Author: Fred Sanders
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Today Started Prohibition (1919)
It is hard to imagine, but 90 years ago, the Constitution was amended to make liquor illegal: no selling, manufacturing, or transporting beverage alcohol. If you look at all those progressive-era amendments to the Constitution, they’re all pretty interesting: 16th Amendment (1913): Federal Income Tax 17th Amendment (1913) Direct election of Senators 18th Amendment (1919)…
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Today is MLK’s Actual Birthday
As a Federal holiday, MLK Day falls on the third Monday of January, which is a different date every year. But today, January 15, is the actual anniversary of his birth. “I Have A Dream” is overwhelmingly his most famous speech, just as the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” is his most famous writing. The…
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Notes from Schmemann’s Journals
Alexander Schmemann (1921-1983) was an Eastern Orthodox theologian with a long teaching ministry at St. Vladimir’s seminary in New York. He lived a fascinating life: born to Russian parents in Estonia and educated in Paris before living much of his life in America. His Russian-language sermons were broadcast for decades on Radio Liberty (aka Radio…
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Today Juan de Valdés Published His First Book
No, not the character from the Colombian coffee ads; Juan de Valdés (c. 1509-1541), the 16th-century Spanish-born religious writer who worked in Italy. According to the Christian History Institute, Valdés published this little book on January 14, 1529, at age 18. You can see a few sample pages of it here. Valdés was part of…
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Today is Philipp Jakob Spener’s Birthday
Today in 1635, the Lutheran pastor who came to be known as Father of Pietism was born. Spener’s reputation and influence are all bound up in his most important book, the brief and readable Pia Desideria, which has one of those classic 17th-century sub-titles that are fully explanatory and nearly as long as a chapter:…
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Today Aelred of Rievaulx Died
On January 12, 1167, Aelred died. He was the abbot of the Cistercian convent in Rievaulx in the north of England. He once met the famous Bernard of Clairvaux, who asked him to write a book on love. Aelred wrote the Mirror of Love and also a treatise on Spiritual Friendship. These are well worth…
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A Biblical Theology of the Arab Peoples
In these complicated days of geopolitical confusion, here is a straightforward question: What does the Bible say abut the Arab people? It’s a clear enough question, but who do you know who could put together more than a few sentences on the subject? There must be only a handful of such people, and one of…
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Today William Williams Pantycelyn Died (1791)
William Williams Pantycelyn (1717-Jan 11, 1791) is the most accomplished Welsh hymn writer. Old books describe him variously as “the Charles Wesley of Wales,” “the Isaac Watts of Wales,” or “the Paul Gerhardt of Wales.” Williams, who took on the bardic name Pantycelyn from the place of his birth, was prolific as a poet. He…
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Today William Laud was Beheaded (1645)
William Laud was the Archbishop of Canterbury under Charles I. He was a devout and learned Christian with many good qualities, but as the leading bishop of the Church of England in turbulent times, he adopted authoritarian strategies that put him on a collision course with the equally intransigent Puritans. In the general mess of…
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Today Saint Fillan’s Hand Probably Glowed (777)
Today in the year 777, Saint Fillan of Scotland died, that is, if he really existed. Surely there must have been some historical figure back behind the legends and landmarks of Saint Fillan. But the legends alone, bristling with Scottish and Irish names, are pretty cool: He and his mother (Kentigerna!) and uncle (Comgan!) moved…
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Today Jim Elliot Was Killed (1956)
Today in 1956, five missionaries to the Auca indians in Ecuador were killed. Their deaths brought a sudden end to the project they called “Operation Auca,” but the tragedy became a defining moment in the history of evangelical missions. Hundreds of young people were inspired to take up missionary work, thousands were moved to deeper…
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Today Athanasius Got the New Testament Exactly Right (367)
Athanasius of Alexandria (who died in 373) was a marvel: He refuted the heresy of Arianism, wrote voluminously in defense of the truth, oversaw the Christian church in Alexandria, was the official calendar-keeper for when Easter was to be celebrated, and —in his spare time— was the first to write get the Table of Contents…