Category: On This Day
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The Birth of Servetus
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 involvement in the process. But on his birthday, let us…
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Ask Solomon Stoddard
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 is on the other foot, and we say: the largely…
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Happy Birthday Adolph Saphir
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 ministry in 1854, and after time as a missionary to…
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Meet Lancelot Andrewes
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 the decorum and devotion of his private life. Eliot goes…
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Happy Birthday, Fletcher of Madeley
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 Fletcher (1729-1785), or, to use the French name he was…
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Adam Clarke and the Whole Bible
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 it brings together in one place. The full title of…
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Birthday of Francis de Sales
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 in exile, since Geneva was solid Calvinist territory. His work…
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F.W. Robertson’s Life and Death
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 very popular in his day, and after his death (on…
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Happy Birthday, Samuel Sebastian Wesley
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 to combine tradition and innovation. To hear what he was…
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Adoniram Judson (1788-1850): Three Yadanas and the Threefold Cord
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, and he ended up working in Burma. He wanted to…
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Happy Birthday, J.B. Lightfoot
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 way. In all his scholarly work, it has been said…
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Happy Birthday, Samuel Zwemer
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 there were Muslims and to use any technique that was…