"OF WHOM THE WORLD WAS NOT WORTHY"
-25-
JANUARY
20, 1896 --New York. At Yonkers, Thomas Armitage dies.
He has helped found the American Bible Union, and has published A
History of the Baptists Traced by Their Vital Principles and Practices
from the Time of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to the present.
21, 1525 --Switzerland. At Zurich, those opposing infant baptism (anti-pedobaptists)
are forbidden to conduct religious services. Conrad Grebel has baptized
Mr. George Blaurock. It is the first adult baptism here.
Mr. Grebel is called the founder of the sixteenth century Anabaptist
movement calling for 1.) Separation of Church and State, 2.) Believer’s
Baptism, and 3.) Church Membership composed only of converted persons.
He will die of the plague as a harried fugitive in Switzerland.
21, 1549 --England. The Act of Uniformity, the first of its kind to be
passed, today sets forth the penalties to be exacted for refusing to
implement the Prayer Book of Edward VI. The first offence will
constitute the loss of a benefice for a year, and imprisonment for six
months. The second offence will involve the loss of all benefices and
imprisonment for one year. The third offence will invoke the sentence of
imprisonment for life. It will be repealed by Queen Mary in October,
1553.
21, 1621 --Massachusetts. The Pilgrims erect the first homes at
Plymouth, and today being Sunday, the first public worship service is
held in a rough, square blockhouse. As they have no pastor, they are led
by William Brewster, the oldest in the company and an elder of the
church.
21, 1802 --Denmark. At Copenhagen, Adolphe Monod is born. He is a
brother to Frederic who will found the Free Church. In 1851, Adolphe
will be dismissed from his church when he preaches a sermon in which he
seeks to limit participation in the Lord’s Supper to those only who are
worthy recipients.
21, 1824 --West Virginia. Thomas Jonathan Jackson is born in Clarksburg.
Better known during the dark days of the Civil War as General
“Stonewall” Jackson, he, like General Lee, will distinguish himself as a
Christian.
For several years before the Civil War, he will
conduct a Sunday school for Negroes. He will invite his servants to join
in family prayers and will organize a special meeting for them each
Sunday afternoon to teach them the Gospel.
As a General, he will wrestle with the question
of attacking on the Lord’s Day, since he even refuses to mail a letter
on Sunday. He even writes the Confederate government suggesting mail not
be carried on Sunday. He will pray all night before a battle and
sometimes during the battle. The first chapel of logs will be built in
his brigade.
A Presbyterian, he will write his pastor, “You
suggest I give my views and wishes in such form and extent as I am
willing should be made public. This I shrink from doing, because it
looks presumptuous of me to come before the public and even intimate
what course I think would be pursued by the people of God . . .. My
views are summed up in these words: Each Christian branch of the Church
should send into the Army some of its most prominent ministers, who are
distinguished for their piety, talents, and zeal; and such ministers
should labor to produce concert of action among the chaplains and
Christians in the Army... and as a general rule, I do not think that a
chaplain who would preach denominational sermons should be in the Army
...but let the question be: ‘Does he preach the Gospel?’”