Today in Christian History
A New Year Brought NEW LIFE to Laestadius (1844)
“Begin to praise Him in the tone of your spirit. May God the blessed Comforter help you to do it by a calm, equable frame of mind, by a Divine placidit...”
Spurgeon, Charles. “The Right Keynote for the New Year.” Intended to be read on January 1, 1893.
A Paradox for New Year’s Day
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new....
Events
404
Last known gladiator fight in Rome. Sometime earlier, Telemachus, a monk from the eastern Roman empire, had been killed by spectators in the Roman Coliseum for attempting to separate gladiatorial combatants. According to church historian Theodoret, when Emperor Honorius learned of this, he declared Telemachus a martyr and abolished the games.
Authority for the date: http://prayerfoundation.org/favoritemonks/favorite_monks_telemachus_coliseum.htm533
Death of Fulgentius of Ruspe, monk and bishop, who had defended the Nicene doctrine of Christ’s divinity against Arians who persecuted him.
Authority for the date: Catholic Encyclopedia1519
The Swiss Reformation begins when Huldrych Zwingli assumes his duties as priest of Zurich and begins preaching through the Bible.
Authority for the date: Standard encyclopedias.1585
Giovanni Gabrieli becomes the leading organist of St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice. His innovations, such as grouping musicians in separate areas, and marking dynamic changes, will foster a revolution in music.
Authority for the date: Groves' Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 1911.1622
The Gregorian Calendar, so called because it was promulgated by Pope Gregory XIII, makes January 1st the first day of the year in Catholic countries. Under the Roman calendar, March 25th had been the first day of the year.
Authority for the date: Standard encyclopedias.1802
In reply to the Danbury Baptist Association (of Connecticut), which is concerned that Baptists could be forced to belong to an established church, Jefferson declares there is “a wall of separation between Church and State,” a phrase which will later be wrested out of context to deny public expression of religious belief on governmental property.
Authority for the date: Library of Congress bulletin http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danbury.html1824
Over breakfast, David Naismith organizes The Glasgow Young Men’s Society for Religious Improvement. One object spelled out in its constitution is “to establish and promote throughout the city and suburbs associations of Young Men for Mutual Religious Improvement.”
Authority for the date: Leete, Frederick DeLand. Christian Brotherhoods. Cincinnati: Jennings & Graham, 1912.1844
Swedish pastor Lars Levi Laestadius begins a two-day inspection at Åsele. Although considered a godly Lutheran, he suffers from a deep sense of guilt. Speaking to a Lapp woman nicknamed Maria (Milla Clementsdotter), he finds her faith so real that he himself is inspired with a new level of spiritually and becomes instrumental in converting many adherents of Sweden’s old pagan Sámi culture to faith.
Authority for the date: http://users.erols.com/ewheaton/lars/lars.htm#_Toc997036881871
An act to disestablish the Church of Ireland goes into effect, meaning it will no longer be the government-run church of that country.
Authority for the date: http://hyperfacts.com/16134101927
Kawai Shinsui publicly announces that he is establishing the Christ Heart Church, a Japanese denomination independent of the west.
Authority for the date: Mullins, Mark M. Christianity Made in Japan. Nanzan, 1998.1937
Death of J. Gresham Machen, a gifted Presbyterian scholar and defender of the Christian faith in the United States. Concerned with a rising tide of liberalism among Presbyterians, he had helped found the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
Authority for the date: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1967.1937
A Dutch aviator observes natives paddling canoes on lakes high in the mountains of West New Guinea, an area until then thought to be uninhabited. This discovery will inspire mission efforts.
Authority for the date: Darlene Diebler Rose Evidence Not Seen, p. 61945
Death of Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah, first native-born Anglican bishop of India. He had relinquished leadership in two mission agencies to work in Dornakal, one of the poorest regions of India. Upon his arrival in Dornakal, Christians had numbered 8,000 with six Indian ministers and 172 lay-workers. By his death the diocese had 150 ministers and about 300,000 converts despite the opposition of Mahatma Gandhi.
Authority for the date: Eddy, Sherwood. Pathfinders of the World Missionary Crusade. New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury, 1945.1977
At the Episcopal Church of All Saints in Indianapolis, Jacqueline Means becomes the first woman ordained to serve as a priest in the Episcopal Church (USA).
Authority for the date: Indy Star, http://www.indystar.com/article/99999999/NEWS06/101231013/StarFiles-Rev-Jacqueline-Means1979
Beginning of the Third General Council of the Latin American Episcopate, held in Puebla, Mexico. It will emphasize popular piety and place special emphasis on the poor.
Authority for the date: History of Christianity in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, 1450–1990, eds. Koschorke, Ludwig, and Delgado. Eerdm2011
Muslims in Alexandria, Egypt, bomb the crowded Two Saints Coptic Church, killing more than twenty Christians and wounding scores of others.
Authority for the date: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-12101748