The most famous Christmas hymn ever written is “Silent Night”. It’s even more famous than “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”. It’s author, Joseph Mohr, penned the words on December 11, 1792, in his native Salzburg, Austria and this is the cathedral where he sang as a boy. He came from a very rough childhood as his mother’s 3rd …
You know you are in trouble with the Pope when he issues a decree with your name across the top. Such was the case with Martin Luther when he was excommunicated by Pope Leo X in July of 1520. Here is one line of the decree to give you a taste from the ex-communication: Let all this holy Church of …
Way before the dictionary that bears his name became a household staple, Noah Webster published the first daily newspaper in New York City called the American Minerva on December 9, 1793. Webster was a solid Christian educator and believer in the Bible with quotes like this: “All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, …
One of the issues Protestants and Catholics disagree on is the idea that Mary the mother of Jesus didn’t have any other children and she, in fact, was born a virgin and without sin. This is called the Immaculate Conception and it was issued in a Papal Bull on December 8, 1854, by Pope Pious IX. In Latin, it’s called …
How long does it take to heal a church spat? In one case it was 911 years. The Great Schism – as it is known – took place in AD 1095 and was the final straw between the church in Rome and the church in Constantinople. Today we would call it the Roman Catholic Church versus the Eastern/Greek Orthodox Church. …
What does it take to get a Baptist preacher to not preach a sermon on Sunday morning? The potential loss of life seems to be a good reason. William Carey dedicated his life as a missionary to India and came across a local practice of burning widows alive after their husbands died. Fortunately, it had been outlawed and when Carey …
How many Christians today would die for being a follower of Christ. But what about dying for a point of disputed doctrine? Bible-believing Christians debate the issue of infant baptism but how many of us would give our life over it? I wouldn’t but Hans Schlaffer did. A former Catholic priest, Schlaffer converted over to the Anabaptists after his interaction …
It seems to slip the memories of many Americans that the prime motivation for exploring and settling what would become the United States was to spread the gospel. We can think of places like St. Augustine or San Francisco as places that were founded as Christian mission posts. But Chicago? On December 4, 1674, Jacques Marquette began building a small …
Guess how many popes were English? A grand total of 1: Pope Adrian IV who was elected on December 3, 1154. He was born Nicholas Breakspear in St. Albans, England (pictured here) and issued a Papal order (called a bull) telling the King of England to invade Ireland so the Irish can be a part of the church of Rome.
St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, dedicated on December 2, 1697, has been an icon for the Church of England. Designed by England’s most celebrated architect Christopher Wren (who is buried there), it has been the site of the funerals of both Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher. The cathedral is still in daily use today and is the mother church of …
