THIS DAY IN CHRISTIAN HISTORY: September 28 Looking back on the history of Christianity and the Church, we notice that it is sometimes violent, sometimes inspiring, shocking, tragic, comic, or just plain bizarre. It is certainly never dull. Our Christian heritage was passed down to us through blood, sweat and tears, but mostly by the faith of our fathers. The church age as we know it is coming to an end very soon. Be very blessed and informed as you read these brief notations on the successes and failures of Christianity throughout the ages. Sept. 28, 235: Pope Pontian resigns. He and Hippolytus, church leader of Rome, are exiled to the mines of Sardinia. September 28, 929 or 935: Death of “good King” Wenceslas, Bohemian prince and martyr. During his reign (before he was murdered by his brother, Boleslaw). A Christian, Wenceslas sought peace with surrounding nations, reformed the judicial system, and showed particular concern for his country’s poor. However his coercive Christianity alienated many of his subjects. September 28, 1066: William the Conqueror changed the English Church by invading England on this day and afterward appointing his own men, who had been involved in Norman Church reforms, to key positions. September 28, 1230: Gregory IX reinterpreted the Franciscan rule of poverty, removing some of its stricter provisions. When he offered to do the same for the Poor Clares, Clare stoutly resisted. Sept. 28, 1322: Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor defeats Frederick I of Austria in the Battle of Muhldorf. September 28, 1563: The pope commanded Jeanne DAlbret, Huguenot queen of Navarre, to appear for examination of heresy on pain of losing her lands. Since her lands were French territories, the French government, which had no more liking for Protestants than the pope, took her side. September 28, 1704: A statute was enacted by the colony of Maryland, giving ministers the right to impose divorce on unholy couples. September 28, 1774: Anglican clergyman and hymnwriter John Newton wrote in a letter: We are always equally in danger in ourselves and always equally safe under the shadow of His wings. September 28, 1808: Andover Theological Seminary first opened in Massachusetts, under sponsorship of the Congregational Church. It is the oldest theological school in New England. Sep. 28, 1833: Death of Lemuel Haynes, black bishop in a white world. September 28, 1839: Frances E. Willard, president of the Womens Christian Temperance Union from 1879 to her death in 1898, is born in New York. She was influential in the passage of both the 18th and 19th Amendments (prohibition and womens suffrage). September 28, 1895: At a convention in Atlanta, three Baptist groups merged to form the National Baptist Convention. It is today the largest African-American denomination in America and the world. Sep. 28, 1922: Death of William Seymour, founder of the Azusa Street Mission. September 28, 1931: C. S. Lewis undergoes a spiritual conversion while riding to the zoo in his brother Warren’s motorcycle sidecar. Lewis later wrote, “When we set out, I did not believe that Jesus is the Son of God: and when we reached the zoo I did.” Lewis’s conversion followed a long conversation he’d had the week before with two Christian friends, J.R.R. Tolkein and Hugo Dyson. September 28, 1934: The first issue of The Sword of the Lord was published. Founded by Baptist evangelist John R. Rice, 39, it became the largest independent Christian weekly for years, and was recognized by liberals as the voice of fundamentalism. September 28, 1951: The Peace Committee, a Communist front for Catholic clergy, was founded by the Czechoslovakian Communists to enlist clergy into socialist work under minister Plojhar. September 28, 1978: Pope John Paul I died in bed of a heart attack while reading The Imitation of Christ. He had been pope for only thirty-three days. Rumors said he was poisoned. Sept. 28, 1995: Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat sign the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. My sources for this daily post are --- Wikipedia, Christianhistory.net, Chinstitute.org, StudyLight.org, and books by William D. Blake, A. Kenneth Curtis and Daniel Graves. ---be very blessed and get ready for God’s best.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 21:25:21 +0000