“Mankind’s Search for God”

Mexico City’s Excelsior newspaper of September 25, 2002, ran an editorial with the above title. It was written by Carlo Coccioli, a well-known scholar and writer in Mexico. His article opened with the following words.

“I just finished reading​—or should I say rereading or, even better put, re-rereading—​an extraordinary small red book​—not the one that was so famous in Mao Tse-tung’s days. This one [Mankind’s Search for God a] is not only a much more extraordinary book but, unlike Mao Tse-tung’s ‘Little Red Book’ that has become obsolete with the passage of time, it might very well never become extinct. This book is, simply stated, a gift from Jehovah’s Witnesses to the world. As books go, it is tiny, but it is immeasurably great in its essence. It can be carried in one’s pocket, but if it were found in a library of 90,000 different books, it would probably turn out to be the most important one of them all.”

Mr. Coccioli went on to tell about the time in his youth when he decided upon the career he would pursue. “The specialized field that I chose for my university studies,” he explained, “had to do with what most appealed to my intellect and interested my soul: religions, especially Oriental ones.” He noted that the study of religions fascinated him and that during World War II, he obtained a doctorate in related subjects.

“So,” he explains, “I feel perfectly qualified to say that the small red book that has come into my hands is a prodigious work of depth and magnitude on the topic of religious phenomenon. . . . [The book] should be kept in every home to be opened, read, and reread from time to time. It contains no religious advertising whatsoever but, rather, is a profound cultural work of man, whose soul is inclined to investigate the complex mystery of God.”

Closing his article, Mr. Coccioli provided the telephone number of the Witness who gave him the book. She has since received many calls asking for it, so the branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Mexico has seen to it that all who have shown interest in Mankind’s Search for God have received a copy. One person who requested 20 books for his family and friends is now making good progress in his study of the Bible.

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