Publisher’s Preface
Publisher’s Preface
Abingdon Press is delighted to bring back into print The Word Became Flesh. It was one of E. Stanley Jones’s best-loved books—both for readers and for the author himself.
Initially published in 1963, The Word Became Flesh is the book in which E. Stanley Jones gathered the whole of Christian faith into one concept. As he explains in the introduction, he considered “the Word became flesh” to be the most important verse in all of Scripture, setting Christianity apart from other religions. And of course he was well versed in the great faiths of the world, having traveled the world over as a missionary and evangelist and having served in India for many years.
For this edition, the publisher has made some minor changes to language that would likely distract today’s reader from the timeless magnificence of the content. References to humanity, no longer expressed as men and mankind, have been updated. Some references to God have been recast to avoid masculine pronouns. Thee, thou, and thine, mostly in the prayers, have been changed to you, your, and yours. Moslems, Mohammedans, and Mohammedens have been changed to Muslims. The term Negro appeared in the first edition, but not always to refer to Americans of African descent. The term has been changed to black. A corporate executive’s high salary—$20,000 at the time—is now mentioned without a dollar figure attached.
The use of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible has been retained.