Historical Writings

Death in a French prison of Cardinal de Bourbon, whom the Catholic League and the Paris parliament had considered the rightful king of France following the death of Henry III (the king who had imprisoned him) in 1589. The cardinal had renounced the throne, however, in favor of his nephew Henry of Navarre, who abjured Protestantism to become King Henry IV

In Holland, the six month long Synod of Dort ended. Confirming the authority of the "Heidelberg Catechism," the decisions of the Synod led to some 200 Arminian clergy being afterward deprived of their offices.

Death in Lübeck of church organist Dietrich Buxtehude, whose composition and playing were so good that Johann Sebastian Bach had once walked two-hundred-and-fifty miles one way to hear him and to watch him play.

Death of Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf in Herrnhut. He had founded the Moravian Brethren and was a pioneer in ecumenism and Protestant mission work.

Birth of Andrew Murray, South African Dutch Reformed clergyman and devotional writer. His most famous writing was "Abide in Christ" (1864).

Pran Krishna, a zealous evangelist in India, shows symptoms of cholera and will die the following morning.

Andrew Murray is ordained on his 20th birthday. He will become a notable educator of Christians in South Africa and the author of beloved books on Christian living such as The True Vine and Abide in Me.

Orthodox mystic and author Theophan the Recluse is consecrated Bishop of Tambov, where he will demonstrate his forward thinking by establishing a school for girls.

Birth of Merrill Dunlop, American sacred chorister and hymnwriter. He directed the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle for many years, and is author of the hymn, "My Sins Are Blotted Out, I Know."

Death in London of Arabella Katherine Hankey, author of the hymns "I Love to Tell the Story" and "Tell Me the Old, Old Story."

English apologist C.S. Lewis, offering an evaluation of English Bible translations, wrote in a letter: 'A modern translation is for most purposes far more useful than the Authorized [i.e., King James] Version.'

John Paul II announced the reversal of the Catholic Church's 1633 condemnation of Galileo Galilei, the scientist who first espoused the Copernican (i.e., heliocentric) view of our solar system.