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…
1735 John and Charles Wesley set sail for Georgia aboard the Simmonds, intent on saving their souls and living wholly to the glory of God. Though zealous in purpose, John would later admit that the voyage revealed his own spiritual emptiness, a realization that prepared the way for his transformative conversion three years later. 1829…
1605 HT: Dan Graves IN 1548, Theodore Beza became seriously ill. Not yet thirty years old, he stared death in the face. Looking upon his recent conduct, he was ashamed. First was the matter of his faith. At heart he was Protestant but, because he got his income from two benefices of the Catholic…
1536 Tyndale is strangled and burned at Vilvoorde Castle (not far from Brussels) for his Protestant views and efforts to translate the Bible into English. 1955 HT: Dan Graves Twelve-year-old Jesse Overholtzer was uneasy. He sensed that things were not right in himself. He knew he had done things that were wrong, and he…