December

4, 1584 --England. At Derby, John Cotton is born. In July 1633, in order to escape a summons to appear before the High Commission Court of London for not kneeling at the sacrament, he will flee to America. He is the grandfather of Cotton Mather.

4, 1642 --France. Cardinal Richelieu dies at Paris. In 1622, he was made a Cardinal, and in 1624, he became Secretary of State, of War and of Foreign Affairs. At last in 1629 he was made Prime Minister of France. At the beginning of his ministry, in 1626, he summoned in assembly of fifty-five Prelates, nobles, magistrates, financial officials and others to suppress corruption in the Army, to develop Commerce and the Navy, and to suppress crimes against the safety of the State. Since he maintains the Huguenots tended to "form a state within a state," he has become their avowed enemy.

4, 1645 --England. Independents petition the Westminster Assembly "that they might not be forced to communicate as members in those parishes where they dwell; but may have liberty to have congregations of such persons who give good testimonies of their godliness, yet out of tenderness of conscience cannot communicate in their parishes." The Presbyterian Assembly will rule a determined "No!", and will explain, "This opened the gap for all sects to challenge such a liberty as their due; and that this liberty was denied by the churches of New England, and we have as just ground as they."

4, 1655 --England. Richard Baxter writes, " ...When the Lord had awakened His ministers in the county of Worcestershire, and some neighboring parts, to a sense of their duty in the work of catechizing, and private instruction of all in their parishes who would not obstinately refuse their help, and when they had subscribed an agreement containing their resolutions for the future performance of it, they judged it unmeet to enter upon the work, without a solemn humbling of their souls before the Lord, for their long neglect of so great and necessary a duty; and therefore they agreed to meet together at Worcester, December 4, 1655 and there to join in humiliation and in earnest prayer to God for the pardon of our neglects and for special assistance in the work which we had undertaken, and for the success of it with the people whom we had engaged to instruct . . .."
This day, therefore, being set aside for prayer and humiliation, Mr. Baxter is to preach on the work of the ministry. He prepares two messages, but sickness has prevented his attending. He will write them down and expand them, the result being The Reformed Pastor, which he will publish in 1656. Two hundred years later, Mr. Charles Spurgeon will frequently have his wife read portions of it to him on Sunday evenings after the preaching of the day.
In all, Mr. Baxter will write one hundred and sixty-eight books.

"When we ordain elders or deacons or appoint teachers and do so because of their buying power, or for any other reason than that of their spirituality, we sign our own death warrant, as well as that of the church."

4, 1682 --Pennsylvania. William Penn has permitted a general convention for the inauguration of the government of the colony. The people prefer appear by representatives. In three days it has been ended and guarantees the freedom of all with God being declared the only Lord of conscience. The word of an honest man is to be accepted as evidence without requiring an oath. Every resident who pays taxes possesses the right to vote, and regardless of sect, every Christian is eligible to office. No tax or custom can be levied but by law. Pleasures involving cruelty or imply deceit are not allowed whether the wearing of masks, revelry, plays, cock fights or the like. Murder is the only crime punishable by death. Marriage is to be considered a civil contract thus making adultery a felony. The falsely accused are to be granted double the damages suffered them. Every prison is to be a workhouse. Swedes, Finns and Dutch are granted the rights of all Englishmen.

4, 1804 --England. At Plymouth, John Kitto is born. When eleven years old, he will have to leave school to assist his father who is a stone mason. Two years later in 1817, while carrying slates up a high ladder, he will fall. The result will be that he will become completely deaf for the duration of his life. He will be chiefly remembered for his Pictorial Bible and Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature.

4, 1829 --India. The government of India passes an act against Suttee, or the self-immolation of the wife upon the funeral pyre of her husband. This act is largely the work of English missionaries.

4, 1832 --England. At Waltham in Lincolnshire, Ferrar Fenton is born. He will amass a considerable fortune as promoter of the De Beers Company for the development of the South African diamond mines, but will suffer heavy losses in 1893 through dishonest legal advisor. Lie will become a very outspoken critic against what he calls the "so-called Higher Criticism" which he will regard "as either wild delusion or deliberate swindle."

4, 1861 --Georgia. In Augusta, commissioners from forty-seven Presbyteries embracing all or part of eleven Southern states convene. Today they will organize the "General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America." An address by James Henley Thornwell justifies the southern churches in seceding from their mother denomination, and is addressed "to all the Churches of Jesus Christ throughout the Earth." The Southern Presbyterian Church is thus formed. Baptists and Methodists will also secede from their mother denominations.

4, 1960 --California. In 1923 the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, U. S. A. declared "It is an essential doctrine of the Word of God and our standards that the Holy Spirit did so inspire, guide and move the writers of Holy Scripture as to keep them from error." On May 5, 1924, an affirmation drafted in Auburn, New York was signed by one thousand two hundred and ninety-three Presbyterian ministers repudiating the statement by the General Assembly. Known as the Auburn Affirmation, it affirms such a statement was "without warrant" and maintains the doctrine of Inerrancy "impaired their usefulness in the church."
The attack upon the Bible continues, and today Dr. Eugene Carson Blake preaches from the pulpit of Bishop James A. Pike here in San Francisco. The sermon is entitled, "A Proposal toward the Reunion of Christ's Church" and in it he declares, "So long as the wording 'sola scriptura' is required, no bridge can be made between Catholic and Evangelical. But is now clear in ecumenical conversations that Protestants generally have come to recognize the right place of tradition . . .." The plan will come to be known as the "Blake-Pike Proposal."