1555 HT: Dan Graves All John Hooper wanted to do was to pray. He went to bed at five the evening before, then rose early, on this day, February 9, 1555, so that he might pray in the early hours of the morning. When it was light, he asked that no one be allowed into his…
356 HT: Christianity.com The historic Christian faith was forged in turbulent times and under perilous conditions. The creeds and doctrines that shaped our Christian identity emerged from intense theological battles. There were times of physical violence in the process of defining the central teachings of the faith. For example, the question of exactly who Jesus was. Here…
1945 HT: Christian History Institute BUCHENWALD was among the first and largest of the German concentration camps. Although it was not officially an extermination camp, a large number of its inmates died from overwork and starvation, or by execution, torture, and cruel experiments. On this day 7 February 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was transferred from Tegel…
1564 HT: Christianity.com On this day, February 6, 1564, an era came to an end. The man who had done as much as any other to forge the theology of the Reformation, preached his last sermon. Unable to walk, John Calvin was carried to church in a chair. His mouth filled with blood as he spoke and…
1631 HT: Dan Graves We have not always enjoyed the religious rights we now have. Christian theology, by making men conscious of their worth to God, who sacrificed his Only Begotten Son for them, made them important as individuals. In struggling for religious freedom, our forefathers won civil rights for us. An important actor in that…
1555 HT: Dan Graves John Rogers was burned to death at the stake at Smithfield, England, on this Monday morning, February 4, 1555. Among the onlookers who encouraged him were his own children. Who was John Rogers, and what monstrous crime had earned him this cruel death? Who was John Rogers? Born about 1500, Rogers was…
1915 HT: Dan Graves NINE-YEAR-OLD PAUL RADER was under conviction of sin. On this night he knelt at the altar wanting to get saved. An elder said “Why, Paul, you love the Savior, don’t you?” When Rader answered “yes,” he was assured he was all right. But Rader knew he wasn’t. He went home and…
1977 HT: Dan Graves THE CHURCH IN UGANDA was born in suffering. After Christianity gained a foothold in Buganda in the nineteenth century, King Mwanga II martyred forty-five Catholic and Anglican converts. Some of them died for refusing the king’s homosexual advances. He also had British missionary James Hannington killed on the eastern border of…
1499 HT: Dan Graves Katherine von Bora viewed herself as a prisoner in the cloister of Marienthron. Luther’s Reformation preaching had found its way behind the convent walls and she wanted out. It wasn’t as if she had chosen this secluded life for herself. Far from it. Her dad had brought her here when she…
1560 HT: Dan Graves Poland’s unique path to Protestantism was shaped by the influence of Calvinist reformer John Laski, who defied his powerful uncle’s orders to recant his “heretical” beliefs and instead brought Calvinistic reforms to Poland, translating the Bible into the native tongue. Despite Laski’s efforts, Protestantism failed to dominate Poland due to internal…