Today in Christian History
January 22
304
(probable date) Martyrdom of Vincent of Saragossa, Spain’s first famous martyr, who had been starved, racked, exposed in the stocks, and partially roasted.
1522
German Reformer Martin Luther wrote in a letter: ‘Love cares for the problems of others as if they were one’s own.’
1623
Burial of St Macarius at Zhabyn, opposite the Orthodox monastery he had founded. This Russian ascetic had allegedly performed great miracles.
1843
Birth of Friedrich Wilhelm Blass, German biblical philologist. His 1896 “Grammar of New Testament Greek” became a foundational work in New Testament studies, and is still in print.
1855
Birth of Carrie Ellis Breck, American Presbyterian poet. Several of her verses later became hymns, including “Help Somebody Today” and “Face to Face with Christ My Savior.”
1867
Ambatonakanga Memorial Church opens in Madagascar in honor of Christians marytered under the cruel queen Ranavalona.
1876
Death at Ticehurst, Sussex, UK, of John Dykes, who had written some well-known hymn tunes, two of which we sing to this day: “Holy, Holy, Holy” and “Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee.”
1882
The Fifth Street Presbyterian Church of Troy, New York, became the first church in America to be illuminated by electric lighting.
1915
Death at Highland Falls, New York, of hymnwriter Anna Bartlett Warner, most famous for the chidren’s hymn “Jesus Loves Me.”
1918
Death in Jewett City, Connecticut, of Mary Haughton Brown, a Baptist teacher and hymnwriter. Most famous of her hymns had been “I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go.” Her death was caused by the infamous influenza pandemic that killed millions world-wide that winter.
1936
Death of Liang Xiaochu, one of the most influential Chinese Christian leaders in the early part of the twentieth century. He had greatly increased YMCA membership but watered down its Christian component and stressed character and education instead.
1949
Death in Wyoming of John Roberts, Episcopal priest and missionary to the Shoshone and Arapahoe Indians of Wyoming. He had been notable for his efforts to preserve the culture and languages of the tribes, translating the Bible into two Indian languages.
1963
Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth wrote in a letter: ‘In Jesus Christ, God and man…are already at peace – not as enemies but as true companions. In Him salvation is already present and at work.’
1973
To the extreme disappointment of many Christian groups, the United States Supreme Court hands down the Roe v. Wade decision that allows abortion even in cases where it is not necessary to save a mother’s life.
