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FEBRUARY
 

 19, 1812 --New York. Adoniram Judson and Samuel Newell embark for India with their wives. They have been ordained at Salem, on June 17th.
         During their voyage, Mr. Judson will change his views on baptism, and after their arrival, he and his wife will be immersed in the First Baptist Church of Calcutta.

19, 1862 --Switzerland. The Concordat issued today relates to the "mutual admission of Evangelical Reformed clergy" in the cantons of Zurich, Aargau, Appenzell-Outer, Rhodes, Thurgau, Glarus, Schaffhausen, and St. Gall. The two Basels will follow in 1870.

20, 1680 --France. King Louis XIV forbids Huguenot women to act as midwives.

20, 1977 --Uganda. General Idi Amin has prohibited church services be held today. Despite the prohibition, in Kampala, forty-five hundred Anglicans pack the cathedral for a thanksgiving service -- "not fearing the wrath of the king."

21, 1479 --Germany. John of Wesel has declared a priest can not forgive sin but only through Divine assistance, and the priestly forgiving of sin is only a sacramental ministry to the penitent sinner. The one who alone forgives sin is God, who has called the priest to take part therein; the gift of grace in the sacrament of penance is the remission of guilt and punishment in Hell, remission of Divine punishment is not an accompaniment.
             He has taught the church is the aggregate of the faithful joined together in love, known to God alone; it is the bride of Christ; is ruled by the Holy Spirit.
           Scripture alone is to be trusted and not the fathers nor the councils. All ecclesiastical dogmas and ceremonies are to be submitted to the test of Scripture.
          "I despise Pope, Church, and Councils;" he declares, "I love Christ. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly."
           Today, Sunday, he recants in the cathedral. His writings are burned, and he is condemned to lifelong repentance in the Augustinian monastery at Mainz, where he will soon die.

22, 1546 --Germany. Johann Bugenhagen preaches the funeral of Martin Luther.

22, 1648 --England. The Westminster Assembly has held 1,163 sessions. Today it closes its appointed work but will continue meeting irregularly as a board of "triers" for examining ministers until 1652 when they will disband.
         The four outstanding principles emphasized by the Assembly are: 1.} The Authority of the Scriptures; 2.) The Sovereignty of God; 3.) The Rights of Conscience; and 4.) The Sole Jurisdiction of the Church within its own domain. The Assembly has insisted "God alone is the Lord of the conscience," but it does not mean to issue a brief of religious toleration. Neither does it imply to the men of this day the idea of the Separation of Church and State.
            The work of the Assembly will fail in this country, for with the coming of Oliver Cromwell, Independency will rule, and in 1660, Episcopacy will be re-established as the law of England and the Book of Common Prayer, together with the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion will again be enforced.

23, 155 --Turkey. Irenaeus records how he heard the account of Polycarp's intercourse with the Apostle John and with others who had seen the Lord, and that he had been converted by apostles. He is bishop of this city.
      It is the Jewish Sabbath, and during the Feast of Purim. It is also during the reign of Antoninus Pius, and during the proconsulship of Statius Quadratus and persecution abounds. When the aged man is offered his liberty if he will sacrifice to the pagan gods, he replies, "Eighty and six years have I served Him and He hath done me no wrong; how can I speak evil of my King who saved me?" Today he is martyred for Christ.

23, 303 --Turkey. Emperor Diocletian issues his first edict against the Christian church. In it, he removes all Christian freedmen from public offices and deprives them of civil rights, and Christian slaves are denied the possibility of emancipation. Churches are to be demolished, the Scriptures are to be surrendered to be burned, while religious services are forbidden.
       A second edict will decree the arrest and imprisonment of all pastors.
     A third edict, issued in 304 will demand the laity sacrifice to the pagan gods and promising torture and execution for refusing to do so.
      The responsibility for the outbreak of persecution is primarily placed upon Hierocles, governor of Bithynia. He will become prefect of all Egypt and will persecute the church there confining Christian women and virgins in brothels. When Aedesius goes to Alexandria he will accuse Hierocles to his face of having exceeded the limitations of law, and will strike him, for which act he will be tortured and thrown into the sea.

23, 1414 --France. The Council of Paris condemns the doctrine of "tyrannicide." However, on January 15, 1416, a commission of Cardinals instituted by Pope John XXIII will reverse the decision.

23, 1679 --England. Thomas Goodwin dies in London. He is eighty years of age. After an interview with John Cotton in 1633, he became an Independent; and when Oliver Cromwell lay dying, Mr. Goodwin attended him upon his deathbed.

23, 1685 --Germany. George Frederick Handel is born in Halle. At age seven, he will be skilled on both the piano and organ, and at age nine will begin composing music. He will become known as the "Father of the Oratorio," his best known being "The Messiah."
          Scarlatti will follow him all over Italy, and whenever Handel’s name is mentioned Scarlatti will cross himself out of respect for him.

23, 1719 --India. Bartholomew Ziegenbalg, the first German Protestant missionary to India, dies today. Mr. B. Schultze and Mr. J. E. Grundler have assisted him in translating the Word of God into Tamil. It is the first translation of the Bible into any language of India.
 

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