Tract (literature)

A tract is a literary work and, in current usage, often religious in nature. The notion of what constitutes a tract has changed over time; by the early 21st century, the term refers to a brief pamphlet with religious or political themes. Tracts are often either left for someone to find or distributed as a medium of mass communication in the context of proselytism. However, there have been times in history when the term also implied much longer, tome-like works. The derivative tractate of scripture or the Talmud is the equivalent in Hebrew literature to a chapter of the Christian Bible.

The distribution of tracts predates the development of the printing press, with the term being applied by scholars to religious and political works at least as early as the 7th century. They were used to disseminate the teachings of John Wycliffe in the 14th century. As a political tool, they proliferated throughout Europe during the 17th century. They have been printed as persuasive religious material since the invention of Johann Gutenberg's printing press, being widely utilised by Martin Luther during the start of the Protestant Reformation.

As religious literature, tracts were used throughout the turbulence of the Reformation and the various upheavals of the 17th century. They came to such prominence again in the Oxford Movement for reform within the Church of England that the movement became known as "Tractarianism", after the publication in the 1830s and 1840s of a series of religious essays collectively called Tracts for the Times.

The Tracts were written by a group of Anglican clergy including John Henry Newman (later a Catholic cardinal and saint), John Keble, Henry Edward Manning, and Edward Pusey. The theological discourses within sought to establish continuity between the Church of England and the patristic period of church history. These vastly influenced Anglo-Catholicism, and varied in length from four to over 400 pages. An important center for the spreading of tracts was the London-based Religious Tract Society. Tracts were used both within England, affecting the conversion of pioneer missionary to Qing China, Hudson Taylor, as well as in the crosscultural missions that movements such as Taylor founded: the China Inland Mission.

Charles Spurgeon wrote many tracts, and in addition to these evangelical writings, his "Penny Sermons" were printed weekly and distributed widely by the millions and used in a similar way, and they still are today. In the United States, the American Tract Society distributed vast quantities of tracts in many of languages to newly arrived immigrants at Ellis Island, and sought to assist them in their struggles to adapt to their new country.

The publishing of tracts for religious purposes has continued unabated, with many Christian tract ministries, in particular, existing today. The American Tract Society has continuously published literature of this type since 1825; around Allhallowtide, around 3 million alone are purchased annually to be distributed by Christians.

By the late 19th century, Bible Students associated with Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society were distributing tens of millions of tracts each year; by the start of World War I, they had distributed hundreds of millions of tracts in dozens of languages worldwide. Now named Watchtower and Bible Tract Society, the organisation continues to publish hundreds of millions of religious tracts in over 400 languages, which are distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses.

As evangelistic tools, tracts became prominent in the Jesus movement. One of the most widely distributed, and one that continues to be handed out en masse, is "The Four Spiritual Laws" authored by Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ and first published in 1965. "This Was Your Life" was the first of many tracts written and illustrated by Jack Chick, whose later "Chick tracts" followed the pattern of vivid cartoon images.