no friends." Faithfulness to taking
the Gospel to the world, especially
to the poor of this world, continues
the legacy of the Booths.
ture. In their day it was not un-
usual for Christians to believe
that they would win the world for
Jesus and thus usher in the glori-
ous Kingdom of God in all its full-
ness. The Booths shared that
vision. However, that view of his-
tory was unsustainable in the
20th century, a century that
began with the unimaginable
inhumanity of World War I.
That war clearly demonstrated
that the world was brutal, and
that evil surrounded the church.
The 20th century continued to
bear witness to sin, godlessness
and inhumanity.
ultimate triumph of the Kingdom
of God have never left the Army.
The Army moves forward in diffi-
cult times and circumstances not
on its own strength, but with the
declaration that God raised up
the Army; God has sustained the
Army and the future of its mes-
sage, mission and ministry are
all secure as long as the Army
remains faithful to Christ. The
Army moves into the future,
following God into His future,
with great hope in the authority
of God for its work. And the Army
still believes, as did the Booths,
that we are on the march toward
the new heaven and the new
earth that will be inaugurated
with the Second Advent of Christ.
This holy optimism bears witness
to the legacy of William
and Catherine Booth.
but it is careful to make sure
that they are seen as the human
beings that they were. At the
same time, we recognize that
both William and Catherine
Booth gave themselves to God for
the holy purpose of proclaiming
His redeeming message to the
whole world for the sake of the
Kingdom of God. And so, perhaps
the greatest legacy of the Booths,
after all, is their lives of perfect
loyalty to the God who redeemed
them and called them to bring an
Army of salvation into a world in
need of redemption.
Salvation Army Order of the Founder,
the organization's highest honor, is
author of The Life and Ministry of
William Booth (available through
Crestbooks.com). He is Professor
and Chair of Biblical Studies and
Christian Ministries at Gordon College
in Wenham, Massachusetts.