My guess is, like me, you’ve never heard of Ting Ang. He was a tradesman from Fuchau, China and became the first person converted and baptized by Methodist missionaries on July 14, 1857. When asked why he would deny his gods he is said to have replied, “These images are not real gods. I have just learned of the true …
Father Edward Flanagan was born in Ballymoe, Ireland on July 13, 1886 before coming to America and eventually forming Boys Town orphanage west of Omaha, NE. Boys Town now has multiple campuses throughout the United States. Spencer Tracy portrayed Father Flanagan in the movie “Boys Town” in 1938 and you have to be big time to make the cut for …
On July 12, 1944 Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary was chartered under the direction of the Southern Baptist Convention. Originally headquartered in Mill Valley, California the seminary recently changed its name to Gateway Seminary, sold their Mill Valley campus and have relocated to the main campus in Ontario, California. This is a picture of the new location.
I’m not sure what kind mojo Anne Boleyn had but it was enough to get King Henry VIII excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church on July 11, 1533. Henry wanted a divorce from his wife Catherine of Aragon (whose Mama and Daddy were King/Queen Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain) and Pope Clement VII told Henry no way on the divorce …
I’m not sure John Calvin’s influence on Protestant Christian theology can be measured – it’s sort of like saying “there are a lot of stars in the sky” or “the Grand Canyon is big”. Born on July 10, 1509 in Noyon, France, he would continue to preach until his very last days. His book The Institutes of the Christian Religion …
When I teach the History of the Bible one of my slides is of Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton who died on July 9, 1228. The Archbishop (this is a statue of him at Westminster Abbey) makes the cut on Bible history because he’s the one we thank – or blame – for inserting chapters into Scripture. So, if we …
Ever heard that big things come in small packages? When the colony of Rhode Island was chartered on July 8, 1663 it was completely different from the other colonies. One difference was that the colonists had to buy their land from the Native Americans living there. Another was a religious provision that stated “to secure them in the free exercise …
In Southern Baptist denomination work, Lottie Moon is a rock star of the first order. Her story, of leaving her secure school teaching job, and heading to China after she was appointed on July 7, 1873 has inspired naming the annual foreign missions offering each Christmas after her. She made an impact with her new Chinese friends by offering them …
Way before Martin Luther took the steps in reforming the church, he stood on the shoulders of several valiant theologians and church leaders who blazed the trail before Marty was on scene. One major figure was Jan (or Jon) Hus from Prague. Hus dared to question the authority of the pope, and the priesthood in general, but was keenly focused …
Immigrants taking “American native” jobs was just the beginning of the problems that caused the Kensington Riots in Philadelphia, PA in 1844. Philadelphia’s Irish Catholic immigrant population was booming and “native” Americans were increasingly angry when the Irish would work for less wages. At St. Phillip Neri’s Catholic Church in the Kensington district, the first free Catholic School in the …
