“I was like a steam boiler at the point of bursting, or as you read in Job 32, from verse 19. Now I am free, because I have spoken the truth in Christ Jesus, and no one can refute what I have written. This is my boast and my inheritance in Christ. I will not seek my own honor but His, because those who seek His honor are true, and there is no guile in them.”

Johan Oscar Smith, July 25, 1905

This book is the first volume of the complete writings of Johan Oscar Smith in their original form and language. Through his personal letters and a number of articles written to Christian publications, we are able to follow him from the time when he, as a truth-seeking soul, gave his life to Jesus, until the time he and his brother Aksel were ready to start publishing Skjulte Skatter. Most of the letters written during this period were written specifically to Aksel. For the interested reader, this collection of letters and articles will provide profound insight into what Johan Oscar Smith regarded as being essential for those who desire to live a wholehearted Christian life.

Kåre J. Smith, July 2019

“It is vital that we stand firm in those things we have heard from the beginning and not compromise on any point—not back down an inch, but stand before God. Jer. 35:19. I have tried giving in a bit in order to be less harsh, but that caused me to lose power. It just made me an object of scorn for those I gave in to. But this only happened before I became more established. That’s why I am extremely careful in this matter of giving in to others, because I know that this would cause me to fall away from the Lord, from whom I have received my ministry. That’s why I didn’t dare to do anything other than speak bluntly to Br. Plum. To draw back is to fall away from God. Our duty is to preach what God wants and not what we want. We can be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves, but we must never compromise the truth in our hearts. The day we do that, we lose our power.”

Johan Oscar Smith, May 10, 1908