Stepping Heavenward [Paperback]

E. Prentiss (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 2011

This collection chronicles the fiction and non fiction classics by the greatest writers the world has ever known. The inclusion of both popular as well as overlooked pieces is pivotal to providing a broad and representative collection of classic works.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Elizabeth Prentiss (1818-1878) was an author, well known for her hymn "More Love to Thee, O Christ" and the didactic story Stepping Heavenward (1869). Some of her verses were recently compiled in a book published by Solid Ground Christian Books (Golden Hours: Heart-hymns of the Christian Life). She was born and raised in Portland, Maine, United States, the fifth of eight children (only six survived) of the eminent Congregationalist pastor Edward Payson. The influences of New England Christianity, consisting of the inherited Puritan foundation with added evangelistic, missional, and philanthropic elements, were evident in the Payson family. From an early age, Elizabeth exhibited sharp mental abilities, deep and indiscriminatory sympathy, and an exceptional perceptiveness. Combined, these traits made her an ideal author, not only of instructive children's books, but also of characteristically warm and insightful letters to family and a wide circle of friends. As a young woman, she published some of her children's stories and poems in "The Youth's Companion," a New England religious periodical. In 1838, she opened a small girls' school in her home and took up a Sabbath-school class as well. Two years later, she left for Richmond, VA, to be a department head at a girls' boarding school. In 1845, she married George Lewis Prentiss, a brother of her dear friend Anna Prentiss Stearns, to whom are addressed some of her warmest and most intimate letters. The Prentisses settled in New Bedford, MA, where George became pastor of South Trinitarian Church. After a happy time of transitioning into the duties of a pastor's wife and a housewife, within a period of three months she lost her second and third children - one as a newborn, one at age four. Though she continually struggled with poor health, Mrs. Prentiss went on to have three more healthy children. After Rev. Prentiss resigned his charge in New York, the family went abroad to Europe for a couple of years, returned to New York (where Rev. Prentiss pastored the Church of the Covenant), and eventually settled in Dorset, VT, where Mrs. Prentiss would die in 1878 at the age of 60.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace (April 27, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1461036321
• ISBN-13: 978-1461036326
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #720,290 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, very poor edition, August 14, 2008

By 

L. L. Nelson (Mississippi) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stepping Heavenward (1880) (Hardcover)

I agree wholeheartedly with the excellent reviews of this book, but this particular edition (2008 hardcover) is an awful edition. It looks like a photocopy of a paperback (the photocopied pages being much smaller than the page area in the book) with an ugly hard cover slapped on it. I am so disappointed in the quality of this product.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hang on there single gals. . . this story is for you!, August 25, 2002

By 

Michael B. White "dixiefiddler" (florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stepping Heavenward (Paperback)

Really nothing I write will do justice to this classic biographical/novel of a young woman's journey through life and love. It is highly recommended by Elisabeth Elliot one of my spiritual mentors and those who have read her books will know what that means. I was immensely influenced by "In His Steps" in my teens, but needed a heart to heart view of another young girls's struggles to grow into a godly women as I moved into my twenties as an unmarried young woman. Elisabeth Prentiss' book addressed a real need I had as a young woman yearning to become a godly woman in a modern and sin ridden culture.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best catalyst for spritual growth I have ever read, November 17, 2001

By 

E. Heredia - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Stepping Heavenward: One Woman's Journey to Godliness (Inspirational Library Series) (Paperback)

This book sat on my shelf for 2 years before reading it--wow how I wish I would have pulled it down sooner! It has been very readable--better than most novels! It puts in very approachable and applicable ways some of the most profound spiritual concepts of growth, obedience to God, and the strangeness of God's purpose for each of us. Do your self a favor and get this one--you will never be the same. Worth every late-night moment of lost sleep to read it!