1933 Lutheran Hour Sermon \"Trying To Understand God\" Pamphlet St. Louis MO For Sale

This pamphlet, a sixteen-page booklet titled “Trying to Understand God,” was published as a Lutheran Hour Address by The Reverend Armin C. Oldsen, who was based in Saint Louis, Missouri. The item was printed by the Lutheran Hour, an international Lutheran radio ministry headquartered at 3558 South Jefferson Avenue, Saint Louis 18, Missouri. A code printed on the back cover, “1-31-33 (20-29),” likely indicates a publication date of January 31, 1933, or a print run identifier from that era, placing this piece firmly within the early years of the Great Depression. The front cover presents the title in a bold, uppercase serif typeface, with “TRYING TO UNDERSTAND” set on one line and “GOD” centered beneath it, creating a deliberate typographic hierarchy that emphasizes the theological subject. The back cover repeats the title and author information and features a striking logo for the Lutheran Hour: a globe with a cross superimposed over it, with rays emanating outward, a design that visually communicates the organization’s global evangelical mission. The interior pages contain the full text of Oldsen’s address, with page numbers visible on pages 2, 3, and 5, and the inside back cover includes a boxed appeal for donations, reading “How better can you help proclaim the Savior’s Word throughout the world than by giving, as God has blessed you, to the God-pleasing work of the radio mission?” and directing gifts to the same Saint Louis address. This item is a tangible artifact of early religious broadcasting, documenting how the Lutheran Church harnessed the then-novel medium of radio to disseminate sermons and raise funds, and it reflects the typographic and printing conventions of Depression-era ephemera, including the consistent age-related toning of the paper and minor creasing along the spine folds. The pamphlet serves as a record of both a specific theological argument and the broader cultural shift toward using mass media for evangelism in the early twentieth century.