Essay / On This Day
Today (September 29) is the birthday of Miguel Servet, better known as Michael Servetus (1511-1553), the Spanish theologian who forcefully denied the Trinity, and died for those convictions. Discussions of the execution of Servetus are easy enough to find, usually in connection with John Calvin’s
Essay / On This Day
Today (September 27) is the birthday of Solomon Stoddard (1643-1729), the puritan pastor in colonial New England. Three hundred years ago, if you wanted to tell somebody who Jonathan Edwards was, you’d say “He’s Solomon Stoddard’s grandson,” and they’d say “Wow!” But now the shoe
Essay / On This Day
Adolph Saphir (1831-1891), born today (September 26) was a highly-regarded nineteenth-century preacher and Bible expositor. His entire family converted from Judaism to Christianity when the Scottish Free Church sent missionaries to Hungary in 1843. Saphir studied in Berlin, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh. He entered the
Essay / On This Day
Hear T.S. Eliot: The Right Reverend Father in God, Lancelot Bishop of Winchester, died on September 25, 1626. During his lifetime he enjoyed a distinguished reputation for the excellence of his sermons, for the conduct of his diocese, for his ability in controversy… and for
Essay / On This Day
Born this day (September 12) in 1729 was John Fletcher of Madeley, about whom John Wesley said: “An obedience discovered itself in Fletcher of Madeley, which I wish I could describe or imitate.” Who did John Wesley wish he could be more like? John William
Essay / On This Day
Today (August 26) marks the death of Adam Clarke (1762-1832), one of the greatest of evangelical Bible commentators. His masterpiece and lifework (first published from 1810 to 1826) is the voluminous commentary on the entire Bible, which is stunning for the amount of detailed investigation
Essay / On This Day
Today (August 21) is the birthday of Francis de Sales (1567-1622). De Sales, regarded as a Saint by the Roman Catholic Church, was the Catholic bishop of Geneva in the early seventeenth century. Think about that phrase for a minute. Obviously, he served as bishop
Essay / Misc.
F.W. Robertson (1816-1853) was the kind of preacher people spoke of in superlatives: Charles Dickens reportedly said that “he was one of the greatest masters of elocution I ever knew. To hear Robertson read the church prayers was in itself a liberal education.” He was
Essay / On This Day
Today (August 14) is the birthday of Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-1876), an English composer of church music. Wesley was a musician’s musician, with strong opinions about the number of pedals on the organ, the quality of Anglican music, the training of vocalists, and precisely how
Essay / On This Day
Today (August 9) is the birthday of Adoniram Judson, a great missionary who knew how to change his plans when the situation demanded it. For example, he intended to be a missionary to India, but when he got to India, missionaries were no longer welcome,
Essay / On This Day
Today (April 13) was the birthday of J.B. Lightfoot (1828-1889), Bishop of Durham, New Testament commentator, historian of early Christianity, and Christian apologist. Lightfoot’s strict classical training (Trinity College, Cambridge) equipped him for what turned out to be his life’s work in an uncannily providential
Essay / On This Day
Samuel Marinus Zwemer (1867-1952) was born this day, April 12. Zwemer has been called “the Apostle to Islam” by many people, including a historian of missions as great Kenneth Scott Latourette. He worked in frontier missions in a variety of ways, willing to go anywhere