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Personal from...
A longtime reader ofThe
Plain Truth
recently wrote our editorial staff: "Every article in your most
recent issue posed significan! problems and gave needed answers. 1 have read severa/ scientific
articles, but none so clear as yours in the April issue." Let me explain why to our readers.
1
HAO BEEN CONNECTED with magazines and
newspapers from 18 years of age.
Beginning six months before conversion, I was
discovering amazing new truths, vastly more
interesting and important than anything 1 had ever
known before. Having been a magazine writer, I
began writing in article form sorne of these TRUTHS
1 was discovering in the Bible.
ft was only natural that God led me, in that year of
1927, to conceive of a new magazine making PLAIN
these marvelous TRUTHS 1 had been discovering in the
Bible. 1wanted to get across toa biblically illiterate
publican UNDERSTANDING ofGod's Word.
1 felt then-and 1 know, now- that God was
leading me in this. My reading audience would be
the general public-not those who considered
themselves Bible students.
Most of my years jn magazines and newspapers
were devoted to writing advertising copy. And 1
learned there a basic principie that appl ies also to
writing articles.
It
is necessary to know bow
the
reader
thinks about a subject. You must approach
the reader from
his
point of view.
In my advertising years 1 made numerous surveys
to sample and determine consumer attitude toward
the product, service or whatever was being
advertised.
1 knew that the reading public generally was not
interested in the things of God. The world does not
think spiritually, but carnally. The worldly mind fills
itself with physical and mater ial interests. The
reading public is interested in games, sports,
entertainment. The television program managers
know this well. Tbey fill a major amount of their
time in these categories. They also know the public
is interested in world happenings. So news is allotted
important time slots on television.
But WHY did 1 want to publish a magazine called
The Plain Truth?
What was to be its PURPOSE?
June/July 1980
1had cometo understand, revealed in the Bible, the
source and cause of today's world evils, the knowledge
.ofthe true values (whereas the world seeks the false) ,
the PURPOSEofhuman life, and the WAY oflife that
brings peace, happiness, abundant well-being. The
world- even in its higher education-knows none of
these. I wanted a magazine that would deal with these
things-discuss to sorne extent the way man
/S,
the way
society is, the world evils, humanity's problems,
WHY
things in the world and in human life are as they are. l
wanted to view these things from the viewpoint of
Goo-see them as HE sees them- and give the reader
UNDERSTANDING ofthe better and theTRUE way.
In other words,
The Plain Truth
was envisioned, and
still is today, as a magazine dealing with human
interests, human ways, the ways of society, world
conditions and world events as they occur, family life,
human and personal problems- all seen from Goo's
viewpoint-and giving readers UNDERSTANDING ofthe
BETTER way of life which is Goo's wAv- based on the
principie of Goo's LAw!
There was no such magazine on earth. There is
none other today. Those magazines which deal
with the same or similar subjects and condüions
deal with them from the HUMAN point of view.
They offer nothing but HUMAN thinking, human
reasoning, and human, false ideas of solutions.
The Plain Truth
was founded to teach Goo's
WAY OF LIFE!
But the PURPOSE of
The Plain Truth
is
NOT
to
talk readers into being spiritually converted. This is
NOT the time when God is calling all to Him and
to repentance and to faith in Christ.
Remember, Jesus said, "No man can come to
me, except the Father draw him." Only those God
chooses to CALL
can
be converted NOW!
Nevertheless, God wants the Gospel of the
Kingdom of God proclaimed to them!
So, since none but the
(Continued on page 43)