Historical Writings

Death of Simeon Stylites, who lived atop a sixty-foot pillar for thirty-six years.

The Third Crusade ends when Richard Lionheart and Saladin sign an agreement which allows Christians access to the holy city.

The first Anglican worship service held in Canada is led by Rev. Robert Wolfall at Frobisher Bay on Baffin Island around this date. The service is commemorated on the third of September.

John Brebeuf, Jesuit missionary, baptizes the first Iroquois to become a Christian. The man, a Seneca chief, will later be tortured to death by rival Indians.

The first Anglican service of worship to be held on Canadian soil was led by Rev. Robert Wolfall at Frobisher Bay, on Baffin Island.

English clergyman Thomas Coke, 37, was consecrated, the first "bishop" of the Methodist Episcopal Church, by founder John Wesley. Coke afterward journeyed to America, where he and Francis Asbury oversaw Methodism in the Colonies.

A Parisian mob slaughters twenty-five Roman Catholic priests as counter-revolutionaries, beginning a week of “September Massacres” in which 225 priests and hundreds of other people will die.

Death of Brindabun, an Asian Indian gospel preacher, known for his recitation of Scriptures and powerful prayers.

Death of John Ireland, Dean of Westminster. As a public figure he carried the crown at the coronations of English kings George IV and William IV. He published apologetic works and a defence for the remarriage of divorced people. Well-to-do, he expended large sums on charity.

Francois Coillard sails for Cape Town on the Trafalger. A man of sweet disposition, he gives up scholarly pursuits to win Africans to Christ and will perform such brave feats as risking a hail of bullets to plead for the lives of Christians.

While a missionary in the Philippines, American linguistic pioneer Frank Laubach wrote in a letter: 'God is always awaiting the chance to give us high days. We so seldom are in deep earnest about giving him his chance.'

English apologist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter: 'God, who foresaw your tribulation, has specially armed you to go through it, not without pain but without stain.'

Death of J.R.R. Tolkien, 81, English Christian language scholar and novelist. His 1954-55 "Lord of the Rings" trilogy describes a war between good and evil in which evil is routed through courage and sacrifice.

Xie Songsan offers the welcome and benediction for the re-opening ceremony at Moore Memorial Church, Shanghai. It had been closed earlier by Chinese communists who interrogated, beat, and imprisoned Xie. The service is presided over by Sun Yanli, another pastor who had suffered brutal treatment from the Communists.