Lectionary Calendar
Tuesday, June 6th, 2023
the Week of Proper 4 / Ordinary 9
the Week of Proper 4 / Ordinary 9
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Historical Writings
Today in Christian History
Tuesday, August 18
330
[date derived from her feast day and coins bearing her image] Death in Nicomedia of Empress Helena, mother of Constantine, who had supposedly discovered the true cross on which Christ died, and who had founded many churches in Palestine. Authority for the date: Catholic Encyclopedia and Chambers' Book of Days (1881).
1520
Publication of Luther’s address To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation. It calls the laity, as spiritual priests, to carry out the reformation neglected by the pope and the established church. Authority for the date: Bald, Margaret. Literature Suppressed on Religious Grounds. Facts on File, 2006. p3
1688
Puritan clergyman John Bunyan, 69, preached his last sermon, before dying 13 days later. In 1678 he had authored Pilgrim's Progress, an allegory describing the difficulties encountered in the Christian life, while journeying through this world.
1752
Agapius of Thessalonica, an Orthodox monk and priest, after a life of active service for the Jerusalem church, is tortured to death by Janissaries while returning to his birthplace. Authority for the date: Wikipedia.
1856
Birth of Charles Gabriel, American sacred music artist. He edited a great number of hymnbooks, and wrote several hymns, including "More Like the Master," "I Stand Amazed in the Presence" and "Send the Light."
1917
Cameron Townsend sets off from home to do mission work. He will found Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Summer Institute of Linguistics. Authority for the date: Stevens, Hugh. A Thousand Trails. Langley, B.C.: Credo, 1984.
1918
Death of American theologian and educator William Porcher DuBose, professor at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. Authority for the date: Standard encyclopedias.
1927
At age 20, Christian radio pioneer Theodore Epp was converted to a living faith. In 1939 he founded Back to the Bible Broadcast, an evangelistic radio program with outlets today on over 600 stations around the world.
1930
English apologist C. S. Lewis wrote in a letter: 'One creeps home, tired and bruised, into a state of mind that is really restful, when all ambitions have been given up. Then one can really for the first time say, "Thy Kingdom come."
1944
Death of John Sung, outstanding Christian missionary in China and Southeast Asia. Authority for the date: Standard encyclopedias.
1963
Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth wrote in a letter: 'Even if there is cause for great dissatisfaction with one's church, one should stay in it in the hope that new movements will come.... Only in this way could I continue to be a member of the Evangelical Reformed Church.'
Copyright Statement
© 1987-2020, William D. Blake. Portions used by permission of the author, from "Almanac of the Christian Church"
© 1987-2020, William D. Blake. Portions used by permission of the author, from "Almanac of the Christian Church"
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