Historical Writings

Viking raiders devastate the Christian community on Lindisfarne island (off the coast of England) by looting and slaughter.

Ten Articles of Religion were published by the English clergy, in support of Henry VIII's Declaration of Supremacy. The Anglican Church had begun defining its doctrinal distinctions, after breaking with Roman Catholicism.

John Yukinoura Jirocmon is executed on the remote Japanese island of Nakai no shima. He dies saying, "From here it is not far to Paradise."

Seven bishops who refuse to violate the English constitution by accepting an arbitrary Declaration of Indulgence promulgated by King James II without parliamentary approval, are arrested and taken to the Tower of London. They will be found not guilty when tried.

Death at Halle of Christian pastor and philanthropist August Hermann Francke.

French revolutionaries in Paris, having rejected Christianity and the Catholic Church, celebrate the first Feast of the Supreme Being at Notre Dame, with an actress playing the part of the Goddess of Reason.

Birth of German composer Robert A. Schumann, who composed the sacred tune CANONBURY, to which is commonly sung the hymn, 'Lord Speak to Me That I May Speak.'

Dr. John Scudder and his associates Spaulding, Winslow, and Woodward, with their wives, sail from Boston on the brig Indies, bound for Calcutta as missionaries. Scudder will be especially influential because he is a medical doctor and surgeon. His daughter Ida will in due course also become a notable medical missionary.

Death of H. R. Mackintosh, a Church of Scotland theologian, and professor of systematic theology at New College, Edinburgh, until a year before his death. His wrote The Doctrine of the Person of Jesus Christ, carefully assessing theologies and heresies regarding the understanding of Christ's incarnation and arguing for the kenotic theory.

Unevangelized Fields Mission (UFM) was incorporated in Philadelphia. Today this interdenominational mission agency works in a dozen countries in Latin America, Europe and Africa.

The American Society of Missiology was founded in St. Louis. The ecumenical organization seeks to stimulate an academic interest in Christian missions, and publishes the journal 'Missiology: An International Review.'

Through the voice of its president Spencer W. Kimball, the Mormon Church reversed a 148-year- long policy of spiritual discrimination against African-American leadership within the denomination.