The Christian Herald and Signs of Our Times was founded in England in 1878 by Joseph Spurgeon, cousin of the famous British preacher Charles Spurgeon, and Michael Baxter, an Anglican minister and evangelist. Since its inception, the Herald has combined apocalyptic fervor with an emphasis on social reform. It emphasized the imminent return of Jesus Christ, and in the preface to its first American edition, it boldly declared that its sole purpose was to "keep alive the expectation of His personal return to earth." There were many articles related to the second coming of Christ and the theme of prophecy. WE Blackstone, an American evangelist and Christian Zionist, and George Muller, an English evangelist who ministered to more than 10,000 orphans during his lifetime, were among the magazine's main contributors who focused on the prophecy of the end of time. In addition to its apocalyptic character, the Herald played a decisive role in the Social Gospel movement. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"?Get the original essayIn early 1879, coincidentally the same year the Mission was founded, the Herald lent its support to a collective of New York clergy who committed themselves to preaching sermons denouncing the horrific conditions of Lower East Side apartment buildings, raising awareness from their pulpits about the plight of the poor and dispossessed. Reverend Talmage had previously preached a series of sermons deploring the actions of the landlords and expressing generous empathy and solidarity with the poor. Many humanitarian agencies and relief missions joined the protest. Jeremiah McAuley, who had recently left the poverty and crime of the Lower East Side to become an evangelist, filed a lawsuit seeking to close the filthy housing stock where the poor were exploited. Clergy publicized and protested these conditions while relief workers spoke directly to the plight of slum dwellers. Workers cleaned squalid rooms, provided fuel and food, and located housing for evicted or particularly poorly housed families. This was only the first of many moves that Herald editors would align the magazine with. The Herald was initially based in the United Kingdom where it had a wide circulation, and an American edition was published in New York. At that time there was a circulation of 30,000 in the United States, which was pretty good for a religious magazine. During a trip to England in 1889, Klopsch met Michael Baxter, owner of the Herald. After some negotiations, Klopsch took over the editorial reins of the American edition and subsequently purchased the magazine. Under Klopsch's leadership, the Herald's circulation grew to 250,000, making it the most widely read and influential religious magazine in the world. Klopsch was destined to be a reformer, and his faith and calling were the means by which he lived out his calling. Louis Klopsch was born in 1852 near Berlin, Germany. A year after his birth, his mother died of a lung infection. The following year, his father, Osmar Klopsch, a poor doctor, arrived in the United States with his young son to avoid imprisonment by the German government due to his activities in the revolutions that spread across Europe. in 1848. Louis was only two years old when he arrived in the United States and spent the rest of his life as a New Yorker. At the age of 34, he married Mary Merritt. Together they had four children. As a young man, Klopsch studied journalism at Columbia University and, after graduating,,.