Today in Christian History
January 11
705
Death of Pope John VI. A Greek by birth, he will be remembered for his intervention in a squabble between Saint Wilfred of York and the see of Canterbury.
1523
German reformer Martin Luther wrote in a letter: ‘It is unchristian, even unnatural, to derive benefit and protection from the community and not also to share in the common burden and expense; to let other people work but to harvest the fruit of their labors.’
1777
Anglican hymnwriter John Newton wrote in a letter: ‘A soul may be in as thriving a state when thirsting, seeking and mourning after the Lord as when actually rejoicing in Him; as much in earnest when fighting in the valley as when singing upon the mount.’
1791
In Philadelphia, Episcopal Bishop William White, 43, founded the First Day Society. It became the forerunner of the American Missionary Fellowship, chartered in 1817 and headquartered today in Villanova, PA.
1817
Death in New Haven, Connecticut, of Timothy Dwight, president of Yale, a powerful advocate of sound doctrine. As hymnwriter, he had penned “I love thy kingdom Lord.”
1869
At the Springfield Baptist Church Augusta, GA, Reverend Kelly Lowe organizes the first African-American Sunday school.
1907
The Church of God, headquartered today in Cleveland, Tennessee, and with roots going back to 1886, officially adopted its current name.
1933
In Hamburg, Germany, the Altona Confession was issued by area pastors, offering Scriptural guidelines for the Christian life, in light of the confusing political situation and the developing Nazi influence on the State Church.
1942
Soviets execute Natalya Ivanovna Sundukova by firing squad because she had “propagandized” her Orthodox faith among other prisoners and refused to work for the atheistic communists in the prison camp.
