1535 HT: Dan Graves The Bible translation that William Tyndale had begun when he was arrested in May, 1535 only included the New Testament, the Pentateuch and a few historical books of the Old Testament. England was still without a complete Bible in the English language. Who would finish the work? Using Tyndale’s work as…
1770 The funeral of George Whitefield is held at the Old South First Presbyterian Church in Newburyport. Thousands of people are unable to get even to the door of the church. 1792 HT: Christianity.com The gathering of young men who met in Mrs. Beeby Wallis’ parlor on this day, October 2, 1792 was not a likely group…
1770 HT: Stagger and Reel On this day, September 30, 1770, the world lost one of the greatest evangelists and preachers of the Gospel, George Whitefield. His fervent proclamation of the Good News shook two continents, crossing the Atlantic 13 times and delivering over 18,000 sermons. Whitefield once said, “I had rather wear out…
1904 HT: Dan Graves EVAN ROBERT’S PUBLIC MINISTRY lasted only about a year. But what a fruitful year it was! Roberts was many years in preparation for his work. Born in Wales in 1878, he proved a good student and avid reader. However, when his father was injured in an accident and in need of…
1557 HT: Christian History Institute When Cicely Ormes of St. Lawrence, Norwich, England, was twenty-one years old, she recanted her Protestant beliefs under pressure from a Catholic magistrate. Miserable at her apostasy, she then wrote a letter repudiating her recantation. Arrested a year later, the magistrate said she might go free if she would promise…
1871 HT: Dan Graves The Swiss evangelist and hymn writer Cesar Malan always liked to speak a word for Jesus. One day, while visiting England, he spoke to a young women at his table, saying that he hoped she was a Christian. Charlotte Elliott bristled. She would rather not discuss that question, she said. Malan…
1816 HT: Christian History Institute David Nasmith is famous as the founder of the first Protestant city missions. Here is the first extant letter in which he indicated his desire to be of use for God’s kingdom. It was written on this day 21 September 1816 when he was seventeen years old. “May He who has the hearts…
1565 HT: Dan Graves The Huguenots were converted out of Catholic France when preachers brought Bibles and the Calvinist doctrines of predestination and justification by faith from Switzerland. Growth of this Reform church was rapid in Gallic lands. Within a hundred years it had won a million and a half converts. Some French leaders saw…
1853 HT: Dan Graves ON THIS DAY, 19 SEPTEMBER 1853, the Dumfries, a small sailing ship, left Liverpool. Aboard was one passenger—James Hudson Taylor, bound for China. His mother came to see him off, knowing it would be years before she would see him again—if ever. Never shall I forget the cry of anguish wrung from…
1851 HT: Dan Graves On this day, August 9, 1851, Karl Gutzlaff died in disgrace. In large measure, he had himself to blame, which was a pity, because he had applied genuinely original methods to the problem of evangelizing China. He was one of the first Protestant missionaries to dress like a Chinese. Wherever he…