"OF WHOM THE WORLD WAS NOT WORTHY"
-276-
NOVEMBER
18-28, 1095 --France. The Council of Clermont meets.
Pope Urban II has received an embassy from Emperor Alexius calling for
aid against the Moslems. Here at the synod he echoes the Emperor's
appeal with the result being a call for a crusade. The enthusiasm
awakened by the Pope for the crusade essentially makes him the head of
the western world.
Here also, the "Peace of God" will be declared
universally binding, and regulations will be imposed for the prevention
of simony and lay investiture.
The word "crusade" means, "to mark with a cross". The
First Crusade known also as the Peasant's Crusade will be preached by
Peter the Hermit, while Bernard of Clairveaux will instigate the Second
crusade. There will be several crusades in all. The most famous is the
Third Crusade in which Richard "the Lion-Hearted", king of England will
fight with Saladin, and in which Frederick Barbarossa, king of the Holy
Roman Empire, and Philip II, king of France will participate. Frederick
Barbarossa will drown while fording a river in Pisidia, the site of
present day Turkey.
The results of the crusades are numerous, but first,
they chiefly effected making the Pope head of the western world. Second,
they stimulated trade. Third, they weakened the power of feudal lords.
Fourth, they stimulated the use of money. Finally, they led to the
eventual discovery of the New World.
18, 1382 --England. In a synod held today at Oxford, John Wycliffe is
summoned to answer his attack on the doctrine of transubstantiation. A
stroke of paralysis has left his body broken, but not his convictions,
nor his will. While no sentence of condemnation is passed, yet he is
debarred from lecturing in the university.
18, 1523 --Italy. Clement VII is chosen to succeed Adrian VI as Pope.
His vacillating policy will strongly offend the English king and Henry
VIII will inaugurate the breach between the Royal House of England and
the Papacy, which has not been healed since its inception in 1558.
18, 1525 --Switzerland. Michael Sattler has entered the monastery of St.
Peter, but through diligent reading of Paul's epistles he has been led
to the realization true righteousness is to be had by the grace of God
alone, and not by the ways taught by the Roman Catholic Church or by
monasticism. Today he is banished from the city of Zurich for his
Anabaptist views, and will return to his native town of Staufen in
Germany. Even here he will suffer banishment by the Austrian government.
18, 1787 --Massachusetts. At the close of the Sunday evening service,
King's Chapel, in Boston, the oldest Anglican Church in New England,
under the authority of Senior Warden, Dr. Thomas Bulfinch reads to the
congregation the ordination of its "Reader," Mr. James Freeman, an
anti-Trinitarian (Socinian). Mr. Freeman has first applied to Bishop
Samuel Seabury of Connecticut, and then to Dr. Samuel Provoost,
Bishop-elect of New York, for ordination. When these refuse, King's
Chapel has ordained Mr. Freeman without the benefit of other ministers.
This act removes King's Chapel from communion with the Church of
England.
18, 1800 --England. In London, John Nelson Darby is born. He will be the
principal founder of the "Plymouth Brethren" on the continent of Europe.
In February 1845, at the instigation of the Jesuits, a revolution will
break out in the Swiss canton of Vaud with the result that in some parts
of the country, the "Darbyites", as they are called, will suffer
persecution. Mr. Darby's own life will be in jeopardy. The English
Brethren will soon divide between the "Exclusives" or the followers of
Mr. Darby, and the "Bethesda" or the open Brethren.
18, 1878 --Spain. Francisco de Paula Ruet dies. As a young man, he
adopted Waldensian teaching for which he was imprisoned first by the
governor at Barcelona, then by the captain general. After being
imprisoned for seven months, the spiritual court of the city sentenced
him to the stake for heresy, but as such a sentence could no longer be
carried out in Spain, it was changed to perpetual banishment. Using this
opportunity he has formed a small, Spanish Protestant community at
Gibralter. Here he made it a center for disseminating the Gospel in
Spain. When Spain was liberated in 1868-1869, he returned and founded
the Protestant church in the city of Madrid where today he dies.
18, 1893 --Italy. Pope Leo XIII issues the encyclical "Providentissimus
Deus" promoting Biblical studies. He quotes the decree of the Vatican
Council on Inspiration and stresses the consequences of Divine
Inspiration. Since all parts of Scripture were written at the dictation
of the Holy Spirit, its inspiration and inerrancy cannot be restricted
to certain parts of the Bible.
The Pope recommends the study of current languages and
the use of sound, critical, scientific and historical methods of study.
While the Vulgate is regarded as the "authentic" version of the Church,
the study of the original texts and early versions is advocated.
However, it is mandatory that exegetes abide by the historic
interpretation of the Church as unanimously expressed by the Church
Fathers. Allegorical interpretation is regarded valid, especially when
supported by the literal sense and the "authority of many."
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"He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? He that formed the eye,
shall He not see? ...He that teacheth man knowledge, shall not He know?"
-Psalm 94:9, 10b