Herbert Booth on The Salvation

The following quote comes from a very rare biography of HB written by F.C. Ottman.

Herbert Booth's definition of The Salvation Army:

"What is the Salvation Army, if it's one aim, and its one glory, is not the salvation of the souls of men? Take the redemption of sinners from the standard of this organization, and you have at once reduced her to a huge Benefit Society, or a mere Friendly Association for temporal advantage. But, true to her original purpose, she is the quickest, most effective and far-reaching fluency for the things of eternity to be found in time. All and each of her varied ramifications are for the one great purpose of rescuing men and women from the grip of the Devil. Just as in military warfare everything about the soldier, from his musket to his canteen, is for fighting the foe, and everything about the army, from the great gun to the nail that fastens the shoe upon the horseman's steed, is for victory over opposing forces—so everything undertaken by the Salvation Army must have as its end the emancipation of mankind.

The Salvation Army then, being interpreted, is the salvation of souls. From her thousands of platforms she tells the terms of peace between God and man. From her countless rings she thunders the judgements of Jehovah to the passing crowds. Her institutions are outlets from the sea of shame and inlets into the harbour of bliss. Her Homes are houses of prayer and personal entreaty. Her shelters are fortresses of refuge from open and fierce temptation, which put their inmates to sleep with their song and awaken them with a message of peace. Her Officers are the Knights of a Crusade against an unbelief which has laid siege to the citadel of the heart."

Grace and peace

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