Lectionary Calendar
Friday, September 29th, 2023
the Week of Proper 20 / Ordinary 25
the Week of Proper 20 / Ordinary 25
Historical Writings
Today in Christian History
Friday, October 16
1009
(the 24th or 25th of Safar 400; by some calculations, October 18th). Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah destroys the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, hacking out the church's foundations down to bedrock.
1311
The Council of Vienne was convened, called by Clement V. During its three sessions, the council suppressed the Knights Templars (the principal military-religious order of the Middle Ages).
1555
English reformers Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer are burned at the stake under the government of Queen Mary.
1649
The American colony of Maine passed legislation granting religious freedom to all its citizens, on condition that those of contrary religious persuasions behave acceptably.
1752
Birth of Johann G. Eichhorn, German Old Testament scholar. Eichhorn was a pioneer in "higher criticism," which evaluated Scripture through literary analysis and historical evidence, rather than by the unquestioned authority of systematized religious tradition.
1789
In Philadelphia, as the second general convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church closed, a church constitution had been adopted. Canons of the new denomination were ratified and a revised version of the "Book of Common Prayer" was authorized.
1790
Death of Daniel Rowland, Welsh evangelist.
1812
Death of Henry Martyn, Anglican missionary to Persia. During his short life of 31 years, he translated the New Testament into Hindustani, later into Arabic and Persian. He died at sea, while returning to England.
1861
After four days of torture, Che Jinguang, an elderly Chinese Christian in Boluo, is ordered to renounce Christianity. When he refuses, he is killed and his body thrown into a river, the first-known Protestant martyr in China.
1888
Death of Horatio Gates Spafford, who penned the hymn "It is Well with My Soul."
Copyright Statement
© 1987-2020, William D. Blake. Portions used by permission of the author, from "Almanac of the Christian Church"
© 1987-2020, William D. Blake. Portions used by permission of the author, from "Almanac of the Christian Church"
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