Today we look at The Romans' Map To Heaven, published by the Fellowship Tract League (#127, to be exact). It's a pretty standard by-the-numbers tract, with only one small difference - it quotes only from the Book of Romans.
The cover is nothing special - a picture of roman-related doodads (a centurion's helmet, a sword and a shield) on a yellow background. The middle of this tract is composed only of Bible quotes, each one answering a specific question (Who is good? What is the eternal cost of your sin?) or theme (you cannot save yourself). The back page provides the standard prayer for accepting Jesus Christ as your saviour, and a place to fill in your name and address so the Tract League can send you more free stuff.
I wasn't impressed with this tract. Apart from the unique feature of quoting from only one book, it doesn't say anything new. Who would have thought the Book of Romans had enough quotable material to fit the entire Christian agenda? Kinda makes the other books - including the Gospels - look superfluous (though not nearly as much fun as Revelations). Other than the Roman angle, this tract doesn't try to be different, or even interesting. We've heard it all before, so who cares what book you grabbed it from? And quoting tracts are so dull! The tracts that tell metaphorical stories at least provide an amusing diversion.
Nice Roman gimmick, but even that can't save this tract from a big, fat F. Here are my grades (out of 10):
Likely to Convert - 0
Artwork - 2
Ability to Hold Interest - 1
Unintentional Hilarity - 0
Level of Disturbing or Offensive Content - 0
1 comment:
I found this tract on a Montreal metro train and was curious about who published it, so I looked up the title and clicked on this link. Im pretty sure mine might be put out by different people (unless the one you reviewed was also bilingual...) but I just wanted to let you know that I think this blog is awesome. I mean, The Bible Reloaded does Chick Tract readings and they're great, but the idea of a blog that reviews tracts as if it were published in a newspaper with a loyal readership, designed to give quick, informative reviews (like movie reviews), is hilarious! I'm reading a more of your posts now. I see this has been dead for about two years, and this particular entry is 10 years (!) old, so you may never read this, but whatever. I just like this idea of yours, is what I'm trying to say.
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