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As in the other volumes in the They Knew Their God Series written by Edwin and Lillian Harvey, the men and women in this book are from a variety of eras, cultures, and denominational backgrounds. The first sketch presents us with the commentators Philip and Matthew Henry whose lives spanned the years 1631-1714. Philip began his ministry as an Anglican priest but refused to sign the Act of Uniformity and so became a non-conformist. The second and third sketches cover the lives of American Methodists Freeborn and Catherine Garretson, both born in the mid eighteenth century. Next comes John Gossner, a Roman Catholic priest from Bavaria who eventually and rather reluctantly became Protestant in order to have more freedom to preach the Word.

After Gossner comes John Hunt, an English Methodist who became a missionary to Fiji. Elizabeth Prentiss, an American Presbyterian follows Gossner. She was the daughter of Dr. Edward Payson and author of Stepping Heavenward. The seventh sketch introduces us to the Englishman, Lord Radstock, who ministered to the aristocracy of Russia and through whose ministry, the subject of the next sketch, the German infidel Frederick Baedeker, was converted to Christianity and who also served God in Russia. Irish born Frank Crossley follows Baedeker. Businessman, philanthropist, and preacher, Crossley’s sacrificial life had such an effect on the city of Manchester, that when he died, the Manchester Guardian commented: “Had Mr. Crossley lived in ancient times he would have been a prophet; had he lived in the Middle Ages he would have been a saint somewhat after the style of Francis of Assisi; living in the end of the nineteenth century, he was and remains a witness to the reality of those things to which the prophet and saint bore witness.” P. 154) Two women follow Crossley: the first is his wife Emily and the second, Baroness Von Wrede from Finland who became known as “Angel of the Prisons.” The thirteenth and last sketch in this book is about Henrietta Soltau, an Englishwoman and adherent of the Christian Brethren.
German, American, English, Finnish, Anglican, Methodist, Brethren, Presbyterian—the thirteen sketches of They Knew Their God Volume Four covers all this and much more. This book is published by Harvey Christian Publishers and is available in their Online Christian Bookstore.
Trudy Harvey Tait

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