HT: Robert Rothwell On October 31, much of the culture will be focused on candy and things that go bump in the night. Protestants, however, have something far more significant to celebrate on October 31. It’s Reformation day, which commemorates what was perhaps the greatest move of God’s Spirit since the days of the Apostles.…
1863 HT: Dan Graves Swiss-born Henry Dunant needed water rights for a business venture in French-controlled Algeria. The person who could get him those rights was Napoleon III. The only problem was, Napoleon III was on the battlefield in Italy. Dunant did not let that deter him, but set out for Napoleon’s headquarters at Solferino…
1787 HT: Christianity History Institute William Wilberforce is remembered as a vocal opponent of the slave trade, who worked tirelessly in the British parliament to end the trade. He also championed many good causes and spearheaded reform movements in England and elsewhere. He was twenty-seven years old when he recognized the desperate need to become that…
Eighteenth century England produced many excellent hymnwriters whose hymns are still sung today — Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley, and the Puritan Philip Doddridge, who died on this day, October 26, 1751. Philip Doddridge was born in London, England on June 26, 1702, the youngest of twenty children. His health was so poor when he was born…
451 HT: Christian History Institute On October 8, 451, the largest of all church councils assembled at Chalcedon, near Constantinople (modern Istanbul). Between five and six hundred bishops were present representing conflicting views about the two natures of Christ. After much discussion, at the fifth and most important session, on this day, 22 October 451, the…
1550 HT: Dan Graves Martin Bucer, a key figure in the Protestant Reformation, played a crucial role in shaping England’s religious landscape through his influential book “The Kingdom of Christ,” which proposed a unified approach to Protestantism and was championed by King Edward VI. Despite facing persecution and ultimately having his bones burned after his…
1856 HT: Christianity.com London was all astir with talk of the young preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon. He lacked the flowery, elaborate sentences of most preachers, but his simple directness spoke to the hearts of his audience. His passion for truth was as strong as the older Puritans he loved and studied, yet there was nothing stale…
107 HT: Dan Graves IGNATIUS was bishop of Antioch (in Syria) for forty years, probably from AD 67–106, and became a martyr. Most likely he studied under the Apostle John. Ignatius was an energetic man who raised the church of Antioch to prominence and dominated the surrounding region. In fact, he was the prototype of…
1555 HT: christianity.com Queen Mary ascended the throne of England in 1553. In subsequent years, she had at least two hundred people put to death (often by fire) for their religious convictions. To history she became known as “Bloody Mary,” although, in truth, she killed far fewer people per year than her brutal father. It…
1894 Rainisoalambo, a diviner on Madagascar, throws away all his amulets and apparatus of divination. The night before, wretched with ulcers, he had called out to the God of Norwegian missionaries and sensed he must get rid of his sorcerous props. Doing so today, he immediately feels a weight lift off him. He knows that…