The Greatest Faith Ever Known
by Fulton Oursler and April Oursler Armstrong
Copyright © 1953,1955,1976
Summary Copyright © July 1, 2023 by
Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E.
All Rights Reserved.
The following summary is for fair use and educational purposes only.
Introduction
Fulton Oursler died on May 24, 1952 after writing 354 pages of this the third book in his trilogy about the Holy Bible.
Mr. Oursler awoke briefly from his final coma and he spoke the following words to his daughter April Ourlser Armstrong who was in the room with him near his bed:
"April, you must finish The Greatest Faith for me."
April promised that she would do it and six hours later Mr. Oursler was warmly greeted by Jesus Christ into his eternal home in Heaven.
April was true to her promise and she faithfully completed writing her father's book. She began writing where he had stopped writing in mid-sentence on page 354 (Chapter 86) and she continued writing to finish his book on page 444 (Chapter 101). I have read all three of Mr. Oursler's books and if it had not known exactly where his work ended and his daughter's work began I would never have been able to identify where his daughter took over. She faithfully imitated his writing style so well that this final book is not only a tribute to Mr. Oursler but also to his daughter who followed in his footsteps.
When I finished reading his book in 1976 I had a much better understanding and appreciation of the hardships and trials that Jesus' disciples went through as they fulfilled the Lord's commission to carry His message to the entire world.
Each one of us has to make a decision if we will do what Jesus asked His disciples to do, and if we will continue to share the good news about Jesus Christ with anyone who will receive it. Or will we remain silent about our faith in Jesus (except in church). Or worse yet, will we repeat the devil's biggest lie and tell other people that Jesus was nothing more than a prophet or a good man.
One day when we stand before God Almighty, how will we feel?
1. Will we be terrified at the judgment that is about to be passed on our eternal souls?
2. Or will we be ashamed of how little we actually did that has true eternal value?
3. Or will we be able to humbly say that we did our best to share the good news about God's Only Son?
May God Bless,
Grandpappy.
July 1, 2023.
A Few Brief Extracts from "The Greatest Faith Ever Known"
Preface (Page xiii):
Long before I left high school I had begun to work with my father, an apprentice in the workshop of a master in the field of writing. From him I had caught the excitement of putting words on paper. I absorbed what I could of the practical details of style and construction, of plot, and research, and character development. But I learned a rarer secret -- the devotion that can transform the meanest drudgeries of writing into a joy and a delight.
My father was a relentless painstaking craftsman. In his first drafts he poured out his ideas, feverish to imprison them on paper because, as he always said, only after that could the real work begin. For weeks he would revise his manuscripts, paring and carving thoughts and sentences, searching for the exact words and phrases. As a result his stories lived, vibrant with power and with love. For my father loved his work.
He loved this book. He had a full schedule of work and countless other obligations. But every morning for nearly a year before his death, he rose at five to work on The Greatest Faith Ever Known. His whole being was fired with enthusiasm and excited plans for the completion of the last of this trilogy.
It is the book my father most wanted to write. Only God knows why he was not given time to finish it -- or why it was left to my unsure hands.
I can only hope that what I have done pleases him.
April Oursler Armstrong
END OF PREFACE
* * * * * * *
Chapter Ten: A Spirit with Flesh and Bone (Pages 26-29)
And in that ignoble hour a light suddenly began to shine in the room, and they all, except the one apostle who was elsewhere, saw Him for themselves. They saw Jesus standing visibly among them, in this room made sacred by the Last Supper, Jesus come back to them, and to so many others who had not sat at the final feast -- Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of Man, victor over death, risen from the grave, standing in a clear light.
And they heard His voice:
"Peace be to you. It is I. Fear not."
He was speaking in His wonted idiom, in phrases He had cherished and used over and over again when they were frightened -- "It is I" in the very midst of the storm. "Be not afraid."
Yet they were terrified. What men would not be?
Jesus read their hearts: "Why are you troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts?"
He held out His hands.
"See My hands!"
Everyone could see the wounds where the nails had been driven through his palms. He drew back the hem of his robe that was without a seam to reveal the marks of the nails in His feet.
"See My hands and feet, that it is I, Myself. Handle and see: for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see me to have."
From every mouth a gasp of awe and at every throat a feeling of insupportable relief. It was true -- all that had been reported, all that had been promised. Here indeed was the Master, not in the spirit alone, but with a body resurrected from death. And then, as if to prove Himself to them finally and forever, he looked around Him with the friendliest of smiles and inquired:
"Have you here anything to eat?"
One disciple scrambled a little noisily to his feet. From a bundle he had laid by him on a windowsill he brought out a broiled fish and a slice of honeycomb wrapped in an oak leaf.
Jesus ate the fish and honey Himself, offering some to the others with that ineffable smile of invitation which, ever since His birth in a stable, has been blessing the world.
And then -- just before He left them in the opening and closing of an eye -- He breathed upon the ten lovingly and whispered:
"Receive you -- the Holy Ghost! Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained."
Then He was gone. In the space of a very few minutes, He had said and done great things, signs and pronouncements which have influenced Christians since that mysterious twilight in the Upper Room.
He had proved to this selected, opinion making group that He was actually the revenant Jesus, risen from death, restored to life. He appeared before them, speaking words of reassurance, of peace. He showed them His hands, His feet, His side. He ate their food, proving beyond question that He was risen Body and Soul! And finally, He capped all His precious words and deeds by promising them one gift of the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins.
What more proof could anyone demand?
Yet one did demand more -- the first of the scientific-minded men to receive a spiritual experience: Thomas Didymus, a hardheaded fellow, who even in the simplest matters of life took a lot of convincing. When he returned from his errand the other apostles and the disciples told him how Jesus had appeared to them as they sat at table in the Upper Room. They said to Thomas:
"You were not with us when Jesus came. But it is true -- we have seen the Lord."
With their own eyes? Yes! Dismally, Thomas Didymus shook his head. It was too much to ask of human belief, no matter have lovingly disposed one might feel; no --
"Except I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hands into His side, I will not believe."
The other ten apostles dared not blame their doubting comrade, remembering their own skepticism at first sight of the risen Christ and His tacit rebuke when He had showed them His wounds to convince them. No matter what they said to Thomas, they could not persuade him. A week and a day were to pass with his skepticism unshaken, before the irrefutable evidence was given him.
Once again the apostles and disciples were shut together in prayerful companionship in the blue-walled hall of the Last Supper. The doors were locked and bolted. Suddenly and softly the figure of Jesus appeared in their midst.
Once again the well-remembered voice:
"Peace be to you!"
Jesus turned and directly faced Thomas Didymus, the most doubting of His apostles. And he said to Thomas, with a frank smile that held no slightest trace of reproach:
"Thomas, put your finger hither and see My hands. And bring your hand and put it into My side. And be not without faith -- but believing."
And what could Thomas say then? Only what millions of believers have repeated every day for more than two thousand years, as he fell to his knees and clasped his hands together, crying out in a husky voice:
"My Lord! And my God!"
The words that Jesus then spoke to Thomas Didymus were addressed to the endless legions of men still to be born into the history of the world -- words that are a key to the wonderful, interior life of the soul:
"Because you have seen Me, Thomas, you have believed. Blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed."
And then Jesus vanished from their sight as a rainbow can suddenly fade from the sky.
He was next to be seen by the Sea of Tiberias, that strange hometown lake, 600 feet below the level of the sea, and one of those to whom He showed Himself was again that doubter, Thomas Didymus.
END OF CHAPTER TEN
Conclusion
Only a very small sample of Fulton Oursler's third book is included above. If you enjoyed reading the above extracts then please purchase a copy of "The Greatest Faith Ever Known" and read the entire book. If you will do this then it is my opinion that you will experience a significant growth in your Christian faith regardless of how long you may have been a Christian.
Grandpappy's e-mail address is: RobertWayneAtkins@hotmail.com