"OF WHOM THE WORLD WAS NOT WORTHY"
-300-
DECEMBER
13, 1545 --Germany. The Council of Trent convenes. It
will be transferred to Bologna in March 1547 for fear of the plague, but
will indefinitely desist from its work on September 17, 1549. It will
reopen in Trent, May 1, 1551, by Pope Julius III. The sudden victory of
Elector Maurice of Saxony over Emperor Charles V and his resulting march
into the Tyrol will cause the Council to be broken up. Pope Pius IV will
recall it for the last time January 18, 1562 when it will continue until
it adjourns on December 4, 1563.
In twenty sessions, this Council will seek to counter
the Protestant Reformation and will seek the utter extirpation of
heresies, as well as the reformation of morals. It will close saying,
"Anathema to all heretics, Anathema, anathema."
13, 1560 --France. At Orleans, the Assembly of the States-General meets.
Once again Admiral Gaspard de Coligny pleads for more freedom of worship
for French Protestants. His words are heeded in part for persecution
ceases, and toleration is shown.
13, 1638 --Massachusetts. A public fast has been proclaimed in the city
of Boston.
13, 1732 --Africa. David Nitchmann and Leonard Dober, the first Moravian
missionaries have sailed from Copenhagen and today arrive at St. Thomas.
Here they will begin preaching the Gospel to the Negro slaves.
13, 1854 --Holland. The renowned Dutch Reformed theologian, Herman
Bavinck is born. He will adhere to the Heidelberg Confession and the
Canons of the Synod of Dort.
14, 1417 --England. Tuesday, Sir John Oldcastle, now known as Lord
Cobham has actively withstood Archbishop Thomas Arundel for his burning
the followers of John Wycliffe, and has opened Cowling Castle to Lollard
preachers. He has stood sword in hand to defend such preachers from the
wrath of the friars, and having himself espoused Wycliffe's teachings,
he has made copies of his works for circulation in Bohemia, France,
Spain, Portugal, etc.
Today, he is condemned of heresy by Parliament as the
London records tell: "On Tuesday, the fourteenth day of December (1417)
and the twenty-ninth day of said Parliament, Sir John Oldcastle of
Cowling in the county of Rhet knight (Lord Cobham), being outlawed (as
is before mentioned in the King's Bench, and excommunicated before by
the Archbishop of Canterbury for heresy), was brought before the Lords,
and having heard his said convictions, answered not thereto in his
excuse. Upon which record and process it was judged that he should be
carried to the Tower of London, and from thence down through London,
unto the new gallows in St. Giles without Temple Bar, and there be
hanged, and burned hanging."
Monks and friars who wrote the early English plays
lampooned Lord Cobham. In fairs and inns he was portrayed as a braggart,
a debauchee, and a poltroon. So it was that William Shakespeare first
portrayed him, but later discovering the truth of the matter, he struck
out the name "Oldcastle" and inserted the name "Falstaff." Still not
content with having misrepresented him, Shakespeare proclaims, "Oldcastle
died a martyr."
14, 1831 --Wales. Griffith John is born at Swansea. As a
Welsh Congregational missionary he will be assigned to China in 1855 by
the London Missionary Society. He will live near Shanghai until 1861
when he will remove to Hankow and become the first Protestant missionary
in Central China.
14, 1837 --England. Frances Ridley Havergal is born. As a godly woman,
she will write much for the advancement of the kingdom of Heaven. Among
her hymns are "Take My Life, and Let It Be," "I Gave My Life for Thee,"
"Lord, Speak to Me that I May Speak," and "Who Is On the Lord's Side?"
She will early commit to memory the New Testament as
well as the book of Psalms in six languages.
14, 1873 --Massachusetts. Louis Agassiz dies at Cambridge. A Swiss
naturalist, he has himself been naturalized as an American citizen. It
was his conviction creation came out of nothing through an act of the
Creator --a strict Biblical position. He further asserted God created
the earth specifically for man.
15, 168 B. C. --Israel. Antiochus Epiphanies enraged by his defeat in
Egypt when the Roman envoy compels him to withdraw from his invasion,
has destroyed the walls of Jerusalem and has sold many of the
inhabitants of Jerusalem as slaves of the Temple. He has plundered the
Temple treasury and has converted it into a shrine of the Greek god
Zeus. Today, he has the image of the Greek god set up on the altar. In
ten days, a sow will be sacrificed in his honor.
15, 1790 --England. Mary Catlett, the wife of John Newton, dies.
15, 1791 --Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof." The First Amendment to the Constitution is recognized as in
force today. Under it, religious liberty is granted to all citizens of
the United States of America.
Joseph Story, Supreme Court Justice, will write,
“The real object of the First Amendment was not to countenance much less
to advance Mahometism, or Judaism, or infidelity by prostrating
Christianity; but to exclude all rivalry among Christian sects, and to
prevent any national ecclesiastical establishment which should give to
an hierarchy the exclusive patronage of the national government.”