The Scriptorium Daily

Author: Fred Sanders

  • Today the Council of Trent was Accepted by Pope Pius IV

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    Fred Sanders
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    Though the council of Trent was an event that sprawled over 18 years with long gaps between sessions (1545-1563), its canons and decrees were made official when the Pope received and ratified them by issuing a bull entitled Benedictus Deus on this date, January 26, 1564. The most headline-making issues at Trent had to do…

  • Today Gregory of Nazianzus Died (389)

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    Fred Sanders
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    Gregory of Nazianzus is among the most important and influential of the church fathers, as can be seen from the rank he occupies in no less than three traditional honorific triads. The first triad with which Gregory is associated is the Cappadocian Fathers: Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa. The work…

  • Sprawling Puppy Notepad Fugue

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    Fred Sanders
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    It’s one thing to see an artist’s finished works hanging in a gallery, and another thing to live with an artist and see works in progress. When you live with an artist, you never know for sure which bits of clutter might be art, or how to tell the difference between a preliminary sketch and…

  • Today is John Donne’s Birthday

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    Fred Sanders
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    Today in 1572, John Donne was born. Donne was equally powerful as a poet and as a preacher, because in both roles he exercised an apparently absolute mastery over the English language. In his 1999 book The Theology of John Donne, Jeffrey Johnson argues that “the doctrine of the Trinity is for Donne the seminal…

  • Today Abraham Ibn Ezra Died (1164)

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    Fred Sanders
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    Abraham Ibn Ezra was a medieval Jewish commentator on the Old Testament. His commentaries are a bizarre combination of unconstrained creativity and extreme jot-and-tittle conservatism. He also wrote poetry and is highly regarded as a philosopher. His way of talking about any subject is often so cryptic that it demands an active interpreter. One of…

  • Today is Carl Henry’s Birthday

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    Fred Sanders
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    Carl F. H. Henry was born on January 22, 1913. He has only been dead for a few years now (since late 2003), and it’s still a little hard to believe he’s gone. Henry stamped his identity onto some of the central institutions of the evangelical establishment: Christianity Today, the National Association of Evangelicals, Fuller…

  • Today the First English Prayerbook Was Mandated (1549)

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    Fred Sanders
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    On January 21, 1549, the House of Commons agreed with the previous decision of the House of Lords in passing an act that declared the brand new Book of Common Prayer to be the only legal form for worship in England. This was the first of several Acts of Uniformity. Check out the whole 1549…

  • Liveblog of Inauguration

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    Fred Sanders
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    I love inaugurations, even when my candidate doesn’t win. I still have a marked-up newspaper copy of the first Clinton inaugural address in my files. Inauguration day is a great American event, and the high spirits surrounding the Obama inauguration take it to the next level. Here are some live reactions to the event, viewed…

  • Today is Susanna Wesley’s Birthday

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    Fred Sanders
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    Susanna Wesley (1669-1742) would not be famous if she weren’t the mother of John and Charles. But since two of her boys grew up and shook the world, Susanna has come to our attention, and it’s a good thing. She was a remarkable 18th century evangelical woman. She had a lively, disciplined intellect, had read…

  • Today is the Heidelberg Catechism’s Birthday

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    Fred Sanders
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    The first edition of the Heidelberg Catechism was published on January 19, 1563. If you know this little book well, then this reminder is enough to make you call to mind some of the best passages. If you know it less well, let this reminder move you to pull it from the shelf and refresh…

  • Today is Tischendorf’s Birthday (1815)

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    Fred Sanders
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    How cool could anybody be whose full name is Lobegott Friedrich Constantin von Tischendorf? Pretty cool. Tischendorf is a major figure in the early history of modern textual criticism, that subtle and demanding field of biblical scholarship that collates all existing manuscripts of the Bible, compares them, and makes judgments about the original form of…

  • Today is Antony of Egypt's Day

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    Fred Sanders
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    Antony of Egypt (c. 251-356) is the most important figure in the founding of Christian monasticism. He heard the gospel call to unworldliness and took it both seriously and literally. Six months after his parents died, Antony was in church listening to the call to discipleship: Leave what you have and follow me. So he…