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JANUARY

 16, 1580 --England. The English Parliament imposes a tax of twenty pounds for absence from church—the Church of England. This is a move to heavily burden all who refuse to conform to the state church.

16, 1604 --England. Dr. Reynolds, President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, will raise the issue for one uniform translation of the Bible. This conference on ecclesiastical affairs is held at Hampton Court, and has been duly called by James I who has only recently ascended the throne. Parliament is still waiting to recognize him as king. This conference will prove to be the springboard from which the “Authorized Version” of Scripture will come. It is commonly known as the “King James Version.”

16, 1684 --England. Jeremiah Marsden, who to avoid detection has adopted his father’s Christian name of Ralphson, and Francis Bamfield, a Baptist, are to be tried today. Their crime lies in their refusing to conform to the liturgy of the Church of England.

16, 1786 --Virginia. In 1671 Sir William Berkeley stated of the Virginia colony, “The almost general want of schools for their children was of most sad consideration, most of all bewailed of the parents there. Every man instructs his children according to his ability. The ministers should pray oftener and preach less,” he continued, “but I thank God there are no free schools nor printing; and I hope we shall not have these three hundred years, for learning has brought disobedience and heresy and sects into the world, and printing has divulged them and libels against the best government. God keep us from both.”
     Today, however, the Virginia House and Senate adopt Thomas Jefferson’s “Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom;” thus Virginia declares for religious freedom. Mr. Jefferson will consider this statute next in importance to the Declaration of Independence.
   The Preamble to the bill declares, “that belief depends not on will, but follows evidence; that God hath created the mind free; that temporal punishment or civil incapacitations only beget hypocrisy and meanness; that the impious endeavor of fallible legislators and rulers to impose their own opinions upon others hath established and maintained false religions; that to suffer the civil magistrate to intrude his powers into the field of opinion destroys all religious liberty; that truth is the proper and sufficient antagonist to error, and has nothing to fear from the conflict, unless by human interposition disarmed of her natural weapons, free argument and debate; errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted freely to contradict them.”
     The General Assembly will therefore enact, “No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burdened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his belief; but all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion; and the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities. And we do declare that the rights hereby asserted are of the natural rights of mankind.”
     At the same time, the General Assembly adopts the policy of forbidding slavery.

16, 1899 --Canada. In Montreal, Charles Paschal Telesphore Chiniquy dies. In 1858, he led the congregation he was pastoring in St. Anne, Kankakee County, Illinois to leave the Church of Rome and join the Canadian Presbyterian Church.

17, 1562 --France. An edict formulated today allows Protestants the right to conduct services outside city walls under the protection of the law. They are still forbidden, however, to build churches.

17, 1865 --Australia. John Paten, Presbyterian missionary, arrives at Sydney after having returned to Scotland for assistance. He brings seven others with him as missionaries to the New Hebrides, and returns with his second wife, Margaret Whitecross. His former wife, Mary Ann Robson has died in childbirth.

17, 1872 --France. In a small shop in Belleville, the Communistic quarter of Paris, Mr. Robert Whitaker McAll founds the first city mission in modern times. The McAll missions as they are called are French, non-denominational missions and will be set up in Algeria, Tunis, and Corsica. The first adult Bible class in France will be established in a McAll mission, and the first industrial school in France will also be established in a McAll Hall in 1874. The halls are centers of temperance, and dispensary work, lending libraries, Bible and Tract distribution and extensive visitation programs. Christian Endeavor will be introduced into France by C. E. Grief who will be in charge of the work among the young in the mission halls.

17, 1901 --Turkey. At Constantinople, Elias Riggs dies. He is an American missionary here who has translated the Word of God into the Armenian language, and was commissioned by the American and British Foreign Bible Societies.



 

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