

Paul, William E. They Go About "Two by Two." Denver, CO: Impact Publications, 1977.

★1143 ★

Witness and Testimony Literature Trust and Related Centers

39 Honor Oak Rd.
London SE23 3SH, England

Theodore Austin-Sparks, a former member of the Baptist Church, left to found an independent meeting place in the Honor Oak suburb of London, England, for Christians who wished to fellowship together around the Lord Jesus Christ and not men. That ministry was conceived to be apart from and above traditional denominational barriers. The nondenominational approach manifests the influence of Plymouth Brethren. Austin-Sparks was also influenced by Jessie Penn-Lewis (1861-1927), a popular speaker and writer on the "deeper Christian life." The group that gathered under Austin-Sparks' ministry became known as the Honor Oak Christian Fellowhsip. The fellowship's distinctive emphasis, somewhat derived from Penn-Lewis, was upon the subjective work of the Cross in the Christian's life, an emphasis that many evangelical Christians saw as distracting from the prime work of witnessing to the faith. In the mid-1920s, Austin-Sparks began the publication of a periodical, A Witness and a Testimony, and later established the Witness and Testimony Literature Trust. The magazine was discontinued in 1972. Over the years, he published a number of books and pamphlets, most compiled from his spoken ministry. In 1939-40, he discovered his close agreement with Watchman Nee, Chinese founder of an evangelical movement popularly called the Little Flock or the Local Church. Nee spent 18 months with Austin-Sparks while the first edition of his most important books, The Normal Christian Life and Concerning Our Mission (later reissued as The Normal Christian Church Life) were translated with the assistance of the fellowship's members. While Austin-Sparks' ministry was never merged into that of Watchman Nee, the group remained on cordial terms for many years. Austin-Sparks shared many of Nee's emphases such as those of the two-fold expression of the church (local and universal) and the importance of the local assembly, which are reflected in his writings. However, he saw himself as part of an even more loosely organized movement of God that had many centers of like-minded Christians. Over the years such centers have been tied together filially and distinguished by their circulation of the literature of an informally "approved" set of teachers. When in England, such teachers would speak at the Honor Oak Centre, and Austin-Sparks would speak at their centers when traveling around the world, but no direct "responsibility" was shared for the separate ministries. The various ministries would also circulate the literature produced by Austin-Sparks and other associated writers. Some of these teachers, such as Bakht Singh, popular Indian leader, were associated with Watchman Nee but not with Witness Lee, the recognized leader of the largest segment of Nee's movement.

Austin-Sparks' materials began to reach America soon after the fellowship was organized, and he made his first visit to the United States in 1925. Among the early centers of his support was the Hepzebah House in New York City and the Almquist Christian Book Nook in Northfield, Minnesota, which distributed Austin-Sparks literature. By the 1960s the trust regularly recommended three American centers which distributed its literature: M.O.R.E. (Mail Ordering Religious Education), the Westmoreland Chapel in Los Angeles, California, and Convocation Literature Sales in Norfolk, Virginia. M.O.R.E. was headed by Dean Baker of Indianapolis, Indiana. It absorbed the Northfield work as well as a periodical, The Ultimates, edited by DeVern Fromke, an early friend and supporter of Austin-Sparks. M.O.R.E. was supported by the Sure Foundation. Westmoreland Chapel was an independent congregation in Los Angeles, pastored for a decade by Carl B. Harrison, formerly of the Honor Oak Centre. Convocation Literature Sales, now known as Testimony Book Ministry, was headed by Ernest L. Chase, who also organized the Atlantic States Christian Convocation, held annually since 1966 to 1972 at Camp Wabanna, Mayo, Maryland. The Testimony Book Ministry is a nonprofit organization that reprints the heritage left by Austin-Sparks. As of 1988 approximately 40 titles have been kept in print. More loosely affiliated was the Rev. John Myers and Voice Christian Publications of Northridge, California. During the 1960s and 1970s Myers edited a quarterly, Voice in the Wilderness. The Voice (after 1970, Recovery) promoted the views of both Nee and Austin-Sparks, but is not limited to supporting them.

Austin-Sparks was in fellowship with Nee for a while but did not follow Nee's ideas completely on the local church. He broke off relations with Witness Lee's followers in 1958. In recent years literature has been reprinted primarily by Christian Fellowship Publishers of Richmond, Virginia. Testimony Book Ministry also distributes the books of Bakht Singh. In England, long-time associate of Austin-Sparks, Harry Foster, currently publishes Toward the Mark, a periodical originating in Weston-Super-Mare, Avon.

Those congregations and centers most closely associated with Honor Oak and the Witness and Testimony Literature Trust are distinguished from the local church founded by Watchman Nee in that the former generally does not accept the writings and teachings of Witness Lee.

Membership: Not reported.

Periodicals: A Witness and A Testimony. Available from Witness and Testimony Literature Trust, 39 Honor Oak Rd., London, England, S.E.23. • Toward the Mark, 26a Lower Bristol Rd., Weston-Super-Mare, Avon, BS23, England.