When you are a disciple of Irenaeus of Lyon, who was a disciple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of the Apostle John you already have some serious credibility. Second century theologian Hippolytus had those creds when he wrote against the Gnostic heretics who had infiltrated the early church. Hippolytus died a martyr on August 13, 236 AD (some records …
Princeton, like most of the universities in America, began as a seminary to train pastors. On August 12, 1812, Princeton’s first full professor was appointed to teach theology. Archibald Alexander took the role having been a Presbyterian minister and the 4th president of Hampton-Sydney College.
Known as the “Father of American Church Music”, Dr. Lowell Mason didn’t begin his celebrated music composition career as a musician but as a clerk in a bank in Savannah, GA. By the time he died on August 11, 1872, he had become the president and conductor of the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston and written some famous hymns …
The writer of the well-loved hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” knew Jesus as his friend through some very difficult times. Joseph Scriven drowned on August 10, 1886 having lived with depression his whole life, was never financially successful and twice had fiancés die before their wedding. Some friends thought he may have taken his own life.
On August 9, 1788 in Malden, Massachusetts, missionary great Adoniram Judson was born. Judson would go on to serve for decades in Burma (modern day Myanmar) and would develop the first Burmese-English dictionary. Judson College in Alabama and Judsonia, Arkansas are both named for him.
One of the most popular devotional books ever is The Imitation of Christ written by Thomas a Kempis. Thomas, who was a German priest, was an excellent copyist and spent years immersed in Scripture. He died on August 8, 1471. One my favorite quotes from Imitation is: “If God were our one and only desire we would not be so …
When the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, wanted to expand his missionary work in the American colonies Francis Asbury answered the call on August 7, 1771. Asbury rode thousands of miles on horseback spreading the gospel and growing the church. Asbury was known as the Father of American Methodism and Asbury Seminary in Kentucky was named for him.
The Dominican Friars, whose official name is the Order of Preachers, was founded by Dominic de Guzman in 1216 with six members. When St. Dominic died on August 6, 1221 the Order had grown to thousands of priests. The Order was created to develop more informed preaching.
Before the interest in medieval series like The Vikings or the Last Kingdom exploded there were real live kings of Northumbria and Mercia in modern day England and Wales. One king who became a Christian after being converted by the famous monk Columba at the Iona monastery was the Northumbian King Oswald. He was committed to his faith and fought …
What does a year’s work of Sunday School look like to you? For Rev. William Blair, who was commissioned by the Sunday and Adult School Union, his first year’s work looked something like this: rode 2,500 miles on horseback visiting 6 states, established 4 adult schools and 61 Sunday Schools. After he began his journey on August 4, 1821, the …
