Historical Writings

The first official Roman edict for the persecution of Christians was issued by Roman Emperor Galerius Valerius Maximianus.

St Francis of Assisi, 26, received his vocation in the Italian village of Portiuncula. He founded the Franciscans the following year, and is regarded by some Catholics as the greatest of all Christian saints.

Birth of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Reigning 1519-56, it was Charles who officially pronounced Martin Luther an outlaw and heretic.

Pope Gregory XIII issues his famous bull Inter gravissimas which decrees our present Gregorian calendar.

Pioneer American Methodist bishop Francis Asbury wrote in his journal: 'It is my constitutional weakness to be gloomy and dejected; the work of God puts life into me.'

Viscount Dungannon moves a resolution condemning prayer meetings in the theatres of Southern England where revival services are booming.

A longstanding edict against Christianity is revoked in Japan.

Death at Longmeadow, Massachusetts, of Samuel Wolcott, a Congregational clergyman and author of numerous hymns, among them “Christ for the World We Sing.”

Death at Sebring, Florida, of Amanda Smith, an African-American evangelist known for her powerful singing. Her autobiography will be frequently referenced in women’s studies.

Internationally-known evangelist and Bible expositor, Harry A. Ironside, is issued a unanimous call (which he will accept) to pastor the Moody Memorial Bible Church in Chicago.

Death in Topeka, Kansas, of pastor Charles Monroe Sheldon, author of the popular Christian novel In His Steps, from which we get the phrase “What Would Jesus Do?”

After trying unsuccessfully for many years to stifle Christianity, the government of Bulgaria passes a law acknowledging that the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is the traditional church of Bulgaria and inseparably united with its history.

Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth wrote in a letter: 'The statement that God is dead comes from Nietzsche and has recently been trumpeted abroad by some German and American theologians. But the good Lord has not died of this; He who dwells in the heaven laughs at them.'