Historical Writings

Nzinga Memba, King of the Congo, a Christian convert, writes to Portugal complaining of the shameful behavior of the Catholic priests who had been sent to convert his people, but who instead engage in trade and fill their houses with women of ill-repute.

The Patons land on the island of Tanna (now called Vanautu). Mary Paton will soon die there. Warned earlier that he might be eaten by cannibals on the island, John Paton's response had been, "If I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether my body is eaten by cannibals or by worms."

In Moscow, following abdication of Russian Czar Nicholas II, the historic Orthodox Church Council of 1917-1918 restored the office of patriarch, suppressed by Peter the Great in 1700.

The Cooperative General Association of Free Will Baptists (northern U.S.) and the General Conference of Free Will Baptists (southern U.S.) merged in Nashville, TN, to form the National Association of Free Will Baptists.

Billy Graham's "Hour of Decision" program was first broadcast over television.

English apologist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter: 'All joy (as distinct from mere pleasure, still more amusement) emphasises our pilgrim status; always reminds, beckons, awakens desire. Our best havings are wantings.'

Death of Donald Grey Barnhouse, American Presbyterian clergyman. In 1927 he began a thirty-three-year pastorate and radio ministry at the Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia; during his last ten years, Barnhouse edited Eternity magazine, which he had founded. He authored over thirty books on the Scriptures and on the Christian life.

American Presbyterian missionary Francis Schaeffer wrote in a letter: 'The Bible does not minimize sexual sin, but neither does it make it different from any other sin.'

Death of Emmanuel Oyewole Akingbala, a notable pastor, evangelist, and leader in the Nigerian Baptist Convention. During a hard period of three years, he had suffered financial hardship for preaching against alcoholism, smoking, and polygamy.