Amazing Grace Christian Literature Center
About Our Logo
I first came across the above logo, in 1989 or 1990, while visiting a friend in Arizona. He showed me a book that, if memory serves me correctly, I believe was an edition of John Gill’s Body of Divinity published by someone in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
I was told at the time that the logo was associated with the Waldenses, sometime between the 12th and 16th Century and very possibly much earlier, and the words were in Latin. Translated it meant, “A light shinning in darkness.” I made a copy of the logo from the book and another friend scanned it for me and saved it onto a 5 ¼ inch computer disk.
It did not take me long to make the connection between this and two passages of Scripture: John 1:5 and John 3:19-21. I can not help but think that the designer of this logo had the same texts of Scripture in mind. As a result I modified the logo by removing the Latin and inserting the references from John’s Gospel in its place as you see below. This further reminds me of the truthfulness of Christ’s words in Matthew 16:18, where he says “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
When I have occasion to think about the logo it reminds me of God’s watch care over His people, the Church. God does not promise his people protection from trials and tribulations but He does promise to be with us in the midst of them and to safely carry us through them even through death and to usher us into His presence.
It also reminds me of the fact that God’s truth is, more often than not, as a small candle shining in the midst of darkness. Seldom has it ever been in the majority in any time or country but it continues to shine, though evidence of its shining may disappear from the pages of history and even its friends may deny it exits or on occasion betray their interest in it.
May the God of all grace preserve us through the Darkness that appears to be approaching on our horizon.