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OCTOBER
 

29, 1781 --Czechoslovakia. In 1637, a Jesuit named Anton Koniasch boasted he had burned sixty thousand Bohemian books, mostly Bibles. Today Emperor Joseph II issues the Edict of Toleration allowing Protestantism to again raise its head.

29, 1837 --Netherlands. In the little town of Maassluis, Abraham Kuyper is born. In 1886, he will lead a large secession from the state church of the Netherlands to effect a restoration of the reformed church in Holland. And, in the Synod of Amsterdam, in 1892, he will be largely responsible for bringing about the union of the Christian Reformed Church with this new seceding group. The result will be called the "Reformed Churches in the Netherlands." From 1901 to 1905 he will become the Prime Minister of the Netherlands.

30, 1518 --Germany. Martin Luther arrives at Wittemberg having left Augsburg in haste after successfully combating the Papal legate whom he met without having a promise of safe conduct. In a letter to Spalatin he writes, "I came back to Wittemberg today, safe and sound by the grace of God: but how long I shall remain is more than I know . . .. I am filled with joy and peace; so much so, that I cannot help wondering how the trial which I endure appears so great to so many great personages."

30, 1522 --France. Jacques Lefevre will publish the four Gospels in French. He was formerly busy collecting the legends of the saints and martyrs and arranging them according to the order of their names in the Calendar. Two months had already been printed when God opened his heart and gave him disgust for the childish superstitions. He abandoned the task and turned his attention to the Sacred Volume. "The moment when Lefevre quitting the marvelous tales of the saints laid his hand upon the Word of God is the commencement of a new era in France, and the beginning of its Reformation;" so wrote Merle D'Aubigne.
     Mr. Lefevre preached, "Those who are saved, are so by election, by grace, by the will of God, and not by their own will. Our election, our will, our works are without efficacy; the election of God alone is most powerful. When we are converted, our conversation does not make us the elect of God, but the grace, the will, the election of God convert us."

30, 1698 --France. Claude Brousson, the Huguenot leader has been arrested and sent to Montpelier where he is imprisoned in the citadel. He could have escaped at Somail, during the night as the soldiers slept, but having promised the intendant of Bearn he would not attempt to escape, he was allowed to go unfettered.

30, 1760 --England. King George III publishes a proclamation calling "for the encouragement of piety and for preventing immorality." For nearly fifty years, the king's mistresses have introduced vulgarity and licentiousness and have rivaled the ministry in political influence. Therefore serious Englishmen are fired with loyalty for a king who has been trained in seclusion as in chastity.

30, 1799 --Pennsylvania. William Balch is appointed the first Navy chaplain of the United States.

30,31, 1895 --Pennsylvania. The Luther League of America, the young people's society of the Lutheran Church is organized in Pittsburgh.

31, 1492 --Spain. At the instance of the Inquisitor, Tomas de Torquemada, Ferdinand and Isabella issue an edict commanding Jews who refuse Christianity to quit the country. Many will profess conversion but will secretly practice their old religion. Therefore they are called "Maranos," and against these the Inquisition raises its arm. The term "Maranos" however refers to all pressured into "conversion", whether Moors, or Protestants, or Jews.

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