Historical Writings

Death of Adalbert, Archbishop of Bremen-Hamburg, and missionary to Scandanavia.

Birth of George Neumark, German educator. Twice in life he lost everything: once by robbers and once by fire. As a poet, Neumark is best remembered as author of the hymn, "If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee."

Patriarch Dositheos Notaras issues a confession of faith in conjunction with the Synod of Jerusalem. In it he rejects the Calvinistic interpretation of Orthodoxy developed decades earlier by Cyril Lucaris. Although couched as his own views, sixty eight bishops sign it with him.

Prince Alexander of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst, a faith healer, responds to a plea from a nun in England, who has suffered from swelling in one arm that doctors have been unable to remedy. The Prince directs her to make confession on 3 May (a Roman Catholic feast for St. James the Less) at eight o'clock in the morning, partake of the Sacrament, and offer up fervent prayers. He promises to pray at the same time. The nun’s pains will immediately leave when she follows his instructions, and she eventually recovers fully. The incident will become a case study in works about the miraculous.

As Bernard Petitjean, a Roman Catholic priest, opens the door of his church in Nagasaki, some hidden Christians reveal themselves quietly, saying their hearts are with his. The Kakure Kirishitan had suffered two hundred years of persecution for their faith but had also assimilated Buddhist myths with their scanty Christian knowledge.

Death in Menton, France, of Alfred Edersheim, a Jew who had converted to Christianity and written several books. He will be remembered for The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (1883).

Death in Kentucky of John Albert Broadus, who had trained a generation of Southern Baptist preachers.

Death in Wales of Marianne Hearn, a Baptist teacher, author and hymnwriter. She will be remembered for the hymn “Just As I Am Thine Own to Be.”

Birth of Dr. Robert H. Bowman, missions pioneer. In 1945, along with John Broger and William J. Roberts, Bowman helped found the Far East Broadcasting Company. Today FEBC reaches thousands of Pacific island clusters with the Gospel through Christian radio.

The first religious program on TV, "This Week in Religion," debuted on Dumont television. It was the only ecumenical program of TV's early religious offerings, and ran for two years, last airing in October 1954.

The complete text of the New English Bible was published, simultaneously, by the Oxford and Cambridge Presses. (The New Testament of the NEB had been first published in 1961.)

Death in Nigeria of Lawrence Olanrewaju Cole Jayesimi, who overcame the disability of blindness to operate a business, obtain advanced degrees, pastor a Baptist church, and educate the blind.