In His Steps

Charles Monroe SheldonProject Gutenberg · United StatesMar 2023

3.1

Word count: 434K words
Chapters: 44

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.In His Steps by Charles M. SheldonAuthor: Sheldon, Charles M., 1857-1946,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Oct 1, 2003

Editor's review

In His Steps is a typical late nineteenth-century American pastor's novel, set in an ordinary parish where a group of people ask how faith can become concrete action in daily work and relationships. Its value lies not in polished prose but in turning abstract ethics into discussable life choices: a journalist, a businessman, and a worker each face professional底线 and conflicts of interest, giving the plot sustained moral tension. As a public-domain electronic text, it is easy to obtain and suits cross-reading in religious ethics, social reform, and popular fiction. Reading it today reveals the social concerns of the Progressive Era and also invites reflection on the limits of the proposition that belief should test conduct: the book's answers carry clear period and religious positions, which readers need not accept wholesale but can use to examine their own situations. Suitable for selected-passage discussion in reading groups and as extensive reading material for long English texts.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in religious ethics and the practice of faith
Literature lovers studying American society and popular fiction of the late nineteenth century
Learners who need long English texts and prefer clear plotting
Readers willing to discuss moral choices and professional ethics in a reading group

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting complex literary technique or modern narrative experimentation
Readers averse to a Christian framework and sensitive to didacticism
Readers seeking comparative religion or systematic contemporary ethics

Reading tips

Read the opening core question first, then enter each character's thread with the question "What would I do?"
Take brief notes along each character's thread, recording occupation, conflict, and choice for later discussion.
For a reading group, take one occupational scene at a time: discuss first, then compare with the book's handling.
After finishing, read background on the American Progressive Era to separate the work's period positions from universal ethical questions.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book religious propaganda or literature?

Both. It carries Christian ethical claims in novel form, with plot serving moral questions and relatively plain literary technique. Read it both as popular fiction—characters and conflict—and with awareness of its exhortative intent, so as to understand the text while keeping critical distance.

Will non-Christians find it alienating?

There may be ideological distance, but it is not a barrier to reading. The core question—how belief affects work and daily choices—can dialogue with secular ethics. Treat the religious framework as historical context and focus on the conflicts between interest and底线 that characters face, without having to endorse all its conclusions.

Is it suitable as English learning material?

It can serve as extensive reading for a long text. The language is generally plain and the plot clear, though it contains period religious vocabulary and didactic passages. Recommended for intermediate learners and above; skip doctrinal passages at first and prioritize character threads and narrative progression.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Charles Monroe Sheldon Author · American · 1857–1946

Charles M. Sheldon (1857–1946) was an American Congregational minister and inspirational writer. He graduated from Brown University and Andover Theological Seminary, and from 1889 served as pastor of Central Congregational Church in Topeka, Kansas. His best-known work, In His Steps (1897), is built around the question "What would Jesus do?" and remained a bestseller for decades, making him an important figure in the American Social Gospel movement. His writings often center on the union of faith and everyday ethics. Besides In His Steps, they include The Crucifixion of Philip Strong, Robert Hardy's Seven Days, The High Calling, and The Redemption of Freetown, dealing with ideals and reality, duty and sacrifice in a plain, earnest style with a moral exhortatory tone. Five of his works are held in the collection, commonly classified as inspirational growth.