"OF WHOM THE WORLD WAS NOT WORTHY"
-265-
NOVEMBER
5, 1851 --Kentucky. At Lexington, Benjamin Breckenridge
Warfield is born. A Presbyterian, he will be known for his faithful
defense of the faith. He will leave behind him such works as The
Inspiration and Authority of Scripture, Perfectionism,
Augustine and Calvin, as well as other writings.
5, 1898 --Germany. Political liberty has made men dissatisfied with the
despotism of Romanism. Politically, democracy has triumphed;
ecclesiastically ultramontanism has triumphed with the Vatican Council
decreeing the infallibility of the Pope. Finding France unwilling to
promote its political schemes, the Vatican has thrown its influence to
the Slavs against the Germans to effect a strong Slavic Catholic power
it can depend upon. Bitter Anti-Roman feelings have resulted and today,
Schonerer, leader of the German National party, makes an appeal for
secession from Rome declaring, "Los Von Rom" --"Away from Rome." This
political maneuver has arisen from the religious dissatisfaction that
has existed for some time. The impelling motive is a religious one.
6, 739 --Belgium. Willibrord dies. When the southern part of Friesland
belonged to the Frankish kingdom, attempts to introduce Christianity had
been made under Lothair II and Dagobert I, but when the Franks grew
weak, the Frisians relapsed into paganism. Willibrord had gained the
favor of the Frisians during a winter's hunting and preached and
baptized, but the new prince Radbod was unfriendly to Christianity, and
thus he sought the protection of Pippin. After Pippin died in 714,
Radbod sought to re-gain his territory and fought against Charles
Martel. He succeeded in winning back his possessions, but he died the
following year. Thus, when Aldgild, his successor, made peace, the
Gospel had a free road; and Willibrord, laboring under the full
assistance of Charles Martel, took advantage of the situation.
6, 1315 --Italy. The Florentine government, through the vicar to King
Robert, renews the sentence of death against Dante Alighieri. He is the
author of the Divine Comedy --Il Purgatorio, Il Inferno,
and Il Paradisio. He is unpopular because his political stand has
been for democracy, the Cerchi party, and has opposed the Donati party,
which stands for domination by Rome. In 1316, the government of Florence
will offer amnesty to political exiles and Dante will be granted
permission to return if he will undergo public penance as an evildoer.
He will indignantly refuse the offer.
6, 1522 --France. Jacques Lefevre's French translation of the New
Testament is completed.
6, 1632 --Germany. In an exceptionally bloody battle fought in a dense
mist, at Lutzen, Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, leads his Swedish
army to victory. But while leading a cavalry attack, the king is himself
killed. He has championed the Protestant cause during this Thirty Years
War.
He was a great general, a Christian hero, and a great
statesman. His army is a model army being infinitely superior in moral
character to the armies of Tilly or Wallenstein, and resembles
Cromwell's "Ironsides." Upon hearing of his death, Pope Urban VIII will
rejoice.
Three weeks ago, Mr. Adolphus recommended to the
Germans the colonization of America as "a blessing to the Protestant
world." In December 1633, the Upper Four German Circles will confirm the
charter and sanction a Protestant colony on the Delaware.
6, 1692 --Massachusetts. Samuel Sewall corrects his son Joseph because
he threw "a knop of brass and hit his sister Betty on the forehead so as
to make it bleed and swell; upon which, and for his playing at prayer
time, and eating when return thanks, I whipped him pretty smartly."
6, 1787 --Pennsylvania. There has been dissatisfaction in early history
of the Methodist Church in this country because of question twenty-five
in the minutes of the conference of 1780: "Ought not the assistant to
meet the colored people himself, and appoint as helpers in his absence
proper white persons and not suffer them to stay late and meet by
themselves?" Answer: "Yes." Today, the African Methodist Episcopal
Church is founded.
6, 1935 --Illinois. In Chicago, at the age of seventy-two years, Billy
Sunday will die. Dr. Harry A. Ironsides, the pastor of the great Moody
Church, will preach his funeral. Mr. Sunday has left a baseball career
when he was called the fastest man in baseball, running the bases in
fourteen seconds! His lifetime batting average was 267, but being
faithful to the call of God, he left the ballpark to preach the Gospel.
In thirty-nine years of preaching, he will hold three hundred crusades
totaling three hundred million people.