LEADERS IN

CHURCH HISTORY
GREAT WOMEN

HELENA, FIRST CHRISTIAN

ARCHAEOLOGIST
AT CHRISTMAS TIME "Manger Square" in Bethlehem is thronged with
pilgrims coming to worship at the Church of the Nativity. At Easter,
Christians follow the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in
Jerusalem. Both of these ancient churches in the Holy Land are intimately
connected with Empress Helena, mother of the first Christian emperor,
Constantine (274-337).

Much of Helena's life and history is obscure or unknown, including the date and place of her birth. Some
theorize that since the emperor Constantine later named a town in Asia Minor Helenopolis in her honor, she
was born there, the daughter of an innkeeper.

Unclear too is when Helena met the Roman soldier Constantius Chlorus, or even if the two were ever
officially married. What is certain is that Constantius and Helena were Constantine's parents. When
Constantius became Caesar of Gaul, Spain, and Britain in 292, he divorced Helena in order to marry
Theodora, daughter of his patron Maximian. It was an obvious and cold political move designed to promote
Constantius' career.

Helena's son Constantine spent much time at the court of the emperor Diocletian and became a soldier like
his father. When his troops later proclaimed Constantine emperor in 306, one of his first acts was to call his
mother from political exile and give her honors befitting the mother of the Roman Emperor. When
Constantine embraced Christianity, Helena gave her strong support and encouragement.

All was not peace and prosperity at the imperial court, however. For reasons shrouded in darkness and
uncertainty, in 326 Constantine had his oldest son Crispus and his wife Fausta executed. He later was
apparently plagued with guilt, and Helena possibly convinced him of his error and sin. This sense of sin and
need for repentance might have caused Constantine to send Helena on her mission to the Holy Land.

When almost eighty years old, Helena traveled throughout Palestine and the eastern imperial provinces,
encouraging the establishment and spread of the Christian faith. In Palestine she sought out the original
locations associated with the life of Jesus, and she oversaw the construction of churches Constantine had
ordered built at such sites--Bethlehem, Calvary, Olivet, Bethany. A pagan temple to Aphrodite had been
built on the tomb site of Jesus' resurrection; it was torn down and replaced by the Church of the Holy
Sepulcher. Later legends arose that Helena also discovered the actual cross of Christ in the tomb beneath the
1
church. Helena's tour became a pattern for Christian pilgrims throughout the Middle Ages and into our own
day as she sought to discover and honor the places where Jesus had lived.

The British have an ancient tradition that Helena was the daughter of King Coel of Colchester (later
immortalized in Mother Goose's "Old King Cole, the merry Old Soul." If this story is true, Emperor
Constantine is grandson of a Mother Goose hero!). There was a Christian church at Colchester in 250 AD,
about the time Helena was born, and it is possible she became a Christian as a young person.

DISTANT DATELINE: Good King Wenceslaus Murdered by Brother!

BOHEMIA, 929 AD. The kingdom of Bohemia is in turmoil as the news of Prince
Boleslav's wretched deed spreads throughout the land--King Wenceslaus murdered by
his own brother at the doorway of the church!

As the blessed King Wenceslaus toured his Bohemian lands, visiting the many
churches he had established, Prince Boleslav invited his brother to his own castle.
After an evening of joyous feasting, the brothers retired. Wenceslaus rose early to
worship, as was his custom. Eyewitnesses report he greeted his brother at the church
entrance, saying, "Good health, dear brother! We owe you many thanks for your
kindness because you served us yesterday so honestly, lavishly, and joyfully." Boleslav maliciously replied,
"And you arrange an even better feast today." With that, Boleslav pulled out his sword and struck
Wenceslaus on the head. The blow only glanced him, and Wenceslaus threw Boleslav to the ground.
Boleslav's henchmen soon rushed against the king and helped overpower and slay the king. The king died
with his Lord's words on his lips, "Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit."

It is difficult to imagine a king more just, God-fearing and Christ-loving than Wenceslaus. From a youth he
helped the needy, orphans, and widows. As king, Wenceslaus has worked against the pagan forces in the
country, establishing churches throughout the land and building the beautiful church of St. Vitus in Prague.

Now many of his supporters have either been killed in the recent mayhem or have fled the kingdom. The
loss is incalculable.

2
 HE COULDN'T OUTRUN THIS
MOTHER'S PRAYERS
ABOUT 331 AD in North Africa, a baby girl was born who would become the
mother of one of the most influential Christians of all times. Monica was born into
a moderately wealthy family. An old Christian maidservant, who had also cared for
Monica's father as a baby, brought Monica up in the Christian faith.

Monica was given in marriage to Patricius, who was not a Christian. For many
years Monica sought to win Patricius to the Lord. Following the advice of I Peter
3, Monica realized her conduct more than her words would be the means of
Patricius' conversion. By her persevering in patience and meekness, Monica won her mother-in-law to
Christ. Patricius too became a Christian, though only towards the very end of his life.

Monica was often a great peacemaker between people who were at odds. In healing discords or disputes, she
never repeated the evil, bitterness or hatred which one side might express against the other. She also sought
to help and minister to those who were teachers or pastors of the church.

Though the wife of a non-Christian, Monica prayed that her family might eventually all come to Christ. She
attempted to bring her children up in the ways of the Lord, and it pained her to see them stray from the truth
she had taught them. Her most promising son, Augustine, was given an excellent education, and Monica
hoped this might be a means of his more fully reaching God. Augustine ignored his mother's warnings
against youthful lusts and pursued a life of self-gratification and immorality while continuing his classical
education. He lived with a woman not his wife and fathered a child. Monica didn't have the words to
convince her son of the truth of Christianity, but she determined never to stop praying that he would turn to
God.

When Augustine went to Italy to teach, Monica, by then a widow, followed him there. In Milan she attended
the church pastored by Ambrose and rejoiced when Augustine was befriended by Ambrose and eventually
became a Christian.

Monica died in 387 at the age of 56. In his Confessions Augustine spoke of his grief and weeping for the
mother "now gone from my sight, who for years had wept over me, that I might live in your [God's] sight."
She died a happy woman for she had seen her prayers answered, and both her husband and her son had
become believers. Augustine was only 33 at the time of his mother's death, and many years of service to
Christ and His church lay before him. In later years Augustine could look back on his life and recognize the
importance of his mother's perseverance in prayer to his own salvation and ministry. However, neither
Augustine nor Monica could have foreseen that Augustine's own ministry would continue over the centuries
and even influence such as Luther and Calvin in reforming, purifying, and strengthening the church.

DISTANT DATELINE: Monumental Church Split As East and West Divide

CONSTANTINOPLE, JULY, 1054 AD Well, it finally happened!

Some said it had been building for centuries and seemed inevitable. But that doesn't soften the shock nor
relieve the perplexing questions of what it signals for the future of Christianity.

Earlier this month Cardinal Humbert, official representative for the pope in Rome, entered our magnificent
cathedral, St. Sofia, here in Constantinople and placed a letter from Pope Leo on the altar in the church. That
letter excommunicated our leader and patriarch, Michael Cerularius. Michael in turn has indicated that he
will excommunicate the pope with the support of fellow major church leaders--the patriarchs at Alexandria,
Antioch and Jerusalem.

The problems between East and West have long festered. We in the East have been wary of the expanding
power of the pope. We have respected him as a "first among equals" but not head of the entire church.

3
There are other problems, such as whether clergy should marry, but the major disagreement is over the so-
called "filoque" issue. Does the Holy Spirit proceed from the Father alone--as we maintain in the East--or
from both Father and Son, as Rome insists?

Informed sources say that the split could be long and bitter. Will any of us live long enough to see harmony
restored? Ironically your reporter has heard that by the time his letter of excommunication arrived here, Pope
Leo had died, which, I am told, would make its contents invalid. But things had already gone too far. Has the
"seamless garment of Christ" now been irreparably rent?

Editor's Postscript: The nearly 1000-year split continues to this day.

Get Acquainted with Anselm (Editor's Notebook)

One of my favorite characters from the Middle Ages is Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093-1109.

Anselm was a great church leader who hated church politics. He didn't seek his prominent position. He
sought repeatedly and urgently to resign it, but wasn't allowed.

Anselm's passion was to seek the face of God. He couldn't understand how any Christian could want less. He
said, "If they are Christians, why should they break faith for any temporary gain? The thing is impossible."

Anselm was also a great thinker. He articulated what has been called the "ontological proof for the existence
of God." There isn't space here to explain, but look it up in a philosophy text and enjoy pondering. It
continues to fascinate and challenge every generation.

Anselm's "proof" came to him in a flash at prayer. Centuries later the famous British anti-Christian skeptic
Bertrand Russell wrote, "one day in 1894, as I was walking along Trinity Lane (emphasis ours) I saw in a
flash that (Anselm's) ontological argument is valid. I had gone out to buy a tin of tobacco; on my way back,
I suddenly threw it up in the air, and exclaimed as I caught it, 'Great Scott, the ontological argument is
sound.' "

Anselm's great work was Cur Deus Homo? (Why Did God Become Human?) . He wrote it to answer Jewish
concerns that the Incarnation impugned the honor and dignity of God, and his work became one of the
greatest in all church history in helping us understand the reasons for and meaning of the atonement of
Christ.

He was known as one of the "Scholastics" but for him faith preceded knowledge and knowledge helped
illumine faith. He said: He who does not believe cannot experience, and whoever does not experience,
cannot understand.-- Ken Curtis

4
 PATRICK--TO IRELAND, FIRST AS
SLAVE, THEN AS SERVANT
PATRICK WAS BORN over 1,600 years ago about 389 AD He was the next
great Christian missionary that we know of after the Apostle Paul, even
though he wasn't born for over 300 years after Paul's death.

His impact was so profound it is not surprising that his life became embellished with legends. But even if
Patrick did not drive the snakes out of Ireland, such a legend testifies to the pervasive power of his ministry.
Fortunately we have two documents from Patrick himself that give us valuable information about him. They
are his Confession, written near the end of his life, and his Letter to Coroticus, his urgent plea to a king who
had captured many of his converts. Following is a sampling of highlights from Patrick's life and excerpt
from his confession of faith.

From Patrick's Confession

I was sixteen years old and knew not the true God and was carried away captive; but in that strange land
(Ireland) the Lord opened my unbelieving eyes, and although late I called my sins to mind, and was
converted with my whole heart to the Lord my God, who regarded my low estate, had pity on my youth and
ignorance, and consoled me as a father consoles his children...Well every day I used to look after sheep and I
used to pray often during the day, the love of God and fear of him increased more and more in me and my
faith began to grow and my spirit stirred up, so that in one day I would pray as many as a hundred times and
nearly as many at night. Even when I was staying out in the woods or on the mountain, I used to rise before
dawn for prayer, in snow and frost and rain, and I felt no ill effect and there was no slackness in me. As I
now realize, it was because the Spirit was glowing in me.

St. Patrick's Breastplate

This famous prayer, one of the earliest known European vernacular poems, has been attributed to Patrick,
but scholars say some of the words used indicate the versions available come from a later period. But there
is no question that they ooze the spirit and content we see in Patrick's Confession, and they vibrate with the
power of Christianity that Patrick gave to his adopted land. Some Christians today find great value in
memorizing this classic prayer and repeating it each morning upon arising.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity.
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,
Through the strength of his descent for the judgment of Doom...

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to save me
From snare of devils,

5
 From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,

Against every cruel and merciless power that may oppose my body and soul
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.

Christ to shield me today

Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.

A SHINING LIGHT in a DARK AGE

It's an incredible and largely unknown story. It's told in How the Irish Saved Civilization (Doubleday, NY
1995), Thomas Cahill's excellent book on St. Patrick and his spiritual descendants. Though located at what
was perceived to be the edge of the world, the hearty Irish who succeeded Patrick emerged as one of the
most vital missionary and educational movements in all history.

As wave after wave of German barbarians swept over the Roman empire in the fifth and sixth centuries,
Roman political structure disintegrated, and centers of learning and education disappeared. Some call this
period the Dark Ages, when civilization itself seemed on the verge of vanishing. During this dismal time, it
was the Irish who preserved the books and learning of the classical and Christian authors.

Ireland was one part of Europe which had never been part of the Roman Empire, and their Celtic
Christianity was distinctly un-Roman. Not connected with the papal system or the Roman hierarchy, Celtic
Christianity developed around individual leaders and monasteries, and the Irish monks were leaders in
spreading and preserving the Christian faith.

Many priests and monks from England and the continent fled to monasteries in Ireland to escape the
barbarian invaders. Some came from as far as Egypt, Syria, and Armenia. The study of the Scriptures was
central to the Celtic monastic schools, and the scriptorium was a key part of the monastic compound. Here
the monks carefully copied the Scriptures and many of the Greek and Latin classics. Many of the earliest
Latin manuscripts available today are those made by the Irish monks, and over half of our Biblical
commentaries between 650 and 850 were written by Irishmen. For them, writing was an art. Using seashells
and plant juices for color, they decorated the manuscripts with the most elaborate designs.

6
Leaving their homeland and carrying the gospel elsewhere was an important part of the Irish Christian
tradition. It was these traveling monks who kept Christian literacy alive in barbarized Europe. In the century
after Patrick, the Irish monk Columba established the monastery of Iona off the west coast of Scotland and
began to create a literate, Christian society among the Scots and Picts of north Britain. His followers later
went to Lindisfarne and began the same transformation among the Angles of Northumbria. Other Irish
monks went to the mainland and established at least 60 monasteries throughout France, Germany,
Switzerland, and Italy. Traces of their work can be found as far east as Kiev in Russia and as far west as
Iceland.

Celtic Christianity differed from Roman Catholic Christianity in a number of ways. The Irish did not have
an authoritarian church hierarchy, and the monks looked more to Scripture than tradition for their rule. They
also followed a method of dating Easter common in the eastern churches. The Irish introduced a system of
private confession and penance, practices later adopted by the Roman church.

Viking invasions of the eighth and ninth centuries disrupted the Celtic monasteries in Britain and Ireland. By
then, however, the Irish had lready planted the seeds of Christian learning throughout Europe.

And, as Cahill points out, "In all disasters, Patrick would insist, there is ground for hope." Indeed, Patrick
would probably even find hope for us today.

If you have enjoyed this special issue, then give your favorite Irish friend a big hug.

Patrick: A Fourth Century Prodigal Son

• He was born about 389 AD in a family of Celtic Christians.

 Patrick rejected his family's Christian faith and had no desire for God.
 When he was about 15 a marauding gang of pirates kidnapped him, took him to
Ireland, and forced him into slavery.
 He served his Irish master as a shepherd. His education was interrupted. For the rest
of his life he was self-conscious about his lack of education and eloquence.
 During his captivity he had a profound conversion experience that changed the
course of his whole
life. (See excerpt from his Confession below)
 He was able to escape after six years and return to his homeland and parents.
 Then one night Patrick had a vision: I saw a man named Victorious, coming as if
from Ireland, with innumerable letters; and...I read...'The voice of the Irish' and
while I was reading...I heard the voice...'Please, holy boy, come and walk with us
again.
 Against his parent's wishes he returned to Ireland to bring the Gospel of Christ.
 He spent some thirty years there and evangelized and baptized many thousands,
some estimate over one hundred thousand. He lost count. Some two hundred
churches were established. His ministry confronted and challenged pagan practices
there such as infants sacrificed to harvest gods, prisoners of war sacrificed and their
skulls used as ceremonial drinking bowls.
 He also spoke out unequivocally against human slavery, and some say he was the
first to do so.
 Patrick often annoyed his church members in Ireland because he would return their
gifts and the jewelry they wanted to give him.
 His work through his successors brought a shining light to the so called "Dark
Ages."
 For those of you who think St. Patrick belongs only to the Irish Catholics, you
should know that Patrick himself was neither Irish nor Roman Catholic. He was a
Briton by birth. And he was part of Celtic Christianity which in his day was
independent from Rome. As you saw in the section above, "A Shining Light in a
Dark Age," there is a sense in which Patrick really belongs to all of us.

7
 KATIE LUTHER: ESTABLISHING A
PATTERN FOR THE CHRISTIAN
FAMILY
CATHERINE VON BORA was only eighteen at the time Martin Luther issued his
now famous 95 theses from Wittenburg. She had lived in a convent since she was
three; her father had taken her there after her mother's death. Catherine and several
of the other nuns at the cloister heard of Luther's Biblical teaching. Once they
believed the principles Luther taught, they wanted to leave the cloisters. When
Luther heard of this, he encouraged a merchant friend to help them escape.

Merchant Kopp often delivered herring to the convent, and one evening in 1523, he bundled twelve nuns
into his wagon in the empty fish barrels! Several of the nuns returned to their families; Luther helped find
homes, husbands, or positions for the rest.

Within two years after their escape, all the nuns had been provided for except one--Catherine. Gradually,
through the persuasion of friends and his father, Luther proposed to marry Katie himself.

Luther had been given the building of the Augustinian monastery at Wittenburg by the Elector, and into the
monastery Katie moved after her marriage in 1525. She cleaned up the monastery and brought some order to
Luther's daily life. Luther wrote a friend, "There is a lot to get used to in the first year of marriage. One
wakes up in the morning and finds a pair of pigtails on the pillow which were not there before." After a year
of marriage Luther wrote another friend, "My Katie is in all things so obliging and pleasing to me that I
would not exchange my poverty for the riches of Croesus." Luther, the former celibate monk, now exalted
marriage, exclaiming, "There is no bond on earth so sweet, nor any separation so bitter, as that which occurs
in a good marriage."

Katie managed the finances of the family and helped free Luther's mind for his work of writing, teaching,
and ministering. Luther called her the "morning star of Wittenberg" since she rose at 4 a.m. to care for her
many responsibilities. She took care of the vegetable garden, orchard, fishpond, and barnyard animals, even
to the butchering of them herself. Often there were as many as 30 students, guests, or boarders staying in the
monastery, all of whom came under Katie's care. Luther was often ill, and Katie was able to minister to him
in his illnesses because of her great medical skill. Katie's life was not just concerned with the physical,
however. Martin encouraged his Katie in her Bible study and suggested particular passages for her to
memorize.

In time the Luthers had six children and also raised four orphan children; the family became a model for
German families for several centuries. Luther viewed marriage as a school for character. Family life helped
train Christians in the virtues of fortitude, patience, charity, and humility.

After Martin's death in 1546, Katie lived six years. She lived to see her children, except Magdalena who had
died young, achieve positions of influence.

DISTANT DATELINE: Archbishop of Canterbury Murdered! CANTERBURY,

December, 1170. Who would have ever thought it could come to this? Tension and
disputes over jurisdiction and power between the church and state have existed for
centuries. It seems a never ending battle. But last night the unthinkable happened!
Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was savagely murdered--in the
cathedral--at the altar--where he came to pray. And it is suspected that King Henry II
was behind it!

8
The tension between King and Archbishop is public knowledge. Becket had only just recently returned from
exile in France.

Ironically, before his ordination, Becket was a close friend of the king, joining him in his amusements, both
good and bad. Henry installed him as Chancellor of England and was sure Becket would be a safe and
reliable appointee as Archbishop of Canterbury.

But once in his office as highest church official in the land, something happened to Becket. He took his
duties and service to God with utmost seriousness, even if it meant resisting the king over principles and
issues of church and state.

In a moment of exasperation over Becket King Henry is said to have muttered, "Will no one rid me of this
turbulent priest?" Four of Henry's knights took this as an instruction and burst into the Cathedral and killed
Becket. Thomas apparently offered no resistance but accepted death calmly--almost as if he expected it.

Editor's Postscript: On July 12, 1174 King Henry II did penance at the tomb of Becket. Historian Philip
Schaff commented that "no deeper humiliation of king before priest is recorded in history."

OH SUSANNA: MODEL OF A
CHRISTIAN MOTHER
WHEN SUSANNA ANNESLEY, the 25th child of Dr. Annesley, was
born to his second wife there probably was not much discussion about her
or her future. Little could the family dream that she would become the
mother of John and Charles Wesley, the founders of worldwide
Methodism. Susanna was an "old lady of 19" (almost a late marriage in
those days) when she became the wife of Samuel Wesley, an Anglican
minister.

The Wesley family traced their lineage to the 10th century, but ancestry
did little to help the problems of their forty-four year marriage. They suffered illness, disease, poverty, and
the death of children. Fire twice destroyed their home. But through it all Susanna accepted the will of God
and placed herself and her family in His hands.

Politically Samuel and Susanna were both Tories, but while Samuel accepted William of Orange as King
William III, Susanna considered James II to be the true king. Once in 1701 Susanna refused to say "Amen"
to Samuel's prayer for King William. Tension ensued. Samuel left for London as a Convocation proctor for a
year. He returned in 1702 when Queen Anne, whom they both acknowledged as the legitimate sovereign,
came to the throne. So in a real sense, we might say that John was the child of their reconciliation.

Susanna bore between seventeen and nineteen children; ten survived. The frequent absences of her husband
on church business left the management of the household in her hands. Through it all she remained a
steadfast Christian who taught not only through the Scriptures, but through her own example of daily trust in
God. She once wrote: We must know God experientially for unless the heart perceive and know Him to be
to be the supreme good, her only happiness, unless the soul feel and acknowledge that she can have no
repose, no peace, no joy, but in loving and being loved by Him.

The children were raised strictly. They were taught to cry softly, to eat what was put before them, and not to
raise their voices or play noisily. Physical punishment was used, but confession of faults could avoid it. All
but one of the children learned to read from the age of five, including the girls. (Susanna made it a rule for
herself to spend an hour a day with each of the children over the period of a week.) After the fire of 1709
family discipline broke down, but Susanna managed to restore it later. She paid special attention to John,
who was almost lost in the fire. He referred to himself as "a brand plucked from the burning fire," and his
mother said that she intended to be more particularly careful of the soul of this child that Thou hast so
9
mercifully provided for, than ever I have been, that I may do my endeavors to instill into his mind the
disciplines of Thy true religion and virtue.

It is said that at the age of six or seven John thought he would never marry "because I could never find such
a woman as my father had." After Samuel Wesley died in 1735, Susanna lived with her children, especially,
in her last year, with John. She died on July 23, 1742 and was buried in London's Bunhill Fields, where John
Bunyan and Isaac Watts are also buried. Her sons won tens of thousands of souls to Christ. She would not
have wished for more.

DISTANT DATELINE: Rich Young Man Leaves it All! Many Follow Him.

ASSISI, 1218. Our country is fascinated to see something new in our Church. Only
eight years ago the Church approved a new religious order founded by Francis of
Assisi. Over 3,000 of his band now are seen throughout the Italian countryside. They
minister to the poor and outcasts and accept only necessary food and temporary shelter
from others.

What is so fascinating is that Francis was born the son of a rich cloth merchant. His
family expected him to become a soldier; however, God seems to have had other plans
for him. He was captured and held prisoner for a year when his native town of Assisi
was at war with the city of Perugia. After his release he suffered a serious illness and sometime later, when
attending church, Christ's words pierced his soul: "Go preach, saying, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers...freely ye have received, freely give."

Francis' decision to leave all behind and live a life of poverty shocked his father and he disowned his son.
But Francis is an inspiration to the poor, who see a great contrast between his life and that of many of the
higher and wealthy clergy. He has been followed in a life of poverty by Clare, a wealthy young lady from
his home town. For her and other women followers who wish to live for Christ alone he has established a
cloistered convent. The friars are not required to live in a monastery, and Francis has declined to seek
ordination.

Right now Francis is off to evangelize the Muslims. It is reported that he was able to meet with the Sultan of
Egypt and share the Gospel with him. This is but another example of his boldness combined with humility
that suggests his ministry will continue to inspire and challenge Christians--perhaps even for generations to
come

He Took Jesus Literally and...

On February 24, 1208 Francis of Assisi sat in this church. The scripture reading that day was the words of
Jesus in Matthew 10:7-10. He listened, believed, and obeyed. His life would never be the same and the
church has never been the same. His radical discipleship is a living rebuke of materialistic and self-indulgent
Christianity in any age. The Church of the Portiuncula ("little portion") is now enclosed within a larger
church.

10
 HANNAH MORE: APOSTLE TO BOTH
THE PROMINENT AND THE POOR
THOUGH SHE WAS undoubtedly the most well-known and influential woman in the
England of her day, today Hannah More's name is sadly virtually unknown. Who was
this now obscure woman who counted so many leaders and prominent persons among
her friends?

Born near Bristol, England in 1745, Hannah was the fourth in a family of five girls.
Her father, Jacob More, was a schoolmaster who saw that his daughters were well-
educated. While still in their teens, the three oldest More daughters established a girls'
boarding school in Bristol which soon became famous. Hannah completed her education there and before
she was eighteen had written A Search for Happiness, a play which was later published and widely read.

In 1772 Hannah took her first of many trips to London where she soon became an important social and
literary figure, enjoying the company and friendship of artist Sir Joshua Reynolds, famous actor David
Garrick, statesman Edmund Burke, and writer Samuel Johnson. David Garrick himself directed her
successful play Percy . John Wesley wrote Hannah to encourage her in her literary pursuits because her
Christian example could greatly influence the London artistic and literary set. However, when her friends
David Garrick and Samuel Johnson died, London society lost its glamour and interest for Hannah.

After 1785 she increasingly turned to more distinctly Christian work. Pastor John Newton, author of
"Amazing Grace," became her spiritual advisor, and young William Wilberforce, leader in the abolition
movement, became a close friend. Members of the Clapham Sect, a group of well-to-do Anglican
evangelicals, also became Hannah's friends and supporters.

All of Hannah's writings were permeated with a strong didactic and moral purpose. She wrote a series of
popular essays on the importance of Christianity in establishing moral laws as well as a series of popular
tracts to counter the rationalism of the French Revolution. The most popular, Shepherd of Salisbury Plain,
went through many editions and was translated into several languages. In 1809 Hannah published a widely
read novel, Coelebs in Search of a Wife, which was really an essay on how to choose a good wife. It went
through 30 editions in the United States within ten years. Her Strictures on the Modern System of Female
Education encouraged education for women based on the foundation of Christian teaching and morals.

Appalled at the poverty and immorality in the mining towns, in 1787 Hannah and her sisters began
establishing Sunday Schools in many of the villages. Within ten years they were supporting and
administering over sixteen schools, teaching the poor children to read the Scriptures, learn Christian morals,
and acquire skills which would help them in life. Believing firmly that Christian teaching should be the basis
of all education, Hannah wrote many of the books used in the schools.

Hannah died in 1833 at the age of 88. Her writings and philanthropy deeply influenced the public mind and
social character of her day.

DISTANT DATELINE: Is This the End of the World?

London, 1349. The pestilence which has been sweeping across Europe has
now reached England bringing the same widespread death as elsewhere.
Some had thought the pestilence was caused by Jews poisoning the wells
of the Christians; but since the plague has now reached England, where
the Jews were expelled fifty years ago, this explanation no longer works.
Scholars wonder if the cause is in the stars. March 20, 1345, a triple
conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars occurred in the 40th degree of
Aquarius; the plague began its spread westward shortly after that.

Not since the flood of Noah have so many people died. Once afflicted, the plague - stricken never live
beyond a day or two. Large boils under the armpit or in the groin are sometimes as big as an egg,
11
fever soars, and the lungs are inflamed as the dying vomit blood. Hogs rooting in cast off clothing have
died of the disease; cats, dogs, chickens, and livestock seem equally affected. In one area of England,
5,000 sheep lay dead on the hillside. Cargo - laden ships are floating aimlessly at sea with their entire
crew stricken by the plague and unable to bring the ship to harbor. Some predict that half of the
population of England will be killed by the plague. One-fourth to one-third of Europe have died
already. Fields are left empty without laborers to till the soil, and famine follows in the plague's path.

Is this an outpouring of God's judgment and wrath for our sins? Last year the pope acknowledged the
pestilence was God's affliction on His people. Greed, avarice, worldliness, adultery, blasphemy,
luxury, and oppression of the poor have all become commonplace. If God does not show mercy, the
end of the world may be upon us. 'The horsemen of the Apocalypse are in our midst.'

"Bring Out Your Dead"

The wood engraving above shows a medieval street scene with crier and cart making the rounds
picking up new plague victims. In the 14th century, the plague devastated Europe. (See Distant
Dateline above) The pope authorized processions of penitents to atone for the sins they thought God
was punishing by the plague. The penitents, dressed in sackcloth, barefoot, and covered with ashes,
went weeping and praying through the streets. Inadvertently, they were often spreading the plague,
which today we know was an infectious disease carried by rats and fleas.

AMERICA AND MISSIONS

DAVID BRAINERD: ONE CONTINUAL

FLAME FOR GOD
HE DIED when still a young man. Only 29. But David Brainerd, a young Puritan who
ministered to the Indians, was one of America's most influential missionaries. Though
his life was brief, Brainerd's intense, passionate devotion to God affected countless
Christians for many generations.

Born in 1718 to a devout Puritan family in Haddam, Connecticut, David Brainerd was
orphaned at the age of 14. At twenty-one, swept up by the Great Awakening, he had a
conversion experience and enrolled at Yale. Though an excellent student, Brainerd was
dismissed in 1742 for criticizing one of the tutors, saying he had no more grace than a
chair! Brainerd's regret over his rash statement could not secure his reinstatement. He ever afterward
remained sensitive about criticism and maintaining Christian unity.

Brainerd studied with pastor Jedidiah Mills to prepare for the ministry and was soon licensed to preach. He
went to work among the Indians at Kaunameek, about half way between Stockbridge, Massachusetts and
Albany, New York. He diligently learned the Indian language but had little missionary success. So he moved
on.

After being ordained by the Presbytery of New York, he began a new work among the Delaware Indians of
Pennsylvania. Here too Brainerd saw little success in his ministry. Though often despondent because of his
ineffective ministry, loneliness, and repeated illness brought on by tuberculosis, Brainerd determined to live
wholly for God, whatever his outward success.

During 1745-1746, Brainerd traveled to minister to the Indians near Trenton, New Jersey and was amazed at
the immediate responsiveness of the Indians to the Christian message. Over 100 Indians at a time came to
him in the region. Brainerd poured out his life in ministry to these Indians, writing that he wanted "to burn
12
out in one continual flame for God." He helped secure land for the Indians when theirs was threatened and
soon constructed a church, school, carpenter's shop, and infirmary.

By the fall of 1746 Brainerd was increasingly coughing up blood. The famous theologian-pastor, Jonathan
Edwards, brought him to his home in Northampton, MA. There David Brainerd spent his last months,
succumbing to tuberculosis on October 9, 1747.

Jonathan Edward's daughter Jerusha nursed Brainerd during his last illness, and a deep love developed
between them. Edwards once overheard Brainerd tell Jerusha, "If I thought I should not see you, and be
happy with you in another world, I could not bear to part with you. But we shall spend a happy eternity
together." Jerusha contracted tuberculosis and died a few months after David, at the age of eighteen.

After Brainerd's death, Jonathan Edwards edited and published his diary, describing it as an example of a
devotional life "most worthy of imitation." This diary was to influence many missionaries in future
generations, including William Carey and Henry Martyn, who went to India and Jim Eliot, the twentieth
century missionary who gave his life ministering to the Auca Indians.

John Hus Betrayed at Council of Constance in 1415.

Prague pastor John Hus burst on the scene over a century before Luther and was one of the early lights of the
Reformation. Summoned to the Council of Constance to defend his popular reform teachings, Hus was
guaranteed protection by the emperor Sigismund. But the emperor caved in to pressure from church
officials, and Hus was imprisoned, tried, and executed by burning. He died singing!

DISTANT DATELINE: The Goose is Cooked

CONSTANCE, JULY 7, 1415. While singing, "Christ, thou son of the living
God, have mercy upon me," heretic John Hus was burned at the stake yesterday.
While some mocked that the goose was now cooked (Hus being the Czech word
for goose), others felt contempt and outrage at King Sigismund who had
promised Hus protection and safe conduct at the Council of Constance.

Though the Council was called to resolve the problem of three rival popes, it has
broadened its concerns to include doctrinal purity. Hus was called to appear before the Council to answer
charges of heresy against his teachings. Because of King Sigismund's promise of protection, Hus agreed to
come to Constance, but he was soon arrested and placed in a prison near a foul sewer. At his seven month
long trial, Hus repeatedly asked to be shown from Scripture the errors of his teaching, but he was given little
opportunity to defend the charges made against him. Most frequently, Hus has been accused of following the
teachings of the English heretic John Wycliffe. He was also frivolously charged with claiming to be the
fourth person of the Trinity.

Though Hus' trial dragged on for many months, his sentencing and execution yesterday were swift. In spite
of his condemnation, Hus continues to have many supporters among the common people. They marvel that
the Council simply deposed the immoral Pope John while it burned the righteous John Hus. These people
believe the earthly fires which burned Hus' body can never quench the Scriptural truth for which he stood.

Our Debt to Hus (Editor's Notebook)

We at Christian History Institute happily acknowledge our special "indebtedness" to the noted Czech
reformer John Hus. He is featured in the front cover picture story and in the Distant Dateline on page three.
Indeed, we might even say that Hus is the reason that we and Glimpses are here. It goes back over 16 years
to when we released a film on the life of Hus under our sister company Gateway Films. When preparing to
put out the film I previewed it for a group of Christian leaders - mostly clergy - and asked before the
showing how many were familiar with Hus. Only about half were. Then we previewed it for a group of laity.
Only six in their group of a few hundred had even heard of him. These experiences proved to be a life-
changing experience that drastically reshaped the direction of my ministry. I recognized how those of us,
particularly we from an evangelical Protestant background, typically have such an impoverished awareness
of our Christian heritage. We rightfully place strong emphasis on the centrality of the Scriptures but then
often ignore how the God of Scripture had led, guided, corrected and sustained his people over the centuries
13
since the Scriptures were completed. I also saw how exposure to that Hus film opened up a whole new
appreciation for viewers of the incredible price that has been paid to pass on the Scriptures and the faith to
us. It was not that we are spoiled children who could care less about our spiritual family heritage, but so
little was available to present it to us in an understandable and meaningful way. Thus, we began to prepare
an on-going series of films on church history. With them came user guides. That led to the formation of
Christian History Institute and Christian History magazine some twelve years ago, and the beginning of
Glimpses about seven years ago. This little ministry has slowly grown over the years and has always been
committed to serving the entire Body of Christ. We gratefully acknowledge how it all began with John Hus.

FROM UNDER A HAYSTACK TO THE

WORLD
A VIOLENT RAINSTORM descended upon the prayer meeting of five Williams College
students in a grove of trees near the Hoosack River one summer afternoon in 1806. They
moved to a nearby haystack. There they continued in prayer and committed themselves "to
send the Gospel to the Pagans of Asia, and to the disciples of Mohammed." By 1810 they
had inspired the Congregationalists of Massachusetts and Connecticut to organize the
American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, America's first foreign
missionary society.

Representing Presbyterian and Dutch-Reformed as well as Congregational Christians, the

American Board became the leading missionary society in the United States. Inspired by William Carey and
patterned after British missionary societies, the American Board sent its first group of five missionaries to
Asia in 1812; key organizers Adoniram Judson and Luther Rice were among this first group.

The American Board soon had sent missionaries to every part of the globe: India in 1813; Cherokee Indians
in 1817; Hawaii, Palestine, and Turkey in 1819; China in 1830; Africa in 1833. In its first fifty years, the
American Board sent out over 1250 missionaries. Most were from the smaller towns and farm villages of
New England. Few were affluent, but many were trained in colleges where the evangelical revival burned
brightly - - colleges such as Middlebury, Amherst, and Williams. There they received a classical education
which included Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. When they reached the mission field they were able to translate
the Bible from the original Greek and Hebrew into difficult and often previously unwritten languages. They
built educational systems in their lands of ministry and were often called upon to advise foreign
governments.

Their missionary reports to their home office in Boston were printed in the Missionary Herald , the
magazine of the American Board established in 1821. For many Christians in America, the Missionary
Herald was their window on the world. Descriptions of native customs, history, economic activities, and
geographical features were included along with accounts of the influence of the Gospel on these far off
lands. In a day before TV, radio, or rapid communications, such missionary reports became prime
information for many Americans about foreign lands.

The American Board saw to it that schools and hospitals were established in all the mission fields. Native
leaders were trained to continue the work of the ministry.

In 1961 the American Board merged to form the United Church Board for World Missions. After 150 years,
the American Board had sent out nearly 5000 missionaries to 34 different fields. They
had established over a thousand schools and colleges and spread the Gospel throughout
the world-and it all began with five young men praying in a haystack!

DISTANT DATELINE: Erasmus Sparks a Return to the Bible

14
BASEL, FEBRUARY, 1516. In a first for printing history, the Basel firm of Froben in Switzerland has just
published the New Testament in its original Greek. Prepared by the Dutch scholar Desiderius Erasmus, the
text was printed in an amazingly brief six months. In his preface, Erasmus reveals some of the startling
reasons behind his work: I could wish that every woman might read the Gospel and the Epistles of St. Paul.
Would that these were translated into each and every language so that they might be read and understood not
only by the Scots and Irishmen, but also by Turks and Saracens ... Would that the farmer might sing snatches
of Scripture at his plow and that the weaver might hum phrases of Scripture to the tune of his shuttle, that
the traveler might lighten with stories from Scripture the weariness of his journey.

Many question his outlook and warn of chaos if people come to think they can read the Bible for themselves
in the common tongue.

Erasmus' edition of the New Testament is part of his larger goal of reforming the church to develop truly
Christian character among the church leaders and the people. He has also written a scathing satire, The
Praise of Folly , and done editorial work on the early church fathers as part of his efforts to seek reform.

His Greek New Testament is selling well. Christian scholars eagerly devour this work that is bringing them
back closer to the original text of the Scriptures, and across Europe many are reexamining accepted church
doctrine and tradition in the light of these newly available Biblical texts.

Reformation Pilgrimage (Editor's Notebook)

In our page century by century progression through church history, we came with this issue to the
tumultuous 16th century and the explosive influence of the Reformation. A couple of years ago in preparing
our Christian History Institute video curriculum REFORMATION OVERVIEW I was privileged to visit all
the major Reformation locations where the original events took place. People and issues I had read about
came to life for me in an unforgettable way. Day after day I was gripped by the adventure of stepping back
into the world changing convictions and issues faced by the great Reformers. Several impressions left a
lasting mark upon me.

 The posting of the 95 theses by Luther in 1517 was not the beginning of the Reformation but in
many ways a culmination of widespread developments that had been building up for generations.
 There was not one Reformation but many. Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Tyndale, the Anabaptists and
others were all distinctive centers of dynamic development and spiritual renewal. -- The intellectual
discipline of the major Reformers was prodigious. These leaders were almost without exception
devoted to careful scholarship. Compare this to the kind of leaders we so often exalt today, based
more on the attraction of personality and media charisma than the quality of their thought.- - We are
familiar with the big name--, in the movement, but all of them had their circle of colleagues and
close confidantes with whom they struggled, debated, agonized and prayed. Luther had his
Melancthon, Zwingli his Bullinger, Calvin his Farel, Tyndale his Frith.
 The Major Reformation events often took place in little out of the way places far removed from the
centers of influence. Luther's Wittenberg surely was no Rome. Even today it is so small we couldn't
find a hotel in town. Calvin's Geneva was not a major international city when he went there. It
became one because of what he did there.

THE STUDENT VOLUNTEER MISSION:

EVANGELIZING THE WORLD IN
THEIR GENERATION
THE FIRST DECADES of the 20th century witnessed college students going to the
mission field in record numbers. The Student Volunteer Movement, or the SVM, was
at the center of this missionary thrust.

Moody

15
It all began in July, 1886, when Dwight L. Moody held a Bible study conference of collegiate chapters of the
YMCA at Mount Hermon, Massachusetts. Two hundred and fifty men from eighty-seven colleges met for a
month. Student Robert Wilder, who had founded the Princeton Foreign Missionary Society, arranged a set of
special meetings on missions at the Mount Hermon Conference. Arthur T. Pierson spoke to the students and
encouraged them to evangelize the world in their generation. One hundred students at the conference
volunteered to serve in overseas missions.

The next school year, Robert Wilder and John Forman of Princeton traveled to 167 different schools sharing
the vision of world evangelization. Two thousand one hundred and six more students volunteered for
missions work. Within two years of the Mt. Hermon Conference, over 5,000 students had signed the simple
pledge, "It is my purpose, if God permit, to become a foreign missionary."

In 1888, the Student Volunteer Movement was formally organized, and John R. Mott, one of the original Mt.
Hermon 100, was chosen as chairman. "Evangelization of the world in this generation" became the society's
watchword.

Within five years of the Mt. Hermon Conference, there were 6,200 Student Volunteers from 352 schools in
the US and Canada. Forty colleges and thirty-two seminaries were involved in supporting alumni who had
gone overseas as Volunteers. Similar student movements began in Great Britain, Scandinavia, and South
Africa.

The S.V.M. produced mission books and study programs to prepare students for missionary service and
worked to maintain an active interest in missions at home. It challenged students entering careers to consider
Christian missionary service as their life work. Firmly grounded in solid Biblical principles, the SVM
developed in many students a burning vision for world evangelism. By 1945, a total of at least 20,500
Student Volunteers had reached the mission field, but the Student Volunteer Movement had already begun
to seriously decline.

By 1959 the SVM merged with other organizations which ultimately formed the University Christian
Movement, an organization mostly concerned with political and social issues rather than Christian
evangelization. Christian students interested in missions formed the Student Foreign Missions Fellowship in
1938, a group which became the missionary department of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship in 1945. Since
1948, Intervarsity's conventions at Urbana, Illinois have challenged students to evangelize their world-the
challenge SVM made generations before.

16
 DISTANT DATELINE: 30 Years of War Over

WESTPHALIA OCTOBER, 1648. After a generation of warfare and

five years of negotiations, peace has at last come to the German
lands. Yesterday in Westphalia, representatives of France, Sweden,
the Holy Roman emperor, and the German princes agreed to truce
terms. It has been thirty devastating years of warfare. Now both
Protestant and Catholic forces have realized neither is powerful
enough to destroy the other; somehow they must live together with
some degree of mutual tolerance. Under the terms of the Peace of Westphalia, the German princes once
again are given the right to choose their religion and that of their subjects. Calvinism is now included as a
religious option, along with Lutheranism and Catholicism. The Hapsburg emperors lose their power over the
German states, and the Holy Roman Empire has suffered a severe setback. It is doubtful if any one power
will ever arise to bring unity to the over 300 factious German states.

Representatives of Pope Innocent X have voiced their strong opposition to the peace term's exclusion of the
papacy from the religious affairs in Germany. Since the days of Charlemagne, the church has maintained a
strong alliance with the powers of the state. This now seems to be breaking apart.

Meanwhile the countryside is desolate. In many areas over half the population has been destroyed by the
brutal fighting or the disease and famine which has followed. Though peace has come, the process of
rebuilding will be a long one. Perhaps there is consolation in the thought that we surely have finally learned
from all of this devastation. Is it not unthinkable that Europe could ever again be turned into a huge arena of
destructive warfare?

They stopped to pray for a "hidden seed."

In this 1904 painting by J. F. Hettes (above), Jan Amos Comenius leads his battered Bohemian brethren
across the snowy mountains into Poland in 1628. The horrific 30 Years War had begun. They were driven
from their homeland into exile. The hidden seed they prayed for was miraculously preserved in the
Moravians who would later launch the modern Protestant missionary movement. Among those they strongly
influenced were John Wesley and William Carey.

In Praise of an unsung hero

Often when giving a history talk, I am asked who is my favorite hero in all church history. My answer is Jan
Amos Comenius. He lived from 1592-1670. He is often called the "Father of Modern Education." He is
perhaps second only to Jesus as the greatest teacher who ever lived. He made learning more a joy than a
drudge, introduced visual aids, pioneered new methods of language training, and insisted on the education of
girls, just to name a few contributions.

Comenius demonstrated what it means to live for Christ regardless of circumstances. His dreams were
repeatedly shattered, yet he joyfully persisted. He agonized with his people, exiled from their homeland in
the Thirty Years War (p. 1, 3) and driven to the verge of extinction, yet he never gave up hope. He nurtured
and pastored a little church, the "hidden seed," that one day blossomed as the Moravian movement decades
after his death. That little church quietly enriched the entire Body of Christ. Driven often to marginal
existence Comenius nevertheless articulated a vision for raising children, living as Christians, and
conducting international relations that the world has still not caught up with. His masterpiece Labyrinth of
the World, suggestive in some ways of Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress, but written earlier, is a continuing
inspiration for communicating Christian teachings in creative ways.

17
 BLACK AMERICANS REACH
ANCESTRAL PEOPLES IN AFRICA
THE CENTRAL INSTITUTION of community life among African-
Americans has been the church. The black church developed a culture
distinct from both white Americans and blacks a continent away in
Africa. As part of the explosion of missionary work in the nineteenth
century, many Afro-Americans sought a witness to the native
Africans. Frequently they quoted David in Psalm 68:31, "Ethiopia
shall soon stretch out her hands unto God."

Slavers and slaves

Paul Cuffe was the first African-American to lead such a missionary effort. A Quaker and a wealthy
Massachusetts sea captain, Cuffe organized the Friendly Society of Sierra Leone and in 1815 resettled 38
blacks in Sierra Leone to help evangelize Africa. About the same time, Lott Cary and William Crane in
Virginia established the Richmond African Baptist Missionary Society. When a group of white Christians
established the American Colonization Society in 1816, Lott Cary was the first to volunteer as a missionary.

Born a slave in 1780, Lott had worked in Richmond tobacco warehouses. When he heard a sermon on John
3:16, he became converted. He learned to read and write, joined the biracial First Baptist Church, and
became a lay preacher. In 1813 he bought his freedom and was licensed to preach. A combination of mission
societies and the American Colonization Society sent Lott to Sierra Leone in 1821. In 1822, some colonists
moved from Sierra Leone to establish Liberia, and Cary established the First Baptist Church in Monrovia.
He gave administrative leadership to the colony, became a lay medical practitioner, and established churches
and schools among the local inhabitants. He died in 1828 in an explosion during fighting among local tribes.

The 1870's saw a renewed interest in African missions among American blacks. The end of Reconstruction
and the disenchantment of many blacks with their position in the United States also encouraged a revival of
a back-to-Africa movement in the late 1870's. Black Christians, for example, organized the Liberian Exodus
Joint Stock Steamship Company, and in April, 1878, the ship Azor left for Liberia with 200 emigrants "to
take back the culture, education, and religion acquired here [in America] ... until the blaze of the Gospel
truth should glitter over the whole broad African continent."

Some African-American Christians of the day believed that African-Americans were an elect group who had
been exposed to Christian civilization and could now take that civilization back to Africa. Some whites
pondered whether God caused slavery to be ended and Africa opened so African-Americans could bring
Africa to Christ.

African-American denominations such as the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the National Baptist
Convention, and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, all established mission boards which
sponsored mission programs in Africa. By this means African-Americans continue to this day to bring the
light of the Gospel of Christ o their ancestral peoples.

DISTANT DATELINE: Freedom from Religion or Freedom for Religion?

PHILADELPHIA DECEMBER 15, 1791. Both houses of Congress today easily mustered the necessary
two-thirds vote to approve amendments to the Constitution. The amendments are a series of guaranteed
individual liberties. They include freedom of speech and religion, the right to a jury trial, freedom from
unreasonable searches, and the right of a person not to testify against himself in a criminal proceeding.
Senator James Madison, one of the sponsors of the proposed amendments, told reporters today that many of
the delegates to the convention of 1787 had refused to sign the Constitution unless it included a list of such
basic human rights. To persuade them to sign, he and other delegates had solemnly promised to amend the
Constitution by adding a Bill of Rights at the very first session of the new Congress. "All we have done
today," he said, "is to carry out a promise we made to the delegates three years ago."

18
The amendment protecting freedom of religion provides, "Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...." Fisher Ames, who wrote the draft for
this amendment, explained that its intent is to prevent Congress from adopting a particular sect or
denomination as the official state religion. Other Congressmen pointed out that the amendment serves the
same purpose as the Virginia Acts of Toleration passed in the 1770's - namely, it prevents Congress from
establishing an official state church, such as the Church of England.

The supporters of the amendment clearly believe it allows more freedom of religion than ever before while
prohibiting a national church from restricting the religious liberty of any.

Stranded at Serampore (Editor's Notebook)

I never would have sought it. But looking back now I wouldn't have missed it for anything. I was in India in
December of 1992 scouting locations for a still hoped for film on the life of William Carey. The Ayodhya
crisis erupted and all India was thrown into chaos. No one was allowed out on the streets or you could be
shot on sight. I was stranded for days in William Carey's own bedroom at Serampore near Calcutta. What an
opportunity to reflect on his life and mission at the very place where he made missionary history and set an
example that would inspire countless others after him to give their lives in service abroad.

If you take the time to read a Carey biography, and two are suggested below, you can only marvel at how he
persisted. For Carey faced every conceivable kind of resistance to his mission - family, political, business,
economic, ecclesiastical, even the catastrophe of a devastating fire that destroyed years of his work. What
was his secret? Carey's explanation was that he was a 'plodder.' He just did what he could day by day. Not an
astounding secret for an incredible life, is it?

But what I did find astounding was the lasting impact of his life. Even though we lived for days in that
national state of emergency mentioned above, I never sensed personal danger. For the Indian people
extended kindness and sacrificial care in every conceivable way. They knew we had come to work on
Carey's story. They so revered and treasured Carey's ministry there, 168 years after his death, that they saw
it as a way of honoring him in caring for us. This helped me understand why, once Carey arrived in India, he
stayed there 40 years until he died, never going back home to England even once on furlough.

WOMEN RALLY AROUND THE

MISSIONARY CAUSE
Civil War experiences provided a preparation for women assuming an
important role in missions history. Much of the credit for the missionary revival
between 1880 and the 1920's, the golden age of missionary expansion in
American Protestantism, is due to the women's foreign mission movement
which began at this time.

Sarah Doremus, mover behind missions

In 1834, Rev. David Abeel, missionary to China from the Reformed Church in America, told of Chinese
women who wanted "female men" to come and share their Christianity with them. Sarah Doremus, wife of a
wealthy New York businessman, was especially moved by this plea and attempted to organize a female
missionary society, but there was intense opposition to single women being missionaries, and Sarah had to
let her dreams languish. But in 1861 Mrs. Doremus founded the Women's Union Missionary Society. After
the Civil War opposition seemed less. For fifteen years the society operated out of the Doremus home. After
twenty years the society supported over 100 missionaries at twelve stations.

19
The Women's Union Missionary Society was not affiliated with a particular denomination. However, shortly
after its establishment, other mission societies were founded by women along denominational lines.

The belief underlying the organization of all the women's missionary societies was that women provided the
cultural values of a society, and that if a heathen culture is to be changed, the women of that culture must be
reached with the Gospel. Concern for their unevangelized sisters also motivated many of the women's
organizations. They recognized that in societies such as India, where women were kept in isolation, only
women missionaries would be able to break down the cultural barriers. As Sarah Doremus encouraged the
Women's Union Missionary Society:

If we believe that it is Christianity alone which elevated woman from her former abject position...can we rest
in the enjoyment of these benefits without a single desire to elevate our poor heathen sisters?

Forty years after Mrs. Doremus founded the first Women's Missionary Society in New York, there were 52
Women's Boards with yearly gifts amounting to over $2.5 million. Yet, after World War I, the women's
societies began to decline. Many merged with their denominational missions agencies. With the changing
roles of women in society, the increased business professionalism in missions, and the growing liberalism,
many nominal Protestant women became indifferent to missions. Though women's societies declined in
influence, they had been an important means of increasing general Christian interest in missions as well as
expanding the opportunities for both single and married women on the mission field. Women continue today
to have a major role in supporting and going as missionaries.

DISTANT DATELINE: Government Leaders Promote Missionary Conference

NEW YORK, APRIL 22, 1900

Carnegie Hall in New York City was filled to capacity yesterday with the opening sessions of the
Ecumenical Missionary Conference. Four-hundred missionary boards and societies from around the world
are represented at the eleven-day event which seeks to unite the thought of Christendom on world missions.

Benjamin Harrison, former US President, gave the opening speech. He called missions "the most influential
and enduring work that is being done in this day of great enterprises." All of man's advances in science
cannot compare with the important advance of Christian missions. Man cannot produce peace and unity -
"Christ in the heart and His gospel of love and ministry in all the activities of life are the only cure."
President McKinley gave the address at the evening session followed by Governor Theodore Roosevelt of
New York, who spoke of his personal experience with Indian missions out west. In acknowledging these
addresses by these two great civic leaders, Chairman Harrison noted that though both McKinley and
Roosevelt were personally sympathetic to missions, even if they were not, their patriotism would qualify
them to come and speak to a Christian assembly and encourage the spread of Christianity throughout the
world, for our nation's peace and security depend on the Christian principles found in the Word of God.

The Missionary Conference will continue daily through May 1. Daily stereopticon lectures will also be
given there.

What Two of Your Letters Said (Editor's Notebook)

Glimpses is used in thousands of churches in dozens of denominations in over 20 countries. Our days are
brightened by the stream of fascinating letters from you, our readers. Recent mail included these words from
Samuel A. Mateer, Director of a Presbyterian mission in Chile. He wrote, "I am in the ministry now due to
church history. While studying at seminary years ago, it came to me that all the heresies that we know today
occurred within the first 300 years of the church's life, and that if God were not in it, the church as a human
institution would have been dead in the first 100 years of its life."

Joyce Hollingshead from Michigan prompts us to ponder how much we owe to the prayers of those who
went before us. "A while back I asked God how I had gotten, spiritually, where I am. . . I stand in awe that
he has chosen me for such a time as this. Why me -- a white grandmother from the suburbs of Detroit,
directed back to Detroit and starting a day care center there. His answer to me was to delve into my ancestry
because there were those before me whose prayers I have the great privilege to be fulfilling.

20
"As I traced back my ancestry into my Scottish background, I found an outstanding woman. Her name is
Margaret, wife of Malcolm III, King of Scotland. In 1069 they were married. She became sainted after her
death because of her devotion to seek God in His pureness. She was an instrument of cleansing the church in
Scotland of Celtic beliefs that had invaded it. She brought the church's attention to the basics and abhorred
the riches of the leaders. I believe Scotland is what it is today, at least in part, because of her insights and
determination.

". . .The century in which she lived was certainly one of great spiritual awakening. I am in the process of
writing a novel about her. God keeps turning me to His statement that He will bless, to a thousand
generations, those who love Him and follow His commandments. Your input has helped spur me on."

LET'S CELEBRATE
CHRISTMAS, BUT WHEN
AND HOW?
Differing Christian Responses to Christmas TO
CHRISTIANS, the incarnation, the Son of God becoming man,
is the most central event in all of history. All previous ages
looked forward to the coming of Christ, and all subsequent
history gains meaning from Christ's coming. The gospel
writers Matthew and Luke carefully give us the historical
setting to Jesus' birth -- under the reign of Caesar Augustus when Quirinius was governor of Syria and while
Herod was ruling Palestine. Yet, the exact date of Jesus' birth is unknown, and the early Christians did not
even celebrate Christ's birth. Birthdays and their celebrations had always been Roman feast days. The
resurrection was the big event for Christian celebration.

Manger Square, Bethlehem, and the Church of the Nativity. Originally built by Emperor Constantine in
326, this church is one of the oldest in all of Christendom. During a trip to the Holy Land in 1865, Philips
Brooks was deeply moved worshiping in this church on Christmas Eve. Three years later Brooks wanted
an outstanding carol for his children's Sunday School. He recalled his peaceful worship in the Church of
the Nativity and wrote "O Little Town of Bethlehem."

By the fourth century, however, many Christian groups had begun to observe Christ's birthday, though the
day chosen for the celebration differed from place to place. Christians in the East generally celebrated on
January 6; those in the West on December 25. Others set dates in March, April, or May. About 350 AD,
Pope Julius set December 25 as the date of Jesus' birth. This corresponded with the Roman feast of
Saturnalia, the festival of the Unconquered Sun. Since ancient days, people throughout the northern
hemisphere had celebrated at this time when the daylight hours had reached their shortest and again began to
increase. Temples were decorated with greenery and candles, there were feasts and parades with special
music, and gifts were given to family and friends. Among the British Druids, mistletoe was worshiped, and
the Saxons used holly and ivy in their winter religious ceremonies. As Christianity spread throughout
Europe, many of the pagan customs and festivities of the winter solstice were absorbed into the celebration
of the birth of Jesus.

The English Puritans and Reformed Protestants across Europe determined to purify religious belief and
remove everything that was not directly commanded or described in the Bible. They believed the observance
of Christmas on December 25 was pagan, taken from the Roman Catholic calendar. In 1644 the Puritans
banned Christmas observance in England, but the ban was quickly rescinded when King Charles II took the
throne. In America, however, the Puritans of New England continued to treat December 25 as just another
day in winter well into the 1800's. By the 1830's Puritanism was being thrown off in New England, and
people in the cities were beginning to celebrate Christmas with a mix of Dutch and English traditions. By the
end of the century, most Americans were celebrating a Christmas with all the traditions of today -- lighted
and decorated trees, Christmas cards, carols, fruitcakes, festive parties, shopping, and giving gifts.
21
"Christmas" Means . . .
Christ's Mass. Mass refers to the Eucharistic liturgy and is a late form of the Latin missio , derived from
mittere , "to send."

Stand up for the King of Kings

George Frederick Handel (1685-1759)

Performances of Handel's oratorio, Messiah , have become a Christmas tradition, and for many the
"Hallelujah Chorus" expresses the joy which the coming of Christ, the King of Kings, brings. Handel wrote
his masterful music in an amazing 24 days and was passionately moved by the Scriptures describing Jesus'
incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and coronation as King of Kings. He worked on his masterpiece
almost nonstop, with little sleep or food. One day his servant opened the door to find Handel at his work,
with tears streaming down his face. Handel looked up and cried out, "I did think I did see all Heaven before
me, and the great God Himself." When Messiah was performed before King George II of England in 1743,
the king rose when the triumphal notes of the "Hallelujah Chorus" were first played. Of course, everyone
had to rise when the king did, and the tradition of rising for the "Hallelujah Chorus" began -- a tradition that
continues to this day.

Quick Reference Guide to Christmas Scriptures

Prophecies of the Messiah. Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-9

Annunciation. Luke 1:26-38
Joseph's dilemma. Matthew 1:18-25
Mary visits Elizabeth. Luke 1:39-56
Birth of Jesus. Luke 2:6-7
Angels appear to shepherds. Luke 2:8-15
Story of the wise men. Matthew 2:1-12
Holy family leave for Egypt. Matthew 2:13-15
Meaning of Christ's coming. John 1:1-14, Philippians 2:2-7

What Happened? A Chronology of Christmas

 4th century - -Emperor Constantine builds Church of Nativity in Bethlehem and declares Christ's
birthday an official Roman holiday. The Bishop of Rome establishes December 25 as the day to
celebrate Christ's birth. Nicholas of Myra in Lycia lives in Turkey. In middle ages his feast day is
December 6, and he is known as a giver of gifts and the patron saint of children.
 6th century - -The church sets apart the four Sundays preceding Christmas for devotional
preparation--Advent begins.
 8th century - -Boniface, English missionary to the Germans, replaces sacrifices to Oden's oak with a
fir tree adorned in tribute to the Christ child.
 11th century - -The word "Christmas" first used in English,
 13th century - -Francis of Assisi ministers to the illiterate, common people by introducing a live
nativity scene (crèche) into the church and festive carols in the language of the people.
 17th century - -First mention of Christmas tree in Germany, though some traditions say Martin
Luther was the first to have lighted candles on a Christmas tree. English law under Puritans makes
December 25 an official work day.
 18th century - -Handel's Messiah written in just 24 days.
 Mid-19th century - -Modern Christmas begins to take shape. Clement Moore's A Visit from St.
Nicholas popularizes Santa Claus; Prince Albert introduces the Christmas tree to England;
Christmas cards become a tradition. Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol connects the spirit of
warmth and good cheer with Christmas, and a Victorian sentimentalism becomes the Christmas
Spirit.

Joy to the World

Isaac Watts' hymn "Joy to the World" expresses the ecstatic joy Christ's coming brings to mankind. When
Isaac Watts wrote the song in 1719, he titled it "The Messiah's Coming and Kingdom," and based it on
Psalm 98. Late in the 19th century Lowell Mason set Watts' words to music adopted from the "Lift Up Your
Heads" chorus of Handel's Messiah .

22
Is Christmas Bedlam for You?
Do you ever think the Christmas rush is utter bedlam? The word "bedlam" actually is a corruption of the
name for Bethlehem. In the 1400's, the hospital of the London monastery of St. Mary of Bethlehem became
a city-run insane asylum. It even became a tourist attraction as people would come to heckle the inmates.
Bethlehem was often pronounced "bedlam," and the word came to mean the noise and confusion of an
insane asylum.

By the Way. . .Have you heard? Every day is Christmas!

How Christian is Christmas (Editor's Notebook)

It can be as disappointing as a child's discovery there really is no Santa Claus--finding out the Early Church
didn't celebrate Christmas and had no interest in it. The Gospel writers didn't even bother to tell us the date
of Jesus' birth. Ever wonder how Jesus looks at all the present Christmas fanfare? Is he flattered,
embarrassed, angry, saddened?

Our secularized society frantically chases the celebration but isn't too keen on preserving the source. In
polite company it is no longer proper to greet with "Merry Christmas." Better to say, "Happy Holidays." And
the centuries old marking of time with BC--Before Christ and AD--Anno Domine (In the year of our Lord)
is no longer politically correct. The acceptable terms now are BCE-Before the Common Era and CE,
Common Era, an astonishing disguise that pretends that there was no landmark event and definitive
reference point for marking time established and accepted for ages by Western civilization.

Perhaps Jesus does not lament the loss any more than the early church would have. It's hard to imagine Jesus
claiming title to the commercial orgy that Christmas so often becomes.

Yet, even a secularized Christmas still awakens something wondrous and out of the ordinary. Despite
deliberate efforts to beat out any religious connotations to Christmas, when else do we see that glimmer of
openness to the transcendent in the hearts of so many, the wistful lingering hope that we might live together
in a better way, and joyful release of generosity of spirit and concern for others in need. Where does all this
come from? That sweetest fruit of generalized "good feelings" comes from specific seed and soil-the "good
news" that "unto you a Savior is born."

23
 STANDING FOR CHRIST
PETER CARTWRIGHT: PERHAPS
AMERICA'S MOST COLORFUL
COUNTRY PREACHER
Defying Flood
TWO MEN on horseback said good-byes. "I should not be surprised if I never see
you again," said the first.

"Well," answered the second, "if I fall and you never see me again, tell my friends
that I fell at my post trying to do my duty."

Peter Cartwright. His colorful Autobiography remains a favorite source on frontier conditions.

Illinois was flooded. Not a path could be seen beneath the sheet of water. Treetops, which might guide a
bold traveler, stood miles away but would be out of sight whenever he rode into a hollow. He could easily
lose his way or flounder into a hole. Even if he reached the trees, a swollen creek beside them would compel
him to swim twenty yards. He might have to spend the night on the sopping prairie. The rider paused. On
one hand was his duty to the souls of his frontier parish; on the other, serious danger. At that moment he
recalled his motto: "Never retreat till you know you can advance no further." He rode forward.

Frontiersman
That decision was characteristic of Peter Cartwright, one of the most colorful frontier preachers in the young
United States. Born in Virginia in 1785, just two years after treaty ended the American Revolution, he was
taken West to Kentucky. There he became a tough guy in rough Logan County known as "Rogue's Harbor"
because of its swarms of badmen. His Methodist mother pleaded and prayed with him. Her prayers wakened
a response. In a camp meeting her sixteen year old son was convicted of his sinfulness and need for a Savior.
For hours he cried out to God for forgiveness until finally the peace of Christ flooded his soul. At once he
joined the Methodist Episcopal Church. Within two years he was a traveling preacher, bringing the gospel to
the backwoods of the new nation. His rough past and hardy constitution served him well, for he faced floods,
thieves, hunger and disease. He met every challenge head on.

Fear no mortal man

Once Cartwright warned General Jackson (future President of the United States) that he would be damned to
Hell just as quickly as any other man if he did not repent. A timid preacher apologized to Jackson for
Cartwright's bluntness. The general retorted that Christ's ministers ought to love everybody and fear no
mortal man, adding that he wished he had a few thousand officers like Peter Cartwright.

Peter the pugnacious preacher

Frequently rowdies disrupted Cartwright's meetings. When one thug promised to whip him, Cartwright
invited the man to step into the woods with him and do it. The two started for the trees. Leaping over the
fence at the edge of the campground, Cartwright landed painfully. He clutched his side. The bully shouted
that the preacher was going for a dagger and took to his heels.

Another time Cartwright charged a group of rowdies in the dark, yelling to imaginary forces, "Here! here!
Officers and men, take them!" The troublemakers bolted in panic. Such events gave him a name. A story
spread that he had fought legendary river boatman Mike Fink.

Soul winner extraordinary

Crowds flocked to hear him. Throughout Kentucky, Tennessee and Illinois, Cartwright preached to hosts of
24
men and women, speaking three hours at a stretch, several times a week. The conviction in his booming
voice could make women weep and strong men tremble. 10,000 came to Christ through his preaching in
meetings that often ran day and night. Cartwright baptized thousands, adding them to the church. Several
church buildings were erected at his instigation to house services for the new converts. To answer a
desperate need for more preachers, he championed the creation of Methodist colleges. Having schooled
himself, he saw the value of learning. Wherever he went he left behind religious books and tracts to convert
and strengthened souls in his absence. The joy of soul-winning compensated him for all hardships.

Continual Hardships
Hardships were plentiful. Several times Cartwright went two and three days without food. He once returned
from his circuit with just 6¢ of borrowed money in his pocket. His father had to outfit him with new clothes,
saddle and horse before he could ride again. Traveling preachers were paid a measly $30- 50 a year with no
family allowance. Nonetheless Cartwright married and raised children. His family was not spared tragedy.
Forced to camp in the open one night, they were startled awake when a tree snapped in two; Cartwright
flung up his arms to deflect the falling log, but it crushed his youngest daughter to death.

A Move For the Sake of the Family

In 1823 Peter Cartwright sold his Kentucky farm. He was disturbed by the effects of slavery on consciences
and feared his daughters would marry slave owners. Slavery, he felt, sapped independence of spirit. His
family readily agreed to the change and his bishop appointed him to a circuit in Illinois.

In Illinois he more than once braved floods. Once he had to chase his saddle bags which were swept
downstream. Another time, in snowy weather, when even he hesitated to enter a flooded river, his eldest
daughter, riding with him, proved her own mettle, urging him onward. In every instance, the Lord brought
him to safety. He died at eighty-seven, leaving behind an autobiography which became a classic as much for
the exploits it recounted as for the picture it painted of frontier life. His courage won him numerous sons and
daughters for Christ. He stayed at "his post to do his duty."

Fascinating Facts. . .

 In 1812 a severe earthquake struck New Madrid, Missouri. At places along the fault the Mississippi
flowed backward. Thousands cried out for forgiveness of sins, believing the end of the world had
come. Many later joined churches.
 Pioneers, isolated from church communities, often had little knowledge of spiritual terms. One
preacher asked a woman if she had any religious convictions. "Naw," she replied, "nor my old man
neither. He were tried for hog-stealin' once, but he weren't convicted."
 Because drunkenness was a problem on the frontier, Peter Cartwright thought he'd demonstrate the
danger of strong drink. He placed a worm in a glass of wine. It wriggled. He transferred it to a glass
of whiskey. It curled up and died. "There," Cartwright said. "What does that tell you?" A man
replied, "It shows that if you drink whiskey you won't have worms."
 Francis Asbury, one of Cartwright's overseers, was the first Methodist bishop in the United States.
He traveled nearly 300,000 miles in his life, building the Methodist church from 300 members to
over 200,000.
 Historian Nathan Hatch asserts: "Between 1840 and 1860, the Methodists founded at least 35
institutions of higher education. Between the Civil War and 1900, they founded more than one
college or university per year. . . . By 1852, eleven of thirteen congressmen from Indiana were
Methodists. In 1880, no denomination could claim the affiliation of more governors than the
Methodists."

Peter vs. Abraham

Running for Congress in 1846, Peter Cartwright lost to none other than Abraham Lincoln. In 1832, over a
decade earlier, however, Cartwright had defeated Lincoln in a race for the Illinois legislature.

In His Own Words. . .The Price of Being a Preacher

". . .in reference to the Methodist Episcopal Church, when we consider that her ministers were
illiterate...that we were everywhere spoken against, caricatured and misrepresented; without colleges and
seminaries, without religious books or periodicals, without missionary funds, and almost all other
religious means; and our ministers did not for many years, on an average, receive over fifty dollars

25
 support annually, and a Methodist preacher's library almost entirely consisted of a Bible, Hymn Book, and
a Discipline, may we not, without boasting, say with one of old, 'What hath God wrought?' A Methodist
preacher in those days, when he felt that God had called him to preach, instead of hunting up a college or
Biblical institute, hunted up a hardy pony of a horse and some traveling apparatus and. . .cried 'Behold the
Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.' In this way he went through storms of wind, hail,
snow, and rain; climbed hills and mountains, traversed valleys, plunged through swamps, swam swollen
streams, lay out all night, wet, weary, and hungry, held his horse by the bridle all night, or tied him to a
limb, slept with his saddle blanket for a bed, his saddle or saddle bags for his pillow, and his old big coat
or blanket, if he had any, for a covering. Often he slept in dirty cabins, on earthen floors, before the
fire. . .His text was always ready, 'Behold the Lamb of God.' "
--From Cartwright's Autobiography

Changes in Glimpses
Glimpses is now in its eighth year. For the first few years we treated a single person or subject on a single
sheet in two colors. Then two years ago we expanded to the present four page format and full color. The
response to this change was overwhelmingly favorable, however, there has been one persistent lament
expressed by readers. Many missed the more in depth treatment of the single person or theme that we had
somewhat sacrificed with the new format.

With this issue we introduce a further modification of our format that we hope recaptures the appeal of the
older approach while maintaining the attractiveness of the new. As you see from this issue we are devoting
the first three pages to a single subject, yet breaking it up into a few different features.

More on Cartwright's Autobiography (Editor's Notebook)

While riding to a meeting with Professor Richard Heitzenreiter, a Wesley scholar who teaches at Southern
Methodist University, I asked him how he aroused interest in his students in Christian history. He told me
one particularly effective approach is to have his students pick up the Autobiography of Peter Cartwright
and tell them open it to just about any page at random. There they inevitably find some fascinating anecdote
from the life of the great circuit rider that draws them in to want to read more. Hopefully this issue has done
the same for you. Get ahold of the autobiography for fascinating reading.--Ken Curtis

Landmark Quotes

QUICKLY: How many of the following sayings have you ever heard of? Do you know where they come
from?

The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.

Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee.

Here I stand.

The world is my parish.

Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.

You have just dipped into the 3rd, 5th, 16th, 18th and 19th centuries with Tertullian, Augustine, Luther,
Wesley and Carey. We have a new series that looks at such landmark quotations that have survived the
centuries. We have selected ones that captured an event or an issue, or a turning point event in such a
significant way that it was remembered and survived for centuries. The dense forest of church history is
strewn with these kinds of sayings. They were remembered because they summed up something important
for the church and brought it home with clarity and potency.

Go to Stories behind Famous Sayings. There you will find the stories behind these unforgettable sayings
passed down generation after generation.

26
 JOHN BUNYAN
Obstinate Preacher
TO GO FREE, all John Bunyan had to do was make one promise. He must
agree not to preach publicly anymore. Bunyan's reply: "If I was out of prison
today, I would preach the gospel again tomorrow by the help of God."

Older folk must have shaken their heads in wonder. "John Bunyan of all
people! Why, we remember when he was a filthy mouthed ringleader in every
sort of mischief."

Bunyan was born in 1628 in the heart of England, a mile south of Bedford a
few years before the English Civil War. His family was so poor that when his father died, John was left only
one shilling and his tinker's anvil. The boy had little formal education. However, he learned to read and
feasted on medieval romances in which valiant knights underwent great trials and conquered villains and
monsters. In youth he boasted a mouth so profane it shocked even wicked men. Additionally, he loved to
dance, bell-ring and lead Sunday sports, all considered improper by Puritans. Although he attended church,
he had little religious feeling.

Spared for Something

John turned sixteen in 1644 at the height of the Civil War. He joined the army. Since Bedford was a
Parliamentarian stronghold, it is probable he served Cromwell. While on duty he was "drawn out" to take
part in a siege. Another soldier asked to take his place. "[A]s he stood sentinel he was shot in the head with a
musket bullet and died." John came to see this as proof God had spared his life for a great work.

Where Do You Want to Go?

Returning home, John married. He was twenty. His wife was as poor as he; between them they did not have
a dish or spoon. Her godly father had furnished her with two Christian books--books which John read with
an increasingly troubled conscience. One Sunday as he played, he heard a voice. "Will you leave your sins
and go to Heaven, or have your sins and go to Hell?" His distress was acute. He felt that he had sinned so
gravely he was beyond forgiveness. Nonetheless, he struggled to find peace with God by obeying scriptural
commands. Outwardly, he reformed and put off swearing and improper sports. Inwardly, he still longed to
participate. He read the Bible. Although without peace, he thought God must be pleased with him.

One day he overheard four women speaking of their inner religious experience, and he realized he lacked
something. Leaving the Church of England, he joined their fellowship. Still he lacked peace. Only after
reading Luther's commentary on Galatians did he realize he could be justified by faith alone. His inner
struggles were not over, but he found relief. Bunyan felt compelled to tell others of faith in Christ. He
became a field preacher. So effective were his words, people would arrive at dawn to hear him preach at
noon

When Preaching Was a Crime

Open-air preaching was illegal. Officials feared that demagogues would incite revolution. For this reason,
John was careful never to side with any political faction in his teachings. All the same he was in danger.
Warned that he was to be arrested if he held church at a friend's house, he went anyway, determined to set an
example of boldness. If he fled, weaker brethren would see it and run also. He was seized.

Without a hearing or witnesses, the judge sentenced John to three months in prison. Bedford's prison
conditions were not the worst in England. Yet they were a genuine hardship. There was little light and no
bathing facilities. The place stank of unwashed bodies. "Prison fever," or Typhus, killed many prisoners.
The cells were overcrowded. John's ration was one quarter loaf of bread a day. Worst of all, he was
separated from his family. His first wife had died and he had remarried. He was not home to care for his
children, including his blind daughter, Mary, whom he dearly loved. To support them, Bunyan made
thousands of long, tagged shoelaces which he sold. Church members helped the Bunyans, too.

27
At the end of three months, John was offered freedom on condition he no longer preach. Again he refused.
The months turned to years. All in all he spent twelve years in prison. Fortunately, a sympathetic jailer let
John secretly slip off to meetings. He knew John would always return. Once he even let John go to London,
but when his job was threatened, he forbade him to so much as peek out the jail door anymore.

Life Behind Bars

For political reasons, Charles II released a number of prisoners. Bunyan was not among them. He was told
he would have to apply for a pardon. He refused. To do so would be to admit he had done wrong. Elizabeth,
his wife, pleaded for his release, but sympathetic court officers said John could go free only if he complied
with the authorities. So John remained in prison. He was cheerful, believing he suffered for Christ. He had
true freedom, he said. In prison he could read the Bible, preach and sing hymns with no one to stop him. He
was also allowed to write. In jail he completed many of his sixty books, including the best known: Grace
Abounding to the Chief of Sinners and The Pilgrim's Progress.

Bunyan's first book, Some Gospel Truths Opened According to the Scriptures, had attacked Quaker beliefs.
Ironically it was Quakers who freed him. Told by the king to prepare a list of names for pardon, they
included Bunyan's with their own members; names.

Released, Bunyan immediately returned to preaching. By now the authorities realized he was concerned
only with the Kingdom of God. They jailed him again for six months in 1675, but otherwise he remained
free until he died at sixty years of age, having written The Pilgrim's Progress, the world's most widely
circulated book next to the Bible.

One of the unforgettable images from The Pilgrim's Progress is the heavy load that Pilgrim always carried
around on his back. This crushing load was his sin which rolled away when he came to the cross. Picture
from Dangerous Journey.

Fascinating Facts. . .
 Bunyan's illegal imprisonment may have spared him from a worse fate. If he had been released and
resentenced, he could have been banished from England under threat of hanging if he returned.
 Bunyan's fame was such that people came from all the midland counties to hear him speak. When
told not to preach, Bunyan quoted I Peter 4:10, "As every man hath received the gift, even so
minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." His gift, he
contended, was preaching.
 Many others beside Bunyan were held prisoner during this time, including Quaker founder George
Foxe. Many of Bunyan's own church members were incarcerated with him during his twelve year
stay.
 When John was first sentenced to prison, his wife Elizabeth miscarried a child, adding to both their
woes.
 Pilgrim's Progress as we know it isn't as Bunyan first wrote it. He issued several revised editions,
adding new characters.
 Bunyan read and reread Foxe's Book of Martyrs while in prison.

My Own Self to Gratify

At the beginning of The Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan gives an "author's apology," explaining how he came
to write his now immortal work. Amazingly, he says he didn't write it with expectation of publication, but
for his own enjoyment.

When at the first I took my pen in hand Thus for to write, I did not understand That I at all should make a
little book In such a mode; nay, I had undertook To make another; which, when almost done, Before I was
aware, I this begun.

And thus it was: I, writing of the way

And race of saints, in this our gospel day,
Fell suddenly into allegory
About their journey, and the way to glory,
In more than twenty things which I set down.
This done, I twenty more had in my crown;

28
 And they again began to multiply,
Like sparks that from the coals of fire do fly.
Nay, then, thought I, if that you breed so fast,
I'll put you by yourselves, lest you at last
Should prove ad infinitum, and eat out
The book that I already am about.

Well, so I did; but yet I did not think

To show to all the world my pen and ink
In such a mode; I only thought
to make I knew not what;
nor did I undertake Thereby to please my neighbor: no, not I;
I did it my own self to gratify.

Neither did I but vacant seasons spend

in this my scribble; nor did I intend
But to divert myself in doing this
from worser thoughts which make me do amiss.

From The Pilgrim's Progress, p.1

Indelible memories (Editor's Notebook)

The church I attended as a youth had Sunday evening church services. Do you remember them? I have to
admit that the only messages from those services that I can vividly remember from before the age of about
twelve was a series the pastor gave retelling the story of Bunyan's The Pilgrims Progress. The verbal images
and names of people and places from Bunyan's allegory just never left me.

Then in seminary I served as an assistant to Dr. William Nigel Kerr, a long-time lover of Bunyan, who over
many years has gathered one of the largest collections of Bunyan editions and memorabilia. You could not
be around Dr. Kerr for long without catching his enthusiasm for the Bedford tinker.

Bunyan captures us with vibrant imagery and creative genius that has crossed cultures, languages and
centuries. But I think even more impressive is how Bunyan prompts us to appreciate the gifts and glory of
God. It took an uneducated commoner to write this kind of common work that can arrest the attention of
children (and adults) century after century.

29
 THE CLAPHAM GROUP: THEY SET OUT
TO CHANGE THEIR WORLD
If you had money and influence, how would you use them? A group of well-heeled and
well-placed Englishmen and women had the chance to answer that question at the end of
the eighteenth century. Their decision is instructive. It changed their world.

A porcelain cameo by Josiah Wedgewood the potter (whose name is still known for fine china!). A
Slave asks, "Am I not a man and a brother?" Used by Claphamites as a visual aid in their efforts
against slavery.

Lampooned in their own day as "the saints," this group of prominent and wealthy individuals were known as
"the Clapham Sect." They were named for Clapham, a village south of London, where most moved in
evangelical Anglican circles. Busy professionals, all of them, they still made time for Christian action and
gave liberally and effectively to worthy causes. Their foremost endeavor was to rid the world of slavery.

Politician Converted
William Wilberforce was the most visible of them. Once a social gadfly, a highly visible member of
Parliament, always a close friend to Prime Minister William Pitt, he became a passionate Christian. At 26
years of age, he and his friend the Reverend Isaac Milner toured Europe. To while away the tedium of the
trip, they read Philip Doddridge's Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul. Wilberforce realized that in the
truest sense of the word he was not a Christian. He had never died to himself. Now he submitted his life to
Christ. Immediately he became concerned to evangelize those around him. He wondered if he should not
resign his seat in Parliament. John Newton, author of the hymn Amazing Grace, convinced him to stay and
use his position for good. He suggested that Wilberforce might even attempt to abolish slavery. More and
more the issue of slavery presented itself to the gifted Parliamentarian. Other leaders who shared his high
sense of responsibility to God gathered around him, meeting in the Clapham home of the banker Henry
Thornton.

Joining them was the lawyer Granville Sharp (who had already won a decision affirming that slavery was
illegal in England), John Shore (Lord Teignmouth) sometime Governor-General of India, Charles Grant a
powerful member of the East India Council, Zachary Macaulay an estate manager and businessman, and
James Stephen, who sat in court, and literary celebrity and educator Hannah More.

They combined their efforts to create public opinion and exert pressure on the government. They educated
the public by issuing a journal, writing letters, spearheading petition drives, distributing pamphlets,
speaking, and making every effort to persuade those with whom they had personal influence.

With Pitt's support, Wilberforce introduced a bill to abolish the trade. The bill failed despite his eloquence
and careful research. Wilberforce determined to present the measure again the following year. It was again
unsuccessful. Year after year the Clapham group labored on, often at a high cost to themselves. Macaulay,
for example, devoted himself so completely to the task that he gave up night after night of sleep, neglected
his business and lost much of his substantial fortune. Henry Thornton sometimes contributed over 80% of
his income to charity. Tender minded Ramsay, who had reluctantly made public the slaver atrocities he had
witnessed, was hounded to death by malicious accusations. Wilberforce himself suffered a nervous
breakdown and was so sick he faced death. His life was threatened by the opposition. Once another member
of Parliament felt compelled to protect him, loaded pistol in hand. Real Christianity, they discovered,
comes with a price tag.

Not Single Issue Advocates

The Clapham Sect turned their attention to multiple projects which promised to transform morals and
society. They worked to ban bull fighting and bear baiting, to suspend the lottery, and to improve prisons.
Their support for factory acts bettered working conditions. At their instigation, Sierra Leone was founded to
provide a home for refugee slaves. Zachary Macaulay became first governor and drove himself beyond
exhaustion for the good of the colony.

30
It was the Claphamites which funded Hannah More's schools. Additionally, they had a big part in the
formation of church, Bible, tract and mission societies. Against the opposition of the East India company,
this valiant band fought to allow missionaries in India. Parliament eventually agreed. It was thanks to the
Clapham group that chaplains were provided to East India company employees.

Meanwhile they plugged away at their primary cause: the abolition of slavery. In 1807, eighteen years after
the first vote, these Christians rejoiced as parliament abolished the slave trade. The members of the Clapham
Sect supposed that slavery would wither away of its own accord. It did not. Wilberforce then introduced a
bill to obtain the emancipation of all British slaves. It was defeated. He introduced it again. And again.

The years rolled past. Emancipation finally passed in England just a few days before Wilberforce died in
1833 at the age of 74.

It is arguable that this handful of Christians, publicly living their faith, helped avert tragedy in Britain. Their
concern for the underdog may have helped forestall a revolution such as swept France.

Their story stands out in the annals of Christian history as a striking example of how God can use a company
of believers that work together, sacrifice their time and resources, and patiently persist in faith against
seemingly insurmountable odds.

Fascinating Facts. . .

 Wilberforce wasn't much to look at. Boswell described him as a shrimp who, as he was speaking,
"grew into a whale."
 Zachary Macaulay's zeal for abolition led him to take passage on an African slaver so that he might
witness firsthand the horrors of the trade. So extensive was his knowledge of the slave trade, the
others would seek answers by "looking it up in the Macaulay."
 When Wilberforce wrote A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System. . .Contrasted to Real
Christianity, the publisher issued only 500 copies, supposing it would never sell. But by 1826 it had
gone through 15 editions in England and 25 in America.
 For helping a slave escape while in an English harbor, Granville Sharp was charged with unlawfully
detaining the property of another. England's top legal authorities said the slave was property. Sharp
carefully researched and argued the issue. The judges ruled that "as soon as a slave sets his foot
upon English territory he becomes free."

In His Own Words. . .Two selections from Wilberforce's Practical View of. . .Real Christianity

On Real Christianity
I apprehend the essential practical characteristic of true Christians to be this: that relying on the promises to
repenting sinners of acceptance through the Redeemer, they have renounced and abjured all other masters,
and have cordially and unreservedly devoted themselves to God. . .It is now their determined purpose to
yield themselves without reserve to the reasonable service of the Rightful Sovereign. They are not their own:
their bodily and mental faculties, their natural and acquired endowments, their substance, their authority,
their time, their influence, all these they consider as belonging to them. . .to be consecrated to the honor of
God and employed in his service.

On Might or Right?
I must confess. . .that my own solid hopes for the well-being of my country depend, not so much on her
navies and armies, nor on the wisdom of her rulers, nor on the spirit of her people, as on the persuasion that
she still contains many who love and obey the gospel of Christ.

The Clapham Group

They challenged the whole moral climate of their times and changed their world! Their efforts
ranged across a wide spectrum of issues including slavery, missions, prison reform, public
immorality, the needs of the poor.
THE CLAPHAM GROUP
Name of
Date Position in Life Reason for joining
member
31
 Gisbourne, 1758- Friendship with
Clergyman and Author
Thomas 1846 Wilberforce and others
1746- Ties with other Clapham
Grant, Charles Business administrator
1823 members
Macaulay, 1768- Estate manager,
Evangelical zeal
Zachary 1838 colonial governor
1745- Playwright and
More, Hannah Evangelical zeal
1835 educator
Sharp, 1735- Scholar and Continuation of his earlier
Granville 1813 administrator abolitionism
Smith, Sir 1756-
Parliamentarian Tender heartedness
William 1835
1758- Shocked by cruelty to
Stephen, James Master of Chancery
1832 Barbados slaves
Teignmouth, 1751- Governor-General of
Evangelical zeal
Lord 1834 India
Thornton, 1760- Marriage into
Banker
Henry 1815 Wilberforce's family
1759- Zeal and association with
Venn, John Rector of Clapham
1813 Wilberforce, etc.
Wilberforce, 1759-
Parliamentarian Evangelical zeal
William 1833

A Dozen Characterstics (Editor's Notebook)

We produced a little video program a few years ago along with a discussion guide on the life of William
Wilberforce and the Clapham group. In preparing the film it struck me how the Claphamites demonstrate the
difference that a handful of Christian people can make. They are a kind of case study for effecting social
change. Briefly, here are a dozen characteristics they exemplified.

1. Set clear and specific goals

2. Researched carefully to produce reliable and irrefutable evidence
3. Built a committed support community. The battle could not be carried on alone.
4. Refused to accept setbacks as final defeats
5. Committed to the struggle for the long haul, even if it took decades.
6. Focused on issues, not allowing opponents' vicious attacks on their person to distract them, or
provoke them into similar response.
7. Empathized with opponents' position so that meaningful interaction could take place.
8. Accepted incremental gains when everything could not be achieved at once.
9. Cultivated grassroots support when rebuffed by those in power.
10. Transcended a single issue mentality by addressing issues as part of overall moral climate.
11. Worked through recognized channels without resort to dirty tactics or violence.
12. Proceeded with a sense of mission and conviction that God would providentially guide if they were
truly acting in his service.

32
 CRITICAL QUESTION FOR
CHRISTIANS: IS JESUS GOD?
What a Scene!
SOME OF THE BISHOPS who gathered at the meeting hall looked as if they
had barely survived a battle field. One was missing an eye. Another, also with an
eye gouged out, dragged hamstrung legs. Still another's hands had been
scorched. Others wore the scars of scourging beneath their shirts. These victims
of torture took their places among hundreds of other bishops. A signal torch was
raised. The hall hushed in anticipation.

The most powerful man in the world, the Emperor Constantine, entered, walking
on raised heels, his purple gown and silver diadem ablaze with jewels. The first
Christian emperor was preparing to address the first ecumenical council.

Even two years earlier this meeting would have been unthinkable--a gathering of 312 bishops from
throughout the Roman Empire, summoned and financed by the Emperor himself. Only a few years before,
these same bishops had been branded criminals by Diocletian. Their gouged eyes, burnt flesh and slashed
tendons bore mute witness to the unshakable loyalty they held to the name of Christ. Men in humble garb
with twisted bodies waited to hear what their royally garbed and graceful emperor would say.

Constantine spoke. "I rejoice to see you here, yet I should be more pleased to see unity and affection among
you." Riots had shattered the peace of the empire-- riots over the doctrine of the nature of Christ. The
emperor felt compelled to step in and restore good order. The bishops were expected to resolve their
differences and depart in unity.

Arianism Sparks a Fire

Arius, a priest in Alexandria, held that Jesus was a creation of the Father. "There was a time when the Son
was not," sang he and his followers, setting their theology to catchy tunes. The first being to be created,
Jesus was nonetheless only a creature, according to Arius. He was not eternal. Bishop Alexander of
Alexandria had condemned Arius' doctrine, saying that Jesus, the Word, existed eternally with the Father,
was divine, and could not be created. Alexander and his aide, Athanasius, believed that by denying Christ's
deity, Arianism threatened the core of Christian faith. Alexander had Arius removed from his post. Arius
sought and won support from other bishops of the East. The conflict was on! Rioting ensued. Now this
council had been called at Nicea to settle the controversy.

No Quick Fix
If Constantine hoped for a swift resolution to the dispute, he was soon disappointed. When Eusebius of
Nicomedia deduced "logically" that the Son of God was a creature, he was interrupted with cries of,
"Heresy! Blasphemy!" His speech was snatched from his hands and torn to shreds by bishops who would not
allow philosophical arguments to supersede Scripture. Men who had suffered for Christ were not about to sit
tamely and hear him blasphemed.

From then on the two sides argued fiercely. Finally someone suggested a way to break the impasse: write a
creed to which all should subscribe. Six weeks later, several days before the council ended, the statement
had been hammered out.

The creed affirmed that Jesus was "from the substance of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, very
God from very God, begotten not made, of the same substance as the Father..." Constantine himself
suggested the key word of the creed, homoousius, meaning "of the same substance." Arius preferred the
word homoiousius, meaning "of similar substance." All but three bishops signed the creed. Arius and the
others who refused to sign were banished.

In the closing hours of the conference, Constantine, moved by the heroism of those who had suffered for
Christ under his pagan predecessors, is said to have caressed their wounds and kissed their empty eye
sockets. Their scars bore strong witness that the Nicene creed was sound.
33
Interference
It seemed the issue was settled. But political winds changed. Constantine drifted toward Arianism and sided
with the heretics. For two centuries, whoever held imperial power decided the fortunes of the theological
factions.

Athanasius, for example, leader of those who argued for Christ's deity, was exiled five times for his views.
This did not alter his staunch support of the creed. He realized the gap between sinful man and a holy God.
Only God could bridge it. If Christ were fully God and fully man he could be that bridge but not otherwise.
He had to be a man to represent us; he had to be God to overcome the infinite gap.

Ripples
The council of Nicea was important for many reasons. It established a precedent. Six other ecumenical
councils would follow (see the box below). Each, like Nicea, tried to settle some thorny church problem by
putting difficult questions to the collective wisdom of its bishops. If at the first Nicene council, political
pressure was brought to bear and fair play sometimes suffered, at later councils these tendencies were
aggravated. Finally, in spite of the power struggle at Nicea and political battles in the years following, the
creed of Nicea, with its clear assertion of the deity of Christ, remains fundamental to the Church to this day.

Fascinating Facts. . .

 The Arian view that Jesus was created is taught by Jehovah's Witnesses today.
 Only those councils are called ecumenical which were "worldwide" councils, that is, councils which
embraced both the Eastern and Western halves of the Roman Empire.
 On the first day of the Council of Nicea, Emperor Constantine would not immediately seat himself
on the carved wooden throne erected for him. Out of respect for those bishops who had been
tortured, he stood silent before it until the bishops compelled him to sit.
 Constantine had the Council meet at Nicea because of "the excellent temperature of the air, and in
order that I might be present as a spectator and participator."
 The Council opened in June of 325. In the center of the meeting hall on a seat or throne were the
four Gospels.
 Three accounts survive reporting on the council, the most lengthy by ancient church historian
Eusebius.

In THEIR OWN WORDS. . .FROM the CREED of NICEA

NOTE: This creed is not to be confused with what is now known as the Nicene Creed.

"We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible. And we believe in one Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten from the Father, only begotten, that is from the Father's substance, light from
light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one substance with the Father. Through him were made all
things, both in heaven and on earth. For us and for our salvation he came down, was incarnate and became human.
He suffered, rose again on the third day, ascended into the heavens and is coming to judge the living and the dead.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit. But those who say, 'there was once when he was not' and 'before he was begotten
he was not,' and that 'he was made out of nothing,' or who affirm that 'the Son is of a different hypostasis or
substance,' or that he is mutable or changeable - these the catholic and apostolic church anathematizes."

34
 THE SEVEN ECUMENICAL COUNCILS
Number Place Year Action Taken
Refuted Arianism. Adopted Nicene creed:
1 Nicea 325 Declared that Jesus is coeternal with the
Father.
Condemned Apollinarian view that Jesus
2 Constantinople 381 had no human will. Affirmed the deity of
the Holy Spirit.
Condemned Pelagius' claim that man is not
3 Ephesus 431 totally fallen; Declared Nestorianism
heretical; i.e. that Jesus is two persons.
Condemned Monophysite heresy that Jesus
4 Chalcedon 451
can't have two natures in one person.
Condemned Theodore of Mopseustia's and
5 Constantinople 553
other writings as Nestorian.
Denied Monothelitism ("one will"). Said
6 Constantinople 680 instead that Christ had both divine and
human wills.
7 Nicea 787 Legitimized veneration of icons.
Theology Is Dirty Business (Editor's Notebook)

I was startled when the young theology doctoral student told me how "theology is really a very dirty
business." Further conversation revealed that he did not mean there was anything immoral about it but just
that theological questions have often been hammered out in the heat of passionate issues and circumstances.
The various advocates see so much at stake, and the pursuit of truth so critical, that the battles can often get
ugly. We read in this issue about Nicea, and see how even such a great theological contributor to the church
as Athanasius was repeatedly exiled. How we might have preferred that the unfolding of theological
understanding over the centuries be done in a more genteel manner. There is probably not one denomination
represented by you our readers that was not born in some intense theological controversy and no doubt
heated debates continue to rage even now.

It used to trouble me to see how the first ecumenical or world wide council at Nicea was convened by a
politician, the emperor Constantine. Instinctively it makes you want to sniff around for contamination. But
God has seen fit to works out our salvation and growth in Christ in spite of our frailties, flaws and repeated
failures. So perhaps it should not surprise us to discover that in the corporate body he works in and through
our human limitations, corruption and personality conflicts in the church's ongoing quest to rightly
understand and interpret the Word of God.

One final note. Constantine so often takes a beating for corrupting Christianity and making it the official
state religion. He did not make it the state religion. That didn't come until some 70 years later in 381 with
Emperor Theodosius. Quite the contrary, Constantine may have taken huge political risks in his
identification as a Christian, and his assistance to the church, when the rest of the surrounding political
power structure was still steeped in paganism.

35
 SLAVE SONGS TRANSCEND SORROW
  

Oh, my Lord!
Oh, my good Lord!
Keep me from sinkin' down.
I tell you what I mean to do
(Keep me from sinkin' down)
I mean to go to heaven too
(Keep me from sinkin' down)
I look up yonder and what do I see?
(Keep me from sinkin' down)
I see the angels beckonin' me
(Keep me from sinkin' down)

" As we wheeled up the avenue, our numbers ever increasing, the Negroes broke into another song, more
joful than the last, and all clapped hands in unison, when they sang the chorus until the air quivered with
melody." (From an account by Mary Livermore, a Boston school teacher in Virginia before the Civil
War.)

The Air Quivered

Singly or by twos the black slaves slipped into the torch-lit forest grove. What they were doing was illegal.
They could be whipped for it. But they had to sing, had to sing without restraint, had to pour out to God their
souls' deepest prayers, longings and complaints, regardless of consequences. With bodies swaying and eyes
half-closed, they sang, lifting to heaven their anguish and triumph.

Oh, bye an' bye, bye an' bye

I'm goin' to lay down my heavy load...
I'm troubled, I'm troubled,
I'm troubled in mind
If Jesus don't help me
I surely will die. . .

Simple the words may have been, but they expressed spiritual aspirations and sorrows as deep as any found
in Christendom. What is more, they were expressed with rhythms of utmost sophistication and melodies
plaintive, haunting, or oddly original.

The blacks who stepped in chains from the slave ships were a musical people, used to expressing religious
ideas in song. Sold into hard work, poverty and oppression in America, they turned to songs for solace,
singing on every possible occasion in rhythms that had been long familiar to their race. They sang while
picking cotton or shucking corn, sang on the chain gang, sang in prison, sang in church-when allowed to
attend.

36
If the slaves had to judge Christianity only by their white masters, few might have become Christians. They
were well aware of the shortcomings of their owners, whose faith was often merely a Sunday profession,
ignored during the harsh week. Hypocrisy found pointed comment in Spirituals.

Everybody talkin' about

Heaven ain't goin' there...

But just as the gospel had appealed in the first century to the poor and to slaves, so it appealed to Africans
similarly situated. The sufferings of Christ and of the ancient Jews drew black folk to Christianity. Moses
delivering his people from Egyptian bondage, Joseph sold as a slave by his own brothers, Daniel flung by a
tyrant into a lion's den--these timeless stories were the agents that evoked a response of faith from the slave
community, faith which found utterance in song.

Go down Moses,
'Way down in Egypt land
Tell ol' Pharaoh
To let my people go.

Little wonder, then, that of all the slave songs, it is the Spirituals, expressing the deepest religious emotions
of souls touched by Christ, which kindles a flame in our hearts. Spirituals are recognized as some of the
world's most authentic spiritual utterances since David penned the Psalms.

Identity
These Spirituals gave the slaves an identity which appearances seemed to belie: that of a people chosen by
the Lord. Just as the Lord fought for Moses and the Israelites, just as he toppled Goliath before David, just as
he appeared to Jacob on the ladder, so would he work in their lives. And if they were not delivered while yet
living in this world, there remained freedom in the heavenly Canaan. Their songs summarized these beliefs,
expressing in broken words the genuine spiritual realities of a world unseen, the world of Christian virtues:
forgiveness, hope, faith, love, endurance, eternal life, holiness. James Weldon Johnson noted this and
commented, "The Negro took complete refuge in Christianity, and the Spirituals were literally forged of
sorrow in the heat of religious fervor. They exhibited, moreover, a reversion to the simple principles of
primitive, communal Christianity." No wonder blacks, however weary after a hard day's work, risked the
sometimes cruel anger of masters to steal into the woods at night and improvise music for hours.

The whole group could participate; repetitive choruses and antiphonal responses between leader and people
characterized Spirituals. And while many of the songs were mournful, others were filled with the joy of
Christ.

Oh, religion is a fortune,

I really do believe...

"Remarkably buoyant!"
Frederick Douglass, a prominent escaped slave, wrote of his captivity: "We were at times remarkably
buoyant, singing hymns and making joyous exclamations, almost as triumphant in their tone as if we had
already reached a land of freedom and safety."

Jubilee Singers
The world at large first heard Spirituals in the 1870s, shortly after the Civil War emancipated America's
blacks. The Fisk Jubilee Singers, a group of ex-slaves, toured the United States and Britain with orchestral
renditions. Many listeners were amazed at the vitality of what they heard. Western music soon showed the
influence. Spirituals, which had rescued faithful black Christians from "sinkin' down," now added vitality to
the musical idioms of the world.

Slaves were auctioned off as if they were animals to be bought and sold. In some years over 70,000 black
men, women and children were shipped to plantations in the West Indies and America.

Fascinating Facts. . .

37
  The ninth symphony of Antonin Dvorak, a favorite with many concert-goers, may employ Spiritual
melodies. "Here in the music you have neglected, even despised, is something spontaneous, sincere,
and different, native to your country," he said. "Why not use it?" He used similar melodies in his
"American" quartet, opus 96.
 Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) studied in New York in the 1930s. A musician in his
own right, he appreciated the Spirituals he heard at the Abyssinian Baptist Church and recorded
some to play to his students in Germany.
 "Hymns more genuine than these have never been sung since the psalmists of Israel relieved their
burdened hearts and expressed their exaltation. Nor will they die, because they spring like these
from hearts on fire with a sense of the reality of spiritual truths." Edith A. Talbot
 Today's gospel music is directly descended from Spirituals. Renowned jazz musician Thomas A.
Dorsey (not to be confused with the band leader Tommy Dorsey), a former blues man turned gospel
song writer was an early promoter of the genre. Most famous of his gospel hymns is, "Precious
Lord, Take My Hand" translated into more than 50 languages.
 The composers of Spirituals are unknown. They are a genuine folk music. Because the songs
became an oral tradition, the words varied from region to region when song leaders found it
necessary to ad-lib lines they had forgotten.
 Slaves were auctioned off as if they were animals to be bought and sold. In some years over 70,000
black men, women and children were shipped to plantations in the West Indies and America.

In their Own Words

They crucified my Lord You got a right, I got a Can't you live humble?
an' he right, Praise King Jesus!
never said a mumbalin' We all got a right to the Can't you live humble
word; tree of life; To the dyin' lamb?
They crucified my Lord Yes, you got a right, I
Lightenin' flashes,
an' he got a right,
never said a mumbalin' We all got a right to the
thunders roll,
word; tree of life. Make me think of my
Not a word, not a word, The very time I thought I poor soul.
not a word. was los' Come here, Jesus,
He bowed his head an' The dungeon shook an' come here please
died, an' he the chain fell off. See me Jesus on my
never said a mumbalin You may hinder me here knees.
word; But you cannot there Can't you live humble?
He bowed his head an' 'Cause God in his Praise King Jesus!
died, an' he heaven Can't you live humble
never said a mumbalin Goin' to answer prayer.
To the dyin' lamb?
word; O Brethren, You got a
Not a word, not a word, right,
not a word. I got a right
We all got a right to the
tree of life.

Many African-American spirituals found their way into our hymnals including:

•Let Us Break Bread Together

•Go Tell It on the Mountain,
•Lonesome Valley
•Amen
•Were You There?
•He's Got the Whole World in His Hands
•There is a Balm in Gilead
•Lord, I Want to Be a Christian

One of the Greatest Miracles (Editor's Notebook)

When in the fourth grade of grammar school, we were visited once a week by an itinerant and kindly music
teacher named Luke Gaskell. He did his best to help us love and learn music. Mr. Gaskell's devoted efforts
failed to uncover any musical talents in this particular student, but I remain indebted to him for the single
class period he devoted entirely to teaching us the Negro spiritual "Steal Away, Steal Away to Jesus." This
38
teacher took us through the song word by word, line by line, drawing forth the depths of simultaneous pain
and exaltation. He made the experience of slavery real but he also helped us feel the joy of song that can
give solace to and emancipate the spirit.

I cannot remember where I read it, but one historian commented somewhere that one of the greatest miracles
and movements in all Christian history is the acceptance of the Gospel by so many African-Americans. The
slaves not only appropriated the faith that was culturally identified with the oppressor, but gave it enriched
meaning and depth, not least through their music and worship.

A friend read this issue before publication and said: "I had known nothing about the subject. Before I was
done reading I found myself crying to God for unfaltering faith so that I might spend eternity with a people
capable of such an outpouring of spiritual passion."

Christians still get clobbered with the old refrain that the New Testament supported slavery. What a
distortion! The New Testament recognized slavery as a long-established fact of life. But consider the
brilliance and beauty of Paul's demolishing the foundation of slavery by discrediting all discriminatory
human divisions (Gal. 3:20) and in the book of Philemon establishing the full humanity and worth of
runaway slave Onesimus in the most exalted terms. Interestingly, one of the criticisms the early church had
to face was that it was populated by so many poor and slaves.

WHY MRS. FRY WILLINGLY WENT

TO PRISON
"YOU ARE BORN to be a light to the blind, speech to the dumb and feet to
the lame."

Elizabeth Fry, pioneer in prison reform

Eighteen-year-old Elizabeth Gurney heard this prediction with wonder. Had not her friend Deborah Darby
gone too far? Members of the Society of Friends, commonly called "Quakers," accepted that the Holy Spirit
spoke to them through one another. But Deborah's words seemed overly bold for an age which did not allow
women much scope of action. Earlier that same year Elizabeth had fallen under conviction in a meeting led
by a Quaker from the United States. So deep had been the impression that she had wept in the carriage most
of the way home where she confided to her diary, "Today I have felt that there is a God." Yet no compelling
sense of purpose had come to her.

Nor did it now. Nonetheless, she made herself useful where she could, starting a Sunday School with one
boy. It quickly grew to eighty. She provided the poor with food and clothes and read to them from the
Scriptures. When banker Joseph Fry proposed marriage the following year, she hesitated, hoping for
illumination from the Lord. As nothing specific was forthcoming, she accepted the offer. She bore him ten
children. Not until after the tenth was born did Elizabeth glimpse her mission.

In 1817 her brother-in-law Thomas Fowell Buxton, a Member of Parliament, suggested she visit the
women's section of Newgate prison. Crime was on the rise. English prisons were overcrowded. Perhaps
some remedy was possible.

Be Careful, Elizabeth
Friends cautioned Elizabeth not to go. The female prisoners were so violent that they would snatch clothes
off visitors' backs, heckle them and steal their valuables. The governor of Newgate himself dared not
approach them. But the mother of ten determined to take action. This was just the challenge she craved.
Having visited a prison before, she wasn't to be frightened off. Had not the Lord commanded us to
39
remember those in prison? She entered Newgate, refusing even to take off her watch, which, incidentally,
was not stolen.

Nothing had prepared her for what she found. Hundreds of drunken, rag-clad women crowded into four
rooms built for half their number. Innocents awaited trial side by side with hardened prostitutes and thieves.
Children, whose only fault was to have nowhere else to go, might have envied barnyard animals their
stables. Babies born in prison squalled in nakedness.

A Bar Behind Bars

The turnkeys (who made their income "shaking down" prisoners) sold a few amenities- and even sold booze.
Bathing utensils were scarce. Lice swarmed in clothes and hair. The daily ration of food was one small loaf
of bread per person. There were no medicines. Sick women were dumped on dirty straw without so much as
a bed. Death by "prison fever" (Typhus) was common.

Discipline was nonexistent. Bullies ran the wards. Fights and curses erupted freely. Many of the women
strutted around in men's clothes. Even the tough male prisoners, who mingled with the women during the
day, were appalled at their behavior.

A Child Shall Lead Them

Elizabeth made her appeal through the babies. Surely the women desired better than this squalor for their
little ones! Indeed they did! But they had no income, no education, no discipline, no hope. Elizabeth
promised help and they listened respectfully, recognizing her plain dress as a religious uniform.

Drawing on her own resources and the funds of others, Elizabeth gathered supplies and formed committees.
She organized classes in knitting and sewing. Soon the women were able to sell their piecework, earning a
little money for soap and food. After fierce haggling she obtained a room for a school. The best educated
among them was designated to teach. Each day Fry read aloud to them from the Bible, hoping that the
salvation story would sink into their minds and convert them. A few sought Christ's pardon and lived with
new peace.

Discovering Self-Discipline
The Quakeress convinced the prison authorities to appoint matrons in place of male turnkeys for the women.
With steely determination, she enforced rules upon all, rules which the prisoners themselves voted on. She
had them elect leaders to keep order among themselves. Soon Newgate's female wards evidenced
unprecedented decorum. The transformation was so extraordinary that world leaders heard of it and
consulted her.

At that time many convicts were transported from England to Australia. The system was especially brutal to
women for the ships were not fitted to accommodate them. Destitute when at last they reached Australia,
many women resorted to prostitution to survive. Elizabeth agitated for reforms. Meantime, for twenty years,
she and her committee visited every transportation ship before it sailed, ensuring that the women had cloth
and thread so they might make articles on the long voyage which they could sell in the colony when they
arrived. Thanks in large part to her efforts, the transportation was exposed as an inhumane institution and,
shortly after her death, outlawed.

Elizabeth's reforms prompted other advances. Theodore Fliedner, a young German pastor, imported her
ideas to Germany. To succor needy ill women, he trained nurses. Elizabeth, impressed by the idea, founded
the Institute of Nursing Sisters to work among the poor. The nurses were given rudimentary training at Guy's
Hospital. One of these sisters nursed Elizabeth in her last illness. She died at age 65. Her actions, spurred by
faith, fulfilled Deborah Darby's vision: she had become a voice for prisoners who could not speak for
themselves.

Fascinating Facts. . .

 "Nothing short of the Holy Spirit can really help forward the cause of righteousness on earth," said
Elizabeth Fry.
 Elizabeth could project so much pathos into her voice that hardened criminals melted and cool
observers found themselves in tears.

40
  The evening before transportation to the colonies, women commonly rioted in Newgate prison.
Elizabeth Fry overcame the practice by visiting them and reading to them from the Bible on those
evenings.
 Fry's Bible readings to prisoners were at times strongly resisted by governmental authorities.
 Elizabeth's life was not without personal difficulties. When Joseph Fry went bankrupt, Elizabeth was
humiliated. Her theology taught that God prospered in this world all those who obeyed him. She
found the implications of her husband's failure hard to accept--as did the other Friends. They
withdrew his membership.
 All her life Elizabeth Fry suffered attacks of nervous depression and often found it necessary to
ingest stimulants and sedatives in order to carry on her tasks.
 Elizabeth would find plenty to do if she were alive today. In America there are close to 100,000
women incarcerated.

In HER OWN WORDS. . .

On Charity
Charity to the Soul is the Soul of Charity

On Her Conversion
"I think my feelings that night. . .were the most exalted I remember. . .suddenly my mind felt clothed with
light, as with a garment and I felt silenced before God; I cried with the heavenly feeling of humility and
repentance."

--Memoir of Elizabeth Fry

A Friend's Compassion Amidst Horror

"I have just returned from a most melancholy visit to Newgate, where I have been at the request of
Elizabeth Fricker [condemned for robbery], previous to her execution tomorrow morning, at eight o'clock.
I found her much hurried, distressed and tormented in mind. Her hands cold and covered with something
like the perspiration preceding death and in a universal tremor. The women with her said she had been so
outrageous before our going that they thought a man must be sent for to manage her. However, after a
serious time with her, her troubled soul became calmed...Besides this poor woman there are also six men
to be hanged, one of whom has a wife near her confinement, also condemned and six young children.
Since the awful report came down he has become quite mad, from horror of mind. A strait waistcoat could
not keep him within bounds: he had just bitten the turnkey..."

--Memoir of Elizabeth Fry

We Have Prisoners Praying for Us (Editor's Notebook)

I was asked recently how we manage to get all the things done that come out of our little operation that we
share here in Eastern Pennsylvania with our sister company Gateway Films/Vision Video. I had to confess
that I think part of the explanation can be found in jail. Some of the most avid readers of Glimpses are those
who have come to faith in Christ in prison and want to ground themselves more in the history of God's
people while serving out the remainder of their sentences. We are happy to provide Glimpses to prisoners at
no charge and in return we ask that they promise to pray for us and our ministry. God hears and answers
prayer and only heaven will reveal what it has meant for us to have a company of convicts praying daily for
us.

But we have received other blessings from prisoners. One of the most fascinating video programs that we
have seen and arranged to make available is called Love is Not a Luxury. It tells the story of a prison in
Brazil where a Christian program was brought to prisoners and to their families. Profound changes resulted!
Now, even though the prison houses some of Brazil's most notorious criminals, it is a prison with bars but no
guards. The inmates themselves now hold the keys. It prompts us to ask if we might dare to hope that the
kind of amazing transformation in prison life seen in Elizabeth Fry's ministry among women (see top right
of page two) might also be possible among men prisoners when they meet the liberating Christ. Chuck
Colson observed, "It is like no other prison I've ever visited in twenty years of prison ministry. . . It truly is a
model for the world." If you would like more information on this video contact us at the address at bottom of
opposite column.
41
 FORGED IN FIRE
EUSEBIUS: HE SAVED OUR FAMILY STORY

WHO WAS THE FIRST church historian? Most Christians would immediately say the Gospel writer Luke.
He also gave us the book of Acts, an account of the early church during the time of Peter and Paul. But after
that there was no major effort to record the history of the church, at least not one that anyone is aware of,
until around the year 325. Then Eusebius, the bishop of Caesarea in Israel, saw the importance of preserving
the story of the early Christian church for us who would become believers in later generations. Think of the
incredible task he set out to accomplish! Eusebius is going to cover over 300 years of church history. To get
an idea of the challenge, picture this.

Ruins in Caesaria

Try This One in Your Mind

Suppose you are part of a people whose origins go back to around the 1690’s, almost a century before
America was an independent nation. You are selected to tell in detail the story of your people. But there are
problems. Your people were a despised and illegal group for most of that time. In fact, there were at least
two full-scale government sponsored persecutions intended to exterminate your people. Many key leaders
were captured and killed and their precious books burned. They had no official standing, no public festivals,
no monuments built to commemorate your community. (The records for an oppressed minority are not
usually easy to come by.) And to make your task more challenging, your people spread over most of the
known world, living and growing within diverse cultures. Now then, how do you possibly put together the
story? That is the kind of task Eusebius took on. Finally, peace had come to the church after Constantine
became emperor. Now the story could be told. Eusebius was the one for the job. He had already prepared a
chronology of the Bible and early church, trying to establish the dates of Christ's death and church events
which followed. This was a difficult undertaking because many different calendars were in use at the time
and he had to correlate events recorded under one system to events recorded under others.

He Preserved the Sources

Eusebius' history then is our most significant authority for three hundred years of early Christian history. We
owe him a special debt because he quotes from many sources that no longer exist. We are blessed that he
showed interest in a broad range of material. He traced the lines of apostolic succession in key cities. Thus
we know how the church progressed in major cities. The church has always been nourished with the blood
of martyrs. Eusebius incorporated stories of martyrdom into his account and these precious testimonies
remain a powerful apologetic for the church as well as an inspiration for later generations.

42
The Controversies
Eusebius was interested in the controversy over which books should be in the Bible and he related various
views of the matter. Because of this we know a good deal about how we got the canon of the New
Testament. Eusebius was also interested in the woeful fate of the Jews, which he attributed to their rejection
of Christ. He recounted their struggles in several passages. Eusebius also traces the threads of heresy.
Through him we are aware of challenges to orthodoxy in the early centuries of the faith. Eusebius also
shows how God preserved the church and poured his grace upon it.

No Thanks
Late in life, Eusebius was invited to become bishop of Antioch. He turned down the offer. Appeal was made
to the Emperor to compel him to accept. Instead, Constantine commended Eusebius for his refusal. In
addition to all his other writings, Eusebius composed two Bible commentaries, one on Isaiah and one on the
Psalms, a book on the geography of the Bible, and a concordance of the Gospels. He wrote two books to
clear up differences in the Gospels. Finally Eusebius produced an account of the Martyrs of Palestine whom
he had known. But his history remains his most important contribution to the church, and the one by which
his name will always be remembered, for it gave us our past.

Fascinating Facts about Eusebius…

 Born about AD 260, probably in Caesarea

 314 - Becomes bishop of Caesarea
 Became embroiled in Arian controversy. Wrote a letter asking for restoration of Arius.
 The Emperor Constantine appreciated Eusebius and relied heavily on his advice.
 It was to Eusebius that Constantine told his story of seeing the flaming cross with the words on it,
"In this sign conquer."
 One reason Eusebius considered Christianity superior to paganism was that it purified other
religions by putting an end to human sacrifice.
 Eusebius personally witnessed many of the martyrdoms he describes, once as a visitor to Tyre.
 Eusebius, like many contemporaries, accepted all of the books of our present New Testament except
The Apocalypse (Revelation). The present canon had not yet been firmly established. In his day
every book had been accepted except Hebrews, James, 2 John, 3 John, 2 Peter, and Jude.
 Eusebius was not above flattering the Emperor or dedicating books to him. In return the Emperor
often called on him to preach special sermons.

In His Own Words

[At the beginning of his Church History, Eusebius states his purpose: to give us an account of what
happened from the time of Jesus until his own day around 325. He will go back to Jesus, treat important
events, leaders, opponents, the Jewish people, and how the church faced persecution. He then confesses the
enormous size of the project.]

But at the outset I must crave for my work the indulgence of the wise, for I confess that it is beyond my
power to produce a perfect and complete history, and since I am the first to enter upon the subject, I am
attempting to traverse as it were a lonely and untrodden path. I pray that I may have God as my guide and
the power of the Lord as my aid, since I am unable to find even the bare footsteps of those who have
traveled the way before me, except in brief fragments, in which some in one way, others in another, have
transmitted to us particular accounts of the times in which they lived. From afar they raise their voices like
torches, and they cry out, as from some lofty and conspicuous watchtower, admonishing us where to walk
and how to direct the course of our work steadily and safely. Having gathered, therefore, from the matters
mentioned here and there by them whatever we consider important for the present work, and having plucked
like flowers from a meadow the appropriate passages from ancient writers, we shall endeavor to embody the
whole in an historical narrative, content if we preserve the memory of the successions of the apostles of our
Savior; if not indeed of all, yet of the most renowned of them in those churches which are the most noted,
and which even to the present time are held in honor. This work seems to me of especial importance because
I know of no ecclesiastical writer who has devoted himself to this subject; and I hope that it will appear most
useful to those who are fond of historical research.

Pamphilus: His Teacher and Friend

No one works utterly in a vacuum. So it was with Eusebius. He was about 25 years old when he began to
study with Pamphilus (c. 240-309). A wealthy man, Pamphilus lived a frugal life, devoting his substance to

43
learning. Building on the nucleus of books possessed by Origen, he created a school with a substantial
library, and Eusebius was probably its first master. He also collected and copied all of Origens writings with
the result that many have survived to our own day. The library endured for many years and claimed to
possess an original manuscript of Matthew's gospel. Eusebius helped build the collection and assisted others
in using its treasures.

Eventually Pamphilus was arrested for his faith. During the teacher's two years of imprisonment, Eusebius
visited him constantly and collaborated with him to write a defense of Origin. On February 16, 309,
Pamphilus was executed along with a number of other Christians. Faithful to his teacher's memory, Eusebius
wrote a three volume biography of him which included a catalog of the library the two had worked so hard
to create.

SAVONAROLA'S PREACHING GOT

HIM BURNED
Today tourists by the thousands travel to Florence, Italy to view the glorious art of
the Renaissance. Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Machiavelli, Boccacio, Ghiberti,
Raphael -- they all painted, wrote, or sculpted in this Italian city. Their works are the
treasures of Florence. Yet, when Jerome Savonarola (1452-1498) looked at
Renaissance Florence, the beauty, glory, and grandeur created by the artists were
overshadowed by the decadence, corruption, and moral rot there.

Passionate Preaching, Powerful Predictions

The Medici family of Florence were the great art patrons who had beautified their
city with art still admired as among the world's best. When Savonarola, a Dominican friar, came to Florence
in the 1480’s, Lorenzo de Medici, the Magnificent, was in the last years of his life. Savonarola shook the
population by his sermons from Revelation, warning of the wrath to come. Tears came to the listeners' eyes
as they also heard his tender assurances of God's mercy. In warning of coming judgment, Savonarola also
predicted the impending deaths of Lorenzo de Medici, the pope, and the king of Naples.

In 1491 Savonarola was elected prior of St. Mark's convent in Florence. The convent had been enriched by
the Medicis, and it was considered the duty of the new superior to pay homage to Lorenzo. But Savonarola
refused. He said his election was from God, not the Medicis!

No Easy Absolution
Within a few months Lorenzo lay on his deathbed. Oppressed by his sins, he called for Savonarola to
absolve him. Savonarola promised Lorenzo absolution on three conditions. First, he should repent and have
faith in God's mercy. Lorenzo readily agreed. Second, he should give up his ill-gotten wealth. Lorenzo was
more reluctant on this one, but did agree. Finally, he should restore the republican liberties of Florence. At
this Lorenzo turned his face to the wall and did not reply. Savonarola left without absolving the ruler.
Shortly after Lorenzo died, Pope Innocent VIII also died.

The infamous Cardinal Borgia was elected Pope Alexander VI. In one of his sermons Savonarola told of
seeing a hand appearing in the sky bearing a flaming sword with the words, "Behold the sword of the Lord
will descend suddenly and quickly upon the earth." He warned of judgment for sins and mercy to the
faithful. The pope had reason to be concerned!

Dramatic Changes at Florence

When the French King Charles VIII invaded Italy in 1494, the Medici rulers fled. Through negotiation
Savonarola was able to prevent King Charles from sacking Florence and used his influence to move the city
towards a more godly government. Like Calvin later in Geneva, Savonarola never held political office, but
his sermons heavily influenced the city government. Some reforms were immediate -- relief was brought to
the starving population, shops were opened to give work to the unemployed, a bank was established for
charitable loans and taxes were reduced. All people were exhorted to place their trust in the Lord. Two key

44
ideas in Savonarola's Florence were that government by one man would become tyrannical and the very new
idea that the people were the source of power, with the right to elect magistrates.

Savonarola wanted Florence to be a Christian republic with God as governor. The Gospel would be the basis
of law, and the council passed strong regulations against vice, frivolity, gambling, and extravagant dress.
Many of Savonarola's sermons were based on the Old Testament prophets and Revelation. He maintained
that his mission was to warn people of the coming day of judgment.

'Bonfire of the Vanities'

Savonarola had a great appeal to the children of Florence. Boys who had once roamed the streets creating
mayhem and throwing rocks at houses were organized into a kind of sacred military, marching through the
city singing hymns and taking collections for the poor. During the carnival season, they went from house to
house and collected trinkets, cosmetics, luxury items, and obscene books to be burned on the last day of the
carnival. A huge "bonfire of vanities" was created in the public square -- sixty feet high with a forty foot
circumference at its base. There was great enthusiasm for the changes Savonarola brought to Florence -- but
apparently not enough regeneration of hearts. The people soon turned on the reformer.

Want to Be a Cardinal?
Pope Alexander VI wanted to silence Savonarola's denunciations of the corruption and immorality in the
church and offered to make him a cardinal. Savonarola refused the offer. The Pope finally condemned
Savonarola for announcing he was a special messenger from God and excommunicated him. Savonarola
unsuccessfully tried to bring together a convention of European leaders to remove the decadent Borgia from
the papacy. The Florentine crowd turned on Savonarola. He was imprisoned and severely tortured on the
rack. On one day alone he was drawn up by ropes fourteen times and then suddenly dropped.

In the face of death, Savonarola prayed, "O Lord, a thousand times have you wiped out my iniquity. I do not
rely on my own justification, but on thy mercy." In between his tortures, he wrote meditations on Psalms 32
and 51, which Martin Luther later published, calling them "a piece of evangelical testing and Christian
piety."

Savonarola was hanged and then burned at a stake on May 23, 1498. As the bishop stripped him of his
priestly garb, he said, "I separate thee from the church militant and from the church triumphant." Savonarola
replied, "That is beyond your power."

WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN SAVO'S WORLD?

Savonarola lived in a time that was in many ways like our own. It was an age of great discoveries,
extraordinary artistic and communications achievements, the emergence of new views of the world, great
self-consciousness and pride in human achievement. It was also an age of restlessness in the world of faith
and religion that was bound to erupt sooner or later. Here are just some of the many great people and
momentous events during the years Savonarola lived (1452-1498):

1452 - Savonarola born; Ghiberti completed his magnificent bronze doors at Florence
baptistry; Leonardo da Vinci born
1453 - Gutenberg prints the Mazarin Bible at Mainz; Turks convert Constantinople's
magnificent St. Sophia into a mosque
1455 - Painter Fra Angelico born
1456 - Trial of Joan of Arc annulled
1465 - Erasmus born 1469 - Lorenzo de Medici begins rule of Florence which ended in
1492; Niccolo Machiavelli born
1473 - Birth of Nicolaus Copernicus
1477 - Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales published by William Caxton
1478 - Birth of Thomas More
1480 - Inquisition against Jews begins in Spain
1481 - Botticelli and others paint frescoes in Rome's Sistine Chapel
1483 - Martin Luther born
1492 - Columbus’ voyage to the New World; Spain conquers Granada, ending kingdom of
Moors
1493 - Pope Alexander VI issues a “bull” dividing New World between Spain and Portugal
45
 1494 - Charles VIII invades Italy; Pope Alexander VI takes refuge in Castel Sant’ Angelo
1495-98 - Da Vinci paints Last Supper
1498 - Michelangelo completes “Pieta” sculpture in St. Peter's, Rome

In His Own Words

[Savonarola spoke out most strongly against the corrupt clergy of his day, especially those in Rome]

In these days, prelates and preachers are chained to the earth by the love of earthly things. The care of souls
is no longer their concern. They are content with the receipt of revenue. The preachers preach to please
princes and to be praised by them. They have done worse. They have not only destroyed the Church of God.
They have built up a new Church after their own patter. Go to Rome and see! In the mansions of the great
prelates there is no concern save for poetry and the oratorical art. Go thither and see! Thou shalt find them
all with the books of the humanities in their hands and telling one another that they can guide men's souls by
means of Virgil, Horace, and Cicero....The prelates of former days had fewer gold miters and chalices, and
what few they possessed were broken up and given to relieve the needs of the poor. But our prelates, for the
sake of obtaining chalices, will rob the poor of their sole means of support. Dost thou not know what I
would tell thee! What doest thou, O Lord! Arise, and come to deliver thy Church from the hands of devils,
from the hands of tyrants, from the hands of iniquitous prelates (quoted in Philip Schaff. History of the
Christian Church. VI, p. 688).
It is not difficult to see why he incurred the wrath of Rome. He spoke of Pope Boniface VIII as wicked and
beginning his pontificate “like a fox and ending it like a dog.” Speaking of the seat of all iniquity, he said: It
begins in Rome where the clergy make mock of Christ and the saints; yea, are worse than Turks and worse
than Moors. They traffic in the sacraments. They sell benefices to the highest bidder. Have not the priests in
Rome courtesans and grooms and horses and dogs? Have they not palaces full of tapestries and silks, of
perfumes and lackeys? Seemeth it, that this is the Church of God?

46
SAVO AND SALVATION BY GRACE

Savonarola differed from Wycliffe, Hus, and Luther in that he never quarreled with the theology of the
Roman Catholic Church. He was more of a moral reformer than a theologian. Yet, as seen in the following
quote, he grasped the biblical understanding of justification by faith that would be more fully developed by
later Reformers.

Savonarola said:
We must regenerate the Church ... God remits the sins of men, and justifies them by his mercy. There are as
many compassions in heaven as there are justified men upon earth; for none are saved by their own works.
No man can boast of himself; and if, in the presence of God, we could ask all these justified sinners -- Have
you been saved by your own strength? - all would reply as with one voice, 'Not unto us, O Lord! not unto us;
but to thy name be the glory!' -- Therefore, O God, do I seek thy mercy, and I bring not unto thee my own
righteousness; but when by thy grace thou justifies one, then thy righteousness belongs unto me; for grace is
the righteousness of God. -- O God, save me by thy righteousness, that is to say, in thy Son, who alone
among men was found without sin! (quoted in J. H. Merle D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation. Vol. 1,
pp. 96-97)

Savonarola, like most Christian Reformers, gave special emphasis to the authority of the Bible. He
commented: "I preach the regeneration of the church, taking the Scriptures as my sole guide."

Hazardous Vocation (Editor's Notebook)

Preaching has always been a hazardous vocation, or calling. Even some of the greatest preachers, or perhaps
we should say, especially the greatest preachers, found their messages often earned them hostility, exile,
even death.

Think of one of the greatest of them all -- Chrysostom, the "golden tongue" -- Bishop at Constantinople,
exiled at least twice and sent out into the desert to die by the political authorities. Or think of John Bunyan.
We remember him mostly as the author of The Pilgrim's Progress, second only to the Bible in circulation.
But in his own day he was better known as a preacher than a writer, and his powerful Puritan preaching
landed him in Bedford jail for almost twelve years.

Another of the greatest preachers, John Wesley, was not allowed to preach in some dioceses, not even in his
own deceased pastor father's church (so he went outside in the church cemetery and preached from his
father's grave stone).

Savonarola was not the first notable Christian to be turned upon by the city of Florence. One hundred fifty
years before Savonarola was born, Dante, author of The Divine Comedy, one of the greatest creations in
Christian literature, or any literature ever, was banished from the city.

And Savonarola was not the last 'revivalist' who would be rejected by the very populace to whom he had
brought powerful spiritual renewal. Jonathan Edwards, a central figure in the "Great Awakening" in the
American colonies in the 1730s, was kicked out of his Northhampton, Massachusetts pastorate after having
faithfully served there for 22 years.

We can only wonder how these kinds of preachers would fare today. Frankly, I find it difficult to imagine
them being much impressed by the growing tendency today to import market research methodologies into
church life. They were far more tuned to the Master than the market--even though far more risky.

47
 HUGUENOTS: DRIVEN OUT
OF FRANCE
LATE IN THE 17TH CENTURY, France declined from
being the most powerful and rich nation in Europe to a
country pressed to hold its own against powerful foes.
Possibly, just possibly, one event above all helps explains
this decline. On October 18, 1685, King Louis XIV revoked
the Edict of Nantes. In doing so, he drove hundreds of
thousands of his best citizens abroad.

St. Bartholomew Day MassacreThe Edict of Nantes was a

promise of religious toleration. It was granted in 1598 to the French Protestants known as Huguenots after
years of civil wars. The Calvinist Huguenots came into being around 1550 when preachers brought Bibles to
France from Switzerland. The growth of this reform movement in Gallic lands was astonishingly rapid.
Within five years the new church held its first synod. Within a century it boasted a million and a half
adherents.

Conflict seemed inevitable from the start. The Roman Catholic church was concerned at its loss of control
over souls; the government feared Protestant demands for local rule. The government's concerns certainly
appeared justified when powerful nobles such as the Condés attempted to employ Protestant strength for
their own political advancement against the powerful Guise family.

War began in 1562 when a number of Huguenots were massacred by the Guises in a church at Vassy. The
Huguenots were only a twentieth of the total French population, yet fought so fiercely they were able to win
concessions from the Roman Catholic majority. In 1572 a peace was arranged.

St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre

This was shattered when Catherine de Medici, the power behind the French throne, ordered the assassination
of the brilliant Huguenot Admiral Coligny. The attempt left him wounded but not dead. Catherine panicked
and ordered the massacre of all Huguenots, including Coligny. The slaughter began in Paris on the evening
of St. Bartholomew's Day and spread to the countryside on the following days. Between 40,000 and 100,000
Huguenots were butchered in cold blood.

Surviving Huguenots fled to their fortresses. A weary round of wars followed until the Huguenot prince,
Henry of Navarre, became heir-elect to the throne of France. In order to gain the throne, Henry found he
must convert to Catholicism. This he did. The Huguenots saw this as a betrayal. To quiet their fears, Henry
issued the Edict of Nantes, protecting Huguenot rights.

The Huguenots continued to defend themselves with arms when necessary, but eventually they came to
distrust the use of weapons. Their leaders decided that it is better to suffer than to fight for rights. Thus,
when the rebellion called "the Fronde" erupted, the Huguenots refused to join their natural allies but instead
supported the young Louis XIV. He in turn gravely acknowledged their loyalty and confirmed the Edict of
Nantes.

All the same, he did not want France divided in faith. Bit by bit he gave ground to churchmen who called for
him to strip Huguenot privileges. Laws were passed making it hard for Protestants to enter the guilds. If a
child of fourteen converted from Protestantism to Catholicism, the child could leave its Huguenot parents
who nonetheless must support it. Huguenots were forbidden to establish new colleges. For a Huguenot to
attempt to leave France was made punishable by condemnation to the galleys. On the other hand, any
Huguenot who converted to Catholicism was paid an endowment.

In 1682 Louis XIV threatened the Huguenots with terrible evils if they did not convert. His religious
training, harsh upbringing, and cruel advisers, led him to believe he could not be saved unless he wiped out
heresy. He destroyed 570 of the Protestants' 815 churches. Huguenots who met secretly in the woods were
subject to savage reprisals and immediate death.
48
One of the king's officials protested. Finance minister Colbert warned Louis that he was destroying the
economy by these measures which disrupted trade.

Unrestrained Savagery
The religious wars of France, once fought on battlefields, now moved into homes. The government sent
dragoons, selected from the basest elements of the army, into Protestant areas with orders not to be gentle to
the Huguenots with whom they were quartered. Being soldiers and also bullies, they were only too glad for a
little "fun." They bounced old Huguenots in blankets, made the Protestants dance until they collapsed from
exhaustion, beat their feet with rods and poured scalding water down their throats. They robbed Huguenots
and raped their women. Huguenots had no redress from the law, for they were not permitted to bring cases
into court.

To Louis' credit, when he heard what was being done, he ordered it stopped. The violence continued but the
facts were hidden from the king. He was told that all Protestants had either converted or fled. Convinced by
the lies of his courtiers, he revoked the Edict of Nantes. It had become little more than a scrap of paper
anyhow, for church and state had conspired to evade its provisions.

With even the illusion of protection gone, many Huguenots felt they must flee their homeland. Conditions at
home were so intolerable that the risk seemed worthwhile. Four hundred thousand escaped. Remaining
Huguenots were forced to take mass. Any who spat out the wafer were burned alive.

KEY EVENTS IN HUGUENOT HISTORY

1533 John Calvin flees Paris, becomes pastor in Geneva in 1536 and maintains strong ties
and influence with French reform movement until his death in 1564
1550’s Calvinism comes to France, wins thousands of converts
1559 First Huguenot synod held, in Paris
1559 Attempt to replace the Catholic Guises with the Huguenot Condé as regent
1560 Huguenots petition the king and threaten revolt if persecution persists
1562 Massacre at Vassy begins the French religious wars
1562 Huguenots sign a manifesto saying they were forced to take arms
1565 Huguenot colony massacred at St. John, Florida by Pedro Mendendez
1572 Catherine de Medici orders an attempt to assassinate Huguenot leader Coligny
1572 St. Bartholomew's Day massacre kills as many as 100,000 Huguenots
1585 Huguenots and other Protestants are ordered expelled from France (most stay)
1593 Huguenot Henry IV converts to Catholicism to gain the throne
1598 Edict of Nantes promises protection to Huguenots
1685 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes leaves Huguenots defenseless; 400,000 flee

THEIR LIVES a POWERFUL TESTIMONY

[Sheldon's Church History provides a description of the Huguenots from Florimond de Raemond, a Roman
Catholic historian in the late 16th century. He observed the life and behavior of the Huguenots and
summarized his impressions.]

They comported themselves as the pronounced enemies of luxury, of public festivities, and of the follies of
the world, which were all too prevalent among the Catholics. In their societies and at their banquets, one
found neither music nor dancing, but discourses from the Bible, which lay upon the table, and spiritual
songs, especially the Psalms as soon as they were brought into rhyme. The women, with their modest
apparel and bearing, seemed like sorrowing Eves or penitent Magdalens, repeating in their lives the
description which Tertullian gave of the (Christian) women of his age. The men appeared dead to the world,
and filled with the Holy Spirit. Each was a John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness. The outward
demeanor expressed only humility and obedience. They sought to gain a place for themselves, not by cruelty
but by patience, not by killing but by dying, so that in them Christianity in its primitive innocence seemed to
be restored.

Mysterious Name
The origin of the name Huguenot is not known. It may be a French adaptation of the German word
Eidgenossen, which means Confederates. Others speculate that it was derived from "a legendary King
49
Hugon whose spirit was thought to haunt a part of Tours where Protestants met secretly in the early years of
the movement," according to R. D. Linder in Inter Varsity Press' Dictionary of Christianity.

Double Blow to France (Editor's Notebook)

The flight of Huguenots was a double blow to France. The hardworking Huguenots were among the most
prosperous citizens of France. Their work ethic had made them masters of the crafts in which France
excelled. When they fled, they left behind most of their possessions but carried with them their skills.
France's enemies were taught techniques of weaving, lace-making, silk-work, and hattery, once the exclusive
possession of the French. Many Huguenots enlisted in the English, Dutch and German armies and fought
France.

Sadly, those people who might have put up the greatest resistance to the atheistic elements within the
Enlightenment were expelled. The French Revolution was perhaps now almost inevitable. According to
some historians, its cruelties were not nearly so terrible as what the Huguenots had suffered.

A church near the White House in Washington, DC has a memorial that claims 21 US presidents are of
Huguenot descent. The National Huguenot Society, more modest, maintains that eight can definitely be
traced as Huguenot descendants. They are:

 George Washington
 Ulysses S. Grant
 Theodore Roosevelt
 William Howard Taft
 Franklin Delano Roosevelt
 Harry S. Truman
 Gerald Ford
 Lyndon B. Johnson

The National Huguenot Society is willing to send you a reading list related to their history and answer
questions about the Huguenots. Write to:

National Huguenot Society

9033 Lyndale Ave. South
Suite 108
Bloomington, MN 55420-3535

50
 THE HIJACKING OF
HALLOW'S EVE
WE KNOW THAT CHRISTMAS is the holiday which brings
the most income to business, but do you know which holiday
is second most profitable? Valentine’s day? -- No. Easter? --
No. Thanksgiving? -- No again. The answer is Halloween.
Halloween has become both very popular and very profitable
in the US So where did Halloween come from?

"Hallow" in Old English means "holy" or "sacred" (as in the Lord's

Prayer, "Hallowed by Thy Name"). "Hallow's Eve" or "Halloween"
simply means the "evening of holy persons" and refers to the
evening before All Saints Day, which is November 1 on both
Anglican and Roman Catholic calendars.

In the early years when Rome persecuted Christians, so many martyrs died for the faith that the Church set
aside special days to honor them. In 607 Emperor Phocas presented to the Pope the beautiful Pantheon
temple in Rome. Originally built in 27 BC by Agrippa in honor of Augustus' victory at Actium and
dedicated to Jupiter and the planetary divinities, the Pantheon was one of the few remaining old heathen
temples. Pope Boniface IV quickly removed the statues of Jupiter and the pagan gods and consecrated the
Pantheon to "all saints" who had died from Roman persecutions in the first three hundred years after Christ.
During the dedication on May 13 in the year 609 or 610, a procession of twenty-eight carriages brought the
bones of martyrs from the various cemeteries to the church. In following years, a festival of All Hallows or
All Saints Day honoring all martyrs spread throughout the western part of the Roman Empire.

Pagan Practices
In the eighth century Pope Gregory II moved the church festival of All Saints to November 1. The move in
part offered a substitute for the popular pagan celebration of the Celtic New Year, which honored both the
Sun god and Samhain, Lord of the Dead. The Celts believed at the New Year the dead came back to mingle
among the living. As the ghosts thronged about the houses of the living, they were greeted with tables
loaded with food. After feasting, masked and costumed villagers, representing the souls of the dead, paraded
to the outskirts of the town leading the ghosts away. Horses, sacred to the Sun god, were often sacrificed,
and there are some records of human sacrifice during the festival.

Pope Gregory the Great (540-604) moved to restrict such pagan practices and told the people that "They are
no longer to sacrifice beasts to the Devil, but they may kill them for food to the praise of God, and give
thanks to the giver of all gifts for His bounty." Many, however, held on to pagan beliefs along with
Christianity. Sometimes ancient gods were transformed into Christian saints, angels, and heroes. Scriptures
were allegorized to allow for many of these beliefs. Even into the eleventh century, many pagan beliefs were
accepted by Christians--beliefs such as the fear of Fate, the use of medicinal herbs with incantations,
sacrifices at springs and crossroads to the spirits of the place (still observable in Mexico, for example), and
the night flight or Wild Ride of the spirits, led by Diana. The devil became absorbed into the magical world
of fairies, goblins, dwarfs and imps. Demons were said to appear in animal forms. Such beliefs, of course,
diverged markedly from the Scriptural account of the devil and his demons as cosmic personalities
conquered by Christ on the cross.

In the tenth century, Abbot Odilo of Cluny began celebrating the November 2nd following "All Saints' Day"
as "All Souls' Day" to honor not just the martyrs, but all Christians who had died. People prayed for the
dead, and many other superstitions continued. Food was offered to the dead, and it was often believed that
on these two festivals souls in purgatory would take the form of witches, toads or demons and haunt people
who wronged them during their lifetimes.

Though the church was able to destroy the pagan temples, it never fully eradicated pagan beliefs. In the
Middle Ages, witchcraft and the worship of Satan continued to find followers, even in some places of
"Christian" Europe.
51
Banned in Boston
During the first two hundred years in America, Halloween was not observed; many of the Protestant settlers
rejected the holiday along with other feasts on the calendar of the Roman Church.

With the large Irish immigration in the 1840's, the holiday became more popular. Many of the old Celtic
beliefs and practices were perpetuated in its celebration. Now at the end of the twentieth century, Halloween
has become an important holiday to the growing number of believers in Satanism and practitioners of the
occult.

WHERE DID IT COME FROM?

• Jack o'lantern --Druid priests instructed followers to extinguish their fires and light and make sacrifices to
the Lord of Death. They gathered around a fire of sacrifice--thought to be a sacred fire--and took fire from
that to rekindle their own hearths. A vegetable was carved out and used to carry the fire home.

• And there is a strange tale of Mr. Jack O' Lantern. For Halloween Irish children would carve large
rutabagas, turnips or potatoes and place candles inside of them. (In America, the pumpkin became the
vegetable of choice.) The legend goes that a drunken man named Jack tricked the Devil into climbing into an
apple tree to get some fruit, then carved a sign of the cross into the trunk of the tree to prevent the devil from
coming down. Jack made the devil swear he would never come after his soul. But, when Jack died, he wasn't
good enough to go to heaven, and the Devil wouldn't take him to hell, so Jack was left to wander about. The
Devil had thrown Jack a coal, and Jack put it in a turnip he had to help light his way as he searched for a
place to rest.

• "Trick or treat" is derived from the Druid superstition that souls of the dead in the world of darkness were
hungry on the festal day, and the souls had to be appeased or else risk the tricks and curses of Samhain.

• Costumes reflect the pagan belief that the god Samhein allowed the souls of the dead to return on that
festal night, and the living entered a ritual imitation of them by dressing up to wander about with them.

• Popular superstitions have deemed that children born on Halloween had unique powers of contacting and
conversing with supernatural beings.

LUTHER'S HALLOWEEN BOMBSHELL

The sixteenth century Reformation was in part a call to put aside the pagan beliefs and practices which
people had long accepted. It was a call to purify the Church and its doctrines. Martin Luther's nailing of his
95 theses on the church door is often noted as a pivotal point in the Reformation. The timing and place of
Luther's posting is significant -- Halloween -- October 31, 1517, on the Castle Church in Wittenberg.

That Church held one of the largest collections of supposed relics outside of Rome. Pieces of bones from
saints, locks of hairs from martyrs, a piece of the true cross, a twig from Moses’ burning bush, bread from
the Last Supper, a veil sprinkled with the blood of Christ -- all were venerated and held in holy awe. The
relics were kept in special reliquaries, ornamented with gold, silver, and precious stones. They were
exhibited on All Saints Day. By 1518, 17,443 pieces were on display in twelve aisles! The church taught that
paying the special fee and viewing the relics would shorten a soul's stay in purgatory by 1,902,202 years and
270 days! This was one teaching Luther challenged in his 95 theses. On Halloween, the day before All
Saints Day when the relics would be specially exhibited, Luther nailed his theses on the church door,
challenging scholars to debate the virtue of indulgences, the church's teaching that by certain works a person
could hasten his entrance into heaven. Luther publicly professed the free and gratuitous remission of sin, not
by relics, papal pardons, or indulgences, but by faith in Jesus Christ.

52
A CONFESSION and an ALTERNATIVE (EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK)

So what are we, as Christians, to make of Halloween? Are we to be spoilsports and deprive children of fun
enjoyed on Halloween?

First, I will confess that my wife and I allowed our children to participate in the usual custom of dressing up,
going door to door for candy, and living through the necessary regiment of regulating the consumption of
goodies gathered. We also enjoyed, as I would expect most of you do, having the neighborhood children
come to our front door, trying to guess who was behind the masks, and giving them some candies.

All harmless fun, or at least it seemed so to me until editing this issue (done at the time of the mass suicide
of the Heaven's Gate cult). Thus, we include a sober warning from an Orthodox publication.

We at Christian History Institute mourn the loss (in many of our Protestant churches at least) of any
meaningful celebration of the earlier observance of Hallow's Eve. Our mission is to remind the Body of
Christ of our heritage, and surely a day a year to recall the great leaders and martyrs of the faith is one small
way to celebrate how God has worked across the ages, surely more important than encouraging kids to gorge
themselves on candy.

It's one thing to complain, another to do something. We have prepared a new series of video programs,
"Children's Heroes from Christian History." These would serve well for a "Hallow's Eve" gathering for kids
as an alternative to Halloween. Besides, it would be better for their teeth.

One final thought: The All Hallow's background to Halloween was set forth in recognition, celebration, and
gratitude for all of God's saints, known and unknown. We can only rejoice in their wisdom of realizing many
of the Lord's choicest servants live in obscurity only to be revealed at the last day.

--Ken Curtis
SOME CHRISTIANS JUST SAY "NO."

[A periodical from the Eastern Orthodox Church cautioned its readers to have nothing to do with Halloween,
saying:]

With regard to our non-participation in the pagan festival of Halloween, we will be strengthened by an
understanding of the spiritual danger and history of this anti-Christian feast. The feast of Halloween began in
pre-Christian times among the Celtic peoples of Great Britain, Ireland and northern France. These pagan
peoples believed that physical life was born from death. Therefore, they celebrated the beginning of the
"new year" in the fall (on the eve of October 31 and into the day of November 1), when, as they believed,
the season of cold, darkness, decay and death began. A certain deity, whom they called Samhain, was
believed by the Celts to be the lord of Death, and it was he whom they honored at their New Year's festival.
…

From an Orthodox Christian point of view, participation in these practices at any level is impossible and
idolatrous, a genuine betrayal of our God and our holy Faith. For if we participate in the ritual activity of
imitating the dead by dressing up in their attire or by wandering about in the dark, or by begging with them,
then we have willfully sought fellowship with the dead, whose lord is not Samhain, as the Celts believed, but
Satan, the Evil One who stands against God. Further, if we submit to the dialogue of "trick or treat," we
make our offering not to innocent children, but rather to Samhain, the lord of Death whom they have come
to serve as imitators of the dead, wandering in the dark of night. (From Orthodox Life, Vol. 43, No. 5, Sept.-
Oct. 1993.)

53
 From Pantheon to Pumpkins
It feels almost like you are inside a gigantic pumpkin in the awesome Pantheon in
Rome. It was originally built before Jesus and rebuilt by the Roman Emperor
Hadrian in the second century. You can still visit it today. Its name means "to all
gods." This pagan temple was taken over by the church and dedicated to "all saints"
or "all hallows" from which Halloween was derived as explained in this article.

SAMUEL RUTHERFORD'S LASTING

LEGACY
"DUTIES ARE OURS, and events are the Lord's." It wasn't easy in coming,
but that was the conclusion reached by a discouraged preacher who felt
abandoned by God and useless. And small wonder: He had been removed
from his church, forbidden to preach anywhere in his land, and confined to the
town of Aberdeen.

Little did he expect at first that his exile would provide the occasion for him to
write a volume of letters that nearly four hundred years later would still be
acclaimed as masterpieces. In fact, one of the greatest wordsmiths ever, Charles Haddon Spurgeon said of
his letters: "When we are dead and gone, let the world know that Spurgeon held Rutherford's letters to be the
nearest thing to inspiration which can be found in all the writings of mere man."

Spurgeon spoke of Scotsman Samuel Rutherford who was born in 1600. He would bless the world with
spiritual literature that endures, a monumental legal classic, a major role in the formation of one of
Christendom's finest confessions of faith and foundational concepts later developed in the US Constitution.
Yes, Samuel took up his duties. God saw to the events!

Rutherford attended the University of Edinburgh, served as a professor for two years, studied theology, and
was licensed as a preacher at age 27. He was assigned the rural county parish of Anwoth in Scotland. There
was no village near the small church; the congregation was scattered among the surrounding farms. Though
his congregation was small, Rutherford was devoted to his flock. He was known to rise as early as 3 A.M. to
begin praying, studying, and caring for the spiritual needs of his congregation.

Family Tragedy
In 1630, after barely five years of marriage, Samuel's wife died. She had suffered a painful illness of thirteen
months, and Samuel was deeply affected by her loss. The Rutherfords’ two children also died, and Samuel
himself had a debilitating fever three months before his wife's death. RUTHERFORD'S many sufferings
only gave him a greater heart of sympathy for the suffering in his flock.

Difficult Days
Rutherford lived during a time of religious persecution in Britain, and many were leaving for the new land of
hope, America. Rutherford, however, remained to fight the spiritual battles in Scotland. In 1636, he
published an Apology of Divine Grace against the heresies of a righteousness based on human works then
spreading the land. This work offended the government and Bishop Laud, who then controlled the
established churches of Britain.

54
Muzzled and Exiled
So, Rutherford was put out of his church. However long the Lord chose to keep him in exile at Aberdeen,
Rutherford would not question Him. In a letter to one of his flock at Anwoth, Rutherford wrote, "It is not for
us to set an hourglass to the Creator of time."

Though it appeared Rutherford's service for the Lord was being restricted by his confinement, in reality his
usefulness increased. The hundreds of letters he wrote to members of his congregation at Anwoth and to
fellow-Christians were full of encouragement and loving devotion to Christ. Rutherford had an intimate
communion with the Lord which he was not afraid to talk about. He wrote always of Christ, not just of the
blessings and work of Christ, but of the wondrous glory of His Person. His letters are full of anticipation of
Christ's coming, as Rutherford eagerly awaited the "Marriage Supper of the Lamb." After his death,
Rutherford's letters were published; they are still in print and continue to minister to Christians.

After a year and a half exile in Aberdeen, Rutherford resumed a life of preaching and teaching. During the
1640’s he represented the church of Scotland in the important reforms of the Westminster Assembly in
London, where he was a major author of the Shorter Catechism, with its famous beginning, "What is the
chief end of man?"

Sorry King, Can't Come to Your Court

While a member of the Westminster Assembly, Rutherford wrote a book called Lex Rex, or The Law of the
Prince (or King), in which he showed that only God has absolute authority, and even the King must obey the
law. When Charles II became King after Cromwell's Puritan rule, Lex Rex was burned by the public
hangman and Rutherford was summoned to appear before Parliament under charges of treason. Rutherford
was on his deathbed and replied to Parliament's summons by saying, "I have got a summons already before a
superior judge and judicatory, and I behoove to answer my first summons, and ere your day come I will be
where few kings and great folks come."

His Lex Rex, challenging the "Divine Right of Kings" and insisting that everyone including the king was
subject to law, was a radical idea at the time. This same premise, that all government leaders are responsible
to a law apart from and higher than themselves, was central to the formation of the United States
government and Constitution.

SAMUEL RUTHERFORD'S SAYINGS

 If ye were not strangers here, the dogs of the world would not bark at you.
 I am come to love a rumbling and raging devil best. Seeing we must have a devil to hold the saints
waking, I wish a cumbersome devil, rather than a secure and sleeping one.
 Honor God, and shame the roaring lion.
 Faith is exceedingly charitable, and believeth no evil of God.
 Ye may have, for the seeking, three always in your company, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
 Surely it cannot be long till day. Nay, hear Him say, Behold I come, my dear Bride; think it not
long. I shall be at you at once. I hear you coming … come quickly, for the prisoners of hope are
looking out at the prison windows to see if they can behold the King's ambassador coming with the
King's warrant and the keys."
 "It is hard to keep sight of God in a storm."
 (Preaching from Song of Solomon 2:14) It is ordinary for man to beg from God, for we be but His
beggars; but it is a miracle to see God beg at man. Yet here is the Potter begging from the clay; the
Savior seeking from sinners!
 Oh, if He would fold the heavens together like an old cloak, and shovel time and days out of the
way, and make ready in haste the Lamb's wife for her Husband! Since He looked upon me, my heart
is not mine own; He hath run away to heaven with it.
 Kiss His wise and unerring providence … Learn to believe Christ better than his strokes … Let not
the Lord's dealings seem harsh, rough, or unfatherly, because it is unpleasant. When the Lord's
blessed will bloweth across your desires, it is best, in humility, to strike sail to Him, and to be
willing to be led any way our Lord pleaseth.

55
IN HIS OWN WORDS

In his last illness, as in the vigor of life, Rutherford continued to be occupied with the beauty of the Lord.
Some of his last, dying words were:

I shall shine. I shall see Him as He is, and all the fair company with Him, and shall have my large share. It is
not easy to be a Christian, but I have obtained the victory through Him who loved me, and Christ is holding
forth his arms to embrace me. I have had my fears and faintings, like other sinful men to be carried
creditably through; but as sure as ever he spake to me in his word, his Spirit witnessed to my heart, saying
Fear not, he had accepted my suffering... Now I feel, I believe, I enjoy, I rejoice...I feed upon manna, I have
angels' food, my eyes shall see my Redeemer, I know that He shall stand at the latter day on the earth, and I
shall be caught up in the clouds to meet Him in the air...I sleep in Christ, and when I awake I shall be
satisfied with his likeness. O for arms to embrace Him.

A fine commemorative book on the Westminster Assembly titled To Glorify and Enjoy God is available
from The Banner of Truth Trust at:

PO Box 621
Carlisle, PA 17013
(717) 249-5747

Rutherford's Lex Rex has been reprinted by and is available from Sprinkle Publications at:

PO Box 1094
Harrisonburg, VA 22801
(540) 434-8840 FAX: (540) 434-4136 The Rutherford Institute was founded in 1982 by attorney John
Whitehead, author of The Second American Revolution. The Institute is named after Samuel Rutherford and
seeks to defend religious civil liberties. It is at:

Box 7482
Charlottesville, VA 22906
(804) 978-3888

Ruthless Question (Editor's Notebook)

Samuel Rutherford may have been the principal author of the famed Westminster Shorter Catechism. There
is a manuscript in the library of Edinburgh University in Scotland with a sketch for a "shorter catechism." It
much resembles the Westminster Shorter Catechism, and is in Rutherford's own handwriting.

That first question of the catechism is ruthless, asking us in effect, "What are you doing here?" Think of the
empty answers from those who do not look to the Bible for their understanding. What would the reply be
from the materialist, secularist, atheist, New-Ager, Hindu, Buddhist?

56
 HENRY MARTYN: FORSAKING ALL
FOR CHRIST
"NOW LET ME BURN OUT for God!" exclaimed Henry Martyn when he arrived in
Calcutta in April, 1806. But he probably had little idea how fast the blaze would
consume him. He died six years later at the age of 31. Eager to devote his life to the
Lord's work in India, with an incredible determination and unselfish dedication,
Martyn compressed a lifetime of service into those six years.

Born in 1781 in Cornwall, England, Martyn had planned to study law, but while at
Cambridge, Pastor Charles Simeon of Holy Trinity Church stirred Martyn's interest
in the Far East with stories of William Carey's work in India. The shoe cobbler
Carey had gone to India in 1792, and within ten years had established a strong gospel witness in the region
of Bengal. Martyn was also deeply moved by reading the journals of David Brainerd, the Puritan missionary
in North America who passionately labored among the Native Americans in the cause of Christ.

More interested in profits than eternal souls, the British East India Company didn't want missionaries in their
territories upsetting the population and trade. Charles Simeon, however, quietly worked with Charles Grant
on the East India Company board to have evangelical men appointed as chaplains to the East India
Company. While ministering to the English in India, such men could also take advantage of their
opportunities to spread the gospel among the natives! Henry Martyn became one of several of Pastor
Simeon's young men who went to India as East India Company chaplains.

As if Every Friend was Dead

Sailing from England, Henry left family, friends, and Lydia, the woman who had captured his heart. He shed
tears and thought of the roaring seas, which would soon be rolling between me and all that is dear to me on
earth .... My feelings were those of a man who should suddenly be told, that every friend he had in the world
was dead. It was only by prayer for them that I should be comforted; and this was indeed a refreshment to
my soul, because by meeting them at the throne of grace, I seemed to be again in their society.

Once in India, Martyn spent the first five months in Serampore, waiting for his assignment. He lived with
the Rev. David Brown and his family. Another protégé of Simeon's, Brown was chaplain of Fort William in
Calcutta and a Hebrew scholar who encouraged Bible translation into the many Oriental languages. William
Carey's Baptist missionary group was also at Serampore, and Martyn was able to meet the "Father of
Modern Missions." Carey was delighted with Martyn and declared that wherever Martyn was, no other
missionary would be needed. Martyn's zeal for the gospel, humble spirit, and facility with languages made
him a natural missionary.

Henry Martyn ministered as a chaplain in India from 1800 to 1810, first in Dinapore, then in Cawnpore.
During that time he translated the New Testament and the Anglican Book of Common Prayer into
Hindustani. At his own expense he established numerous schools for the native population. He became an
able preacher to the natives, though often under threats of personal violence. Martyn also translated the New
Testament and Psalms into Persian. Persian was spoken at the Moslem courts in India and was the language
of judicial proceedings under the British government in Hindostan. Understood from Calcutta to Damascus,
it seemed that a quarter of the globe could then understand the Persian language. Martyn's New Testament
was the first translation into Persian since the fifth century.

Working relentlessly in his mission, Martyn's health soon weakened. Suffering from the tuberculosis which
had already killed his parents and sister, doctors recommended a sea voyage for his health. In January, 1811,
he left India for Persia (modern Iran). Though refreshed by crossing the Indian Ocean, the overland journey
to the Persian cultural center of Shiraz further sapped Martyn's strength as he traveled in intense heat, often
over 120F. But once he reached the coolness of the mountains around Shiraz, some of his strength returned.
Martyn stayed at Shiraz almost a year refining his Persian and his New Testament translation. He had
frequent discussions with Moslem intellectuals, upholding the divinity of Christ and the truth of the Gospel
message. The only Christian in this setting, Martyn's letters and diaries reveal his spiritual struggles and
always the faith in God which was His strength:

57
I cast all my care upon Him who hath already done wonders for me, and am sure that, come what will, it
shall be good, it shall be best. How sweet the privilege, that we may lie as little children before Him! I find
that my wisdom is folly, and my care useless, so that I try to live on from day to day, happy in His love and
care.

The Last Journey

Often in a fever, Martyn headed home to England for his health. Traveling overland to Constantinople,
Martyn succumbed to illness. He died and was buried by strangers and unbelievers at Tocat, Turkey, on
October 16, 1812. His genius was coupled with humility, and his love for God was reflected in his passion
for the Scriptures.

Martyn's Mentor: Charles Simeon

Charles Simeon, pastor of Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge from 1782-1836, was a leader of Evangelicalism
in the Church of England of his day. He was influential in establishing the British and Foreign Bible Society,
the Religious Tract Society, the Church Missionary Society, and other influential Evangelical organizations.
His spiritual influence on the young Cambridge men over the decades is incalculable. By helping in the
appointment of evangelical chaplains to India, Simeon encouraged the gospel's spread in the country when
the East India Company would not yet allow missionaries. Besides Henry Martyn, his protégés who became
chaplains in India include the following:

 David Brown (1763-1812) -- first came to India in 1786 as a chaplain to the brigade at Fort William
in Calcutta. Devoted to the cause of Christian missions in India, both of the Church of England and
other denominations, he remained in India 28 years. He established a translation library in Bengal
with 4000 volumes in Arabic, Persian, Hindustani, Bengali, Chinese, Portuguese, English, Marrate
and other languages. His three sons also became Christian ministers in the East.
 Thomas Thomason -- was a curate of Simeon's and an intimate friend of Henry Martyn. In 1808
accepted a chaplaincy in Bengal and followed Martyn to India.
 Daniel Corrie (1777-1837) -- appointed a chaplain in Bengal in 1806. Met Martyn in Calcutta at the
home of David Brown and the two became close friends. Did missionary work among the Indians in
addition to serving as chaplain among British troops. Served in India 30 years and appointed Bishop
of Madras a year before his death.

IN HIS OWN WORDS

[Henry Martyn was deeply influenced by the diaries of David Brainerd (1718-1747), a missionary to the
American Indians. And like Brainerd, Martyn would also die while still a young man (Brainerd at 29,
Martyn at 31). Both lived intensely but accomplished much. Both left behind letters and diaries that were to
enjoy an even wider influence than their own earthly ministry. In their writings, both men spoke candidly
and passionately of the spiritual warfare they waged. Their influence continues to move missionaries and
Christians today. Here are two excerpts from Martyn's diary:]

April 30 [1806] Shortly after arrival in India

Walked by moonlight, reflecting on the Mission. My soul was at first sore tried by desponding thoughts; but
God wonderfully assisted me to trust him for the wisdom of his dispensations. Truly, therefore, will I say
again, 'Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain.' How easy for God to
do it; and it shall be done in good time: and even if I never should see a native converted, God may design
by my patience and continuance in the work to encourage future missionaries. But what surprises me is the
change of views I have here from what I had in England. There my heart expanded with hope and joy at the
prospect of the speedy conversion of the heathen! But here the sight of the apparent impossibility requires a
strong faith to support the spirits.

Oct. 6 [1812] Last written words

No horses being to be had, I had an unexpected repose. I sat in the orchard, and thought, with sweet comfort
and peace, of my God; in solitude my company, my friend and comforter.

Retracing the Steps (Editor's Notebook)

Henry Martyn was "Senior Wrangler" at the prestigious Cambridge University. That meant he graduated
first among the honor students in his class. His field was mathematics.

58
When he arrived in India he was met and welcomed by William Carey, who had left school by age 13 to
become a cobbler's apprentice.

Henry Martyn arrived in Calcutta as a chaplain employed by the East India Company. When William Carey
landed there some twelve years earlier, he was in effect an "illegal alien." He couldn't work in Calcutta
because of the opposition from the East India Company. They did not want missionaries there upsetting
local beliefs and practices because it might turn out to be bad for their business.

Evangelical leaders labored to see that East India Company policy changed when its charter came up for
renewal with the British government. Charles Simeon, that incredible pastor at Cambridge worked with
political leader William Wilberforce on this so the gospel could be shared in India and those like William
Carey could carry on their work.

Do they not provide an example for us today when persecution of Christians is rampant in many countries?
Indeed, some observers claim the present wave of persecution is unparalleled in size and scope in Christian
history. The need is urgent for Christians to prod our government leaders to act on behalf of persecuted
fellow believers in other lands.

As this issue is in preparation, I anticipate that when it reaches you I will be retracing the steps of Henry
Martyn and William Carey in India at work on a dramatic film on Carey's extraordinary mission. This
project has been one long struggle to get on track. It's taken some six years, but finally it now looks like a
"go." Your prayers on our behalf are needed and earnestly requested.

EXTRAORDINARY TALES
JONATHAN EDWARDS, AMERICA'S
HUMBLE GIANT
None More Relevant
Over two centuries after Edwards’ death, the great British preacher, Dr. Martin Lloyd-
Jones, said of him: No man is more relevant to the present condition of Christianity than
Jonathan Edwards…. He was a mighty theologian and a great evangelist at the same
time… he was preeminently the theologian of revival. If you want to know anything about
true revival, Edwards is the man to consult.

Here's the Background

"A City on a Hill" -- a "Zion in the Wilderness" -- this was what the Puritans who came to America in the
1630's dreamed of establishing -- a Biblical society which would be an example for the nations. But within a
few generations the dream faded. The great-grandchildren were not so interested in making God the center
of their lives. They were prospering in America, and as the winds from the Age of Reason blew across the
Atlantic, the Puritan descendants felt quite capable of handling their lives and affairs independently of the
God of their fathers.

Enter Mr. Edwards

The ministry of Jonathan Edwards in the first half of the 1700's, however, brought many of those Puritan
heirs back to their Scriptural roots. Revival came to the land, and Edwards became the theologian of the
revival.

Jonathan, born in 1703, was a precocious child, competent in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew before he was a
teenager. Just short of thirteen he entered the Collegiate School of Connecticut (later Yale University) and
59
graduated at the head of his class. Though he was fascinated by the philosophies of John Locke and wrote
profoundly metaphysical essays in his teens, Jonathan was primarily interested in religion salvation as the
"main business" of his life. As a child he had revolted against the sovereignty of God and thought it a
horrible doctrine, but shortly before his graduation at seventeen, he said God's sovereignty, glory, and
majesty became "exceedingly pleasant, bright, and sweet." Edwards wrote that one day while reading I
Timothy 1:7: "Now unto the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory,
forever and ever, Amen."

There came into my soul… a sense of the glory of the Divine Being; a new sense, quite different from
anything I ever experienced before. Never any words of Scripture seemed to me as these words did. I
thought with myself, how excellent a Being that was, and how happy I should be, if I might enjoy that God,
and be rapt up in him in heaven, and be as it were swallowed up in him forever!…. From about that time, I
began to have a new kind of apprehension and idea of Christ, and the work of redemption, and that glorious
way of salvation by him. The glory and majesty of God became Edwards' compelling passion in life.

After studying Divinity for two years, Edwards preached some and was appointed a tutor at Yale. In 1727 he
became a co-pastor with his grandfather Solomon Stoddard in Northampton, Massachusetts. Stoddard,
sometimes called the "Pope of western Massachusetts," had been a powerful preacher and influence in
Northampton and Massachusetts for over 55 years. When he died in 1729, Jonathan Edwards became pastor
at Northampton.

Edwards had a pastor's heart. Though he did not have a program of visitation, he welcomed parishioners to
his home at any time to deal with spiritual needs. Edwards usually spent thirteen hours a day in study,
preparing at least two sermons a week and often additional lectures, besides notes on Bible studies that
resulted in published works. But, Edwards' time in Bible study was not just academic. He was a man of
prayer and was often in prayer for the people in his care.

Awakening Arrives
Under Edwards' profound preaching, a revival came to Northampton in 1735, and over 300 converts were
added to the church. Edwards recognized this was the work of God's Spirit, for only God could convert a
sinful heart and transform lives of self-seeking into lives of Christian holiness. Edwards shared the stories of
the revival with correspondents in America and England, publishing A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising
Work of God in 1737.

When the English evangelist George Whitefield traveled throughout the American colonies in 1740-1741,
revival swept through the colonies, bringing a "Great Awakening" to many. Edwards' preaching in
Northampton and surrounding churches continued to call people to recognize their sinful condition and seek
the Lord.

Many were affected by Edwards' preaching. Some cried out or wept in fear as they thought of the eternity
awaiting them without Christ.

Testing the Fruits

Some criticized the emotional effects of the revivals. In 1746 Edwards published his important A Treatise
Concerning Religious Affections, which examined the nature of true religion, which, he said, doesn't just
understand the right doctrine, but touches the affections or the heart. Yet, the devil can counterfeit religious
affections and imitate the conversion experience, producing outward emotional responses without a new
heart of faith. The only way to tell if a conversion experience is genuine is to look at the individual's life.
Humility and the love and pursuit of holiness mark true Christians. Those who simply boast of their
experience without transformed lives are merely false professors of religion.

A Young Man's Influence

Shortly after publishing his work on religious affections, Edwards met David Brainerd, the young
missionary who brought awakening to the New Jersey Indians. In Brainerd Edwards found the living
example of all he had written concerning a Christian's transformed life of holiness and affections moved by
the Holy Spirit. Brainerd suffered from tuberculosis and died in Edwards' home in 1747 at the age of 29.
Edwards was deeply moved by Brainerd's young life and edited his Journal for publication. Edwards' edition
of Brainerd's Journal continues to be read to this day. It has influenced countless missionaries and others to
aspire to a closer intimacy with the Lord.
60
Kicked Out
Jonathan Edwards upset the Northampton church when he changed the practice begun by his grandfather
Stoddard of allowing unconverted people to partake of the Lord's Supper. Stoddard had argued that the
Lord's Supper could be a "converting ordinance" bringing people to Christ. From Scripture, Edwards
believed the Lord's Supper was for Christians only. When he tried to change the church's practice, a dispute
developed which resulted in Edwards being dismissed in 1750 after serving as pastor in Northampton for 23
years.

Edwards and his family moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts where Edwards was a missionary to the
Housatonic Indians and pastor to a small congregation. On the frontier Edwards found time to write several
important classic works -- On the Freedom of the Will, Original Sin, Nature of True Virtue, and the
unfinished History of Redemption.

On to Princeton
When the College of New Jersey (later Princeton) was looking for a new president, Jonathan Edwards was
reluctantly persuaded and took the post January 1758. Three months later he died of a smallpox inoculation.
His ministry had slowed the drift of New England Puritanism into a rationalistic religion. His writings and
life continued to strongly influence the development of American evangelicalism, even to our own day.

IN HIS OWN WORDS

Family Values and Little Churches:
"Every Christian family ought to be as it were a little church, consecrated to Christ, and wholly influenced
and governed by his rules. And family education and order are some of the chief of the means of grace."

A Fruitful Thought:
"It is with professors of religion, especially such as become so in a time of outpouring of the Spirit of God,
as it is with blossoms in the spring; there are vast numbers of them upon the trees, which all look fair and
promising; but yet many of them never come to anything….. It is the mature fruit which comes afterwards,
and not the beautiful colors and smell of the blossoms, that we must judge by."
--Edwards in The Religious Affections

Old Stuff:
"It was the glory of this great man, that he (Edwards) had no love for innovation…. To the Scriptures he
yielded the most profound reverence and the most implicit confidence." --Timothy Dwight, president of
Yale

HIS BELOVED MATE

In his ministry Edwards was blessed by having the lovely Sarah Pierrepont for a wife. Sarah saw it her
spiritual duty to keep her home peaceful and pleasant so Jonathan could devote the maximum amount of
time to his studies. That she was able to do this with eleven children is certainly a testimony to Sarah's
qualities. Often, at the end of a day's studies, Jonathan and Sarah would ride horseback through the nearby
woods and fields; Jonathan could freely share with Sarah all the spiritual riches he had mined in his studies
that day.

When the evangelist George Whitefield was in the Edwards’ home, he was impressed by their obvious
happiness and wrote: "Felt great satisfaction in being at the house of Mr. Edwards. A sweeter couple I have
not yet seen. Their children were not dressed in silks and satins, but plain, as become the children of those
who, in all things, ought to be examples of Christian simplicity. Mrs. Edwards is adorned with a meek and
quiet spirit; she talked solidly of the things of God, and seemed to be such a helpmeet of her husband, that
she caused me to renew those prayers, which, for some months, I have put to God, that He would be pleased
to send me a daughter of Abraham to be my wife."

Jonathan and Sarah were married 31 years. When Jonathan died in 1758, Sarah was still in Stockbridge
preparing for the move to New Jersey. Edwards' last words were, "Give my kindest love to my dear wife,
and tell her that the uncommon union which has so long subsisted between us has been of such a nature as I
trust is spiritual and therefore will continue forever."

Want more on Edwards?

A substantial web site devoted to Edwards can be found at: http://www.jonathanedwards.com
61
Yale University is publishing The Works of Jonathan Edwards. Banner of Truth Press publishes a two-
volume selection of Edwards' writings.

Jonathan and Sarah's Luminous Lineage

In 1900, A. E. Winship studied what happened to 1,400 descendants of Jonathan and Sarah by the year 1900.
He found they included 13 college presidents, 65 professors, 100 lawyers and a dean of a law school, 30
judges, 66 physicians and a dean of a medical school, and 80 holders of public office, including three US
Senators, mayors of three large cities, governors of three states, a Vice-President of the United States, and a
controller of the United States Treasury. They had written over 135 books and edited eighteen journals and
periodicals. Many had entered the ministry. Over 100 were missionaries and others were on mission boards.
Winship wrote:

"Many large banks, banking houses, and insurance companies have been directed by them. They have been
owners or superintendents of large coal mines… of large iron plants and vast oil interests… and silver
mines…. There is scarcely any great American industry that has not had one of this family among its chief
promoters…."

MELANCHTHON AND THE

IMPORTANCE OF BEING NUMBER
TWO
David and Jonathan; Paul and Silas; John Wesley and George Whitefield -- it’s
interesting to look through history and notice how God brings certain people together
to accomplish His purposes. One such pair of Christian servants was Martin Luther
and Philipp Melanchthon. Philipp Melanchthon was fourteen years Luther's junior,
but Luther had the greatest respect for the younger man and recognized how the Lord
had united them to reform the Church of their day.

Black Earth Boy

Five hundred years ago, in 1497, five years after Columbus' first voyage, Philipp Schwarzerd was born in
Southern Germany. He was a brilliant boy who received his B.A. from the University of Heidelberg when
only twelve and received his Master of Arts from Tübingen when only seventeen. He had a great facility
with ancient languages; he could speak Latin and Greek better than his native German. His uncle called him
Melanchthon, Greek for "black earth," which was the German meaning of his name. He was built small and
was somewhat timid, but his blue eyes were honest and filled with intellectual curiosity.

Inseparable Friends
When he was twenty-one, Melanchthon became Professor of Greek at the new University of Wittenberg. It
was only ten months after Luther had posted his famous theses on the church door in Wittenberg.
Melanchthon became totally devoted to Martin Luther, and a great friendship developed between the two.
Both men sensed that God's Providence had a special mission for them to do together. Melanchthon
venerated Luther as a father, while Luther deeply respected Melanchthon and learned from him.
Melanchthon said he would rather die than be separated from Luther.... Martin's welfare is dearer to me than
my own life. Even so, the two reformers were quite different. Martin Luther wrote:

"I prefer the books of Master Philippus [Melanchthon] to my own. I am rough, stormy, and altogether
warlike. I am here to fight innumerable monsters and devils. I must remove all stumps and stones, cut away
thistles and thorns, and clear the wild forests, but Master Philippus comes along softly and gently, sowing
and watering with joy, according to the gifts which God has abundantly bestowed upon him."

Quiet Stream… Gentle Breeze

Historian Philip Schaff wrote that Luther differed from Melanchthon as the wild mountain torrent differs
from the quiet stream of the meadow, or as the rushing tempest from the gentle breeze or, to use a scriptural

62
illustration, as the fiery Paul from the contemplative John. While Luther was able to bring the Reformation
to the common people, Melanchthon’s quiet scholarship brought the Reformation to scholars. The
Reformation would not have been the same without the two friends working closely in concert.

When Luther was hidden in the Wartburg Castle translating the New Testament into German, Melanchthon
was in Wittenberg writing the first Protestant theology. In 1521, when he was only twenty-four,
Melanchthon sent Luther the proofs of his Loci Commune or Theological Common Places. Melanchthon's
theological work was a radical departure from the arid medieval scholasticism still prevalent in the schools.
Based on exegetical sermons on Romans, the Loci was a practical expression of Christian theology,
especially developing the truth of salvation by grace in Christ as the only answer to human sinfulness. Later
editions of the Loci included a more complete theology beginning with God and creation and culminating in
the bodily resurrection; the work passed through over fifty editions during his own lifetime. Hoping for a
spread of the Reformation to England, Melanchthon dedicated the 1535 edition of the Loci to King Henry
VIII. Twice Henry even invited Melanchthon to England, but the quiet scholar always chose to remain in
Wittenberg.

Into the Doctrinal Debates

Melanchthon joined Luther in the important conferences which shaped the Protestant movement of the
sixteenth century -- the Leipzig Disputation, the Marburg Colloquy, and the Diet of Augsburg in 1530. It
was at the latter that Melanchthon made his strongest mark. After refusing to listen to Luther's ideas in
earlier meetings, Emperor Charles V requested an orderly presentation of the Reformer's position. In
response, Melanchthon wrote the Augsburg Confession, which even today forms the classic doctrinal
statement of the Lutheran church.

Melanchthon was Luther’s natural successor at his death, but his quiet, conciliatory spirit did not have
Luther's force and power. Some began to raise questions about Melanchthon's faithfulness to Luther’s
thought. As a Christian humanist, he could not agree with Luther’s complete rejection of "dirty reason," and
he granted greater freedom to the will than Luther. Though he firmly held to justification by faith,
Melanchthon also emphasized the importance of works as a result and a witness to faith. No one could ever
doubt Melanchthon's purity of moral purpose and religious conscience. When he died at the age of 63 in
1560, he was buried beside Luther at the Castle Church in Wittenberg.

Strong Pen but Weak Appearance

Melanchthon was a pale and anemic man. Luther once described him as a "scrawny shrimp."

Struggle for Reconciliation

Melanchthon and Luther did not intend to break from the Roman Church but to bring it back to the Gospel
and reform it from within. In 1541 -- a quarter century after Luther's explosive 95 theses -- Melanchthon met
with Cardinal Contarini at the Colloquy of Regensburg. They attempted to heal the breach between
Reformers and Rome and worked out a joint statement on Justification by Faith, but their superiors both
rejected it.

Gentle Philipp Could Be Severe

The Lutheran movement helped unleash the aspirations of the peasants. Civic order was often threatened.
Steven Ozment provides the following translation of Melanchthon’s observation on the role of government.
A wild, untamed people like the Germans should not have as much freedom as they presently enjoy….
Germans are such an undisciplined, wanton, bloodthirsty people that they should always be harshly
governed…. As Eccl. 32[:25] teaches; "As food, whip, and load befit an ass, so food, discipline, and work
are the lot of a servant." (Protestants: The Birth of a Revolution, Doubleday, p.144.)

IN HIS OWN WORDS

[The relationship between faith and works has been a central issue in an understanding of Christian salvation
from the time of Paul’s writing of Galatians to the present day. Melanchthon addressed these subjects in the
Augsburg Confession:]

It is also taught among us that we cannot obtain forgiveness of sin and righteousness before
God by our own merits, works or satisfactions, but that we receive forgiveness of sin and
become righteous before God by grace, for Christ’s sake, through faith, when we believe
63
 that Christ suffered for us and that for his sake our sin is forgiven and righteousness and
eternal life are given to us. For God will regard and reckon this faith as righteousness, as
Paul says in Romans 3:21-26 and 4:5.
-- ARTICLE 4 On Justification

It is also taught among us that good works should and must be done, not that we are to rely
on them to earn grace but that we may do God’s will and glorify Him. It is always faith
alone that apprehends grace and forgiveness of sin. When through faith the Holy Spirit is
given, the heart is moved to do good works.
-- ARTICLE 20 On Faith and Good Works

WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

Melanchthon was involved in three potentially pivotal moments in the history of early Protestantism that did
not turn out as organizers hoped.

He was present at the Colloquy of Marburg convened by Philip of Hesse in 1529 to bring Luther and
Zwingli and their movements together. They sat face to face and agreed on 14 of 15 issues, but strongly
disagreed on Eucharist. So they went their separate ways.

The second was in 1541 when Melanchthon met with Cardinal Contarini at the Colloquy of Regensburg in
an attempt to heal the breach between Reformers and Rome. They worked out a statement acceptable to both
on Justification by Faith, but their superiors back home both rejected their statement.

The third was an event that never took place. It was an attempt by Archbishop of Canterbury, Cranmer of
England, to host a Protestant summit meeting. Bard Thompson in Humanists and Reformers (Eerdmans
1996, page 601) gives us this account:

In 1552, stimulated perhaps by the resumption of the Council of Trent the previous year, Cranmer renewed
his effort to convoke a great Protestant council in England. On March 20, 1552, he wrote to Bullinger
[Zwingli’s successor at Zurich], proposing “a synod of most learned and excellent men” that might devote
itself to a consensus among Protestants. A letter to Calvin went out the same day, beseeching Calvin's
attendance. A week later, Cranmer invited Melanchthon, assuring him that Edward VI "places his kingdom
at your disposal." In their replies, Calvin begged to be excused on account of the smallness of his ability,
while Bullinger stated bluntly that the project was ill timed. Melanchthon did not bother to answer

64
What's Important to Know

While Erasmus was regarded by many as the most learned man in Europe of his time, Melanchthon was
often admitted to take a close second. His scholarly presentation and defense of Protestant beliefs caused
them to be more carefully considered by the scholarly community. Melanchthon was especially against the
consideration of Scriptural truths in the arid manner of medieval scholasticism. In the Introduction to the
first edition of his Loci he wrote:

We do better to adore the mysteries of deity than to investigate them. What is more, these
matters cannot be probed without great danger, and even holy men have often experienced
this....Therefore, there is no reason why we should labour so much on those exalted topics,
such as 'God,' 'the unity and trinity of God,' 'the mystery of creation' and 'the manner of the
incarnation.' What, I ask you, did the scholastics accomplish during the many ages they
were examining only these points? ... But as for one who is ignorant of the fundamentals --
namely 'the power of sin,' 'the law' and 'grace' -- I do not see how I can call him a Christian.
For from these things Christ is known, since to know Christ means to know his benefits and
not, as they [the scholastics] teach, to reflect upon his natures and the modes of his
incarnation. For unless you know why Christ put on flesh and was nailed to the cross, what
good will it do you to know merely the history about him?.... Christ was given us as a
remedy and, to use the language of Scripture, a saving remedy. It is therefore proper that we
know Christ in another way than that which the scholastics have set forth.

THE AMAZING MORSES: SAM AND JED

THEY SHRANK AND EXPANDED OUR
WORLD
The elder, Rev. Jedidiah, "Father of American Geography," opened up for school
children the vastness of the earth (see p. 3). The younger, Samuel, "Father of American
Telecommunications," initiated the revolution that shrank our planet by his invention
that paved the way for the modern "information age" that affects all lives on the planet
today. First, Samuel.

Jedidiah Morse

Digital Communications
FAXes, modems, e-mail, the Internet, information superhighway -- the communication revolution continues
to change our world and affect relationships around the globe. This modern communication revolution has
its beginnings with Samuel Morse and his invention of the telegraph in the 1830's.

An artist by profession, Samuel Morse (1791-1872) was the first son of Congregationalist minister Jedidiah
Morse. When Samuel was attending Yale, Gilbert Stuart saw some of his artwork and encouraged Jedidiah
to send his son to study art in Europe. During his four years studying in England under Benjamin West,
Samuel produced several works exhibited and well received at the Royal Academy.

From Art to Sciences

Back in America, however, there was little demand for classic, epic paintings, and Samuel led a struggling
existence as a portrait painter. After the deaths of his young wife and his father and mother in close
succession, Samuel went again to Europe to study and paint. On his return voyage in 1832, he was
captivated by discussions at dinner about new experiments in electromagnetism. Morse in an amazingly
prescient comment remarked, "If the presence of electricity can be made visible in any part of the circuit, I
see no reason why intelligence may not be transmitted by electricity." Morse worked on his plan the rest of
the voyage. In the face of numerous difficulties and disappointments, he determinedly perfected his

65
invention and, in 1837, applied for a patent on the American Electromagnetic Telegraph. He also created the
Morse Code, with letters represented by dots and dashes, to convey the telegraph message.

Though he had a patent, Morse was still poor and needed funds to implement his ideas. Unsuccessful in the
US, Morse spent four fruitless years in Europe seeking backers for his telegraph project. Faced with constant
failure, Morse wrote:

The only gleam of hope, and I cannot underrate it, is from confidence in God. When I look
upward it calms any apprehension for the future, and I seem to hear a voice saying: 'If I
clothe the lilies of the field, shall I not also clothe you?' Here is my strong confidence, and I
will wait patiently for the direction of Providence.

Surprise at Sunrise
In 1843 Morse again approached Congress, but many continued to call his ideas ridiculous. On the last night
of the Congressional session, Morse went to bed tired and disgusted. In the morning, however, he was told
that a few minutes before midnight Congress had awarded him $30,000 to construct a telegraphic line
between Baltimore and Washington. Within a year the line was established, and Morse sent the first
telegraph message, from Numbers 23:23 in the Bible, "What hath God wrought!" Morse later wrote that no
words could have been selected more expressive of the disposition of my own mind at that time, to ascribe
all the honor to Him it truly belongs.

Soon governments, railway lines, newspapers, businesses, and missions agencies began to rely on the
telegraph for communications. Morse's invention had revolutionized and changed forever the realm of
communications. After years of struggle and poverty, Samuel Morse enjoyed wealth and success. Whether
in poverty or wealth, he maintained the strong Christian faith learned from his parents. Four years before his
death he wrote:

The nearer I approach to the end of my pilgrimage, the clearer is the evidence of the divine
origin of the Bible, the grandeur and sublimity of God's remedy for fallen man are more
appreciated, and the future is illumined with hope and joy.

FATHER OF AMERICAN GEOGRAPHY

Textbooks in schools, Christianity and politics, liberalism in the pulpit, soundness of church doctrine, the
nature of Jesus -- issues facing us today, as they did Jedidiah Morse in the earliest years of the United States.

Just after the American Revolution, when he was a graduate student at Yale, Jedidiah Morse (1761-1826)
taught school to earn money. The students needed a good geography text, so Jedidiah wrote one, Geography
Made Easy, and published it in 1784. It was the first geography published in the United States and went
through over twenty-five editions. Morse later published other American and world geographies, earning the
title "Father of American Geography." His geographies often referred to the Scriptures in describing the
earth's formation and geographic history.

While at Yale, Jedidiah studied for the ministry. In 1789 he accepted a call to the First Church of
Charlestown, Massachusetts, one of the oldest churches in America (John Harvard had once been its pastor).
Morse was soon embroiled in controversy. He had come across an edition of Isaac Watts' Divine Songs for
Children with all references to Christ's divinity removed, and he immediately began a strong defense of
Jesus' divinity. He argued that if such errors in children's books went unchallenged, the opposition would
grow bolder and "every sacred truth of the Holy Bible may be in danger." In newspaper articles and letters
Morse called attention to how far the Boston clergy had come from the orthodoxy of the Puritan fathers.

Jedidiah was alarmed by the French Revolution and the growing influence of European rationalism in the
United States. He believed there was evidence that agents of French infidelity were working against the
United States, and he put his hopes in the Federalist party of George Washington and John Adams to help
stem the irreligious tide sweeping the country. With Yale President Timothy Dwight he established the New
England Palladium as a Federalist newspaper to preserve the "government, morals, religion, and state of
Society in New England." With the defeat of the Federalists and the victory of Thomas Jefferson in 1800,
Jedidiah concluded that the preservation of the morals of the country would not be by political means.

66
Morse and many Congregational ministers had prayed for the renewed spiritual vigor which came to the
churches in the Second Great Awakening. Morse established and worked through many benevolent societies
to spread the religious revival throughout the United States.

Jedidiah Morse's Benevolent Christian Activities

 1803 - Organized first tract society in America

 1805 - Began Panoplist, a magazine of Christian biography and missionary news
 1808 - Helped establish Andover Seminary
 1814 - Helped found New England Tract Society
 1816 - Aided establishment of American Bible Society
 1811-1819 - On Prudential Committee of American Board of Commissioners of
Foreign Missions
 Secretary of Society for Propagating Gospel Among Indians and Others in North
America

Heresy at Harvard
In all his many activities, Jedidiah remained a staunch defender of the orthodox faith of his fathers and a
combatant of the growing liberal and Unitarian theologies. As a member of Harvard's board of overseers, in
1805 Jedidiah led the opposition to the appointment of Unitarian Henry Ware as Hollis Professor of
Divinity. Morse believed such an appointment would lessen the purity of the church, lower the standard of
Christian morality, and evaporate the very power of the Christian faith. Morse lost the battle for Harvard,
and the Unitarians gained control of the University. Morse and his supporters went on to establish Andover
Seminary as a place where orthodox ministers could be trained. In his writings and public addresses Morse
continually spoke against Unitarianism and attacked its weakening of Biblical authority and overvaluing the
human capacity for spiritual development apart from the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

When Jedidiah lay dying in 1826, his oldest son Samuel was at his bedside and asked his dad if he had any
doubts about the doctrine he had preached. Jedidiah replied, "Oh No! They are the doctrine of the Bible. The
Savior, whose honor you have protected, will not now desert you. Oh No! he gives me a foretaste of
heaven."

LOSING FREEDOM'S BLESSINGS

In his election sermon given at Charleston, Massachusetts on April 25, 1799, Jedidiah Morse warned his
listeners:

To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom, and political
and social happiness which mankind now enjoys. In proportion as the genuine effects of
Christianity are diminished in any nation, either through unbelief, or the corruption of its
doctrines, or the neglect of its institutions; in the same proportion will the people of that
nation recede from the blessings of genuine freedom, and approximate the miseries of
complete despotism. All efforts to destroy the foundations of our holy religion, ultimately
tend to the subversion also of our political freedom and happiness. Whenever the pillars of
Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government, and all the
blessings with flow from them, must fall with them.

Play It Again, Sam

Samuel Morse's mother often reminded him of the catechism's teaching that "the chief end of man is to
glorify God and enjoy Him forever," and throughout his eighty-one years Samuel tried to honor God in all
that he did. He kept a childlike Christian faith, trusting in the goodness of God and the truth of the Bible.
Samuel was constantly concerned about moral character, both his own and that of his country at large. He
believed Christians should be more concerned about their thoughts and actions, for if the thoughts were
pure, the actions would follow. He believed the proverb that "evil communications corrupt good manners."
We can only wonder how the "Father of American Telecommunications" would react if he could see the
content of telecommunications media today-- both the ennobling and the debasing.

SAMUEL MORSE TRIVIA

67
  Was founder and first president of the National Academy of Design
 Recognized today as one of America's great portrait artists (best known are two portraits of Marquis
de Lafayette)
 In 1831 was appointed first chair of fine arts in America, the Professor of Sculpture and Painting at
New York University
 In 1817, with his brother Sidney, patented a workable, flexible piston-pump for fire engines. Also
patented a marble-cutting machine.
 Along with Lyman Beecher and other Protestants of the day, believed that Catholic immigration
posed a threat to the United States and wrote pamphlets and articles against the papal religion's
influence in America.
 Introduced the daguerreotype to the US and made the first photographic portrait in the US

WHEN IS EASTER?

When Is Easter?
Christmas is December 25; Valentine's Day is February 14;
Halloween is October 31 -- but when is Easter? Each year we have
to look at a calendar to find out when Easter is, for this moveable
feast can occur any time from March 22 to April 25. Why is this
so?

Church of the Holy Sepulchre: In Jesus' day, this site was outside Jerusalem's walls. Emperor Hadrian
built a temple to aphrodite at this spot. In the fourth century, natives told Helena that Jesus' tomb had been
here.

The Emperor Constantine built the church. Archaeologists have found remains of a cemetary and garden
below the church.The yearly celebration of Jesus' resurrection is the oldest feast of the Christian Church, and
the resurrection has been the central belief of the Christian faith from the beginning. As Paul said, if Christ is
not risen, our preaching is in vain and we are a people most miserable (I Corinthians 15:12-14). Of course,
every Sunday's worship is a celebration of the risen Lord, but a special day for the resurrection has been part
of the life of the church from its early days.

The earliest Christians celebrated the resurrection on the fourteenth of Nisan (our March-April), the date of
the Jewish Passover. Jewish days were reckoned from evening to evening, so Jesus had celebrated His Last
Supper the evening of the Passover and was crucified the day of the Passover. Early Christians celebrating
the Passover worshiped Jesus as the Paschal Lamb and Redeemer.

No Quickie Christians
As more and more people were added to the early church, the church began to organize training sessions for
the new converts or catechumens before they were baptized. Sometimes the period of instruction would last
two or three years. The baptism of these catechumens was often scheduled for Easter Sunday, with the
baptismal candidates often fasting two or three days before. They held a vigil Saturday night and at the sun's
first rays on Sunday eagerly proclaimed, "Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!" After baptism the Christians
were given white robes to wear the following week to symbolize their new life in Christ. The practices of the

68
Lenten fast before Easter and wearing new clothes on Easter Sunday had their beginnings in these
catechumen customs.

Some of the Gentile Christians began celebrating Easter in the nearest Sunday to the Passover, since Jesus
actually arose on a Sunday. This especially became the case in the western part of the Roman Empire. In
Rome itself, different congregations celebrated Easter on different days!

Setting the Date

During the first three centuries of the Church, when believers were frequently under persecution, there was
little effort to establish uniform observances of the Christian festivals. However, when Constantine became
emperor and Christianity was no longer illegal, it was possible to consider more carefully the date of Easter.
One of the purposes of the Council of Nicea in 325 was to settle that date. Constantine wanted Christianity
to be totally separated from Judaism and did not want Easter to be celebrated on the Jewish Passover. The
Council of Nicea accordingly required the feast of the resurrection to be celebrated on a Sunday and never
on the Jewish Passover. Easter was to be the Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox.

But Which Calendar?

The ruling of the Council was not immediately accepted everywhere. It did not sit well for those who had
been celebrating the resurrection on the Passover to suddenly be declared heretics. Confusion was also
caused by Rome and Alexandria having different dates for fixing the spring equinox, sometimes resulting in
different Easter dates. Eventually, however, the ruling of the Council of Nicea was accepted by all the
church, and the date of Easter was between March 22 and April 25. In the sixteenth century the West
accepted the new Gregorian calendar while the Eastern and Russian churches kept the Julian calendar.
Because of this, Easter is again celebrated on different dates.

It's the Meaning that Matters

In spite of the differences among the churches surrounding the celebration of Jesus' resurrection, there has
been through the ages an unanimous agreement that the Resurrection is a most joyous event and the basis of
all Christian hope. As Francis Weiser beautifully wrote, Easter Sunday is a dazzling diamond that radiates
the splendor of Redemption and Resurrection into the hearts of the faithful everywhere. Its various facets
cast the brilliance of eternity over the twilight of time, and enrapture the soul with the deathless pledge of a
Second Spring. The keener are the eyes of faith, the more penetrating is the vision of personal immortality
behind the veil of death: When Christ rose, Death itself died.

Where Did Lent Come From?

Many of the churches had various periods of fasting before Easter. Some had one or two days, others several
weeks. At the end of the sixth century, Pope Gregory I established a forty day period of fasting and
repentance, using the forty of Israel, Moses, Elijah, and Jesus in the wilderness as patterns to follow. It was
Gregory who fixed the beginning of Lent as Ash Wednesday, with ashes placed on the head as a reminder
that "dust thou art and to dust returneth."

Pretzels, Anyone?
Christians in the Roman empire made a special Lenten food of flour, salt, and water, since meat and dairy
foods were forbidden during Lent. Because Lent was a season of penance and devotion, the dough was
shaped into the form of two arms crossed in prayer. In Latin, "little arms" is bracellae. When the food was
taken to Germany, it was called a brezel or a pretzel. The oldest known picture of a pretzel may be in a
manuscript from the fifth century in the Vatican. Pretzels are still an item of Lenten food in many parts of
Europe and are sometimes distributed to the poor in the cities.

The Sunrise Service

In Luke 24:1 the women went at early dawn to the tomb. In 1732 some young men of the Moravian
community at Herrnhut, Germany went to the cemetery at dawn to meditate on Christ's resurrection. This
became the first known Easter sunrise service. In 1741 the Moravians in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
celebrated the first Easter sunrise service in America.

What about Holy Week?

The observation of the week before Easter as Holy Week probably began in the fourth century when
pilgrimages to Jerusalem began. When Egeria traveled to Jerusalem at the end of the fourth century, she
gave a detailed account of the contemporary observance of Holy Week. Christians used liturgical drama to
69
reenact the last scenes of Christ on earth. On Palm Sunday they reenacted Christ's joyous entry into
Jerusalem. Maundy Thursday's love feast and foot washing recalled the institution of the Lord's Supper. The
Good Friday of the crucifixion became a day of deepest penance and fasting. On the evening of the Great
Sabbath, during that time when Christ lay in the grave, the Easter vigils began with Scripture reading,
singing and prayer. Everyone poured into the church with light to await the glorious resurrection morning.

EASTER JOY ROOTED in the WORD

One of the most beloved of all Easter hymns is Charles Wesley's "Christ the Lord is Risen Today." Charles
wrote this in 1739, a year after his conversion, for the first service in the Foundry Meeting House in London.
The Foundry was the first Wesleyan Chapel in London and was actually built in a deserted foundry. As with
many of the Wesley hymns, the words are rich with Scriptural references and allusions. Note the following
(taken from John Lawson's Wesley Hymns Francis Asbury Press, 1987):

Christ the Lord is risen today,' (Mark 16:6, Luke 24:6)

Sons of men and angels say! (Matthew 28:6, Luke 24:34, John 20:18)
Raise your joys and triumphs high, (Colossians 2:15)
Sing ye heavens, and earth reply. (Isaiah 49:13)

Love's redeeming work is done, (Romans 6:9-10)

Fought the fight, the battle won: (Luke 11:22, Colossians 2:15)
Lo! our sun's eclipse is o'er, (Malachi 4:2, Luke 23:45)
Lo! He sets in blood no more. (Isaiah 60:20)

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal; (Matthew 27:65-66)

Christ has burst the gates of hell! (I Peter 3:18-20, Revelation 1:18)
Death in vain forbids his rise: (Acts 2:24)
Christ has opened paradise! (Luke 23:43)

Lives again our glorious King, (Psalms 24:7-10, Revelation 1:18)

Where, O death, is now thy sting? (I Corinthians 15:55)
Dying once, he all doth save, (Romans 6:10, I Corinthians 15:22)
Where thy victory, O grave? (I Corinthians 15:55)

Soar we now where Christ has led, (Colossians 3:1)

Following our exalted Head, (Acts 2:33, Ephesians 1:22, Colossians 1:18)
Made like him, like him we rise; (Romans 6:5)
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies! (Romans 6:4, 6)

King of glory, soul of bliss, (Psalms 27:4, I Peter 1:3, 8)

Everlasting life is this; (John 3:16)
Thee to know, thy power to prove, (Philippians 3:10)
Thus to sing, and thus to love! (Isaiah 26:19)

What's in a Name?
The Latin word paschal for the Hebrew for Passover (pesah) became the Latin word for the Resurrection day
in the Romance languages, such as Spanish and French. The eighth century historian Bede wrote that Easter,
the English word for the holiday, came from the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eoster, the goddess of spring and
fertility.

LOVE AND LEADERSHIP

70
"GOD DESIGNED HER TO BE THE GREATEST OF
ALL EARTHLY BLESSINGS" THE LOVE OF
CHARLES AND SUSANNAH SPURGEON
London buzzed with raves about the eloquent nineteen year old preacher, but Susannah Thompson was
decidedly unimpressed when she first saw and heard him December 18, 1853. That was the first Sunday the
young Charles Spurgeon preached at New Park Street Church. She commented: "So this is his so-called
eloquence! It does not impress me. What a painful countrified manner! Will he ever quit making flourishes
with that terrible blue silk handkerchief! And his hair --why, he looks like a barber's assistant!"

God Himself United Our Hearts

Yet, Susannah came to know Christ and grow under Spurgeon's teaching and ministry. When Susannah was
concerned about her spiritual state, Charles sent her a copy of Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress inscribed,
"Miss Thompson, with desires for her progress in a blessed pilgrimage, from C. H. Spurgeon." On June 20,
1854 the two young people attended the brilliant opening of London's Crystal Palace together. Charles
Spurgeon read Susannah a few lines from a book he was reading: "Seek a good wife of thy God, for she is
the best gift of His providence. . . . If thou art to have a wife of thy youth, she is now living on the earth;
therefore think of her, and pray for her weal." Spurgeon asked Susannah in a soft voice, "Do you pray for
him who is to be your husband?" Susannah's heart raced, her eyes fell, and she blushed at the young pastor's
words. After the opening ceremonies, the young couple walked together through the Crystal Palace, the
gardens, and down to the lake. Susannah wrote years later: "During that walk, in that memorable day in
June, I believe God Himself united our hearts in indissoluble bonds of true affection, and though we knew it
not, gave us to each other forever."

On August 2, 1854, Charles and Susannah declared their love for each other in her grandfather's garden.
Susannah later wrote with great awe "I left my beloved, and hastening to the house and to an upper room, I
knelt before God, and praised and thanked him, with happy tears, for His great mercy in giving me the love
of so good a man. If I had known, then, how good he was, and how great he would become, I would have
been overwhelmed, not so much with the happiness of being his, as with responsibility which such a position
would entail."

It's Just Like Him!

During their courtship Charles and Susannah developed a kinship in spiritual things which only deepened in
married life. They spent time reading together Jonathan Edwards, Richard Baxter, and other old Puritan
writers. Together they published a collection of Puritan theology called Smooth Stones Taken from Ancient
Brooks. From the beginning, their spiritual love was the bond that strengthened their earthly love. In
January, 1855, after he had received from Susannah a letter full of deep spiritual, heartfelt longing for the
things of God, Charles wrote her, Dear purchase of a Savior's blood, your are to me a Savior's gift, and my
heart is full to overflowing with the thought of such continued goodness. I do not wonder at His goodness,
for it is just like Him; but I cannot but lift up the voice of joy at His manifold mercies. Whatever befall us,
trouble and adversity, sickness or death, we need not fear a final separation, either from each other, or our
God. I am glad you are not here just at this moment, for I feel so deeply that I could only throw my arms
around you and weep. May the choicest favors be thine, may the Angel of the Covenant be thy companion,
may thy supplications be answered, and may thy conversation be with Jesus in heaven!
71
Charles and Susannah Spurgeon were married on January 9, 1856. Their love grew in the ensuing years; the
many trials and troubles each faced only strengthened their spiritual oneness. By the time he was thirty
Spurgeon suffered from gout and its accompanying depression. Susie, as Charles called her, also was ill and
did not leave the house for fifteen years. Yet, through difficulties and problems, both were able to have
important Christian ministries.

Charles became the most famous preacher in Victorian England. He was a tourist attraction, and many came
to London just to hear him preach at the famed Metropolitan Tabernacle, which held six thousand people. A
powerful expositor of the Scriptures and an eloquent evangelist, Spurgeon also founded a pastor's college
and orphanage that still exist today. His sermons were published weekly, and many of his writings continue
to be published and still read today.

She Fitted "Tirshatha" For Service

Though an invalid much of her life, Susannah reared their twin sons, both of whom entered Christian
ministry. She also established and operated a book fund to distribute Spurgeon's books and writings free to
pastors. Charles did not like to be called "reverend," so Susie's special name for him was "Tirshatha," which
was the Persian word for "the revered one." Through trials and service, the Spurgeons' love for the Lord and
each other only strengthened over time. Each was the greatest support of the other, and their spiritual bond
deepened their love.

Charles' letters when the two had to be apart reveal the love that continued throughout their lives. In 1871
Spurgeon wrote Susie: My Own Dear one--None know how grateful I am to God for you. In all I have ever
done for Him, you have a large share. For in making me so happy you have fitted me for service. Not an
ounce of power has ever been lost to the good cause through you. I have served the Lord far more, and never
less, for your sweet companionship. The Lord God Almighty bless you now and forever!

And later in the same year:

I have been thinking over my strange history, and musing on eternal love's great river-head from which such
streams of mercy have flowed to me. . . . Think of the love which gave me that dear lady for a wife, and
made her such a wife; to me, the ideal wife, and, as I believe, without exaggeration or love-flourishing, the
precise form in which God would make a woman for such a man as I am, if He designed her to be the
greatest of all earthly blessings to him; and in some sense a spiritual blessing, too, for in that also am I richly
profited by you, though you would not believe it. I will leave this ‘good matter’ ere the paper is covered; but
not till I have sent you as many kisses as there are waves on the sea.

Devoted Lover, Tender Husband

Most of the letters we have between Charles and Susie are found in his autobiography, which Susie edited
after his death. In publishing these Susannah wrote: I have been trying in these pages to leave the 'love' out
of the letters as much as possible, lest my precious things should appear but platitudes to my readers, but it is
a difficult task; for little rills of tenderness run between all the sentences, like the singing, dancing waters
among the boulders of a brook, and I cannot still the music altogether. To the end of his beautiful life it was
the same, his letters were always those of a devoted lover, as well as of a tender husband; not only did the
brook never dry up, but the stream grew deeper and broader, and the rhythm of its song waxed sweeter and
stronger.

Happy woman and happy man! If Heaven be found on earth, they have it! At last, the two are so blended, so
engrafted on one stem, that their old age presents a lovely attachment, a common sympathy, by which its
infirmities are greatly alleviated, and its burdens are transformed into fresh bonds of love. So happy a union
of will, sentiment, thought, and heart exists between them, that the two streams of their life have washed
away the dividing bank, and run on as one broad current of united existence till their common joy falls into
the ocean of eternal felicity.

Charles and Susannah had been married thirty-six years when Charles died in 1892. Susannah wrote, "for
though God has seen fit to call my beloved up to higher service, He has left me the consolation of still loving
him with all my heart, and believing that our love shall be perfected when we meet in that blessed land
where Love reigns supreme and eternal."

The Model Marriage

"Founded on pure love and cemented in mutual esteem."
72
Spurgeon died in the late nineteenth century. His views on wives, marriage, and relationship may seem
quaint and strange in a world where most women find it necessary to work outside the home. The selection
below is from one of his sermons in which Charles Spurgeon described a happy marriage and the true wife,
all the while describing his beloved spouse Susie:

Sometimes we have seen a model marriage, founded on pure love, and cemented in mutual esteem. Therein,
the husband acts as a tender head; and the wife, as a true spouse, realizes the model marriage-relation, and
sets forth what our oneness with the Lord ought to be. She delights in her husband, in his person, his
character, his affection; to her, he is not only the chief and foremost of mankind, but in her eyes he is all-in-
all; her heart's love belongs to him, and to him only. She finds sweetest content and solace in his company,
his fellowship, his fondness; he is her little world, her Paradise, her choice treasure. At any time, she would
gladly lay aside her own pleasure to find it doubled in gratifying him. She is glad to sink her individuality in
his. She seeks no renown for herself; his honor is reflected upon her, and she rejoices in it. She would defend
his name with her dying breath; safe enough is he where she can speak for him. The domestic circle is her
kingdom; that she may there create happiness and comfort, is her lifework; and his smiling gratitude is all
the reward she seeks. Even in her dress, she thinks of him; without constraint she consults his taste and
considers nothing beautiful which is distasteful to him.

A tear from his eye, because of any unkindness on her part, would grievously torment her. She asks not how
her behavior may please a stranger, or how another’s judgment may approve her conduct; let her beloved be
content, and she is glad. He has many objects in life, some of which she does not quite understand; but she
believes in them all, and anything she can do to promote them, she delights to perform. He lavishes love on
her, and, in return, she lavishes love on him. Their object in life is common. There are points where their
affections so intimately unite that none could tell which is first and which is second. To watch their children
growing up in health and strength, to see them holding posts of usefulness and honor, is their mutual
concern; in this and other matters, they are fully one. Their wishes blend, their hearts are indivisible. By
degrees, they come to think very much the same thoughts. Intimate association creates conformity; I have
known this to become so complete that, at the same moment, the same utterance has leaped to both their lips.

"A WIFE ON LOAN" THE LOVE OF JOHN

AND MARY NEWTON
Today John Newton is best known for his inspiring hymn "Amazing Grace," which is
probably the best known hymn ever written. In his own day he was one of England's most
prominent preachers. Before his conversion, Newton's life had become so debauched,
irreverent, and immoral that even his fellow sailors were shocked by his conduct and
coarse speech. Yet, Newton would come to experience that amazing grace that he wrote
about and it transformed his life, and made him a preacher of the Gospel. Newton never
ceased to be amazed at God's work in His life, and he frequently admitted that God had
used his passionate love for his wife Mary as a motive and means for his spiritual
development.

John Falls Head Over Heels

John Newton's and Mary Catlett's mothers had been the best of friends and when the two children were
infants had talked about their marrying each other. But Newton's mother died when John was seven, and
when his father remarried, the Catletts and Newtons drifted apart. John's father was a sea captain, and John
followed his father into a life at sea. When he was seventeen he went to see the Catletts again, and when he
laid eyes on fourteen-year-old Mary, he lost his heart to her. For several years John led the life of a
rebellious sailor. He became a "freethinker," rejecting the Scriptures and the Christian truths once learned
from his mother. His passion for Mary seemed the only element of purity in his life, but he knew he was
totally unworthy of her.

The Slave Trader Prays

John was a sailor in the slave trade off the African coast and participated in the cruelties and horrors of that
business. On one return voyage to England, Newton was caught in such a fierce storm that all aboard

73
despaired of life. The Scriptures John had once learned at his mother's knee returned to his mind, and he
began to hope that Jesus could deliver him, dreadful sinner that he was. For the first time in years John
sought the Lord in prayer, and on March 21, 1748, a date he remembered yearly for the rest of his life, as
Newton wrote, "the Lord sent from on high and delivered me out of deep waters." John began to grow as a
young Christian, seeking the Lord in prayer and reading and meditating on the Scriptures. Mary recognized
the change in her childhood friend; the two were married on February 1, 1750. Their life together for the
next forty years was filled with a boundless love; John always recognized this special love was among the
greatest of the gifts of Providence.

Marriage Honorable, Comfortable

In 1793, three years after Mary's death, John published a two-volume collection of letters he had sent to
Mary over the years. He wanted to give public testimony of thanks to God for such a treasure as his wife,
"for uniting our hearts by such tender ties, and for continuing her to me for so long." Newton published his
letters to her as a memorial to her and as an example "that marriage, when the parties are united by affection,
and the general conduct is governed by religion and prudence, is not only an honorable but a comfortable
state."

After his marriage, Newton was captain of his own ship, and he had to be separated from Mary for months at
a time. The two corresponded constantly. Repeatedly in his letters John wrote how their love and marriage
increased his thankfulness and gratefulness to the Lord:

. . . when I indulge myself with a particular thought of you, it usually carries me on farther,
and brings me upon my knees to bless the Lord, for giving me such a treasure, and to pray
for your peace and welfare . . . when I take up my pen, and begin to consider what I shall
say, I am led to think of the goodness of God, who has made you mine, and given me a heart
to value you. Thus my love to you, and my gratitude to him, cannot be separated. . . . All
other love, that is not connected with a dependence on God, must be precarious. To this
want, I attribute many unhappy marriages.

Happy though he was in his love for Mary, Newton never wanted their love to be a substitute for or take the
place of their love for God. He felt that many of the problems people had in their marriages were caused by
people trying to find all their happiness and fulfillment in a human relationship apart from their relationship
with the Lord. While at sea in 1753 John wrote Mary,

You will not be displeased with me for saying, that though you are dearer to me than the
aggregate of all earthly comforts, I wish to limit my passion within those bounds which God
has appointed. Our love to each other ought to lead us to love him supremely, who is the
author and source of all the good we possess or hope for. It is to him we owe that happiness
in a marriage state which so many seek in vain, some of whom set out with such hopes and
prospects, that their disappointments can be deduced for no other cause, than having placed
that high regard on a creature which is only due to the Creator. He therefore withholds his
blessing (without which no union can subsist) and their expectations, of course, end in
indifference . . .

Nothing Will Remain But . . .

His deep thankfulness for God's gift of Mary's love increased John's desire to live a life full of service to the
Lord. His marriage and earthly happiness were never ends in themselves; all God's gifts, including marriage,
were to be used to prepare for eternity. God's will, not their own, should always guide them. In 1754 John
wrote Mary,

. . . I consider our union as a peculiar effect and gift of an indulgent Providence, and
therefore, as a talent to be improved to higher ends, to the promoting of his will and service
upon earth. And to assisting each other to prepare for an eternal state, to which a few years
at the farthest will introduce us. Were these points wholly neglected, however great our
satisfaction might be for the present, it would be better never to have seen each other; since
the time must come when, of all the endearments of our connection, nothing will remain,
but the consciousness how greatly we were favored, and how we improved the favors we
possessed . . .

74
Caught in an Uncommon Effect
Six years later Newton was preparing for the ministry in London; ill health prevented Mary from joining
him. Newton continued to pour out his love in letters, sometimes expressing the fear that he was guilty of
idolatry in that he loved Mary so much. Yet, he recognized all their happiness was from the Lord:

he formed us for each other, and his good Providence brought us together. It is no wonder if
so many years, so many endearments, so many obligations, have produced an uncommon
effect; and that by long habit, it is become almost impossible for me to draw a breath, of
which you are not concerned. If this mutual affection leads us to this fountain from which
our blessings flow, and if we can regard each other, and everything about us, with a
reference to that eternity to which we are hasting, then we are happy indeed. Then not even
death . . . can greatly harm us. Death itself can only part us for a little space, as the pier of a
bridge, divides the stream for a few moments but cannot make a real separation. . . .
Methinks a regard like ours is destined to flourish in a better world than this, and can never
be displayed to its full extent, and advantage, until transplanted into those regions of light
and joy, where all that is imperfect, and transient, shall be no more known.

Every Change for the Better

In 1764 John became minister in the little market town of Olney. It was one of the poorest towns in England,
with lace-making and farming its main occupations. John brought the Word of God and ministered faithfully
to the people. Often he wrote a hymn to accompany his sermons, later collecting them with some of the
hymns of his friend William Cowper into the famous Olney Hymns. At times Mary went to visit her
relatives or stay with her ailing father while John remained in Olney; his letters continued as they had in
earlier years. In 1775, when Mary was staying with her sick father, John wrote to encourage her,

. . . the path of few peoples through life has been more marked with peculiar mercies than
yours. How differently has he led us from the way we should have chosen for ourselves! We
have had remarkable turns in our affairs; but every change has been for the better; and in
every trouble (for we have had our troubles) he has given us effectual help. Shall we not
then believe, that he will perfect that which concerns us? When I was an infant, and knew
not what I wanted, he sent you into the world to be, first, the principal hinge, upon which
my part, and character in life, was to turn and then to be my companion. We have traveled
together near twenty-six years; and though we are changeable creatures, and have seen
almost every thing change around us, he has preserved our affections, by his blessings, or
we might have been weary of each other. How far we have yet to go, we know not . . . . If
our lives are prolonged, the shadows of the evening, old age, with its attendant infirmities,
will be pressing upon us soon. Yet I hope this uncertain remaining part of our pilgrimage,
will upon the whole, be the best; for our God is all-sufficient, and can make us more happy,
by the light of his countenance, when our temporal comforts fail, then we never were, when
we possessed them to the greatest advantage.

At the end of 1779 the Newtons left Olney for John to become rector at St. Mary Woolnoth's in London.
There he ministered for the next quarter century. He became one of the foremost evangelical ministers of the
day and worked to abolish the slave trade of which he had once been a part.

On December 15, 1790, Mary died after a long illness. Newton was by her side and later wrote:

When I was sure she was gone, I took off her ring, according to her repeated injunction, and
put it upon my own finger. I then kneeled down, with the servants who were in the room,
and returned the Lord my unfeigned thanks for her deliverance, and her peaceful dismission.

Newton realized that as a minister he must suffer affliction as an example to fellow Christians, and he had
continued to preach throughout Mary’s illness. He preached her funeral sermon:

I was not supported by lively, sensible considerations, but by being enabled to realize to my
mind, some great and leading truths to the word of God. I saw, what indeed I knew before,
but never till then so strongly and clearly perceived, that as a sinner, I had no right, and as a
believer, I could have no reason, to complain. I considered her as a loan, which He who lent
her to me, had a right to resume whenever He pleased; and that as I had deserved to forfeit
75
 her every day, from the first; it became me, rather to be thankful that she was spared to me
so long . . .

When my wife died, the world seemed to die with her, (I hope, to revive no more). I see
little now, but my ministry and my Christian profession, to make a continuance in life, for a
single day, desirable; though I am willing to wait my appointed time.

To Newton, the Bank of England was too poor to compensate for the loss of his Mary. On December 21,
1807 John followed Mary in death. To the end, he recognized Mary's love as part of God's amazing grace.

John said of Mary's death: How wonderful must be the moment after death! What a transition did she then
experience! She was instantly freed from sin, and all its attendant sorrows, and I trust, instantly admitted to
join the heavenly choir. That moment was remarkable to me, likewise. It removed from me, the chief object,
which made another day, or hour of life, as to my own personal concern, desirable . . .

76
 THE PERSECUTOR'S SWORD A
DISTURBING LOOK AT OUR
EXTENDED, PERSECUTED
FAMILY AROUND THE WORLD
BY DAN WOODING

IN A DEPARTURE from our usual pattern, in this issue of Glimpses we take a look at a twentieth-century
phenomenon in Christian history that has urgent relevance for us today. More Christians have died for their
faith in this current century than all other centuries of church history combined. To fill us in on this little
known and shocking holocaust we welcome guest contributor and journalist Dan Wooding who has reported
first hand from most of the present day lion's dens for Christians.

Chinese "underground" church meets in a house

When we finally met in Moscow, Alexander Ogorodnikov peered at me over his "granny" reading glasses.
"Thank you for caring!" he said, his voice choking with emotion.

The Russian dissident, wearing a dark, pinstriped suit and sporting a ponytail, had spent seven lonely years
in the former Soviet prison system, or Gulag. He had been convicted of running a Christian discussion group
for other students at the Moscow State University, where he was studying film making.

I had first learned of his plight from a letter he had written to former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. The
letter was published by Keston College, a British-based organization that monitored persecution in the
former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In the letter, Ogorodnikov told Gorbachev that he had been in
prison for five years and had not received one letter or a visit from any Christian.

"Have Me Executed"
"I know it is a sin to commit suicide, but I am so lonely that I wish to ask you to have me executed by firing
squad," he wrote.

After reading his appeal, I immediately organized a letter-writing and prayer campaign on his behalf in the
United States. Within weeks, thousands of letters had arrived at his camp, and waves of prayer went up to
heaven on his behalf. Soon, his case came to the attention of then British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.
Thatcher interceded with Gorbachev on Ogorodnikov's behalf, and the prisoner was released. Now running a
soup kitchen for Moscow's homeless, Ogorodnikov told me, "You don't know what it was like to discover
that there were Christians who cared -- who wanted me to live and who loved me."

Worldwide Persecution Continues

Now that freedom has come to the former Soviet Union, Ogorodnikov and thousands of other Christian
prisoners have been released and are free to share their faith openly with others.

That is not the case in many other countries, such as Sudan. In six years, more than 1.3 million Christians
and other non-Muslim people have been killed in this African nation -- more than Bosnia, Chechnya and
Haiti combined.

"Sudan is characterized by the total or near complete absence of civil liberties," said Christian activist Nina
Shea, during US Congressional Human Rights Caucus hearings. "Individual Christians, including clergy,
have over the past few years . . . been assassinated, imprisoned, tortured and flogged for their faith."

That pattern is being repeated in country after country around the world, often in areas where Islam is
strong. Christians in North America can easily forget the daily danger in which their sisters and brothers

77
overseas live. We don't realize that our peaceful existence here isn't the standard experience of Christians
around the world.

This Is The Age of Martyrs

In a recent article, Justin D. Long emphasized the startling fact that more people have died for their faith in
the Twentieth Century than in all of the previous centuries combined. “During this century, we have
documented cases in excess of 26 million martyrs. From AD 33 to 1900, we have documented 14 million
martyrs.”

He did add, however, that thankfully martyrdom has been on the decline for the past decade. "The current
rate is 159,000 martyrs per year -- down from 330,000 per year at the height of the cold war. With the
demise of the Soviet Union and its sponsored communism, religious freedoms have opened up. Although
there are still numerous restrictions and some persecution, martyrdom -- in the form of executions and
assassinations -- has been significantly curtailed."

Worst Genocide of the Century

Possibly the worst organized killings of Christians in this century took part in Turkey. Paul Marshall in his
book, Their Blood Cries Out, co-authored with Lila Gilbert, wrote, "Although Turkey is now a country with
relatively few Christians, this was not always the case. Less than one hundred years ago, Turkey, or rather
its Ottoman predecessor, was about 30 percent Christian. This situation changed when some two million
ethnic Armenian Christians were massacred between 1905 and 1918, a genocide which the Turkish
government still denies. Many of the remaining Christians fled immediately. Others facing death threats,
systemic harassment, and discrimination, followed them later."

Uganda Holocaust
Much of the persecution in recent years has been taking place in predominately Islamic nations. Idi Amin,
the self-appointed President for Life, a Muslim, seized power in Uganda in a coup in 1971 and soon he and
his brutal followers began to try to set up the Islamic State of Uganda with funds from Saudi Arabia and
Libya.

The problem they faced was that many of the population were devout Christians and so they began a
systematic killing that is almost beyond belief. . . . By the end of his reign of terror in 1979 when he was
toppled by Tanzanian troops, some 500,000 Ugandans had been murdered, 300,000 of which were believers.

China's Struggling Christians

China is a land where Christians, particularly those in the underground church, are often under attack. China
recently launched a campaign of persecution against Christians who are not registered in the official state
church. According to Compass Direct News Service, the campaign stems largely from government fear that
the huge number of Christians in China could be swiftly galvanized into a vast antigovernment movement.

Although estimates of the number of China's Christians begin as low as 10 million, those with access to
China's unregistered house churches place the total at 50 million. Some observers have estimated the number
to be as high as 90 million. Whatever the actual number, even if it is the lower estimate, this represents an
incredible saga of survival and growth of the community of believers under sustained government hostility
and opposition.

Chiapas
The Southern Mexico State of Chiapas has seen an incredible situation for the Indians there who have
accepted Christ. During the past 30 years, 30,000 have been driven from their homes and hundreds have
been murdered.

David Tamez, Executive Director of Latin American Indian Ministries, said, "Around 5,000 Indians have
run away from their own communities to save their lives and in search for a better and safe refuge for their
families. In 1997 we have seen one of the most difficult years for the Chiapas people, where over 60% are
evangelicals, because at least 500 people were killed in different villages for the 'crime' of embracing the
Christian faith."

We Can Make a Difference

In an editorial in Christianity Today, David Neff points out that American Christians do not lead typical
78
Christian lives. "The typical Christian lives in a developing country, speaks a non-European language, and
exists under the constant threat of persecution -- of murder, imprisonment, torture, or rape," he says.

"The persecutor's sword dangles by a hair over Christians in the still-communist countries and in lands
where the rising tide of Islamism overwhelms political efforts at fairness, tolerance, and due process." ("Our
Extended Persecuted Family," April 29, 1996).

The persecution of Christians did not end with the collapse of the Roman or even the Russian empire. It's
still alive around the world. Like Alexander Ogorodnikov, our persecuted brothers and sisters need to know
that the world holds other Christians who care and who love them.

Is there anything we can do for persecuted Christians? Yes. We can pray. And we can support ministries that
work to bring these Christians liberty.

Help for Persecuted Christians

If you would like more information on how you can help persecuted Christians, contact the following
organizations, which specialize in helping persecuted believers:

Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times (ASSIST)

PO Box 2126
Garden Grove, CA 92842-2126
(714) 530-6598

Open Doors
PO Box 27001
Santa Ana, CA 92799
(714) 752-6600

For up-to-date information online, see http://www.newsroom.org. This is a resource for journalists giving
background stories from around the world, many on religious persecution.  

The writer of this issue, Dan Wooding, is an award-winning British journalist now living in Southern
California, where he is the founder and international director of ASSIST. He is also the author of 35 books,
the latest of which is Blind Faith, which he co-authored with his 88-year-old mother about her life as a
pioneer missionary in Nigeria. Wooding is a commentator on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC.

OH, SAY CAN YOU SEE?

AS THE EARLY LIGHT of dawn crept through the darkness,
haze, and smoke, three men in a small boat tensely waited. They
were torn between a fearful apprehension and hopeful expectancy.
Daylight would show what lay ahead for their city and nation.

Fort McHenry under bombardment.

It had been almost twenty-five hours earlier when, finding

themselves detained among the enemy ships, they watched the
enemy launch a combined army-navy attack on one of their
nation’s most important cities. Their country had already experienced many defeats, and their capital city
had been burned. When the three men, then, found themselves observing the awesome attack launched
against their fellow countrymen, their concern was great. The fighting was intense; the bombs from the
enemy ships readily found their mark in the attacked fort. The noise of the rockets, bombs, and cannon-fire
had been almost constant throughout the day and continued into the night.

79
An Eerie Quiet
Then in the early morning hours, there was silence. Only occasional firing broke the stillness. The battle
seemed over, but what was the outcome? The three men in the boat watched eagerly to see if their flag was
still flying over the fort and the city.

It was during those hours of intense watching and waiting that the words of a song began to take shape in the
poetic mind of Francis Scott Key, one of the men in the boat. How did Key come to find himself watching
the fate of his country from such a vantage point? What kind of a man was he to write a song that has ever
since touched and thrilled his countrymen?

Francis Scott Key was born on August 1, 1779, while the young United States was waging the war that
would establish its independence. His father, John Ross Key, fought in the American Revolution and
generously armed and equipped a regiment at his own expense. The Keys were wealthy landowners from
Frederick, Maryland; and Francis Scott early developed a love for the land and home of Terra Rubra, his
father’s estate.

Among the strong influences on Key’s character in his early years was his grandmother, Ann Arnold Ross
Key. She had lost her eyesight by fire when she was rescuing two servants from the flames of her father’s
burning house, but she bore her terrible affliction with Christian fortitude. The sensitive Francis Scott was
deeply impressed by her strong faith. Francis stayed with his grandmother while he attended school in
Annapolis. After graduating from St. John’s College at the age of seventeen, Francis went on to study law.

In 1802 Key married the beautiful Mary Taylor Lloyd in the elegant drawing room of the Lloyd mansion in
Annapolis. The Keys had eleven children, six boys and five girls, and their family life together was a happy
one. Soon after his marriage, Key began to practice law in Washington, D.C. Even in the busiest of times,
Key never failed to conduct family prayers in his home twice a day, always including the servants in these
family devotions.

The shady lawn and orchard of the Key mansion sloped to the edge of the Potomac River, providing a lovely
setting for the frolics and gambols of the Key children. Francis Scott delighted in sharing the nature of the
area with his children and often planned special surprises for them in the gardens. Once he instructed the
gardener to make a tiny round garden for each child. When the seeds sprouted, they took the shape of the
children’s names -- Marie, Lizzie, Anna, etc.

Key's Christian convictions were intense and influenced all his relations and actions. At one time, in 1814,
he even considered entering the ministry. Though he decided to remain in his law career, his Christian
beliefs continued strong and his Christian work active throughout his life. Among those whose faith Key’s
help sustained was John Randolph of Roanoke. Randolph had had his faith shaken by reading Voltaire and
other Enlightenment authors. In a letter to Randolph, Key wrote his own views, which still contain excellent
apologetic advice for today:

I don't believe there are any new objections to be discovered to the truth of Christianity,
though there may be some art in presenting old ones in a new dress. My faith has been
greatly confirmed by the infidel writers I have read. Men may argue ingeniously against our
faith, as indeed they may against anything -- but what can they say in defense of their own --
I would carry the war into their own territories, I would ask them what they believe -- if they
said they believed anything, I think that they might be shown to be more full of difficulties
and liable to infinitely greater objections than the system they oppose and they were
credulous and unreasonable for believing it. If they said they did not believe anything, you
could not, to be sure, have anything further to say to them. In that case they would be
insane, or at best ill qualified to teach others what they ought to believe or disbelieve.

Into the Center of Conflict

When the United States went to war with Great Britain in 1812, Key was opposed to the war and thought his
country’s action was precipitous; yet he joined the Georgetown Field Artillery Co. in 1813 and performed
volunteer duty to defend his home. The times were tense, as the British successfully attacked and burned
Washington, D.C., and moved towards Baltimore. Key had been sent to the British to negotiate the release
of Dr. William Beanes, a civilian taken prisoner during the British march north from Washington. The
British began their attack on Fort McHenry just as Key successfully finished his negotiations for the release
80
of Dr. Beanes, but Key and his friends had to remain with the British throughout the battle. They intensely
watched Fort McHenry's large flag to determine the outcome. As he watched and waited, Key wrote out the
phrases to a song on the back of an envelope. Later the song was published as "The Defense of Fort
McHenry" and enjoyed immense popularity when set to the English tune of "Anacreon in Heaven." Soon it
was retitled "The Star-Spangled Banner." The title of the song became the name of the country’s flag, and
because of the song, the country itself would ever after be known as the "Land of the free and the home of
the brave."

Although written to rejoice in the victory of the moment, the last stanza describes what Key the Christian
hoped would be a constant characteristic of his beloved country:

Oh, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand

Between their loved homes and war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just;
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust!

After the War of 1812 was over, Key continued his successful law career. For three terms he was district
attorney for the District of Columbia. In both this position and as a private lawyer, Key argued many cases
before the Supreme Court. President Andrew Jackson valued Key as a warm friend and entrusted him with
several delicate missions. In 1832 he was sent to South Carolina by Jackson to help solve the nullification
crisis, which was threatening dismemberment of the United States.

Though a member of the Episcopal Church with strong doctrinal beliefs, Key did not believe any particular
form of church government was divinely established. He was tolerant in an age of much intolerance and
willing to work readily with Christians of other denominations. Giving liberally to organizations he deemed
worthy, Key was also instrumental in organizing several worthwhile causes. In Georgetown he helped
organize the Lancaster Society for the free education of poor children. On a national level he was a founder
and principal promoter of the American Colonization Society, one of the earliest societies devoted to dealing
with slavery in America. Several theological institutions were either organized with Key's aid or
administered by a board of which he was a member. These included the General Theological Society, the
Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, and the Virginia Theological Seminary at Alexandria. Even on
his deathbed Key was concerned about helping others. He told his wife of the leather bag containing money
for charity he had in his desk and instructed her how to use these funds for charitable purposes.

Death is not the End

Francis Scott Key died of pleurisy in the home of his daughter in January, 1843. Key’s earlier verses
undoubtedly comforted his family as they laid him in the grave,

I have been a base and groveling thing

And now the dust of the earth my home,
But now I know that the end of my woe,
And the day of my bliss is come.
Then let them, like me, make ready their shrouds,
Nor shrink from the mortal strife,
And like me they shall sing, as to heaven they spring,
Death is not the end of life.

MENNO SIMONS, FUGITIVE LEADER

TO KNOW MENNO SIMONS was dangerous; to befriend him, deadly. For sheltering
Menno, Tjard Reynders was broken on the wheel. A ferryman was executed for bearing

81
Menno down the Meuse River. Surely Menno Simons must have been a desperate criminal for mere
accomplices to receive such stiff sentences!

Hardly! His "crime" was to interpret the Scriptures differently from his neighbors. He believed that only
those who had reached an age to understand their action should be baptized; that faith was worthless unless
demonstrated by works. For these two "heresies" a reward of 100 golden guilders was placed on his head
and he was harried from refuge to refuge through Northwest Europe.

A Troubled Dutch Priest

Menno's early career did not suggest his later notoriety. Born in the Netherlands a few years before Luther
posted his famous Ninety-Five Theses, he matured in an age of ferment. At his parents' wish he prepared for
the Roman Catholic priesthood. His studies grounded him in Greek and philosophy, but not the Bible. That
book he feared to open. Ordained when 28, he embarked upon a routine of masses, infant baptism, services
for the dead--not to mention drinking, card-playing and other frivolities. But reformation hovered in the air.

Outwardly conformed to his church, he struggled inwardly to believe that bread and wine became Christ's
literal body and blood. For two years he was in torment of mind. Finally, fearfully, he opened the Bible to
see what it said. To his dismay he found no direct support for this doctrine of transubstantiation. Now he was
in deeper distress than ever. To deny the doctrine of the church, he thought, was to incur sure damnation.
Yet if the Bible were God's Word . . . . In desperation he opened a forbidden work by Luther. No man could
be damned for violating the commands of men, said Luther. Relief flooded Menno's soul. He decided he
would trust the scripture.

Comfort in Conformity
Still he did not break with the church. Not for ten more years would he do that. Later he admitted that he had
enjoyed comforts too much to make the break. All the same he continued to read the Bible and acquired a
reputation as a good man and Bible preacher. But a new crisis was developing within him.

In 1525 a Zurich group concluded infants should not be baptized. Called Anabaptists (re-baptizers) they
faced immediate persecution. The whole of Europe, Catholic and Protestant Reformed, accepted infant
baptism. Sicke Freerks, an Anabaptist tailor, was beheaded for receiving re-baptism. His martyrdom shook
Menno. In Freerks he saw a man willing to die for his faith. Menno pored over his Bible, studying baptism,
and concluded the Anabaptists were right; but he did not join them.

Anabaptist Excesses
This is not surprising. Many peasants interpreted freedom of conscience as freedom from restraint. Under
the cloak of Anabaptist ideas, they revolted, seizing the city of Munster. After a cruel siege they were
massacred. Europe's rulers, fearing an uprising of the lower classes, hounded all Anabaptists as
insurrectionists.

Menno preached against the errors of the Anabaptist revolutionaries. Yet he knew himself a hypocrite,
without the strength of spirit to deter others from joining violent sects. Tragedy finally precipitated his break
with Rome.

Taking a Stand
A group of radicals took up swords and occupied an old cloister where they were eventually massacred by
troops. Menno's conscience smote him. These men were willing to die for a lie while he, Menno, would not
suffer for truth. He fell to his knees, pleading for forgiveness, and rose, determined to preach unadulterated
truth. For nine months he spoke boldly from his pulpit before voluntarily resigning his priesthood.

Then for a year he lived in seclusion, studying the Bible, until brethren begged him to shepherd them. After
a severe struggle within himself, for he guessed what he must suffer, he agreed. It was a fateful decision.
Decent Anabaptists from Northern Europe noted his common sense and turned to him. He kept the
movement from degenerating into fanatical cults. Traders and tinkers took up his teaching and it spread.

Menno a Hunted Outlaw

Charles V offered 100 guilders for Menno's capture, forbade the reading of his works, and made it illegal to
aid or shelter him. Menno's followers were to be arrested. Criminals were offered pardon if only they would
betray him.
82
Menno lived on the run, unable to find in all the country a hut "in which my poor wife and our little children
could be put up in safety for a year or two." Two of his three children died before him. Friends were slain.
Men he had succored turned against him over doctrinal differences.

In spite of these woes, Menno continued to lead his people. He wrote simple books to meet their spiritual
needs. Unlike others who bore the name Anabaptist, his followers remained law abiding. Eventually the
authorities saw the distinction and named his followers Mennonites.

Menno's wife died. He became crippled, hobbling with a crutch. Yet he labored for Christ, urging others to
repent and lead pure lives. He renounced war, called for separation of church and state, and pleaded for
freedom of conscience. All people must accept Christ's sovereignty and the church must be a faithful witness
for Christ.

Menno died in 1561, having eluded capture to the end. Not a great theologian, he was nonetheless a man of
powerful influence, for he lived as he preached. Authorities largely agree he steered the Dutch and nearby
German Anabaptists from fanaticism and disintegration. His ideas survive with the Mennonites, Amish and
Hutterites, and influenced other Protestants such as the Baptists.

In HIS OWN WORDS: MENNO Simons on the NEW BIRTH

Do you suppose, dear friends, that the new birth consists of nothing but in that which the miserable world
hitherto has thought that it consists in, namely, to be plunged into the water; or in the saying, "I baptize thee
in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost"? No, dear brother, no. The new birth
consists, verily, not in water nor in words; but it is the heavenly, living, and quickening power of God in our
hearts which flows forth from God, and which by the preaching of the divine Word, if we accept it by faith,
quickens, renews, pierces, and converts our hearts, so that we are changed and converted from unbelief to
faith, from unrighteousness to righteousness, from evil to good, from carnality to spirituality, from the
earthly to the heavenly, from the wicked nature of Adam to the good nature of Jesus Christ.

Baptists and Anabaptists: What's the Difference?

They are two separate and distinct movements but share some common convictions such as the rejection of
infant baptism and separation of church and state. The Anabaptists had their beginnings in the early 1520s in
Zurich, Switzerland, as a splinter group from Zwingli's reform movement there. The modern Baptists began
in England in 1609 under John Smyth (c. 1554-1612). Some of them sought refuge in Holland in their early
years and came into direct contact with Anabaptists there, and these Baptists were no doubt influenced by
them to some degree. However the two movements remain distinct to this day.

83
Fascinating Facts
 Anabaptists and Mennonites offered such powerful witness at their executions that these were
increasingly carried on in secret with the martyrs gagged. Since some managed to free their tongues
a clamp was placed over their tongue and the tip burned so it could not slip back through the vise.
 Because Mennonites stressed that one's life must show the results of one's conversion, many
descendants, lacking the original fire, became legalistic.
 Baron Bartholomew von Ahlefeldt of Denmark, deeply impressed by Mennonite faith under
persecution, opened his lands to their refugees. When the King of Denmark urged him to expel
them, he refused. Menno was one of those who took refuge on the baron's lands.
 One of the radicals killed at the Old Cloister was Peter Simons, believed to have been Menno's
brother. This would help explain the soul-shaking effect the massacre had on Menno.
 Menno's last years were troubled by the question of shunning (excommunication) on which he urged
moderation. Deep divisions threatened the Mennonites. So troubled was Menno, he said only God's
grace prevented him from losing his reason. "There is nothing on earth I love so much as the church;
yet just in respect to her I must suffer this great sorrow."
 Menno held semipublic debates with Reformed and Lutheran leaders and also wrote books showing
in what particulars his beliefs differed from theirs.
 About 30 of Menno Simons' writings survive as well as several letters. His books include Christian
Baptism, The True Christian Faith, and The Cross of the Saints. One 10-page work bears the
haunting title: A Pathetic Supplication to All Magistrates and pleads for kindness toward his
persecuted people.

FRANCOIS FÉNELON
HOW WOULD YOU REACT if your uninsured home burned down and you lost all your
tools and your work? In 1697 the episcopal palace at Cambrai burnt to the ground. This was a
cruel blow to archbishop Francois Fénelon. Lost in the blaze were his precious library and
the manuscripts on which he was working. His friend, Abbé Langeron, found Fénelon in
calm conversation. Tactfully he started to break the news to him. But Fénelon had heard
already. "I had rather that the fire had seized my house than a poor man's cottage," he replied.
To understand this magnificent reply, we must turn back the pages of his life.

Fénelon was born in 1651, heir to seven centuries of noble ancestry. At a young age he
submitted to Christ. After that his one aim was to be like Jesus. "Let me follow in thy
footsteps, O Jesus! I would imitate thee, but cannot without the aid of thy grace!" He trained
at the seminary of Saint-Sulpice. Full of zeal, he wanted to carry the gospel to the Native
Americans, but his superiors said no; nor would they let him go to Greece. Fénelon obeyed, reasoning that if
the Lord controls the details of our lives, the legitimate commands of superiors are his orders.

Assigned to Paris to educate young Huguenot girls, Fénelon lovingly studied the children and sought the
best methods of instructing them. He wrote a book on his methods Instructions for the Education of a
Daughter, which might well have been subtitled Persuasion rather than force. Its kindly advice was much in
advance of the era and showed a real knowledge of children. Everyone spoke of the author as a man with
grace beyond his years. Bishop Bossuet took notice of him. Fénelon became a favorite of Madame de
Maintenon, Louis XIV's wife.

King Louis, powerful and despotic, ordered Fénelon to the Huguenot districts of Poitou and Saintonge to
convert the Calvinists back to the Catholic faith. Fénelon set two conditions; he must be allowed to select the
missionaries who went with him, and the dragoons who tormented the Huguenots must be withdrawn. "The
work of God is not effected in the heart by force; that is not the true spirit of the Gospel."

Louis agreed but urged Fénelon to take guards. Catholic violence against the Huguenots and revocation of
their rights had aroused their fury.

84
"Sire," replied Fénelon, "ought a missionary to fear danger?. . . I would rather perish by the hands of my
mistaken brethren than see one of them exposed to the inevitable violence of the military." Fénelon's
behavior converted many Huguenots and forged him a national reputation.

Tutor to a Little Terror

Louis assigned him a more daunting task: preceptor to the duke of Burgundy, heir to the throne. Fénelon
undertook the Duke's education with his habitual carefulness. The Duke was notorious for rages. Fénelon
ordered that the child be ignored during these fits. He impressed upon the boy how silly he appeared to
others and appealed to his pride. By treating the lad with firmness, patience, and love he tamed him.

Imagine having a teacher who wrote books just for you. Fénelon wrote his pupil a novel, Télémaque. Its hero
experienced many adventures which taught kingly behavior. The Duke developed deep love for Fénelon.
Pupil and teacher were soon separated, however.

Madame Guyon, a widow thirsting to know Christ, taught that we should abandon ourselves completely to
God. Fénelon sympathized and became her close friend. Bishop Bossuet condemned Guyon and demanded
Fénelon do the same. Since Guyon's principle fault was some exaggeration of language, and because he
owed much of his own spiritual development to Guyon, Fénelon refused. Instead he compiled The Maxims
of the Saints, which showed that saints of all eras had held views similar to Madame Guyon's.

Louis developed a dislike for Fénelon, whose spirituality grated upon his materialism. Using the Guyon
controversy as an excuse, Louis banished Fénelon to Cambrai. The King forbade the Duke of Burgundy ever
to visit his teacher or even to receive letters from him.

The King did not stop at separating the two. With the aid of Bossuet, who was jealous of Fénelon, he sought
to brand him a heretic. At this critical moment, Fenelon's unpublished novel Télémaque was betrayed to
Louis. It fixed the King's enmity; Fenelon's utopian advice directly opposed the principles on which Louis
was busily ruining France.

After much arm twisting, Louis forced the pope to issue a mild rebuke of a few passages in the Maxims. The
news reached the author as he prepared to preach a sermon. Briefly he buried his face in his hands. Then he
rose, changed his text and preached that we must yield to the legitimate decisions of our superiors. Today
Fénelon's writings are reckoned by Protestant and Catholic alike as among the finest ever penned.

Until death, Fénelon showed himself a hardworking archbishop. No one was ordained in his diocese until
personally interviewed by the archbishop several times. His fame increased. So highly was he regarded that
during the wars of succession over the Spanish crown, both sides protected him. He walked the battlefields
succoring friend and foe alike.

During those wars, Fénelon proved his mettle again. Louis was desperate for grain. Fénelon sent the King
his own large store and refused a penny in return. Such was his revenge.

How would you react if you lost your treasures in a fire? Fénelon responded as he had all his life, accepting
his loss joyfully as from the hand of the Lord. He even exceeded all expectation and rebuilt the episcopal
palace at his own expense.

FRED'S FRIEND FENELON

1. The Presence precedes the plan.

For years younger people have asked me how they could know God's plan for their life. While reading
Fénelon and other saints, I find they are not concerned with that question. Their concern is not with the plan
but with the Presence. When we have a guide, we don't need a map. Without the Presence we attempt work
for God instead of letting God work through us. Fénelon said: Put aside your self-interest and simply let
God's will unfold around you. Everything he does for you is for your good. Worship him without having to
know and see everything. Continue doing the good things that you do since you feel that you should and you
can do them so easily. Be careful that all your extra energy does not lead you into trouble and, above all, live
in the present moment and God will give you all the grace you need. He continues, Live your daily life out
in the presence of God. He will give you all that you need. God's glory and his purpose are the end of all
things. You will find happiness and salvation there but not as an end in itself. It is all for God.
85
2. Self-love is subtle.
"You will be tempted to speak out in a humble tone of voice to tell others of your problems. Watch out for
this. A humility that is still talkative does not run very deep. When you talk too much, your self-love relieves
his sense of shame a little."

Fénelon goes on to say: "Self love is proud of its spiritual accomplishments. You must lose everything to
find God for himself alone. You won't begin to let go of yourself until you have been thrown off a cliff. He
takes away to give back in a better way." "Self-interest and pride cause you to reject the gifts of God,
because they do not come in a way that suits your taste. He asks for nothing but death, and you desire
nothing but life." "Selfishly loving yourself shunts your spirit. You put yourself in a straitjacket when you
are enclosed in self. When you come out of that prison you experience how immense God is and how he set
his children free. Be humble. Do not trust the old nature."

He probes even deeper: So to strip self-love of its mask is the most humiliating punishment that can be
inflicted. You see that you are no longer as wise, patient, polite, self-possessed, and courageous in
sacrificing yourself for others as you had imagined. You are no longer fed by the belief that you need
nothing. . . . You no longer think that your greatness and generosity deserve a better name than self-love.
However, you are further tormented because you also weep and rage that you have cried at all. What your
old nature fears the most is necessary for its destruction.

3. Suffering is useful.
Fénelon speaks of suffering as God's exercise program, his gymnasium: Suffering is necessary for all of us.
You will be purified by dying to see your own desires and will. Let yourself die. You have excellent
opportunities for this to happen. Don't waste them. . . . God never makes you suffer unnecessarily. He
intends for your suffering to heal and purify you. The hand of God hurts you as little as it can. The yoke that
God gives is easy to bear if you accept it without struggling to escape.

4. One test of relation with God is peace.

Fénelon recommended Guyon: "Encourage peace, become deaf to your overactive imagination. Your
spinning imagination will harm your health and make your spiritual life very dry. You worry yourself sick
for no good reason. Inner peace and the sweet presence of God are chased away by restlessness."

Or, consider, "Peace and comfort are to be found only in simple obedience. Remain at peace, for peace is
what God wants for you no matter what is happening. There is in fact a peace of conscience which sinners
should enjoy as they are repenting. Suffering should be peaceful and tempered with God's comfort."

And regarding the future: "Live in peace without worrying about the future. Unnecessary worrying and
imagining the worst possible scenario will strangle your faith."

He warned "there never is peace in resisting God . . . . Allow yourself to be humble. If you are silent and
peaceful when humiliating things happen to you, you will grow in grace." And "The point of trusting God is
not to do great things that you can feel good about, but to trust God from a place of deep weakness. Here's a
way to know if you are actually trusting God with something. You will not think about the matter any longer
nor will you feel a lack of peace."

5. Silence brings blessings.

Fénelon: "Try to practice silence as much as general courtesy permits. Silence encourages God's presence,
prevents harsh words, and causes you to be less likely to say something you will regret. Silence also helps
you put space between you and the world. Out of the silence that you cultivate you will get strength to meet
your needs."

6. Growth and change are the work of the cross.

Fénelon has helped me to think of the work of the cross--redemption--as the constant tension of growth and
change as the old nature gives way to the new. It is a process that starts with the new birth and ends at the
close of our earthly journey, by which time we are hopefully more mature in the likeness of Christ.

Fénelon said to Mme. Guyon, "Bear your cross. Do you know what this means? Learn to see yourself as you
are and accept your weakness until it pleases God to heal you. If you die a little every day of your life, you
won't have too much to worry about on your final day."
86
Then with assurance he says, "You and I are nothing without the cross. I agonize and cry when the cross is
working within me, but when it is over I look back in admiration for what God has accomplished. Of course
I am then ashamed I bore it so poorly."

7. The focused life is the simple life.

"Our hidden agendas can poison the simplicity of a situation. The desire to do a work for God is simple
enough, but I greatly complicate it when I add the hidden agenda of wanting to be recognized and
appreciated while doing it."

8. Give grace to yourself and others.

I can almost hear Fénelon say, "Lighten up." He wrote: "Do not be surprised to find yourself overly
sensitive, impatient, proud, and self-willed. Realize that this is your natural disposition. Bear with yourself,
but do not flatter yourself into thinking you are better than you are but wait on God's timing to transform it.
Stop at once when your activities become too hurried."

Madame Guyon, a rich and beautiful widow and close friend of Fénelon, woke many souls
to share her love for God. For this she was vilified, harassed, imprisoned, and her writings
condemned. Fénelon stood by her at great personal cost.

87
 SOME FARSIGHTED ONES
THE SERAMPORE COMPACT --A
SMALL COMMUNITY, A SIMPLE
CONCEPT, A SPIRITUAL
COMMITMENT, A SALUATORY
CONTRIBUTION
WE DEVOTE this issue to William Carey and the Serampore
community compact. This is in celebration of the completion of the most
difficult project we have ever undertaken at Christian History Institute,
the making of a full dramatic film on Carey and the Serampore mission, titled Candle in the Dark. Pictures
in this issue are from the film.

The new community gathers under Danish protect ion. Left to right – William Carey, teachers Hannah and
Joshua Marshman, printer William Ward, and Dorothy Carey.

What a community and mission!

They founded 26 churches and 126 rural schools for boys and girls. They were the first in India to promote
education for women. They oversaw Bible translations in over 35 languages, more than had been done in all
previous Christian history. They founded the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India, established the
first Bengali newspaper, sparked the Bengali Renaissance, and were instrumental in achieving the
banishment of the age-old practice of sati -- the burning alive of widows on their husbands’ funeral pyre.
From this communal life, Carey has become known as the “Father of Modern Missions.” Their story
demonstrates some basics well worth considering. For example:

 God often sees fit to use unknown and seemingly insignificant people to fulfill his purposes and
advance his work.
 A team approach with mutual accountability and submission can generate amazing results.
 Certain principles of missions have been learned in the past that can serve us well today.

The Serampore Compact on the next three pages is a condensation and paraphrase. The original is about
three times longer. If you would like a copy of the full original text, write us at CHI, address at bottom of
back page.

Our Agreement
These are the principles upon which we at the Mission at Serampore agreed as our calling and duty at our
meeting at Serampore, on Monday, October 7, 1805. We seriously intend to follow these points of
agreement and to keep them ever before our minds, so we will read them out publicly, at every station, at our
three annual meetings, on the first Lord's day in January, in May, and in October.

We are here by God's leading in a pagan land. This is God's work. He will accomplish his purposes, but we
must also cooperate and follow him in seeking the salvation of others. For our part there are certain
expectations that we think essential if we are to be effective servants here.

1. We set an infinite value on immortal souls. This means we need to remind ourselves often of the
dreadful future of those who die without knowing Christ. O may our hearts bleed over these poor
idolaters. May their situation be a continual weight on our minds so that we are like the Apostle
Paul, who compared his burden for those he was sent to reach for Christ with a woman going
88
 through labor pains until the baby is born. Yes, there is good reason to mourn for those we have
come here to reach. But we are not discouraged, for we think of our own nation and the pitiable,
pagan condition of our fellow British and Scottish countrymen before the Gospel found wide
acceptance in our country. And the gospel can triumph here as well and liberate those who are
slaves to superstition. We trust God's promises and look forward to the time not very distant when
God will famish all the gods of India and cause these idolaters to cast their idols to the moles and to
the bats and renounce forever the false gods they have made.
2. We must learn all we can about the pagan snares that delude the minds of the people. We need to
converse with them in an intelligible manner. So it is important to be acquainted with their modes of
thinking, their habits, what they like and don't like, how they think about God, sin, holiness, the way
of salvation. We need to know what their religion means to them and how they go about practicing it
if we are to communicate meaningfully with them and not seem to them like barbarians. So we must
talk with the people, read their books, and carefully study their way of life.
3. We must not do those things that would increase prejudice against the Gospel. There are things
about the British ways that repel them. We should be aware of them and avoid them. We would also
avoid every degree of cruelty to animals. And we should not begin by attacking their false gods, nor
try to physically destroy their pagan images, nor do anything to disrupt their worship. If the Gospel
is to prevail, it will be through love and exalting Jesus.
4. We eagerly seek for all opportunities to do good. A missionary would be highly culpable if he
contented himself with preaching two or three times a week to those persons whom he might be able
to get together into a place of worship. We must converse with the natives almost every hour in the
day, to go from village to village, from market to market, from one assembly to another, to talk to
servants, laborers, etc., as often as opportunity offers
5. We shall make the greatest subject of our preaching Christ crucified. It is a well-known fact that the
most successful missionaries in the world at the present day make the atonement of Christ their
continued theme. We mean the Moravians. They attribute all their success to the preaching of the
death of our Savior. So far as our experience goes in this work, we must freely acknowledge that
every Hindu among us who has been gained to Christ has been won by the astonishing and all-
constraining love exhibited in our Redeemer's propitiatory death.
6. We must do all we can to help the people here trust us and feel quite at home in our company. To
gain this confidence we must be always willing to hear their complaints; we must give them the
kindest advice, and we must decide upon everything brought before us in the most open, upright and
impartial manner. They need to feel that we are always available to them and consider them as our
equals.
7. We must pay careful attention to strengthen and guide those who do come to faith. We need to start
with the simple precepts of the faith and then to press the great principles of the Gospel upon the
minds of the converts till they be thoroughly settled and grounded in the foundation of their hope.
We must be willing to spend time with them daily, if possible, in this work. We must have much
patience with them, though they may grow very slowly in divine knowledge. We need to extend
practical help, too, and assist them to find jobs. Just as we seek to be good citizens here, even when
we are opposed, so we will teach the native brethren that they too should be good citizens and obey
the laws. We must be patient with the people here and when they fall to give them a helping hand
and show them how the Gospel calls us to a new way of life. We always need to remind ourselves
where they started from, the fierce grip in which they were held in superstition. Daylight doesn’t
come in an instant. They may fall many times, but we must not give up on them but patiently and
lovingly lead them on in the Lord as long as they are willing. And what a responsibility is upon us --
for what they will learn of Christ will be seen in us. We place the highest value and esteem upon the
important role of the women in our mission calling. They have a vital role in ministering to the
native women here just as women played an important part in the apostolic era. The Asiatic women
are mostly shut up from the men, and especially from men of another caste. So we must give our
European sisters all possible help in acquiring the language, that they may become instrumental in
promoting the salvation of the millions of native women who are in a great measure excluded from
all opportunities of hearing the word from the mouths of male European missionaries.
8. We must do all we can to help cultivate the gifts of our native brethren, fostering every kind of
genius, and cherishing every gift and grace with them. In this respect we can scarcely be too lavish
of our attention to their growth. It is only by means of native preachers that we can hope for the
universal spread of the Gospel throughout this immense continent. And we insist that as soon as
possible native churches should choose their own native pastors and leaders from among their own
countrymen. We foreigners need to get out of the way as soon as possible and as much as possible.
That does not mean we abandon them. No, we shall be available to help with problems as needed.
89
 But for the most part we will rejoice in seeing them take the reins themselves to oversee their own
churches, and that will free us up to take the Gospel to still more places that have not yet heard the
Word. We have thought it our duty not to change the names of native converts, observing from
Scripture that the Apostles did not change those of the first Christians turned from paganism. We
think it our duty to lead our brethren by example, by mild persuasion, and by opening and
illuminating their minds in a gradual way rather than the use of authoritative means. By this they
learn to see the evil of a custom, and then to despise and forsake it; whereas in cases where force is
used, though they may leave off that which is wrong while in our presence, yet not having seen the
evil of it, they are in danger of hypocrisy, and of doing that out of our presence which they will not
do in it.
9. We will labor with all our might in Bible translation in the various languages of this land. The help
which God has given already in this work is a loud call to us to "go forward." So far, therefore, as
God has qualified us to learn the languages, we consider it our sacred duty to apply ourselves with
all our strength in acquiring them. We consider the publication of the Divine Word throughout India
as an object which we ought never to give up till accomplished. The establishment of native-free
schools is also an object highly important to the future conquests of the Gospel.
10. We must be constant in prayer, and the cultivation of personal religion like missionary David
Brainerd, in the woods of America, pouring out his very soul before God for those without Christ,
without whose salvation nothing could make him happy. We will be fervent in spirit, wrestling with
God, till He famish the idols here and cause the unconverted to experience the blessedness that is in
Christ.
11. And last-- we give ourselves up unreservedly to this glorious cause. Let us never think that our time,
our gifts, our strength, our families, or even the clothes we wear, are our own. Let us sanctify
ourselves for His work. We are not going to build up any large retirement fund or estate to leave to
our children. None of us are here for their own preferences and desires. We are accountable to one
another. We are committed to sharing all of our resources for the good of our community. To
maintain our unity we renounce a worldly spirit, quarrels and every evil work. We are ready to bear
hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ and endeavor to learn in every state to be content. We
belong to God. He will take care of us. We live together and for each other under God. But no
family living only for its own well being and interest ever enjoyed a greater portion of happiness,
even in the most invigorating gale of worldly prosperity, than we have found since we resolved to
have all things in common, and agreed that no one should pursue his business for his own exclusive
advantage. If we are enabled to persevere in the same principles, we may hope that multitudes of
converted souls will have reason to bless God to all eternity for sending His Gospel into this
country.

The small mission community met every Saturday evening. That was the time to bring up any grievances or
conflicts. Save them for Saturday. And if you did not bring up your grievances at the Saturday meeting, then
let go of them.

90
 THE SPIRIT, REVIVAL, AND CHANGE
IN SOCIETY
FROM TIME TO TIME the church has experienced great outpourings of the Holy
Spirit. Lives are dramatically changed. Society itself is vitally affected. American
colonial theologian Jonathan Edwards, perhaps the greatest author ever on
revivals, observed: Sometimes the light comes in suddenly, sometimes more
gradually, filling their souls with love, admiration, joy and self-abasement:
drawing forth their hearts after the excellent, lovely Redeemer, and longings to lie
in the dust before him; and that others might behold, embrace and be delivered by
him. They had longings to live to his glory but were sensible that they can do
nothing of themselves, appearing vile in their own eyes. . . . And all the
appearances of a real change of heart have followed.

When the Spirit Convicts

Saloon owners in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania were furious. Their business had dropped 40 -- in some cases
70 -- percent.

Cab drivers also were unhappy. Fares to the red light district were down -- way down. In fact, two
whorehouses had shut down and their “workers” left town for lack of trade.

Grocers could have been unhappy, too. Their stores were bare of shoppers. Everyone seemed more keen on
attending meetings than on buying food. Strangely, however, money was still flowing in. Patron after patron
appeared, dollars in hand, apologizing for unpaid debts (some of them legally uncollectable) or
shamefacedly admitting to thefts for which they now made restitution.

What was going on? Since Billy Sunday had come into town, preaching revival, these peculiar
manifestations of honesty and reductions in vice were taking place. And not only in Wilkes-Barre. When
Billy appeared in South Bend, Indiana, the Tribune recorded similar phenomena. It was the same in Decatur,
Illinois and New Castle, Pennsylvania -- everywhere that Billy preached.

Indeed, the phenomena were not peculiar to Billy Sunday's ministry. They have been seen over and over.

Consider Wales in 1905. Welsh miners, usually a tough and troublesome lot, weren't their usual selves.
Cardiff's jail sat empty. On New Year's Week in Swansea not a single person was arrested for drunkenness.
Everywhere shopkeepers were astounded--people were returning stolen goods. The courts were able to clear
their dockets. Police had nothing to do. What had happened? Evan Roberts had led a revival which flowed
like wind from community to community.

In Zaire (then called the Belgian Congo), an early result of a 1956 revival was, again, that people became
conscious of old debts and thefts and made them good. Weeping could be heard in the dark hours of the
night as souls under conviction sorrowed for their sins. Men came to other men and fell on their knees,
asking to be forgiven for wrongs they had said and done.

When a Canadian revival in 1972 overflowed into Ohio, one store manager in Mansfield was perplexed.
“Something is going on in this town,” he said to a woman who brought in money to pay for an article for
which she'd not been charged. “You're the sixteenth person to come in and do the same thing.” A
businessman drove 500 miles in one day to right false claims and repay customers he had overcharged. The
revival saw youth escape drugs and spouses repair broken homes.

Improvements in morals seem inevitable when the Spirit of God comes. Historians noted a great moral
improvement after the Second Great Awakening in America. Obvious sins such as drunkenness, frivolities,
and blasphemy declined. But revival went further. Americans woke to the need for religious education.
Several colleges and seminaries were established. Among them was Oberlin.

91
Political history itself has hinged on revival. When Wesley began seriously to preach in 1739, England was
in a bad way. Social disruption fostered by the industrial revolution threatened an upheaval not unlike the
later bloody French Revolution. Famed historian Lecky, no friend of the Methodists, wrote that the new
religious movement helped prevent a bloodbath in England.

On Alor in Indonesia, the gospel overcame centuries of enmity when the people of the Big Mountain and the
people of the Little Mountain agreed to erect a church on a site where they had previously fought battles.
Murderous enmity yielded to love.

Is Revival for Real?

Just as happened repeatedly in the book of Acts, whenever the Holy Spirit comes in power there are scoffers
and opponents. Jonathan Edwards was concerned to discern what is a genuine work of the Spirit and what is
not. In his The Distinguishing Marks of the Work of the Spirit of God he gives guidelines. He details how a
spiritual revival cannot be dismissed as spurious if the work is:

 Very unusual or strange. Don't limit God where he has not limited himself.
 There are strong bodily manifestations, including tears, trembling groans, etc. It doesn't prove
anything either way. We are human and momentous events will inevitably express themselves in
bodily response.
 There is a great deal of noise and commotion about religion. Why be surprised when the most
important things of all, that have been neglected, are rediscovered and that they should cause some
considerable stir.
 Great impressions made upon the imaginations of people. Why not? We are dealing with things
invisible and we have to work with our imaginations as well as our hearts and minds.
 Great imprudences and irregularities in conduct. We are dealing with weak human beings. There
always are excesses. Look at the church at Corinth.
 Errors in judgment and delusions of Satan. Yes, any time there is a great work of God, Satan will do
his best to oppose.
 Some fall away. Yes, but because there are counterfeits, that does not mean there is not the true.

Edward's Positive Distinguishing Marks

1. Jesus Christ as God come in the flesh is exalted.
2. Sinful and worldly lusts are replaced by godly desires and aspirations.
3. An increased regard for the Holy Scriptures.
4. The Holy Spirit works to lead and guide people into truth.
5. The Spirit of love increases--love to others and love of God--a love accompanied by humility.

Christian History Matters--It Sent this Judge to Jail

This issue of Glimpses was developed after considerable nagging by our friend in
court, Judge Bob Downing, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The good judge sees the
devastating effects of lives shattered from crime every working day, so he has been
insistent that we devote an issue to showing how the gospel and revival have made a
tangible difference in society even to the point of demonstrably lowering the crime
rate, while raising the moral climate.

Downing's own spiritual life was turned around by discovering Christian history some
years ago. He started ordering our historical video dramas on lives of John Wycliffe
and William Tyndale, and reading Christian History magazine and Glimpses. The judge was arrested, so to
speak, by the courage of the great historical figures of the faith to confront the desperate needs of their world
and, by God's grace, to make a difference. Bob Downing knew there was more he could be doing. He started
visiting prisons. As a judge he was required to apply the law and sentence offenders to time behind bars. As
a Christian he went behind those same bars to show the way of grace and forgiveness so offenders could find
a new life and not return to prison. He also ministered to the offenders' families along with other kinds of
outreach. In addition to his ministry of compassion, he is also a teacher. Presently he is conceptualizing
educational seminars for fellow judges and lawyers to demonstrate to them the Christian roots of our judicial

92
concepts and system, in danger now of being obfuscated and lost. Here is one judge who knows that
Christian history matters.

After Effects

 After the Welsh revival commenced, mules in the mines no longer knew whether
to pull or stop, turn left or right. Used to kicks, floggings, and curses, they did not
immediately comprehend prayers and pats.
 After the 1801 Cane Ridge Revival in Kentucky, churches expelled members who
persisted in sin. Among the sins for which a person could be thrown out were
alcoholism, sexual immorality, abuse of slaves and swearing. Since the church was
often the center of frontier community life, the threat of expulsion carried
considerable clout.
 The German Pietist August Hermann Francke urged converts to demonstrate faith
through acts of love. Noting that unemployment often fostered crime, he
encouraged the wealthy to establish institutions and programs for the jobless and
homeless.
 William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, collected 390,000 signatures in his effort to obtain
legislation to end the forced prostitution of 13-16 year old girls in London.

A Leaping Flame
The connections in Christian history are often fascinating. The Moravians experienced an outpouring of the
Holy Spirit in the community in Herrnhut, Germany in August 1727. It led to the launch of one of the most
significant worldwide missionary efforts ever. Their first missionaries went to the West Indies to minister to
slaves, willing to become slaves themselves, if necessary, to reach those in dismal servitude. It was the
Moravians who so influenced John Wesley and led to his life-changing “heart strangely warmed” Aldersgate
experience, from which the Methodist movement exploded. Methodism became the spiritual parent of
William Booth and the Salvation Army, bringing Christian compassion to the most desperate and hopeless.
The Wesleyan revival was also the spiritual forerunner of the modern Pentecostal and Charismatic renewals.
And the beat goes on.

Where the YMCA got its C

In 1844 George Williams, appalled at the degradation of working men in cities and moved by the teachings
of the revivalist Charles Finney, pulled twelve men together for prayer. Soon they and like-minded
individuals formed an organization which gathered rootless young men by the thousands, men who in many
cases were sinking into vice and crime, and rechanneled their energies into innocent sports and devotional
exercises. No statistics can ever be compiled to show what the Young Men's Christian Association meant for
improved families and reduced crime rates. By the time of William's death, the YMCA had over 150,000
members in Britain and 500,000 in America. For over 100 years the Y had a strong evangelistic influence on
young men around the world with such leaders within its ranks as missionary statesman John R. Mott and
evangelist Dwight L. Moody.

DAVID LIVINGSTONE -- EXPLORER

EXTRAORDINARY"COMPELLED BY THE
LOVE OF CHRIST"
WHEN SOMEONE ASKED David Livingstone why he became a missionary to Africa, he
replied, "I was compelled by the love of Christ." A medical doctor, missionary, preacher,
African explorer, humanitarian, and fighter against the slave trade, David Livingstone went
fearlessly to places other outsiders had never gone and, from the obscurity of the remote African interior,
became one of the most celebrated heroes of his era.

Born into a poor family of five children in Blantyre, Scotland, young David went to work at age 10. After
working a 14-hour day at a cotton factory spinning jenny, he would go to night school for two more hours.

93
With his first week's wages he bought a Latin text and propped it on his machine so he could study while
working.

Before he was 21, he had committed his life to Christ as a medical missionary. He studied medicine and
theology in Glasgow, and at 27 he was sent by the London Missionary Society to South Africa as both a
doctor and an ordained minister. Arriving in l841 he trekked north 600 miles to Kuruman, thus beginning a
life of walking that would take him more than 29,000 miles back and forth across Africa's vast interior. At
Kuruman, he served in the station of the noted missionary Robert Moffat.

Once, when natives at the mission were losing cattle to lions, Livingstone fired on an attacking male lion
which "caught me by the shoulder as he sprang, and we both came to the ground together. Growling horribly
close to my ear, he shook me as a terrier does a rat." Distracted by the natives, the lion suddenly fell over
dead from the bullet that had found its mark. Livingstone carried the lion's tooth scars on his shoulder the
rest of his life. After his recovery he married Moffat's daughter, Mary, with whom he would eventually have
six children.

Finding His Calling

For the next 10 years Livingstone was a traditional missionary. He wrote enthusiastically: "I am a
missionary.... In this service I hope to live; in it I wish to die." But Livingstone soon found God leading him
in a different direction. Frustrated over lack of converts, and after several failed efforts to set up mission
stations, he concluded that God's purpose for his life was to use his talents to explore and map the vast
African heartland -- to open up "God's Highway" which would bring "Christianity, commerce, and
civilization" and put an end to the Arab slave trade.

In l852, after sending his wife and children to England, Livingstone started exploration, becoming the first
European to go across Africa from West to East. It was on this trip that he discovered what the natives called
mosi oa tunya – “The smoke [mist] that roars” where the Zambezi plunges over the edge of a huge fissure in
the earth to form one of the world's most beautiful spectacles. He named it Victoria Falls after British Queen
Victoria. Returning to a hero's welcome in England in l856, Livingstone was given an audience with Queen
Victoria. She laughed when he told her of the African chief who, in trying to estimate her wealth, had asked:
“How many cows does she have?”

In l857, Livingstone withdrew from the London Missionary Society due to honest differences over whether
a missionary should stay in one place or should be allowed to travel and explore. In the same year,
Livingstone published Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa and somewhat later Narrative of
an Expedition to the Zambezi and its Tributaries. The next year, he launched his ill-fated Zambezi
Expedition. The plan was to go upriver in a steamboat, The Ma Robert, and establish a mission above
Victoria Falls. Everything went wrong. Livingstone's wife and others died on the trip, the steamboat leaked
and was finally blocked at a 30-foot waterfall. Livingstone changed plans, sailing up the Shire River to Lake
Nyasa until England terminated the expedition.

Search for the Source

In 1858, the Royal Geographical Society sent Livingstone to find the source of the Nile. Three years earlier,
explorer John Speke had reported the source was Lake Victoria [he was right]. But Livingstone and the
Society believed other lakes to the south had outlets flowing north into Lake Victoria. At age 52,
Livingstone set sail for Africa on what was to be his last journey. He started inland with 60 porters, most of
whom quickly deserted him. He pressed on, searching without success for 7 years. By 1871, Livingstone had
reached the Lualaba river, headwaters of the Congo, which he mistakenly thought to be the Nile. At
Nyangwe he saw Arab slave traders massacre between 300 and 400 Africans. Sick at heart and in body, he
retraced his steps to Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika. For almost five years the world had not heard from him.
Then, the New York Herald sent Henry Stanley, a tough journalist, to find him and the story.

On November 10, l871, Stanley marched into Ujiji, and when the famous explorer came out to meet him,
Stanley responded with what has become one of history's most famous greetings: “Dr. Livingstone, I
presume?” Refreshed with medicine and supplies, Livingstone became Stanley's close friend but refused to
return to the coast with him, saying his work was not done. In 1872, newly outfitted with over 50 porters
sent from the coast by Stanley, Livingstone set out once again to find the Nile's source, but he became so
weak he had to be carried on a litter. One morning, aides found him dead in his grass hut, kneeling in prayer
by his bed. His faithful porters buried his heart at the foot of a giant tree, mummified his body, and carried it
94
for nearly 1,000 miles to the coast, then sailed for London. There his remains were easily identified by the
old lion wound on the shoulder. He was entombed in Westminster Abbey where his epitaph reads:

Brought by faithful hands over land and sea, here rests David Livingstone, missionary, traveler,
philanthropist, born March 19, 1813, at Blantyre, Lanarkshire, died May 1, 1873, at Chitambo’s village,
Ulala. Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring (John 10:16).

An Amazing Influence
Livingstone's example has inspired tens of thousands of Christians everywhere, and influenced hundreds
more to become missionaries. Famous gospel pioneers such as Alexander Mackay (Uganda), Melvin Fraser
(Cameroon), Mary Slessor (Nigeria), were all touched by Livingstone's life and led to follow his trails. But
the world is equally indebted to Livingstone for his relentless attack on slavery. He was the first European to
traverse the interior where he constantly passed slave caravans of up to 1,000 slaves tied together with neck
yokes or leg irons, carrying ivory or other heavy loads, marching single file 500 miles down to the sea. Men
or women slaves who complained about their load were promptly speared to death and left by the wayside.
One could trace the trail of a slave caravan by the vultures and hyenas that feasted on the corpses it left
behind. Livingstone wrote of the slave trade: To overdraw its evils is a simple impossibility.... We passed a
woman tied by the neck to a tree and dead.... We came upon a man dead from starvation.... I passed a slave
woman shot or stabbed through the body.... The strangest disease I have seen in this country seems really to
be brokenheartedness, and it attacks free men who have been captured and made slaves. Livingstone
estimated that 80,000 died each year, during capture or on the journey from the interior before ever reaching
the auction blocks of Zanzibar. Once, after walking 120 miles near Lake Nyasa, he was shocked not to see a
single human being, so thoroughly had the land been depopulated by the slave trader whom he described as
"a monster brooding over Africa."

A Dream Fulfilled
Livingstone's personal and public letters, combined with those of other missionaries, ignited a public outcry
for Parliament to stop the slave trade on the high seas. When Livingstone parted with Stanley, he sent a letter
to be published describing the massacres of Africans by Arab slave traders at Nyangwe. He said that if his
writings should lead to the suppression of the terrible Ujijian slave trade: "I shall regard that as a greater
matter by far than the discovery of all the Nile sources together." This fondest dream of Livingstone was
indeed realized. Although he never found the source of the Nile, his ongoing journalistic attack of the slave
trade had begun to bear fruit even before his death. In 1871, Livingstone's and others' antislavery protests
spurred the House of Commons to action. A month after Livingstone died, England threatened a naval
blockade of Zanzibar which forced the Sultan to close its slave market forever.

Livingstone's Example Continues to Influence

This issue of Glimpses was primarily written by Dr. Gordon Severance and provides another example of
how a love of Christian history radically affects one's practical Christian life. Dr. Severance is husband of
Dr. Diana Severance, a regular writer for Glimpses. This near eighty-year-old retired lawyer is a marvel! Co-
author of a standard college textbook on business law, Severance has devoted his retirement years to
advancing Christian missions. Christian History Institute is indebted to him as he was the one who goaded,
gave his time sacrificially, and muscled us into sticking with the most difficult project we ever undertook,
our full-length film drama, Candle in the Dark, on the life of William Carey, the “Father of Modern
Missions.” Severance served on this film as everything from errand boy, fund raiser, international diplomatic
negotiator, executive producer-India, to premiere showings organizer. His mother, raised in Turkey by
missionary parents, read to him about David Livingstone when he was a small boy. He never forgot the
movie on Livingstone that he saw as a youth with Spencer Tracy and Frederick March as lead actors. His
father had Stanley's In Darkest Africa in his library, which Gordon devoured as a youth.

It was Severance who was chosen to go to Uganda to teach constitutional law as a Fullbright scholar at
Makerere University in Kampala and to advise the Ugandan Constitutional Commission in their drafting of a
new constitution that would avoid the tragic perversions of their former leader and one of history's worst
despots, Idi Amin. During that tenure in Africa, as well as on his other trips there, Severance would study
and follow the journeys of Livingstone, including rafting down the Zambezi river. He also scaled Mt.
Kilamanjaro (19,300 feet). But legal beagle Severance (who some of our staff at Christian History Institute
affectionately refer to as our "Texas Tiger" -- as he now lives in Texas and loves tigers) did more than study.
He considered that if Livingstone in his day could build medical clinics to serve African people, then why
couldn't he today? He selected a location where only shortly before Idi Amin and Milton Obote's men had

95
massacred between 500,000 and 800,000 men, women, and children and there built a nearly 2,000 square
foot clinic to minister to the needy population. That clinic has now treated over 30,000 people and delivered
over 5,000 babies. Severance ponders: "How pleased Livingstone must be to see the fruit of his Christian
influence in the schools, churches, and, yes, even the clinics like this one in his beloved Africa."

A Ready Worker

 Young David Livingstone was such a faithful and

valued worker in the cotton mill that his employer
agreed to let him work six months and then attend
medical school six months.
 In his explorations, Livingstone was expert at
"shooting the sun" to determine his geographical
longitude and latitude, and on his explorations
always sketched detailed maps --he was the "Kit
Carson" of Africa.

On November 10, l871, Stanley marched into Ujiji, and when Livingstone came out to meet him, Stanley
responded with what has become one of history's most famous greetings: “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”

BOB CHILDRESS: THE MAN

WHO TAMED THE BUFFALO
AMERICAN HISTORY is replete with unknown pastor heroes who braved the
wilderness and brought the light of the gospel to wild and brutal areas. One fascinating
example is mountain man Bob Childress.

Buffalo Mountain in Virginia's Blue Ridge rises to 3972 feet, a thousand feet above the
surrounding hills. The early settlers thought the summit looked like a charging buffalo,
with its head lowered and its hump bulging. The early settlers on the Buffalo were
Scotch-Irish, but the God-fearing ways of those earliest pioneers had long died out on the
mountain. There were few roads, and those living on the mountains had no schools and often no churches.
They lived the lives of remote pioneers, even retaining some of the early English speech Shakespeare would
have recognized -- saying sallet for salad, sech for such, and being afeard rather than afraid.

Everyone who lived on the Buffalo and the surrounding region was desperately poor. Besides a few
vegetables, some chickens, hogs, and a couple of cows, the people grew apples and corn. Brandy made from
the apples and whiskey from the corn was easy to transport across the mountains to sell. Most families had
their own stills, and drunkenness was rampant on the mountains.

Tough Start
Bob Childress' family, which lived in The Hollow across from the Buffalo, was poorer than most. Born
January 19, 1890, when a mountain blizzard was howling across the mountains, Bob grew up in a one-room
cabin with his four brothers and four sisters. His earliest memory was from the Christmas he was three. He
got drunk and woke up with a hangover the next morning. The grownups told him it was fine to be drunk;
they thought being drunk made life bearable. Both of Bob's parents drank heavily; they also quarreled
constantly.

When Bob was about six the Quakers at Guilford College in North Carolina started a school in The Hollow,
and Bob's older brother Hasten encouraged all the children in the family to attend. Bobs parents were against
it, but Hasten's encouragement prevailed. Bob loved school and walked five miles each day to attend. When
he was fourteen, the teacher married and left The Hollow, and the school closed. There wasn't much to do in
the mountains, so Bob joined the other boys in their wild times. Drinking, playing poker, and “rocking”
(throwing rocks at) houses and churches, became a way of life. Killings often occurred during the drinking

96
bouts and poker games. With his first $5 bill Bob bought his first pair of long pants and a .32 caliber
revolver.

Though now a part of the wild life of the mountains, Bob couldn't figure out the constant fighting and
killing. In fights his jaw was broken; once he was shot in the leg and once in the shoulder: Time and again I
saw men kill each other, men without hate in their system, but drunk and with guns and knives always
handy. . . . The year I was twenty I was hardly ever sober, not even in the morning. I was miserable and sick
to my soul . . . .

Bob even hoped someone would kill him in a shooting; twice he thought about shooting himself but didn't.
One Sunday after playing cards and drinking, Bob found himself outside a Methodist church and went in
during a revival. He continued attending the revival the entire week, and for the first time “felt a power
stronger than the power of liquor and rocks and guns.”

Carnage in the Courtroom

The Hillsville Massacre in 1912 helped Bob Childress realize that the drinking, fighting, and killings, so
much a part of the mountain peoples' lives, were not normal. On March 14, 1912, twenty mountaineers
galloped into the Hillsville Courtroom to release Floyd Allen, who was being sentenced to prison for beating
up a deputy sheriff. Shots rang out everywhere. By the time the mountaineers retreated with Allen, the
judge, prosecuting attorney, a sheriff, a witness, and a juryman lay dead. News reporters from across the
country flocked to Hillsville. Bob had joined the posse to catch the mountaineers. As he talked to the visiting
reporters, he was surprised to learn that such fights and shootings weren’t common outside of the mountains.
Bob decided then and there to give up drinking; his friends called him womanish. In his new fight against
drinking, Bob became a deputy to help catch bootleggers in the mountains, but when he saw sheriffs and
deputies often drinking up the captured evidence, he realized the law was not the force to bring change to the
people of the Blue Ridge.

After he began attending a small Presbyterian church in The Hollow, Bob realized only the gospel of Jesus
Christ could change the mountain people. If he really wanted to help the mountain people, he would need to
become a minister. By then, however, Bob was thirty with a wife, lovely Lelia Montgomery, and four
children -- and he hadn't even finished eighth grade! He resolutely began high school the same year his
oldest son started first grade. Father and son daily rode the six miles to school sitting together on a mule.
Within a year Bob learned everything the school had to teach; the next year he attended Davidson College,
North Carolina. Lelia's family thought Bob was crazy to give up his blacksmithing work to attend school and
asked her and the children to come back home. Lelia refused, steadily encouraging Bob to continue his
schooling. After a year of college, Bob said he didn't have enough time to finish college and needed to go to
seminary. Union Theological Seminary in Richmond wouldn't accept him but did allow him to attend classes
without credit. Bob was ten years older than his classmates and was a great source of amusement. His suit
didn't cover his wrists or ankles, and his mountain speech caused frequent snickers. Bob persevered and
worked harder than the regular students. By the end of the year the seminary president apologized and
allowed Bob to enroll, providing him housing for his family and two scholarships. In the summer and twice
a month Bob preached in the Presbyterian Church in Mayberry. Even large Richmond churches began to ask
for Bob Childress to preach in their pulpits.

It May Kill You, but …

As his time at seminary drew to an end, Bob wanted to have a ministry with the mountain people. His only
call, however, was from a North Carolina church that offered him a pastorate, a new car, and a fabulous
salary. The night before he had to make his decision, Bob was offered the field of Buffalo Mountain by Dr.
Clark of the Montgomery Presbytery. Dr. Clark told Bob, We've got a field in the mountains where they're
shooting each other, they're ignorant, they don't have a chance, they have no schools or Sunday schools.
There's enough work to kill you, but we'll furnish you a living while you're at it….

Bob Childress knew this was where he belonged. On June 3, 1926 he packed up his family and moved to
Buffalo Mountain. For the next thirty years he ministered selflessly to the mountain people, establishing
churches and schools and helping people in every way. He usually visited five to eight families a day in their
small mountain homes, showing a personal interest in individuals. Children, whose identities were often lost
in the large families, often felt that Bob Childress was the first person who made them feel they were
special. Often Bob would lead weekday prayer meetings in one of the mountain cottages. For years he had
the only car on the mountain, and he regularly took people to the doctor and the hospital in town. On

97
Sundays he would travel a circuit on the mountain of 100 miles, preaching four or five sermons. In the
winter, when his car couldn't travel through the snow on the roadless mountain, Bob traveled to church on a
mule or by horse and buggy. Under his ministry the mountain became more civilized and the killings were
less frequent. Christmas had always been a drinking time; for the first time many of the mountaineers
learned the true meaning of Christmas.
In the 1950s Bob Childress was leading services in fourteen churches a week and averaging 40,000 miles a
year in his travels. The Synod of Virginia noted that “Only eternity will tell the tremendous good
accomplished in this unusual diocese.”

Bob Childress died peacefully at Roanoke Memorial Hospital on January 16, 1956, but the six rock churches
he established on Buffalo Mountain continue to flourish. Bob's brother Hasten remembered that Bob used to
say that each of us is tending the little patch of ground God lends to us. "Whatever comes to me in the pod, I
want to pass on in full flower, and what comes to me in the flower, I'd like to pass on in full fruit." Well, the
plants he tended are still bearing fruit.

Something's Wrong Here

Newspaper reporters covering the Hillsville Massacre were the first to awaken Bob Childress to the fact that
the violent life on the mountains was not the normal way of life everywhere. One editor wrote: The majority
of mountain people are unprincipled ruffians. They make moonshine, 500 horsepower, and swill it down;
they carry on generous and gentle feuds in which little children are not spared, and deliberately plan a
wholesale assassination, and when captured either assert they shot in self-defense, or with true coward streak
deny the crime. There are two remedies only -- education or extermination. Mountaineers must learn this
lesson.

Preaching with Impact

Bob Childress' sermons were often unforgettable. Today, over forty years after his death, old timers on the
Blue Ridge can still recount sermons they heard Childress deliver. Years after the event, Childress'
classmates remembered the last sermon he delivered at Seminary. He chose a deep subject -- woman -- and
began by saying, "Behold, how she can sink; behold, how she can rise," and he went on to describe Mary
Magdalene. A classmate later remembered, "She was vivid, triumphant, alive, as real as someone here and
now… The sermon was on love and service, nothing so new, but he made it over for all of us, every man and
woman whose ears could hear and heart could feel."

Childress' first sermon on the Buffalo was from Galatians 3, “Who hath bewitched you?”, and he spoke of
some of the “bewitching witches” of selfishness, pride, strong drink, bad companions, and anything blinding
the heart to the truth.

Things Can Be Different

Bob Childress was waging a cultural, spiritual war as the truth of God's Word began to transform the old
ways of the mountain people. The Primitive or Hardshell Baptists of the region had instilled in many a
fatalism which they mistook for predestination. The killings and drunkenness were all excused as ordained
by God or they would not have happened.

Early in his ministry two seventeen-year-olds were courting the same young widow. In a drinking bout, one
stabbed the other to death less than three miles from the school house. The air was tense at the funeral; it
was "normal" under such circumstances for more killings to break out at the funeral. When Bob Childress
did the funeral he said that they could not blame God for what happened: “We mortals are to blame,
especially we older ones. Our young ones just don't know any better. We didn't train them. They learn from
us, and we don't do anything but fight and drink. We can't lay the blame on God ....”

The people were stunned as he told them they were "ignorant, silly fools who needed the grace of God to
civilize them." It got perfectly quiet as Childress continued, "Sin is the cause of all this. It's sin…." There
was no shooting at that funeral, as the truth of the pastor's words sunk in. Gradually, through Childress'
constant preaching, hatred and vengeance began to no longer dominate the Buffalo.

Buffalo mountain, Virginia. In the center you can make out the hump shape similar to the back of
the buffalo that prompted its name.

98
 IDA SCUDDER: A
WOMAN WHO CHANGED
HER MIND
IDA SCUDDER wanted to leave hot, overcrowded India for the
good life. If asked to define the good life, she would have
replied, "America and marriage to a millionaire." Her memories
of India were ugly. As a small girl she had broken bread during
famine and put it in the mouths of children too weak to feed
themselves. She had seen tiny corpses lying beside the road. No,
India was not the place for her.

Her aspirations changed in a single, terrible night. As she read in her room, a high caste Brahmin stepped
onto the verandah. He asked her to come attend his child-wife, who was in labor. The barber women--India's
midwives--had done all they could. Without help, the girl would die. Ida replied that she knew nothing about
midwifery. Her father was a skilled doctor. She would bring him to the girl as soon as he returned. The
Brahmin refused. "She had better die than have a man come into the house," he said.

Ida felt pity for the poor girl. But what could she do? She returned to her book. Again footsteps sounded on
the verandah. Was the Brahmin back? Ida ran down. A Mohammedan stood there. "Please," he pleaded.
"Come help my wife." She was dying in labor. John Scudder offered to go. The Mohammedan refused. No
man outside his family had ever looked on his wife's face. He could not let a foreign male approach her. Ida
and John could not change his mind. Ida returned to her room but could take no interest in her book. Again
she heard footsteps. To her horror, a third man appeared: a high caste Hindu. He, too, had a young wife
dying in labor. Would Ida come?

"I could not sleep that night--it was too terrible,” wrote Ida later. Here ... were three young girls dying
because there was no woman to help them. I spent much of the night in anguish and prayer. I did not want to
spend my life in India. My friends were begging me to return to the joyous opportunities of a young girl in
America, and somehow I felt I could not give that up. I went to bed in the early morning after praying much
for guidance. I think that was the first time I ever met God face to face, and all that time it seemed that He
was calling me into this work.

Early in the morning I heard the 'tom-tom' beating in the village and it struck terror in my heart, for it was a
death message. I sent our servant, who had come up early, to the village to find out the fate of these three
women, and he came back saying that all of them had died during the night.... Again I shut myself in my
room and thought very seriously about the condition of the Indian women and, after much thought and
prayer, I went to my father and mother and told them that I must go home and study medicine, and come
back to India to help such women."

Fortunately for Ida, women such as Elizabeth Blackwell had forced a passage into medical school. Ida
would be able to study at top notch schools. Her decision to become a medical missionary would not seem
implausible to a public already aware of the work of Clara Swain, India's first female medical missionary.

When Ida returned to India, it was as a well-trained doctor. She also had in hand a substantial sum of money
to build a women's hospital at Vellore. This had come miraculously:

"Raise money to build a women's hospital in Vellore?" asked Ida. "But I sail for India in a week!"

"We have a letter from Dr. Louisa Hart. She suggests you." The mission leaders waited for Ida's response.
99
Ida remembered the child brides, pregnant before their bodies were ripe for babies. She thought of women
locked behind walls, given nothing to drink in their illness because the priests said it was dangerous. Yes, a
women's hospital was needed. "We'll need $50,000 to build a good one," she replied.

"$50,000!" The men across from her gasped. It was a sum equivalent to at least $500,000 today. "$8,000 is
more realistic. We doubt you'll be able to raise even half that amount, but you can try."

Ida felt they were wrong. If the money was needed, God would provide it. However, a week is not much
time. She threw herself at once into fundraising, calling on anyone she thought might be able to help. Dollars
came at a trickle: “an ounce of water to quench an elephant's thirst.” Was the board right?

A friend mentioned to Ida that Miss Harriet Taber, President of a Missionary Society lived nearby. Ida threw
her shawl on at once and hurried to Miss Taber's home. There she poured out her heart, telling her of India's
need and her own call to the work. Miss Taber was interested. She arranged for Ida to speak to the women's
society. Sunday morning Ida received a note asking her to call Monday on Mr. Schell, president of a New
York bank. Schell was an elderly brother-in-law of Miss Taber. He had met Ida at his sister-in-law's house.
Known as a tightwad, he might be good for $500. But, since $500 is $500, Ida readily paid the call.

Unknown to Ida, Schell had overheard her entire impassioned plea to Miss Taber. Now he grilled the young
woman with questions about her proposal. "And what makes you think that you, a mere girl, can run a
hospital?" he asked. Ida replied that she would be working beside her father, an experienced doctor.
Satisfied, Schell turned and wrote a check. "Name the hospital for my late wife, Mary Taber Schell," he said.

When Ida saw the size of the check, she could hardly contain herself for delight. It was for $10,000! This
evidence of God's provision led her to reprove the board. “Now there, there would have been my $50,000 if
you had not stopped me!” she exclaimed.

It was a necessary lesson in faith and stood her well in coming years. India's need was overwhelming. There
was one doctor per 10,000 people. Traditional practitioners had a few good remedies but more that were
harmful. For example, a "doctor" might treat an eye disease with a concoction of ground pepper and glass.
Ida's compassion revolted at this quackery. Lacking facilities (the Mary Taber Schell women's hospital could
not be built for two years), she made an eight by twelve room her dispensary. The verandah served as a
waiting room. Not that she was seeing patients. Suspicion kept the Tamil Indians away. Her first call was to
a desperate case for which she could do nothing. Word sped that her patient had died. Suspicion increased.

Eventually a high caste Hindu came to have her eyes examined. She had a dangerous conjunctivitis. Ida
successfully treated it. Demands for her services steadily increased after that. Soon she was seeing so many
cases, she had to conscript her very willing kitchen maid to help her. Salomi was the first of many nurses she
would train. Compassion drove Ida to take on more and more work. Soon she was seeing one hundred, two
hundred, three hundred, even five hundred cases a day. Sometimes she exclaimed, "Oh for the quiet order of
a well-run insane asylum!"

Even if dozens more doctors came from America and Europe, their services would be a drop of water in an
ocean of need. Indian women must be taught to care for Indian women. That idea led Ida to create Vellore's
nursing school. As soon as it opened, Ida set her sights higher. If she could train nurses, she could train
doctors.

Again faith prevailed. Vellore became a medical college. It was not easy. Ida did the work of six people.
Backers such as Gertrude Dodd, Hilda Olsen and Lucy Peabody struggled long and hard during the Great
Depression and World War II to raise funds to support Vellore as it grew. Time after time the work came to
the very brink of crisis, but God always seemed to rescue it.

At one crisis, Ida wrote: First ponder, then dare. Know your facts. Count the cost. Money is not the most
important thing. What you are building is not a medical school. It is the kingdom of God. Don't err on the
side of being too small. If this is the will of God that we should keep the college open, it has to be done.

And it was done. Thus it came about that the woman who had wanted to shake the dust of India from her
feet was taken by Indians to their heart. British and Indian officials presented her with high awards. Gandhi
visited her. She won international fame. Her faith stands as an abiding and respected testimony.
100
More on Ida
 John Scudder, Ida's father, died just months after she returned to India. She undertook the work
alone.
 Ida took her services to the countryside villages, by ox cart and by car, operating on the roadsides.
As she drove home exhausted at night, men and women flagged her down to tend desperate cases.
 Officials said Ida's girls could never compete with men in the medical exams. She'd be lucky if a
single woman passed. As the results of the exam were announced, stress mounted. 80% of the men
failed. The women's scores were announced last. Inspired by her vision, all fourteen of Ida's students
passed. India's women set too high a standard for the men!
 In four generations, the Scudder family sent 42 missionaries to India and other nations.
 Some Indians knelt before Ida, believing her the incarnation of a god. She constantly had to shift her
feet to escape this unwelcome homage.
 Young Ida was notorious for her hi-jinks at Dwight L. Moody's seminary for girls. She sneaked
down fire escapes for unchaperoned trips to town, “borrowed” a German instructor's horse and tied
it up two miles away, protested food, and smoked in the attic.
 On a bicycle tour in the U. S. to address missionary meetings, Ida became infected from
contaminated well water. Her life teetered in grave danger. Fortunately a famous doctor was able to
personally supervise her case. His care, the strength of her body, and the prayers of Dwight L.
Moody saved her life.

The Scudder family's service in India totaled 1,000 years. A book has been written about them entitled A
Thousand Years in Thy Sight and is available through the US office:

Vellore Christian Medical College Board, Inc.

475 Riverside Drive, Room 243
New York, NY 10115

Phone: (212) 870-2640

Fax: (212) 870-2173
E-mail: usaboard@vellorecmc.org

LOTT CAREY: SLAVE,

MISSIONARY AND
COLONIAL LEADER
IT IS CALLED Charles City County, Virginia. But there is no city
there, not even a town or village in the rural county north of the
James River. Early in the 1600s plantations and tobacco farms
sprang up along the James, and farming continues to be the main
occupation. It was in this rural Virginia county that Lott Carey was
born about 1780.

Born into Slavery

Lott was born a slave on the estate of William A. Christian, about thirty miles from Richmond. Though his
parents were illiterate, Lott's father was a respected member of the Baptist Church. When he was twenty-
four, Lott was hired out as a laborer in the Shockhoe tobacco warehouse in Richmond. As a young man he
was profane and given to drunkenness.

101
Born Again to a New Life
In 1807 Lott was converted and joined the First Baptist Church of Richmond. Hearing a sermon on John 3
caused Lott to want to learn to read the story of Nicodemus in John 3 for himself. Soon he learned to read
and was licensed to preach by the church.

Lott was an excellent worker, and his efficiency, faithfulness and literacy soon earned him a promotion to
shipping clerk in the tobacco warehouse. The merchants often rewarded him with an extra $5 and allowed
him to collect and sell the waste pieces of tobacco. In 1813 Lott's wife died, but he was able to purchase his
own freedom and that of his two young children with $850 he had saved. While preaching to the slave
population around Richmond, Lott continued to work in the tobacco warehouse. He was able to purchase a
house for $1,500 and see that his children received an education. By 1820 he was receiving an annual salary
of $800.

In 1813, about the time Lott bought his freedom, William Crane from New Jersey came to Richmond and
took an interest in the young blacks of the town. Crane worked with Lott Carey to organize the Richmond
African Missionary Society. The Society collected funds for mission work in Africa and within five years
had collected $700. The Richmond Society worked with the Triennial Baptist Convention and the American
Colonization Society in sending missionaries to Africa. Lott Carey and Collin Teague, another Richmond
free black, were chosen as missionaries to Africa.

When Carey announced he was going to Africa as a missionary, his employers at the tobacco warehouse
offered him a $200 annual increase if he would stay on the job. Carey was not tempted; he wanted to be
where his color was not a hindrance to useful service, and he was eager to preach the Gospel in Africa.

Shortly before Carey, Teague, and their families departed, William Crane gathered them and a few Baptists
in the upper room of his Richmond home and organized the emigrants into the First Baptist Church of
Monrovia, Liberia. On January 16, 1821, they set sail from Norfolk for West Africa. During the forty-four
day journey across the Atlantic the missionaries held regular worship services. At the beginning of March
they joined the other settlers of the American Colonization Society at Sierra Leone. Soon after their arrival,
Lott's second wife died.

Off to Africa
Lott was more interested in missionary work among the natives than in establishing a colony, but in 1822 he
moved to Monrovia. There he established the first church in Liberia, Providence Baptist Church, and
ministered to the congregation as well as to native tribes. One native named John walked eighty miles to
Monrovia from Cape Mount, adjacent to Sierra Leone. John had first heard of Christianity from the British
but wanted to learn more. Under Lott Carry's ministry he was converted and baptized. He returned to his
people with Bibles and hymnbooks and iron bars used in trade.

Carey preached several times a week at the church and gave religious instruction to the native school
children. He used his own money to maintain a weekday charity school in Monrovia and established a
school at Big Town in the Cape Mount region. Moslems of the Mandingo tribe raised a great deal of
opposition to the school, but Carey persevered to see the school completed. It was a 15 by 30-foot school
which soon had thirty-seven children enrolled. Carey found a teacher, whom he paid $20 a month. He
requested friends in the States to send forty suits of clothes "as soon as practicable," since school regulations
said children should wear clothes!

When 105 new settlers arrived in Monrovia in February 1823, many of them were sick with a fever, and
there was no physician available. Though not a doctor, Carey used his common sense and knowledge of
herbs to nurse many of the people back to health.

From Humiliation to Leadership

In 1823-24 Carey became the leader of a resistance against Jehudi Ashmun and Liberia's colonial
authorities. The settlers were dissatisfied with the distribution of town lots in Monrovia, and Carey sided
with the insurrectionists. An armed vessel of the US was sent to deal with the situation in the summer of
1824. After an investigation, Jehudi Ashmun was retained as a colonial agent, and Lott Carey was punished
by the Colonization Society. He was forbidden to preach until "time and circumstance had evinced the
deepness and sincerity of his repentance."

102
Carey and Ashmun were soon reconciled, and Carey became vice agent for the colony. Carey was truly
repentant that he had encouraged the rebellion, feeling that he had “inflicted in his character a wound that
could not be healed in this world, and betrayed the great confidence reposed in him.”

Former Slave Cares for Former Slaves

As vice agent, Carey was given the responsibility of caring for freed Africans arriving from the States. Trade
Town was a slave market located near the colony, and some of the slaves were recaptured from there and
given their freedom in Liberia. Carey and Ashmun established a school for these newly freed Africans. The
slave trade still continued on the African Coast. In 1825, 8-10 slave traders on the coast had contracts out for
800 slaves to be furnished in four months.

In 1828 Jehudi Ashmun returned to America, leaving the government of Liberia in Carry's hands. Ashmun
urged Carey to become the permanent agent for the colony. Before Carey could assume a larger role in the
colony, however, he was mortally wounded in a munitions explosion. Lott Carey died November 10, 1828.

Carey Chronology
1780 Born
1807 Converted and baptized; buys Bible and learns to read and write
1813 First wife dies; buys his freedom for $850
1815 Marries second wife
1817 American Colonization Society founded
1821 Sails from Norfolk for West Africa in January; arrives Freetown, Sierra Leone in March; second wife
dies
1822 Colony of Liberia founded; establishes church in Liberia
1823 Leads resistance; suspended as minister
1826 Opens school to tribes people
1828 Governs in Liberia
1828 Dies

Lott Carry's Steadfast Resolve

"This step is not taken to promote my own fortune, nor am I influenced by any sudden impulse. I have
counted the cost and have sacrificed all my worldly possessions to this undertaking. I am prepared to meet
imprisonment or even death in carrying out the purpose of my heart. It may be that I shall behold you no
more on this side of the grave, but I feel bound to labor for my brothers, perishing as they are in the far
distant land of Africa. For their sake and for Christ's sake I am happy in leaving all and venturing all.
--Carry's words before sailing for Africa

Lott Carry's Noble Legacy

He had been indefatigable in his efforts to uplift the colony. The morale of the settlement was greatly lifted.
Drunkenness, profanity, and quarreling were unknown; the Sabbath was observed with strictness. Nearly the
whole adult population had come under the influence of Christianity. On the site of a once desolate forest
consecrated to demon worship was erected the commodious chapel, which stood as a monument of the
overthrow of heathenism and as a tribute to the Son of God.

--Miles Mark Fisher in "Lott Carey,

The Colonizing Missionary"
Journal of Negro History, 1922, p.409.

Was he first?
Lott Carey has been called the first black American missionary to Africa, however Daniel Coker probably
has a slight edge on him. Coker was born a slave in Maryland and purchased his freedom. He organized the
first school in Baltimore for African-Americans. Along with Richard Allen of Philadelphia, in 1816 Coker
became one of the founders of the American Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1820 Coker was sent as a
missionary to Sierra Leone by the American Colonization Society. He founded many churches in Sierra
Leone and Liberia.

The American Colonization Society, founded in 1817, was among the earliest of the antislavery societies.
John Marshall, James Monroe, Henry Clay, and John Randolph were among its leaders. Its purpose was to
raise funds to buy freedom for slaves and reestablish them in Africa. Under the Society's auspices, as many
103
as 12,000 blacks emigrated to Africa, and the country of Liberia was established. Many of the colonists,
however, died from disease and suffered from insufficient support from the Society. By the 1830’s most
antislavery people in America realized colonization was not a feasible solution to the slavery problem.

Sixty years after Carry's death, African-American Baptists in America established the Lott Carey Baptist
Foreign Mission Convention, now based in Washington, DC. In 1996 Ned Carey, Lott's great-great-great
grandson traveled to Liberia to help the church Lott established begin the yearlong celebration of its 175th
anniversary.

The American Colonization Society had been established in America in 1817 to

raise money to free slaves and establish an African colony for the repatriation of
blacks. In 1822 the Society founded the colony of Liberia, meaning "freedom."
Monrovia, named after President James Monroe, was its capital. Jehudi
Ashmun was the white agent of the society who led the establishment of
Liberia.

104
 BIGGER THAN LIFE
ST. AUGUSTINE: THE MILLENNIAL
MAN; HIS LIFE AND INFLUENCE
LASTED A THOUSAND YEARS AND
MORE.
If a vote were taken on who were the most influential Christians that lived since
Bible times, then one name would show up near the top on just about anyone's list.
Whether Protestant or Catholic, Conservative or Liberal, any informed observer
over the past fifteen hundred years would include the name of Augustine at or close
to the top.

Some great leaders in our world made an impact on a whole generation. A select
few even influenced a whole century. But Augustine was an incomparable figure in
shaping the whole millennium of the Middle Ages and in many ways the foundations of modern Western
civilization.

Fortunately, we know a lot about Augustine for he wrote what is considered the first autobiography in
history. It is still published and sells well today over fifteen hundred years after his death. It is called The
Confessions. In the next issue of Glimpses we will give you an extended excerpt in which he tells of his
conversion. But now, an overview of his extraordinary life.

Augustine was a North African, born at Tagaste in what is now modern Algeria on November 13, 354 into a
middle class family. His mother Monica was a strong Christian who persistently prayed for the salvation of
her son, a brilliant young man who had no interest in the things of Christ. Monica tried to bring Augustine
up in the ways and instruction of the Lord, but Augustine ignored her instructions. He loved to play, was
prone to fits of temper, and was full of boyhood pranks, like stealing his neighbor's pears and throwing them
to the pigs.

Youthful Lusts
At sixteen Augustine went to Carthage to further his education. Ignoring his mother's warnings against
avoiding youthful lusts, Augustine took an unnamed mistress and fathered an illegitimate son named
Adeodatus. While satisfying every fleshly desire, Augustine also pursued his studies. The Roman Cicero's
exhortation to seek wisdom stirred Augustine, and he began to study philosophy in earnest. He even tried
reading the Christian Scriptures, but they seemed dull to him.

Down Futile Paths

For nine years Augustine embraced the beliefs of the Manichaeans, who exalted Reason, Science, and
Philosophy. Manichaeism was an eastern religion which combined the dualism of Zoroaster with the
pantheism of Buddha, and covered them with a Christian veneer. It taught that good and evil are constantly
warring together; we do not have free will because everything is predetermined by Fate. Yet, Augustine was
dissatisfied with this older version of the modern New Age movement. He sought answers from Faustus of
Milevis, the leading Manichaean of his day, but Faustus could not answer Augustine's emptiness. He was
like a cupbearer presenting a beautiful goblet to Augustine, but the goblet had nothing in it.

To the Center of the World

Augustine had been a professor of rhetoric for three years in Carthage when he decided to move to Rome.
Though Rome was declining politically, it was still in its material glory. In Rome Augustine resumed his
teaching and began to study the philosophy of Plato. He was drawn to Plato's world of intelligence and pure

105
spirit, while still captive to all the fleshly desires of youth. Pupils didn't pay well in Rome, so Augustine
moved again -- this time to Milan. Mother Monica not only followed him with her prayers, but came herself
to Milan, where she attended Bishop Ambrose's church.

The Preacher's Words Finally Got to Him

In Milan Augustine began attending church too -- not from any interest in Christianity, but from admiration
of Ambrose and his eloquence. Here at last was a Christian Augustine could admire. Gradually Augustine
was drawn by the substance as well as the style of Ambrose's words and became a serious student of
Christianity. From reading Paul's epistles he began to understand the lost state of man and the need for
divine grace. He accepted that Jesus Christ was the restorer of fallen humanity, but this intellectual
acceptance had not brought the truth of the gospel to the depths of his being. His lust and sensuousness
seemed to war with his lofty, inquiring soul. With his soul in turmoil, Augustine was sitting under a tree in
the garden when he heard a child's voice saying, "Take up and read." Picking up Paul's epistle to the
Romans, Augustine read from the 13th chapter. Then and there he was soundly converted. We will give his
firsthand account of this event in full in the next issue of Glimpses. His life would never be the same, and
neither would the world. On Easter, 387, Ambrose baptized Augustine in Milan along with his close friend
Alypius, and Adeodatus, his son born out of wedlock. Monica's prayers were at long last answered, though
as Ambrose told her, "it was impossible that the child of so many prayers could be lost."

A New Life
Renouncing his professorship, Augustine retired to Cassiciacum with his mother and a few friends. For three
years he studied the Scriptures there. From a proud philosopher he became a humble Christian, and he
thirsted for a living union with God. The Psalms of David and Paul's epistles became dear to him. He sold
his goods to help the poor and devoted himself to the service of Christ.

Not As He Planned
Augustine returned to North Africa planning to live a quiet monastic life near his native Tagaste, but the
people persisted in electing him first a priest and then, in 395, a bishop at the town of Hippo. For the next
thirty-eight years Augustine ministered faithfully among the people of Hippo. His numerous letters and
writings spread his influence throughout the Christian world of the late Roman Empire. Living a monastic
life, sharing an apostolic community of goods with his fellow ministers at Hippo, the simplicity of
Augustine's physical existence contrasted with the spiritual richness of his life. Often he preached five days
in a row, sometimes twice a day. He wrote over 1,000 treatises on almost every subject, touching on all the
important principles of Christianity. Christians from all over the empire wrote him for counsel and advice,
and many of his letters have survived.

Battles with Heresies

Before his conversion Augustine was searching for truth. After his conversion Augustine defended the
Gospel from the major heresies and schisms of his day. Against Manichaean dualism and its elevation of
human reason, Augustine wrote of the goodness of God's creation and warned of the arrogance of human
reason rebelling against divine authority. Against the Donatists' claim that they were the true church and that
the efficacy of baptism depends on the character of the priest, Augustine spoke out on the unity of the
Christian faith. Quoting Jesus' parable in Luke 14:23 in which the master told the servant to go to the
highways and "make them come in" to his house for the great supper, Augustine wrote that the civil
government could force the Donatists or other schismatics to conform to the orthodox church. With
barbarian invasions threatening the Roman Empire, perhaps Augustine thought such use of the civil
government would enhance the church's moral authority. Unfortunately, Augustine's admonition was later
used to justify the cruel tortures of the Inquisition.

Augustine's most important battle was against Pelagius, who came from Britain to North Africa to spread his
new philosophy. Pelagius and his follower Celestius apparently denied that all mankind inherited sin from
Adam. Each person, they believed, had total free will to act righteously or sinfully; some, Pelagius believed,
had not ever sinned. Once forgiven of sin, man has it in his own power to please God.

Augustine, whose own conversion had made him so appreciative of the depth of human sin and the necessity
of God's saving grace, felt the very foundation of Christianity was being assaulted and spoke out strongly
against Pelagius. All mankind is "in Adam," and because of Adam's sin, man's power to do right is gone.
Only by God's grace are people saved and enabled to live the Christian life.

106
Explaining Catastrophe
Augustine lived in a time of great cultural chaos. In 410 barbarian invaders sacked "Eternal Rome." Some
asserted this was Rome's punishment for accepting Christianity and neglecting the old Roman gods.
Augustine answered these accusations by writing The City of God, which became a defense of Christianity
over all other religions and a sweeping survey of God's eternal plan for history. For the next one thousand
years The City of God provided the framework for understanding the world, the church, and their
relationship in God's design.

In the last years of Augustine's life, barbarian Vandals invaded North Africa and laid siege to Hippo itself,
destroying much in their wake. Possidus, Augustine's biographer, wrote that Augustine "lived to see cities
overthrown and destroyed, churches denuded of priests and ministers, virgins and monks dispersed, some
dying of torture, others by the sword, others captured and losing innocence of soul and body, and faith
itself, in cruel slavery; he saw hymns and divine praises ceasing in the churches, the buildings themselves
often burned down."

Faced with such depredations, Augustine, in his 76th year, increased his time in retirement and prayer, and
on August 28, 430, he died in the presence of his friends. He was the last Bishop of Hippo. A year after his
death the Vandals breached the walls of Hippo after a fourteen month siege; most of the people were either
dying or dead of hunger.

Augustine had no will, because he left no earthly property. Yet, his work could not perish. As historian
Philip Schaff wrote, "His ideas fell like living seed into the soil of Europe, and produced abundant fruits in
nations and countries of which he had never heard."

Help Wanted
Noted twentieth-century theologian Dr. Carl F. H. Henry, speaking at Yale University a few years ago,
proclaimed that in our day "Christianity desperately needs a new Augustine" to provide an incisive Christian
analysis of contemporary culture, as Augustine did of fourth century pagan culture. Worth Noting
Protestants and Catholics both look to Augustine for understanding of the Christian faith. Luther and Calvin
both drew heavily upon him and considered Augustine a forerunner of the Reformation.

107
 AUGUSTINE'S ENCOUNTER WITH GOD
I was such a miserable young man! I knew my life was messed up and filled with foolish fleshly
indulgences. Oh yes, I did want to change, at least at times I did. I had actually prayed words to the effect:
"God, help me clean up my sordid life -- but just not yet." I was afraid that you, God, would take me at my
word and deliver me, and I wasn't ready to let go of a lot of things. Not quite yet. And, yes, it must be
admitted that I carried with me a heavy baggage of pride.

Yet, I was so exercised within. At times I would even begin to draw close to you. All my excuses for not
doing so were so empty. But still I was not ready and all I could do was tremble in silence. I told all this to
my friend Alypius. "What is wrong with us," I said to him. "People with far less education than we have find
their way to God. Just because they found it before we did, is that what makes us turn away?" At that time
we lived in a rented house and the landlord didn't live there, so we had full use of the place, including the
garden and grounds. So we went outside, as I felt driven to go out there. I felt like I was going crazy. I could
not hide from myself what a wretched person I was. I was dying -- dying to grasp hold of true life. Alypius
came with me. He could plainly see how distraught I was and I knew he would not desert me.

What Was Happening To Me?

Deep within my bones I was reaching out to you, Lord. I wanted nothing more. But at the same time I was
still holding back. What was happening to me? What did I really want? Then I thought of this comparison. If
in my mind I think I want to raise my hand, or move my foot -- they obey me. So why couldn't my heart
respond to that which I wanted most? There was a war going on inside me. I wanted you and desired your
forgiveness more than anything, yet for some reason I still held back from you. It is not that there was a
good me and a bad me inside struggling against each other. It was just plain me that was my problem. It
made me sick. I laid out the case against myself far more honestly that I would normally be inclined to do.
At the same time I know that it was you Lord pressing in upon me with a severe mercy that exposed how
deep was my fear and my shame. So I wavered back and forth. At one moment ready to draw near to you
and the next moment turning away. After all, I had a lot of practice going my own selfish way. So when I
was on the verge of letting go and approaching you, I would then recoil with horror.

Tormenting Doubts
The truth of the matter is that there remained a lot of immature toys in my life that I still treasured. They
were like mistresses to me. It seemed as if my vices had voices, and those voices were whispering to me:
"Do you really want to send us away? Don't you know how much you will miss us?" And how skilled they
were in bringing up old memories! They would not leave me alone. I had become so accustomed to these
childish things in my life, it seemed as though I could not live without them. Thus, I continued to be blown
back and forth, continually wavering. Still I could not get your way out of my mind either. Your way
seemed to promise something far more joyful and liberating -- and amazingly -- it seemed almost within
reach and ready to embrace me with a sincere welcoming hug. So somehow I sensed I did not need to go it
alone, that you were ready to receive and heal me. But the whispers of those familiar toys would not be
silenced. I could see the pleasures they promised to keep giving me. But were they to be compared with
what would be found in my turning to God?

The Enemy Within

Thus the fierce argument and civil war in the depth of my soul raged on -- my self was fighting against my
own self. Meanwhile Alypius just sat by with quiet patience. My thoughts reached into the very depths of
my soul and piled up misery within my heart. A mighty emotional storm engulfed me and I wept
uncontrollably. Needing privacy, so I would not be embarrassed, I slipped away from Alypius, removing
myself far enough from him that I wouldn't have to worry about him seeing me in this dreadful state. He
knew something very serious was going on within me, so he just stayed where he was -- quite bewildered by
it all. I threw myself to the ground under a fig tree where I could let it all out. The tears continued to gush
forth -- which now I see as a kind of sacrifice I was offering to you.

When Will It Ever End?

Then I said, perhaps not in these exact words, but this was the gist of it: "0 Lord, how long? How long? Will
you always be angry with me? Is it possible that you could ever put out of your mind all the wrong I have
done? How long, oh how much more of this? Is this going to go on day after day? Why not right now? Why
can't I get my life cleaned up in this very hour?" I kept saying this kind of thing, truly broken in heart before

108
God, and all the while still unable to refrain from weeping. Who said that? Then all at once I heard a child's
voice. It seemed to come from a nearby house. Whether the voice of a boy or a girl I did not know. The
child's voice kept repeating the same words: "Take up and read. Take up and read!" All at once my mood
changed and I began to ask myself whether this repeating of such words was part of a game children play.
But I didn't remember any game like that. So I made myself stop crying and got up off the ground. I thought
to myself that this has to be a command from the Lord in heaven. I took it as an instruction to open the Bible
and read from the first place I might turn to. Where did I get this idea? Well, I had heard about the famous
desert monk named Antony whose life was turned around when one day he just happened, or so it seemed,
to walk in on a church service at the time the gospel was being read. The words he heard from Matthew's
gospel seemed to be directed squarely at him: "Go and sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will
have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me." And by this he was converted to you.

Cut to the Core

So I quickly returned to Alypius. He was still sitting patiently where he was when I left him. I knew a copy
of the Scriptures was there. I grabbed it and opened it up and quietly read the first words that I found. They
were from Paul's letter to the Romans and said: "Not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality
and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and
don't think about how to satisfy the desires of the sinful nature." I did not read one bit further. I didn't need
to!

The Light Breaks Through!

Because when I finished reading that sentence it seemed as though light broke in upon me. I now felt safe in
my heart. All of the heavy gloom of my persistent doubts just went away immediately! So I closed the book,
but wanting to save the place I put my finger in that section, or made some mark there, I am not sure which,
and now with a calmness that even my face announced, I told Alypius what had happened. He wanted to see
what I had read, so I showed him. He read that same place but also read on further. After the place I had
stopped he read: "Receive the one who is weak in the faith." Alypius thought that applied to himself, and he
showed it to me. Those words clearly strengthened him. And, just like him, for I always thought of him as a
better man than myself, he knew exactly what he must do.

A Mother's Prayers Answered

So without any hesitation, he joined me to go see my mother. We told her all about what had happened. She
was thrilled! We gave her all the details. She couldn't restrain herself. She jumped for joy! She celebrated
and praised you, 0 Lord, for you are the one who, as Paul also said in the Scripture, is able to "do
exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think." Mother saw that you had given her even more than she
used to keep on asking you for all that time she agonized on my behalf before you. This was my conversion
to you, Lord -- a conversion so deep and thorough I no longer needed to worry about finding a wife, nor fret
about any of those other things that people are typically preoccupied with. For now I was caught up in that
very fulfillment that you had shown to my mother so many years earlier in a vision -- a vision about my
turning to you. Her grief over me has been turned into gladness -- a gladness far more than she ever looked
for or expected. It was even more profound to her than the other thing she used to so deeply crave -- namely,
that I would have children and make her a grandmother.

"You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you"
--Augustine

109
 MAGNIFICENT MEDIEVAL
CATHEDRALS:
THE BIBLE IN
STONE
A thousand years ago as the world approached the year 1000 there
were dire predictions that the millennial year would mark the end
of the world. But the year 1000 came and the world did not end.
Something else began -- the greatest advance in the building of
centers of worship that the world has even seen.

Notre Dame, Paris, one of the world's best-known Cathedrals

Cathedrals began to arise across Europe that stand majestically till this day. It would be fascinating to know
what percentage of the economy of their time that church building represented. Beyond doubt, it would be
staggering to compare what it would mean if a similar percentage of our economy were devoted to the honor
and worship of God. Between 1050 and 1350 in France alone, over 500 large churches were built and 1,000
parish churches, so that there was a church or chapel for every 200 people. During the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries, more stone was quarried in France for building churches than had been used in all the buildings of
ancient Egypt.

In style the earliest of these churches later came to be known as Romanesque. Descended in form from the
ancient Roman basilica, which was a large meeting hall or law court; an altar was placed at the rounded apse
at one end, where the raised platform for the presiding magistrate once was. The walls of the Romanesque
churches were heavy and thick with few windows. Such churches created a feeling of solidity and repose.
Bright tapestries along the walls with gilding and jewels on statues and chalices attempted to brighten the
dark interiors.

The New Style Disdained

By the middle of the twelfth century, a new style of church came into prominence which men of the
Renaissance looked down upon and labeled "Gothic" -- a nice way of saying"barbarian." Many of the
European cathedrals flocked to by tourists today are Gothic in style. In an age when the vast majority of the
people were illiterate, the Gothic cathedrals and churches became a kind of Bible, opening a spiritual world
to the masses. As soon as one walks into a Gothic cathedral, the soaring architecture draws the eye upward
to heaven, for the church's purpose was to draw the soul away from the things of earth. The walls of the
Gothic cathedrals were thinner and lighter than Romanesque structures. External "flying buttresses"
supported the walls, and the stonework seemed to lose its massive weightiness. Stained glass windows,
which began to be manufactured in the twelfth century, allowed colored light to illuminate the interior. The
style of pointed arched windows was adopted from Arabia. Some said the point was to keep the demons
from finding a resting-place in the church.

How High Can You Go?

The building of the cathedral was a community affair and a matter of civic pride. Cities competed with each
other for which could have the tallest spire. When Notre Dame de Paris soared to 114 feet, Chartres built to
123 feet and Amiens followed with 138 feet. Beauvois tried for 157 feet, but the vault collapsed and the
people ran out of money trying to build. Each church had its wealthy patrons, but ordinary citizens too
contributed sheep, poultry, cheeses, animal skins and vegetables to the building of their cathedral. While the
cathedral was under construction an entire village of workmen would be established at the site. Roads would
be constructed to quarries, and even rivers were diverted to provide transportation for the heavy materials.

It Took Generations to Build!

Most cathedrals took over a century to build, with several generations becoming part of the building.
Salisbury Cathedral is unusual in that it was completed in less than 50 years, though the famous spire was
added later. The Cologne Cathedral, considered by some the most perfect specimen of Gothic architecture,
undoubtedly took the longest to build. The foundation stone was laid in 1248. By 1437 one of its towers was
finished to one-third of its present height, but at the time of the Reformation its roof was still covered with
110
boards. When the original plans of the cathedral were discovered in the nineteenth century, the completion
of the cathedral became a national undertaking. The cathedral was completed in 1880, over 640 years after
construction first began!

The Center of Town

Not only the building of the cathedrals, but the cathedrals themselves became a focal point of community
life. The market was usually near the cathedral and townspeople often conducted business inside the church.
At Chartres, the labor exchange was in the transepts while the crypt sheltered pilgrims and the sick. Plays
were often staged on the cathedral steps. Yet the primary purpose of the cathedral was worship. Historian
Philip Schaff wrote that "The great cathedrals became a daily sermon, bearing testimony to the presence of
God and the resurrection of Jesus Christ." It lifted the people's thoughts to spiritual things. The ample spaces
filled with sunlight through the stained glass "reminded them of the glory of the life beyond. . . . The strong
foundations and massive columns and buttresses typified the stability of God's throne, and that He hath
made all things through the Word of His power." William Durand in the thirteenth century, in a book
summing up medieval liturgical lore, wrote that "Pictures and ornaments in churches are the lessons and
Scripture of the laity." The very form of the cathedral, with its long nave crossed by the transept before the
altar, was in the shape of a cross. The Church was the Body of Christ and the physical church building could
be a reminder of that spiritual truth, with the altar as the head, the transept the arms and hands, and the nave
and aisle as the rest of the body. The long length of the nave was a reminder of longsuffering, which endures
adversity; the breadth was Christian love; and the height was a hope of future reward. Durand even found a
lesson in the church's mortar, composed of lime (fervent love), sand (earthly toil), and water (the Spirit,
which unites the other two ingredients): "As stones of the wall would have no stability without mortar, so
man cannot be set in the walls of the heavenly Jerusalem without love, which the Holy Spirit brings."

The Bible in Pictures

The altar of the church usually faced east, towards Jerusalem and the rising sun. The main entrance was thus
on the west side, the numerous carvings at the west entrance all had symbolic import. The statues of saints,
both Biblical and local, meaningfully decorated the church. Often a vivid portrayal of Christ at the Last
Judgment warned of the eternal Hell that awaited those outside the Church. Inside the cathedral, the stained
glass windows were the divine Scriptures "which repel wind and rain but admit the light of the true sun."
The stained glass windows, sculptures, frescoes, and paintings all contained instructive scenes from
Scripture and church history. Symbols were often used in these portrayals. Fire referred to martyrdom or
religious fervor; a lily symbolized chastity; the owl, a bird of darkness, was Satan's emissary; and the lamb
was Christ our Sacrifice. Sometimes the allegories might be quite complex, such as parallel windows of
types and anti-type. A window depicting Adam leaving paradise might be opposite one of the parable of the
Good Samaritan. Reflection should draw the analogy between the man going down from Jerusalem to Adam
leaving Paradise. The man fell among thieves, which were analogous to the seven deadly sins. The priest
and the Levite, analogous to the Old Testament law, provided no help, while the Samaritan was a type of
Christ bringing healing and redemption. The very ornateness of the cathedrals spoke of the wealth of God's
grace and foreshadowed the glories of the New Jerusalem.

The Center of Life

All the important events of life took place in the medieval church -- from baptism, confirmation, and
marriage to the burial in the church grounds. Yet, worship was ceremonial and the common people could
only watch, not participate. The priest performed the ceremony of the Mass at the altar, which was elevated
and separated from the people standing in the nave. A rood screen often separated the priest and the altar
from the congregation. A professional choir sang the Gregorian chants and polyphonic music. The people
largely watched the rituals of the increasingly powerful and wealthy clergy. The Reformation arose in part in
protest to the worship of the medieval cathedral and church. Not content with an allegorical and symbolical
Bible in stone, the Reformers sought to return the written Bible and worship itself to the people. Many
hundreds of cathedrals remain in Europe today, however, as a reminder of a day when the church was the
most powerful authority and the house of God was the most important building.

111
 WILFRED GRENFELL: THE
DOCTOR WHO WENT OUT INTO
THE COLD
Pounding feet carried the awful news down the frozen coast. Dr. Wilfred
Grenfell was marooned on an ice pan with his sled dogs. The missionary
physician had raced off to tend a sick boy. Despite warnings, he had taken a
short-cut across the bay. Apparently the ice had broken under him and now
his life was in desperate peril.

Grenfell on skis

Faces were taut at the mission hospital. If the doctor died, their work was
jeopardized. More than anyone, he had been the champion of Labrador's need. All anyone could do was pray
and wait out the cold night. Rescue could not be attempted until light permitted. That is, if there was
someone left to rescue. The wind was blowing the ice out to sea. Once past the headland, the ice must break
up. Exposure might kill the doctor first.

Still a Chance to Save Him!

Dawn came at last. "He's there," shouted someone. A telescope showed the doctor far too windward, but still
within the shelter of the bay. Five brave men launched a boat and paddled into the swirl of ice. Again and
again they had to haul their boat onto ice pans to prevent it from being crushed as the blocks of ice smashed
into each other. Steadily they worked their way through sish (wind-packed snow) toward the stranded
evangelist. At last they could make out his face, reddened by wind. He was clad in dog skins. Grenfell
scrambled silently into the boat with his animals. The crew poured him tea and turned into the wind,
straining for shore. At last Grenfell spoke. He apologized for the trouble he had caused. He told how his sled
had sunk into sish he'd mistaken for ice, how he had cut the lines to the dogs and swum to the nearest pan. It
was small, so he'd coaxed the dogs onto a larger pan twenty yards away. But tragically, as the night wore on,
in order to escape freezing to death himself, he'd had to skin two of his dogs for their coats.

Finding the Ultimate Adventure

Wilfred Grenfell's brush with death on the ice pan was but one of many adventures in his strenuous life. The
greatest was to follow Christ. "To follow Jesus Christ -- I believe more than ever -- that is the only real
adventure of life," he wrote. His delight in adventure, combined with the dedicated support of thousands
who responded to his pleas, uplifted a desolate region of earth. As a boy Grenfell had run and explored the
Cheshire coast in England with abandon, climbing trees, leaping dunes, throwing himself into the undertow.
He spent nights at sea with fishermen. One cold day when he was just eight, he stepped into a "puddle" to
retrieve a bit of game he'd shot, and found himself in a deep hole. He lost his gun in the scramble to save his
life. Not until he was twelve was he again allowed to shoot alone; and then, whether the weather was warm
or freezing, he plunged into creek or sea to retrieve the game he shot. When he was sent to boarding school
at fourteen, Grenfell chafed under new restrictions. Needless to say, he was one of those who sneaked over
the walls when confinement seemed unendurable. To compensate for his loss of freedom, he played sports,
and he played with fierce intensity. All his life he got snappish if he lost at anything.

As a Youth He Sees the Hard Side of Life

Grenfell's father was a Christian and a scholar. His was a practical faith which provided breakfast to fifty
poor fishing village boys each school day. About the time Wilfred entered his teens, his father moved to the
poverty-stricken east end of London to serve as hospital chaplain with the city poor. Wilfred saw first hand
the effects of poverty and alcoholism and came into contact with the sick. He decided to become a doctor. At
eighteen he entered London Hospital Medical School. Standards were low and Grenfell gave little attention
to his classwork, even paying a burser to mark him present when he was not. Sports alone fascinated him.
The teams which gathered round him were awed by his ability to sustain punishing exercise such as
swimming in ice-filled ponds. Cramming at the last minute, Grenfell passed his exams. He advanced to
surgery. Under the discipline of the great surgeon Doctor Frederick Treves, he advanced his medical skills.
Treves became his hero. When American evangelist Dwight L. Moody visited England, Grenfell attended a
meeting and gave his life to Christ. Two years later, under the preaching of the Christian athlete, C. T.
Studd, he renewed his consecration. His first forays into evangelism came in the slums. Asked to teach a
112
Sunday school class, he gathered little urchins off the streets and trained them to box, to row, to build up
their bodies. His efforts were out of place, he was told. The Sunday school asked him to leave. Grenfell
rented his own building and continued to work. Many of his boys became Christians and grew to be useful
men. Some were his close friends until death.

A "Fisher of Men" on the Rough North Sea

From the slums Grenfell went to the North Sea. At that time North Sea fishing was a hazardous enterprise
that cost over 300 lives each year. There were no doctors. The wounded were transported home in small
cutters with fish. Thrown about by wind and sea, their broken limbs were terribly damaged by the time they
reached shore, sometimes days later. Grog ships called "copers" brought drink, pornography and tobacco to
the sailors. To address this state of affairs, concerned citizens founded the Royal National Mission to Deep-
Sea Fishermen. Their strategy was to offer music, decent literature, and the gospel as a substitute for the
copers' wares. Doctor Treves spent a winter with the fishermen and urged Wilfred to join them. Without
hesitation Wilfred agreed. Wilfred was the right choice. He tended the sick, shared sailor yarns, invented
games, toiled over the catch, and preached on the decks. In this way he won many to Christ. Able to outwork
the best of the fishermen, he gained their admiration. The fishermen adored him. They saw he lived his faith.
Full of energy, he found new ways to extend the work. He committed the mission to building a clubhouse on
shore. This was badly needed. As soon as the fishermen hit port, pressures mounted to squander their pay on
drink to the neglect of their families. Grenfell offered an alternative. To help raise money he spoke wherever
he could obtain an audience. His name began to grow in fame. For five years Grenfell worked among the
North Sea fishermen.

Now on to Faraway Labrador

In 1892 Lord Southborough, returning from a visit to Canada, asked the mission to investigate conditions in
Labrador. Grenfell was eager to go. The boat named The Albert was outfitted with a crew of six and Grenfell
as doctor. After a stop at St. Johns, Newfoundland, he sailed north to join the fishing fleet. The Albert
picked its way four hundred miles up a badly-charted coast. Within two months Grenfell had treated a
thousand patients.

Reaching and Healing Remote and Hurting People

Poverty, ignorance, semi-starvation, and tuberculosis were rife. A barter-economy exposed the settlers to the
mercy of traders. Although Church of England, Moravian, and Methodist missionaries worked among
settlers and eskimos, spiritual vitality was in most places quite low. Grenfell saw that more than a hospital
ship was needed. He vowed to demonstrate the difference Christianity could make and urged the mission to
establish a work. Although suspecting that Wilfred's enthusiasm would push them further and faster than
they wanted to go, the directors agreed. In 1893, the mission which would become known as the Labrador
Medical Mission was born. That year Grenfell made a heroic journey of over 600 miles through largely
uncharted waters, treating two thousand patients, saving many lives such as that of an eskimo girl who
needed an emergency operation. He convinced the fishermen of St. Anthony to donate time to building
themselves a hospital. The mission staffed it. Almost larger than life, Grenfell became legendary. At times it
seemed he was the mission. Indeed Grenfell raised most of the Labrador mission's support through speaking
tours, books, and the formation of associations. He convinced doctors and nurses to volunteer for frigid
Labrador. Although not as visible as he, they were no less heroic.

So What's in a Name?
Grenfell became less venturesome after he married. Travelling aboard The Mauretania, he fell in love with a
girl "because of the way she walked." Through an error he got her name wrong. When he reproved her for
the frivolous life she was leading, she asked him how he dared scold her. "You don't even know my name."
Grenfell replied that what her name was did not matter. He was only interested in what he hoped it was
going to be. The upshot was that Anne married him and became an asset to the mission. They had three
children before she died of cancer. In 1935, at age 70, Grenfell's robust mind began to fail. He retired. By
then the mission had become self-perpetuating. It operated seven nursing stations, six hospitals, an institute
for seamen, four hospital ships, several industrial centers, schools, and clothing distribution centers. He had
also established cooperatives. He found a land which its inhabitants grimly nicknamed "The Land of Cain,"
and took away its curse.

From the Doctor's Log

113
  In one of Moody's meetings, C. T. Studd asked every person to stand who was on Christ's side.
Among a group of boys from a reformatory ship, one rose, despite the hazing he knew he must take
from his fellows. Grenfell was so impressed by this act of personal courage that he rose, too.
 When Grenfell reached the boat which was to carry him into the North Sea, it was so small that he
almost turned back. What changed his mind was the hearty greeting and cheerful smile of the
skipper inviting him aboard.
 "How infinitely more needed are unselfish deeds than orthodox words," said Grenfell.
 Grenfell's first North Sea voyage lasted two months. He never saw the deck or rigging free from ice
and snow.
 Grenfell once chased a burglar who had broken into his house during Sunday service. Grenfell
happened to be at home because he had contracted two black eyes in a football game.
 Slide shows with a "magic lantern" appealed to the eskimos and settlers of Labrador, so Grenfell
frequently used them as well as phonographs as tools of his ministry.
 Grenfell wrote: "The Labrador has taught me one truth, which as a physician I never forget, that is,
coddling is the terrible menace of civilization, and 'to endure hardness' is the best preparation for a
good soldier."
 Grenfell tried the patience of a sea captain when he jumped overboard in mid-Atlantic to rescue a
soccer ball kicked too enthusiastically.
 His first winter at St. Anthony, Grenfell covered 1500 miles by dogsled to doctor people. He could
sometimes cover 75 miles in a day-- and sometimes less than five.

A POLITICIAN OF PRINCIPLE
THAT "GREAT COMMONER,"
WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN
Though William Jennings Bryan lost more elections than he ever won, his
influence in American life and politics continues strong today. With a
methodical and exacting mind, Bryan was a leader of the people, not simply
a follower of their polls or opinions. Often he took a stand on an unpopular
issue because he was convinced it was right; the public usually came
gradually to agree with him.

Bryan was among the first to stand for the popular election of Senators; he
worked for amendments establishing prohibition and women's suffrage. He
authored a law requiring publicity in campaign contributions, encouraged
the establishment of the Department of Labor, and worked for currency reform that later resulted in the
Federal Reserve Act. Bryan was called "The Great Commoner" because he worked tirelessly to protect the
common laborer and farmer from the wealthy industrialists and manufacturers. But these political
achievements were not the strongest motive in Bryan's life. As the Russian Leo Tolstoy wrote Bryan in 1907
at the height of his career,"I had, in the Russian papers, news about you. I wish with all my heart success in
your endeavor to . . . help the working people to enjoy the whole fruits of their toil, but I think this is not the
most important thing of your life. The most important thing is to know the will of God concerning one's life,
i.e., to know what he wishes us to do and fulfill it. I think that you are doing it and that is the thing in which
I wish you the greatest success."

The Most Solid Foundation

William Jennings Bryan was born in Salem, Illinois on March 19, 1860 on the eve of the Civil War. His
parents were both devout Christians, and the church played an important part in molding young Bryan.
When he was fourteen, Bryan was converted to Christ during a revival at the Presbyterian Church. He was
always thankful for the foundation the church provided for his life before he left home for college. Bryan's
father was a judge and member of the Illinois legislature. He took every opportunity to impress upon young
William the value of the Bible. As William later wrote, To him it was not only the Word of God but the
fountain of wisdom. He was especially fond of Proverbs and was in the habit of calling me in from work a
little before noon to read a chapter and comment upon it. At the time Bryan was often restless at this, but
when his father died when Bryan was about twenty, ...the Biblical truths that he sought to impress upon me
114
grew in value and I took up the book of Proverbs and read it through once a month for a year. I have
frequently mentioned this experience and advised young men to read Proverbs because of the accumulated
wisdom found there -- wisdom on all moral questions and expressed with wonderful force and clearness. In
school, Bryan became noted for his eloquence and won numerous awards for debating. It was natural for
him to follow his father into law, and in 1883 he received his law degree from Union College in Chicago.

A Union of Like-minded Spirits

The following year he married Mary Baird. Later in life, when Mary reread some of the letters from their
four year courtship, she noted that William's time away from his studies was spent in Sunday school, church,
prayer meeting, and occasionally a circus or evening at the theater. On his 21st birthday Bryan wrote
Mary . . . full of gratitude for the blessing of the past, I turned with some trembling to contemplate the
unknown future, its responsibilities, its possible successes, and its probable misfortune. I would dread to be
compelled to set forth on this sea with nothing but the light of my reason to aid me. What a blessing it is that
we have that guide, the Bible. The future looks bright . . . . Early in their marriage William and Mary
decided to spend their leisure hours in study, avoiding the young couples' whirl of social circles. Bryan read
much on the tariff, railroad regulation, and political economy and government. Mary often helped William
with his study and speeches, while also caring for her ailing parents living with them as well as their three
children, Ruth, William Jennings, Jr., and Grace. In 1887 the Bryans moved from Illinois to Lincoln,
Nebraska, where William thought he could have a more successful law practice. His oratorical skills were
becoming well known, and he was often asked to speak at political or church functions. One evening in 1888
he came home after giving a speech, awakened Mary and said, "I found I have power over the audience. God
grant that I may use it wisely." At that moment he sank to his knees in prayer.

The Cross of Gold

In 1891 and 1893 Bryan was elected to the U.S. Congress from Nebraska. He used his eloquence in politics
to protect the interests of the farmer and the common laborer. Though defeated in a race for Senator in 1894,
in 1896 Bryan became the Democratic candidate for President against the Republican William McKinley.
Bryan maintained a silver standard rather than a gold standard for currency would be fairer to the common
people, allowing more currency in circulation. At the Democratic convention he electrified his audience with
what became known as the "Cross of Gold" speech, saying, "You shall not press down upon the brow of
labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold." Bryan was an energetic
campaigner, traveling over 18,000 miles and making over 600 speeches in 27 states during the 1896
campaign. Nevertheless, Bryan lost the election to William McKinley, also a man of Christian convictions.
Bryan also unsuccessfully ran for President in 1900 and 1908, becoming the only man in history to run as a
major party candidate for president three times without winning. In spite of his losses, Bryan did not become
despondent and remained active in political and public affairs, seeing many of his policies implemented.
Bryan always fought on principles rather than attack persons. He once wrote that ...the experience of public
life has tended to confirm in me the convictions of my early education -- that the more we conform our lives
and actions, both in private and public relations, to the demands of honor, truth, sincerity, justice, and
Christianity, the greater will be our happiness and prosperity.

His Ideas Spread

Bryan continued to be a much sought after speaker. As editor of the Lincoln weekly, The Commoner, he also
was able to give his ideas wider circulation. After Bryan used his influence to help Woodrow Wilson be
elected President in 1912, Wilson appointed Bryan his Secretary of State. In that position Bryan devoted
much of his attention to the negotiation of peace treaties with over thirty nations, binding the signers to
submit all disputes to arbitration for at least a year before going to war. In 1915, when Wilson began moving
the U.S. towards World War I, Bryan resigned as Secretary of State. After his resignation, Bryan devoted
himself more than ever to Christian work. He and Mary moved to Miami, Florida, where William's Sunday
School class in the Presbyterian Church became so large it spread to the park. From the bandstand Bryan
spoke to thousands, many not normally church-goers. He also worked actively with the YMCA, helping
young men battle with the religious skepticism then becoming popular. Bryan came to believe that the
teaching of evolution as a fact rather than a theory caused many students to lose their faith in the Bible, and
he became a key spokesman against evolution. As he had worked for a Constitutional amendment
supporting direct election of Senators, women's suffrage, and prohibition, so he began to think an
amendment against evolution might be necessary. This, of course, never came about.

One of the Century's Most Famous Trials

Bryan is perhaps most remembered as the prosecuting attorney in the famous 1925 Scopes Trial. John

115
Scopes taught evolution in a Tennessee school. Such was against the law in that state. Bryan won. Scopes
was convicted and fined $100. But Evangelical Christianity lost much ground in the larger culture and was
villified as obscurantist, narrow-minded and bigoted. Now 75 years later, the Creationist-Evolutionist
controversy continues. Regarding the law in Tennessee upon which the famous case was based, Bryan gave
this penetrating and still provocative commentary: It need hardly be said that this law did not have its origin
in bigotry. It is not trying to force any form of religion on anybody. The majority is not trying to establish a
religion or to teach it -- it is trying to protect itself from the effort of an insolent minority to force irreligion
upon the children under the guise of teaching science. What right has a little irresponsible oligarchy of self-
styled "intellectuals" to demand control of the schools of the United States, in which twenty-five million
children are being educated at an annual expense of nearly two billion dollars? Christians must, in every
State of the Union, build their own colleges in which to teach Christianity; it is only simple justice that
atheists, agnostics, and unbelievers should build their own colleges if they want to teach their own religious
views or attack the religious views of others.

Bryan died of a heart attack on July 26, 1925, a few days after the conclusion of the Scopes Trial.
Throughout his life Bryan had used his political and oratorical gifts to establish popular government,
safeguard society, and spread the Christian faith.

SUNDAR SINGH -- THE SEEKING

SIKH
Bitter over the death of his mother, Sundar Singh blamed God. The fourteen-
year-old boy became vicious toward his Christian teachers. He threw filth on
them, mocked their Scriptures, and interrupted classes. Then he made the
ultimate gesture of scorn. He bought a Bible from the Christians. Outside his
house he built a fire and page by page tore up the Scripture and burnt it.

"Although I believed that I had done a very good deed by burning the Bible, I
felt unhappy," he said. Within three days Sundar Singh could bear his misery no
longer. Late one night in December 1903, he rose from bed and prayed that God
reveal himself to him if he really existed. Otherwise -- "I planned to throw
myself in front of the train which passed by our house." For seven hours Sundar
Singh prayed. "O God, if there is a God, reveal thyself to me tonight." The next train was due at five o'clock
in the morning. The hours passed.

A Dramatic Conversion
Suddenly the room filled with a glow. A man appeared before him. Sundar Singh heard a voice say, "How
long will you deny me? I died for you; I have given my life for you." He saw the man's hands, pierced by
nails. This could only be Christ. In that moment of recognition, the boy who had burnt the Bible became a
man who would endure anything for the Christ taught in it. He knew Christ as the Savior of the world and
fell to his knees with a wonderful sense of peace. To meet Christ was only the beginning for Sundar Singh.
He was a Sikh. Sikhs had endured terrible persecutions in their early history. As a consequence they were
fiercely loyal to their faith and to each other. Conversion to Christianity was considered treachery. Now
every effort was made to woo or coerce Sundar Singh back to his ancestral faith.

Whatever It Took to Reclaim Him!

His father pleaded. An uncle opened his cellar full of treasures and said they were all Sundar's if only he
would return to Sikhism. A cousin with connections at court introduced him to the prince, who appealed to
the boy's patriotism. His own brother spread lies about him. The gang he had led hurled muck at him. He
was made to feel that his actions endangered others. Because of him the mission was attacked. Christians
were denied service at the stores and driven into exile. A boy who followed Sundar Singh was poisoned to
death. Sundar's father alternately pleaded with tears and raged with fury. Thinking marriage would change
the boy's attitude, Mr. Singh ordered the fourteen year old to marry. Although parental commands are law
among the Sikhs, Sundar Singh refused in Christ's name.

116
Accursed Forever
Finally Sundar Singh realized he must break with his people. He cut off the hair he had worn long like every
Sikh man. Then he heard the words of outcasting spoken over him. "We reject you forever. . . . I declare you
are no more worthy to be called our son. . . . We shall forget you as if you had never been born. You will
leave this house with nothing but the clothes you wear on your back. . . ." Hours later he experienced
wrenching pain in his gut. His family had poisoned his last meal. He staggered to a mission hospital. The
missionary-medic was able to save the young man's life. Sundar now had a decision to make. Conventional
Indian churches were willing to grant him a pulpit, but their rules were foreign to his spirit. Indeed, he felt
that a key reason the gospel was not accepted in India was because it came in a garb foreign to Indians. He
decided to don the yellow robe of India's holy men. Unlike them, he would not let dirt accumulate on his
body or torture his body with ascetic practices. Dressed in his thin yellow robe, Sundar Singh took to the
road. Wherever he went he preached the gospel of Christ. Sometimes he was blessed, sometimes cursed. He
visited his own village and many of the gang members listened to him with curiosity and interest. A few
became Christians. Sundar Singh was still a very young man. Already he had endured far more than most
mature Christians ever experience. And his sufferings had only begun.

Into Forbidden Lands

The mountains of Tibet called to him. In those remote regions were souls starved for the word of God.
Buddhist monks exerted tremendous power over the nation. They wanted no part of the Christianity which
might rob them of income and influence. Sundar Singh determined to enter the forbidden land with the
gospel of Christ. Before his death he would travel into Tibet about twenty times.

How Did He Escape?

In 1912 in the Tibetan village of Lazar, he was beaten and thrown to die in a pit filled with rotting bodies.
His arm was broken; the pit was sealed above him, and only the Grand Lama had the key. The stench was
unbearable. Three nights later, Sundar heard the grate open. A shadowy figure lowered a rope and pulled
him out. Next morning he boldly showed himself again, preaching in the streets. The Grand Lama seized
him. Furious questions followed. Who had helped him? Who had stolen the key? He pulled the key ring
from under his robe. But the key to the pit was still on it. Terrified, he freed Sundar Singh, expelling him
from town.

Repeatedly Delivered
One time, Sundar was left bound to die in the forest of Nepal. Secret Christians came to his rescue. Another
time, when he sang of Christ in prison, he was bound in stocks and hurled into the jungle to die. Again secret
Christians came at night and released him, speaking to him for long hours of the faith they shared. Men who
knew him said he was more like Christ than any other man they had known. He himself said, "A Christian is
one who has fallen in love with Christ." Later -- and amazingly -- his father became a Christian. To make
amends for his former actions, he paid for Sundar's passage to the West to preach. Sundar visited Europe,
England and America. What he found here upset him deeply. Shocked by Western materialism, Sundar
Singh paraphrased Christ's words: "Come unto me all ye that are heavily laden with gold, and I will give you
rest." The Sadhu was glad to return even to Tibet after his experience in the West. Worn down, he no longer
possessed the strength and will power of former years. For months he was very sick. In 1929, before he had
fully recovered, he climbed again to Tibet. He never returned. Nothing was ever heard from him again.

Jesus Was the Water of Life to Sundar

In Sundar's words: "Christ is my savior. He is my life. He is everything to me in heaven and earth. Once
while traveling in a sandy region I was tired and thirsty. Standing on the top of a mound I looked for water.
The sight of a lake at a distance brought joy to me, for now I hoped to quench my thirst. I walked toward it
for a long time, but I could never reach it. Afterwards I found out it was a mirage, only a mere appearance
of water caused by the refracted rays of the sun. In reality there was none. In a like manner I was moving
about the world in search of the water of life. The things of this world -- wealth, position, honor and luxury
-- looked like a lake by drinking of whose waters I hoped to quench my spiritual thirst. But I could never
find a drop of water to quench the thirst of my heart. I was dying of thirst. When my spiritual eyes were
opened I saw the rivers of living water flowing from his pierced side. I drank of it and was satisfied. Thirst
was no more."

Another Sikh, Another Singh

Another Sikh who became an internationally known Christian was Bakht Singh. Born to wealthy parents in
1903, Bakht Singh was converted in 1929 (the same year Sundar disappeared) while studying in Manitoba.

117
Knowing that his parents (like Sundar Singh's) would not accept his conversion, he returned to India with
great trepidation. His fears were well-grounded. His wife left him. His parents and relatives rejected him.
Despite suffering from a speech impediment, Bakht Singh became an evangelist. He spent hours a day on his
knees studying the Scripture. He carried the Bible wherever he went and urged converts to read it daily. His
sermons quoted extensively from Scripture. Revival followed wherever he went, but he was unsatisfied.
Converts were not receiving the follow up they needed. What should he do? After a night praying on a
mountain, he determined he must form a new kind of congregation for Indian believers, a congregation
based on New Testament principles. He started over 500 of these local assemblies in his lifetime. Thousands
of these Christian brethren gather each year in designated cities to hold Christian festivals which Bakht
Singh established. They march singing and holding aloft Scripture banners. Bakht Singh helped make Indian
Christians independent, the very thing Sundar Singh had wanted to do.

Remember Corrie Ten Boom, Heroine of the WWII Story The Hiding Place?
As a teenager, Corrie so badly wanted to hear Sundar Singh when he visited Europe
that she came to his conference with a blanket, prepared to sleep in a field. It was not
necessary. A kind student found room for her. So Corrie listened with awe as Sundar
told how he had met Christ. Disturbed that as a Christian she had never seen a vision
of Christ or performed miracles, she asked the Sadhu why. Sundar responded that
she was the real miracle. He believed in Christ only after seeing Him. She, on the
other hand, had merely heard and believed. He quoted to her Christ's words,
"Blessed are those who have not seen but believed."

118
 THEIR LEGACIES STILL PROFIT US

JOHN FOXE AND HIS BOOK OF

MARTYRS
In every century there are examples of courageous Christians who were
willing to lose their lives rather than deny their faith. One history-
making book gathered many stories of martyrdoms and through its pages
has inspired Christians for generations.

Foxe

In 1563, Englishman John Foxe published his Acts and Monuments to

give a universal history of God's work at building His church. Often
called Foxe's Book of Martyrs, the history has become a Christian
classic. There was a time when the Bible and Foxe's work were the only
two books many Christians ever read.

John Foxe was born in 1516 in Boston, England, just as the Reformation began to dawn. The year Foxe was
born, Erasmus published his New Testament in Greek; the year after Foxe's birth Martin Luther posted his
95 theses in Wittenberg. In 1534 Foxe went to Oxford to study theology. As Foxe read extensively in the
Greek and Latin church fathers and compared them with the Roman church of his day, Foxe concluded the
church had departed from the faith of the earliest Christians. At Oxford Foxe began to adopt Reformation
views and also met the reformers Hugh Latimer and William Tyndale, two who would later become martyrs.
Because he could no longer accept the theology of the Roman Church, Foxe lost his position at Oxford and
could not be ordained to the priesthood. He married Agnes Randall of Coventry and for a time found work
as a tutor in the household of William Lucy in Warwickshire. Then he moved to London where he sought
work in vain.

Who Was That Man?

Starving and hopeless, one day he was sitting in St. Paul's Church when a stranger sat down beside him and
put a large sum of money into his hands. The stranger told him to be of good courage, for in a few days God
would give him a more certain sustenance. Foxe never learned who the stranger was, but soon the Duchess
of Richmond hired him as tutor for her brother's children. Besides tutoring, Foxe wrote a number of Latin
tracts urging reform. He also began work on a history that would be a justification of the Reformation and
would show history as a cosmic struggle between Christ and anti-Christ, good and evil, truth and error.

When Henry VIII died and his young son Edward became king, those wishing to reform the Church gained
the power at court. Edward's reign was brief, however, and at his death his half-sister Queen Mary ascended
the throne. She re-established the Roman Catholic Church in England. Those who had followed the
Reformation were imprisoned and persecuted. Many English Christians, including John Foxe, fled to the
continent for safety.

A Narrow Escape
Bishop Gardiner was Queen Mary's instrument against the Reformers. He made inquiries regarding Foxe.
Thomas, the young Duke of Norwich concealed Foxe's identity with a lie, declaring Foxe was his physician.
Alarmed for Foxe's safety, he hustled him to Ipswich where a servant hid him. As soon as they could, Foxe
and his pregnant wife boarded a ship for the continent. It had not cleared harbor when Gardiner's agents,

119
waving a warrant for his arrest, broke down the door of the house where he had hidden. Finding him gone,
they dashed to the harbor. Seeing they could not overtake the ship, they turned back. It was fortunate for
Foxe they did. A storm drove him back to port. To mislead his pursuers, he rented a horse and pretended to
flee into the country. That night he returned to the ship, pleaded with the captain to take him to safety and
made good his escape.

Saving and Sharing the Stories

In 1554 Foxe published his History of the Acts and Monuments of the Church in Latin. Never before had
Europeans heard the specific stories of the English Lollards, the followers of John Wycliffe, who had
suffered persecution under the Church for their faith. While in exile Foxe worked as a proofreader with a
printer in Basel, Switzerland and continued collecting information on Christians persecuted for their faith.
Foxe added to his history contemporary stories from England of Queen Mary's persecutions, including those
of the notable Oxford martyrs Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer.

Back to England in Poverty

When Queen Mary died in 1558, John Foxe returned to England financially destitute. His former pupil,
Thomas Howard, had become the Duke of Norfolk and gave Foxe and his family lodgings in his London
home. There Foxe stayed for ten years, studying and diligently working on his history. In 1563 he published
an English edition of the Acts and Monuments and dedicated it to Queen Elizabeth. Foxe believed the
Protestant Elizabeth was a protector of the Church as Constantine had been a thousand years earlier.
Elizabeth was so pleased with Foxe's work she commanded a copy be placed in every English church and
gave him a position at Salisbury Cathedral.

God and Country

His history was motivated in part by some strong theological and patriotic views. Foxe believed God was
using England in a special way to prepare for His Second Coming. Foxe's book helped create an English
sense of patriotism, a sense that they were a special, or elect, or chosen people, much as Old Testament
Israel had been.

Seeing God's Footprints in History

Throughout his history Foxe saw God's hand at work. God's justice sent Queen Mary to punish the English
people, and God's mercy sent Queen Elizabeth to rescue them. (Actually she persecuted Christians who
refused to accept Church of England rules) By 1570 Foxe greatly expanded his work to include stories of the
early church persecutions. Catholics had often criticized Protestants as being a new sect. Where, they asked,
had the Protestant faith been before 1500? Foxe's history was written to show that the Protestant faith was
the faith of the true Church, which had been persecuted from its earliest days. Foxe believed that when the
Roman emperor Constantine was converted to Christianity in AD 312 and began to show favor to the
church, Satan was bound and the persecutions ceased. For the next thousand years, however, the Church had
increased in worldly wealth and spiritual corruption. The few who sought to follow the Bible, such as the
Waldensees, did suffer persecution, and martyrs for the truth increased in the late thirteenth century, when
Foxe believed Satan was again loosed.

In Foxe's view, the Lollards and the Reformers were faithful to the early church's teaching and were
persecuted as the early Christians had been. Foxe carefully documented the stories of the martyrs under
Queen Mary, frequently inserting documents or quoting statements made at the trials where the Christians
clearly testified of their faith. Foxe's description of the trials often ended in a dramatic scene in which the
believer standing firm for the truth of the Word of God confronts the sophistries of the Roman prelates. The
martyrs are seen as loyal subjects of the English crown, while the persecutors are subject to a foreign power
in Rome. Who could ever forget Foxe's description of Cranmer holding his hand in the flame, or Latimer
calling out from the fire, "Be of good cheer, master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light a
candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out!"

The Great Benefits of Christian History

Foxe knew that an awareness of Christian history would make a difference in the lives of believers and the
church. Thus, he concluded his work with the prayer that the grace of the Lord Jesus work with thee, gentle
reader, in all thy studious readings. . . that by reading thou mayest learn daily to know that which may profit
the soul, may teach thee experience, may arm thee with patience, and instruct thee in spiritual knowledge
more and more to thy perpetual comfort and salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord; to whom be glory. . . Amen.

120
Foxe received no royalty for his writings, and often found himself on the verge of poverty. Known for his
impeccable honesty, wealthy men often entrusted money to Foxe for him to distribute to the poor and needy.
In addition to his writing, Foxe preached regularly. His 1570 sermon "Of Christ Crucified," preached at
Paul's Cross, was printed and well read in his day. In it he pled for mercy for others and encouraged waiting
for the Second Advent when the Righteous Judge would bring true punishment. He did not believe the death
penalty should be given for a person's religious belief.

Unconcerned with worldly success, Foxe had a humane, compassionate spirit and a hatred of tyranny. One
of his earliest tracts, published in 1551, was against the death penalty for adultery. In 1575 Foxe boldly
wrote Queen Elizabeth and her counselors to ask that a group of Anabaptists sentenced to death for their
faith should be reprieved. Even more boldly, six years later Foxe tried to save a number of Jesuits
condemned to death. John Foxe died on April 18, 1587, but his Book of Martyrs continues in print and still
inspires readers today.

So We'd Know God in Our History

Foxe wrote in English, rather than the scholarly Latin, because he believed the common people needed to
know of God's working in history. He also illustrated his work with 170 woodcuts, making his work more
accessible to the less literate. Foxe believed Christian history was a continuation of the Old Testament
history and the early Church's story found in Acts, and ordinary Christians needed to know of the unfolding
of God's plan and the principles revealed in Scripture. Foxe believed God's works in history would minister
to the readers thereof wholesome admonitions of life, with experience and wisdom both to know God in his
works, and to work the thing which is godly; especially to seek unto the Son of God for their salvation, and
in his faith only to find what they seek.

A GOOD LAWYER ON THE LAM

A scholar's life is supposed to be uneventful, is it not--without threat more serious than a
tumbling stack of books? On August 29, 1618, Hugo Grotius may have wished this were
so. Moments earlier he had arrived at the Hague to attend a meeting. The doorkeeper
directed him to Prince Maurices' rooms. He added, "Barnevelt is already there." Grotius
went up. Barnevelt was there all right--a prisoner.

The towering statue of Hugo Grotius, one of history's greatest lawyers and one of
Holland's most notable sons, stands tall and proud at the Grote Market in Gouda, Holland.
In his own day, however, Grotius had to flee his native land.

The captain of the guard seized Grotius also. In a stunning coup, the Netherlands'
Calvinists had captured the Arminian political leaders. As happened so often in history,
religion had gotten mixed with power politics. In its simplest terms, the controversy
amounted to this: the Arminians believed a man had some say in his salvation; strict Calvinists said it was
entirely God's decree. In politics, the Arminians were for states' rights, the Calvinists for more centralized
authority.

Brought to Trial
A packed tribunal--the same men were both accusers and judges--sat against the prisoners. Barnevelt was
beheaded. Grotius prepared for his own head to roll, refusing to request a pardon which would be an
admission of guilt. He wrote his wife of his trust in God and turned the Lord's prayer into verse.

A Rigged Trial
In this frame of mind he went to trial. His accusers produced no written charges, permitted him no counsel,
allowed him but one sheet of paper to prepare his defense. The tribunal pronounced him guilty. At 36 he was
given a life sentence and locked in Loevestein castle. Not until a year later was he notified of the last charge:
high treason!

He Was an Incredible Kid

How had his scholarship gotten Grotius into this pickle? Hugo Grotius was born in 1583. A child prodigy,
121
he mastered Latin by age eight. Amazingly, at age eleven he was admitted to study at the University of
Leyden. When he was only 15 he took his doctorate. That same year this teenage wonder accompanied a
diplomatic mission to France. King Henry IV was so impressed by him he pronounced him "The Miracle of
Holland." None of this went to the young man's head. He took a law degree in France and came home at 16
to publish a revision of Capella's encyclopedia. Every page showed him a master of ancient writings. He
went on to write plays, histories, poems, legal works--all of high quality.

On the Fast Track in Politics

Grotius would have been content to remain a scholar. But his father pressed him to become a lawyer. He did
and gained such a reputation that at 24 years of age he was appointed Attorney General for Holland, Zeeland
and West-Friesland. This position involved prosecution of crime and oversight of state property. Soon he
was awarded a seat in Holland's legislature and then on the national legislature and before long on the
Committee of Councilors which ran the nation. His scholarship was devoted to nation and faith. Holland and
Utrecht were Arminian; the other provinces Calvinist. Grotius, who had held no opinion on the issue, studied
and became Arminian. Yet he struggled to unite the two factions, drafting a formula of reconciliation. His
efforts failed. Thus he was locked away for life. But Grotius' opponents permitted him books and he used
them to write On the Truth of the Christian Religion. They also allowed his wife, Marie, and their children,
to share his two rooms, coming and going by permission. This would soon lead to a wild idea -- one loaded
with risk.

This Could Be a Movie!

Grotius' books were brought in a wooden chest four feet long. This came and went. The guards became
careless and no longer examined it. Marie noticed. Here might be a means of escape! Grotius found that by
doubling over he could squeeze into the box. Its keyhole admitted a little air. A plan was made and a maid
was sworn to secrecy and enlisted to assist. Grotius prayed on his knees an hour, then, in only his underwear,
crept into the box. Marie asked the guards to carry it down. Her husband was ruining his health on studies,
she said; his books must go. The guards saw Grotius' clothes on a chair and his bed curtains pulled.
Supposing him in bed, they heaved up the chest. "What makes it so heavy?" they asked. "The Arminian must
be in it." "Only heavy Arminian books," replied quick-witted Marie. All the same the guards checked the
box for air holes and asked the wife of the commandant if they should open it. "Marie says it is books,"
replied the woman -- so the box was not opened.

The maid brought it to Gorcum by boat. One of the men who lugged the chest ashore cried out that there was
something alive in it. "Oh, yes, Arminian books are full of life and spirit," answered the maid, and the
bearers said no more. Disguised as a bricklayer, Grotius fled. Some weeks later Marie joined her husband in
Paris. At this time the horrific Thirty Years' War was raging across Europe. A vicious, Machiavellian
pragmatism governed the relations of states and behavior of war. Grotius was appalled at its cruelty and lack
of faith, so out of line with Christianity. He composed The Rights of War and Peace, a cry for international
justice. In it he appealed to natural law, showing that the heathen had often behaved better than Christians.
The reception of his book was mixed. The Roman Catholic church placed it on the prohibited list. Gustav
Adolphus, the Swedish king adopted its principles. A copy was found in his tent when he died--with orders
that Grotius be employed by Sweden.

He Thought His Life a Waste

Grotius became Sweden's ambassador to France where he negotiated for many years with Richelieu and
Louis XIII. Tender of conscience, he hated the compromises he was forced to make and resigned, sailing to
Germany. A storm lashed his ship. It was de-masted and driven ashore. Weakened by exposure, he took to
his bed. His last words were, "By undertaking many things, I have accomplished nothing." He could not
foresee that in just three years the Peace of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years' War, would bear the
imprint of his ideas.

The importance of Christian scholarship often goes unseen. But men saw in his book a turning point in law.
No one before him had stated so clearly and consistently a basis for international conduct. It was nothing
short of a major milestone in defining minimal human decency among nations. Grotius showed the value of
Christian scholarship by changing the world for everyone. His work, not Machiavelli's, is the acclaimed
standard of international conduct -- however much ignored in practice. History has given this great Christian
scholar a title: Father of International Law.

122
Grotius on the Bases of International Law
Arguing against the theory that utility makes right, Grotius says that men may not simply seek their own
advantage because we are social creatures and need one another. He then shows that we are also bound to
limit our behavior because of God:

"Since we are assured [of the existence of God] partly by our reason and partly by constant tradition,
confirmed by many arguments and by miracles attested by all ages, it follows that God, as our creator to
whom we owe our being and all that we have, is to be obeyed by us without exception, especially since He
has in many ways shown himself to be supremely good and supremely powerful. Wherefore, he is able to
bestow upon those who obey Him the highest rewards, even eternal rewards, since He himself is eternal; and
He must be believed to be willing to do this, particularly if He has promised to do so in plain words; and this
is what Christians believe, convinced by the indubitable faith of testimonies.

"And here we find another origin of law, besides the natural source of which we have spoken; it is the free
will of God, to which our reason indisputably tells us we must submit ourselves. But even natural law--
whether it be the natural social law, or law in the looser meaning of which we have spoken--might yet be
rightfully ascribed to God though it proceed from the principles of man's inner nature; for it was in
accordance with His will that such principles came to exist within us . . . . It may be added that God has
made these principles more manifest by the commandments which He has given in order that they might be
understood by those whose minds have weaker powers of reasoning. And He controlled the aberration of our
impulses, which drive us this way and that, to the injury of ourselves and of others; bridling our more
vehement passions, and restraining them within due limits."

Fascinating Facts from the Legendary Lawyer's Life

 14 year old Hugo converted his mother from Catholicism to Protestantism by reasoning with her and
encouraging her to read the Scriptures.
 Grotius revered his teacher Junius who, he said, taught him more about righteousness by his devout
life than all the pious books he had read.
 A coach in which Grotius was riding was shot at by Frenchmen who thought he was coming to
rescue a convicted thief. The coachman was killed and a bullet barely missed Grotius. Grotius
helped obtain pardon for the shooters.
 His wife, Marie Grotius, refused to accept the small allowance the government offered her husband
for food while he was in prison, insisting on supporting him herself.
 In exile Grotius held church services in his own house when he could not find a Protestant church.
 Reminded on his deathbed that his recourse must be to Christ, Hugo Grotius replied that all his hope
was in Jesus Christ.
 What moved this man? "I saw in the whole Christian world a license of fighting at which even
barbarous nations might blush. Wars were begun on trifling pretexts or none at all, and carried on
without any reference of law, Divine or human." (from Hugo Grotius' Prolegomena)
 The Rights of War and Peace remained on the Catholic prohibited list until 1901, when its removal
became a condition for the church to participate in certain international conferences.

123
 AN INCREDIBLE FOURTH CENTURY
FAMILY
In this issue we will look at one of the most unusual families in all Christian
history, a family who contributed person after person, generation after
generation, both men and women, to significant Christian ministry. We will
look at this family through its most famous son whose name was Basil. Born
about AD 330 and educated for high position and prestige, Basil had everything
needed to establish himself successfully in this world, but he chose the service
of Christ above earthly power.

Basil the Great, from an icon

His family was a wealthy Christian family from Cappadocia, in east-central

Asia Minor, modern day Turkey. History does not record exactly when the Gospel came to Cappadocia, but
possibly it was through Jews who heard Peter's powerful sermon at Pentecost (Acts 2:9). By the end of his
life, Peter was writing to Christians in their area (I Peter 1:1). But the church in Cappadocia became firmly
established in the region through the evangelism done by Bishop Gregory, often called Thaumaturgus or the
Wonder-worker. Note that after the apostle Paul, Gregory "The Wonder-worker" was one of the few "big
name" Christian ministers for the next 250 years.

This was a period of persecution and there were no public mass evangelism meetings allowed. Basil's
grandmother Macrina came to Christ through Gregory the Wonder-worker's ministry in the third century.
When persecution of the Christians broke out under Emperor Diocletian, Macrina and her husband fled their
home and lived in the hill forests of Pontus for seven years. When they did return to their homes, persecution
again broke out, and much of their property was confiscated. Macrina's son Basil later married Emmelia,
who was the daughter of a martyr. Basil and Emmelia had ten children and raised them all in the Christian
faith for which their parents had suffered so greatly. The oldest child, a girl, was named Macrina after Basil's
mother. The second oldest, a boy, was named Basil after his father; he is the main subject of our story.

Basil, Sr., was a lawyer and rhetorician in Cappadocia, and he provided Basil, Jr., with a classic education to
follow in his steps. After schooling in Caesarea and Constantinople, Basil went to Athens where he studied
for six years. There he became friends with Prince Julian, later Roman Emperor, and fellow-Cappadocian
Gregory of Nazianzus. Basil excelled at rhetoric and became very proud of his abilities. When he came
home, he began teaching at the university of Caesarea. Basil's father had died when he was away, and on his
return he found his sister Macrina had taken over the care of their mother and was looking after the
education of the younger children. Macrina was an extraordinary woman. Gregory of Nazianzus once wrote
regarding her, "it was a woman who was the subject of our discourse, if indeed you can say 'a woman' for I
do not know if it is appropriate to call her by a name taken from nature when she surpasses nature."

Macrina's Marriage Plans

Disappointed Macrina was engaged to be married when she was twelve, but her fianc³ died. She resolved to
remain unmarried and devote her life to the Lord and the service of others. Since a young girl Macrina had
especially studied the Song of Solomon and the Psalms. As her brother Gregory later wrote: She went
through each part of the Psalm at its special time, when getting up, when engaging in work, when resting,
when she took her meals, when she arose from the table, when she went to bed or arose for prayers; always
she had the Psalms with her like a good traveling companion. Not forsaking them for a moment.

A Sister's Rebuke, a Brother's Death

When Basil returned from Athens, Macrina warned him about his pride in his rhetorical abilities and the way
he exalted himself and despised very worthy men. Macrina showed him that worldly success was less
important than being right with God. At first Basil shrugged off Macrina's words, but when his brother
Naucratius died unexpectedly, Basil was shaken. He woke up as if he had been in a deep sleep and saw his

124
preoccupation with rhetoric as "vain labor in which I was engaged, occupying myself in acquiring a
knowledge made foolish by God."

What to Do with His Life

But if as a Christian Basil was not to be consumed with a worldly education, how was he to live? He studied
the gospels closely to see what his life should be like: Accordingly, having read the Gospel and having seen
clearly there that the greatest means for perfection is the selling of one's possessions, the sharing with needy
brethren, the complete renouncing of solicitude for this life, and the refusing of the soul to be led astray by
any affection for things of earth, I prayed to find some one of the brethren who had chosen this way of life,
so as to pass with him over life's brief and troubled waters.

Basil's sister Macrina had moved with her mother and female servants to the family's property at Annesi in
Pontus and established a female monastery there with Macrina as leader. Basil too renounced his worldly
office and decided to lead an ascetic life. He visited monastic communities in Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and
Mesopotamia before establishing his own community in Pontus. Basil was strongly in favor of a community
life rather than the life of a solitary ascetic, for many of Christ's commands could only be fulfilled by living
with others and serving them. Basil's brother Gregory and his lifelong friend Gregory of Nazianzus joined
with Basil in the monastic life. Basil believed strongly that the monastery should not be autonomous but
should be under the control of the local bishop and work closely with the church. He established seven times
of prayer a day and established rules which continue to be followed by Eastern monasteries and influenced
the rule Benedict established in the West in the sixth century. He encouraged monks to minister to the
surrounding population by providing medical care, relief for the poor, and education for the young.

Refusing the Emperor, Feeding the Poor

Julian, Basil's friend from his schooldays in Athens, had become Emperor and tried to encourage Basil to
work at his court, but Basil refused the call of the world and chose the ascetic life. He had only lived in the
monastery six years, however, when he was persuaded to return to the city of Caesarea and be ordained.
When famine came to Caesarea in 368, Basil worked tirelessly to help the people of the city. He sold much
of his inheritance to provide food for the people and received funds from many wealthy patrons to avert
disaster. He also worked to persuade the merchants to keep their prices down and not profit at the expense of
the people's welfare.

You Can't Bribe a "Guest of God"

In 370 Basil was chosen Bishop of Caesarea. He used his position to stand firm for the orthodoxy
established at the Council of Nicea. Valens, the Emperor by this time, was a strong Arian, denying the deity
of Jesus Christ. He tried to use every means at his disposal to bring Basil over to Arian beliefs. First he tried
to bribe Basil to tolerate the heretical Arian bishops, but Basil would not be bought. Then Valens sent
officials to openly threaten Basil with confiscation of his property, banishment, and death, but Basil would
not be intimidated. He told the officials: "Nothing more? Not one of these things touches me. His property
cannot be forfeited who has none; banishment I know not, for I am restricted to no place, and am the guest
of God, to whom the whole earth belongs; for martyrdom I am unfit, but death is a benefactor to me, for it
sends me more quickly to God, to whom I live and move . . . ." Valens was about to banish Basil when his
son became very ill; he called for Basil to pray for the boy, and he recovered for a time.

Through correspondence, sermons, and theological treatises, Basil stood firmly for the doctrine of the
Trinity. He and his brother Gregory, who became Bishop of Nyssa, were staunch defenders of the deity of
Christ and the Holy Spirit and were influential in defining the terms by which the three persons of the
Trinity were one deity. With Gregory of Nazianzus, they also defended the complete humanity of Jesus. One
heresy of the day was that Jesus had a human body but not a human soul or mind. The Cappadocians
recognized that Jesus had to be fully human if he was to save us fully. The importance of the role of the
Cappadocians in the theological and doctrinal realm cannot be overestimated. The church had been
scandalously divided over theological issues, particularly Arianism. It even led to rioting in the streets in
major cities, various forms of violence, and exiling of bishops. The Cappadocians skillfully worked through
key issues with deeper understanding so that a level of peace could be achieved.

Basil combined a pastor's heart in caring for his church with a theologian's love for the truth. When he died
in 379 his last words were "Into Thy hands, O Lord I commit my spirit; Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord,
God of truth."

125
Two years after Basil's death, the new Emperor Theodosius called a church council at Constantinople to
finally deal with the Arian heresy. The two Cappadocian Gregories, Basil's brother Gregory of Nyssa, and
his friend, Gregory of Nazianzus, were leaders in formulating what is now known as the Nicene Creed.
Today Basil is considered among the eight doctors of the early church, along with Ambrose, Jerome,
Augustine, Gregory the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, Athanasius, and John Chrysostom.

Six Saints in One Family

In the Eastern Orthodox church, not only is Basil himself venerated as a saint, but so are his sister Macrina,
his two brothers, Gregory Bishop of Nyssa and Peter Bishop of Sebaste, his grandmother Macrina the Elder,
and his mother Emmelia. Quite a Cappadocian family!

ALFRED THE GREAT--LEGEND

AND LEADER
Alfred lived and ruled over 1,000 years ago. Yet his historic vision for his
people, personal courage, spiritual devotion, and treatment of his enemies,
offer profound wisdom for political leaders of any age -- including our own.
Winston Churchill noted when looking back over the centuries at Alfred's
life that, "we are witnessing the birth of a nation." It is an exhilarating story.

But first, some necessary background. Christianity came to Britain in the

first century, probably brought by Roman soldiers -- possibly even by one
of the soldiers who guarded Paul during his Roman imprisonment. Slowly
the gospel of Christ spread and a strong Celtic church was established in
Britain. The Celtic Christians even sent out missionaries to Ireland (St.
Patrick!) and the European Continent.

When the Angle and Saxon barbarians attacked Britain in the fourth century, the British Christians began to
be pushed back until they finally were mostly in Cornwall and Wales. In spite of their missionary zeal
elsewhere, the British Christians did little to evangelize their Angle and Saxon invaders and conquerors. Not
until Pope Gregory sent Augustine to England in 597 did the Angles and Saxons begin to embrace
Christianity. Ethelbert was the first Anglo-Saxon monarch to become a Christian, and he encouraged his
people to follow the Christian religion.

Gradually the Angles and Saxons converted to Christ and united with the British Christians in worship. In
time, however, the vitality of the church declined. Ignorance, superstition and luxurious living replaced the
simplicity and power of the Scriptures and a holy life. Many thought the Viking invasions which began at
the end of the eighth century were punishment for the spiritual declension of the leaders and the people.

More than any Other

One man who did more than any other to fight against the spiritual decay within the English church as well
as against the Vikings was Alfred, later known as Alfred the Great. Would Heathen Anarchy Prevail? In the
earliest years of the attacks, the Vikings had been content to raid and plunder the coastal areas. By Alfred's
time, some Danish Vikings wanted to settle on conquered lands. The Danes conquered the commercial town
of London and began to settle in Northumbria and East Anglia. In 870 the Danes began a strong military
push to extend their conquest to Wessex. It seemed that all of England would fall into heathen anarchy, and
Christianity would disappear from the island. In January 871 Alfred led the Saxons against the Danes on
Berkshire Downs and put the Danes to flight. It was Alfred's first battle, and with the Danes decisively
beaten on the battlefield, hope was restored to the Saxon people. Soon after, King Ethelred died, and Alfred
became King at the age of 24.

Some later saw it as providential that Alfred ascended to the throne of Wessex just as the Danish attacks
were becoming strongest. As the warfare intensified, the invaders would make peace and then break their
oaths and launch surprise attacks. On Twelfth Night in 878, when the Saxons were celebrating, the Danes
swept down, and the whole Saxon army was thrown into confusion. Many were killed while others slipped

126
away to their homes. Only a handful remained with Alfred, who hid out in the marshes and swamps on the
Isle of Athelney. This was Alfred's darkest hour.

Later stories arose, as pictured on page one, to amuse generations of English children of Alfred disguised as
a minstrel playing his harp in the Danish camps -- or disguised as a kitchen boy to a Saxon housewife.
Towards the end of Lent, Alfred began to call on the militia to assemble at the end of May. The people were
overjoyed to hear the king was alive, and all the fighting men came back. At the battle of Ethandun the
Saxons and Danes fought with sword and ax for hours. As Winston Churchill later wrote of the battle, "The
heathen had lost the favour of God through their violated oaths; eventually from this or other causes they
fled from the cruel and changing field and, at the last, full of despair, begged for peace."

Victory Brings Forced Baptism

Alfred was both merciful and firm in victory. He insisted the Danes evacuate Wessex, though he allowed
them to settle in lands to the east and north, the area that became known as the Danelaw. Alfred had viewed
the fight as not just a military conflict but also a spiritual war between Christians and heathen barbarians. As
the victor, Alfred required the Danish leader Guthrum be baptized. How genuine Guthrum's conversion was
is unknown, but Guthrum at least nominally became the first Christian Viking. The first item in the peace
treaty between Alfred and Guthrum agreed to "love one God and zealously renounce all heathen practices."
Fines were established for honoring a pagan religion or not keeping the Sabbath laws. The process of
bringing Christianity to the Danelaw had begun. Alfred's contemporary and biographer Asser wrote that the
"desire for wisdom, more than anything else, together with the nobility of his birth, ƒcharacterized the nature
of his noble mind."

One of the greatest griefs of Alfred's life was that as a young man when he had the leisure for learning he
could find no teachers. Alfred did not learn to read or write until after he became king, then he went on to
learn Latin as well as his native English. To improve the quality of English education, Alfred brought
scholars from Europe. He personally translated many Latin works into Anglo-Saxon so the English nobility
could read them. Aesop's Fables, Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy Augustine's Meditations, Bede's
Church History, and Orosius' Universal History, as well as parts of the psalter were among his translation
projects. Alfred also had translated Gregory the Great's Pastoral Theology and sent copies to every diocese
in the kingdom.

Wanting every freeborn Englishman to learn to read English, Alfred had a plan for the general education of
the people, and donated half of his personal income to the church and schools. Alfred believed that a king's
instruments of rule included men of prayer, men of war, and men of work. Without these three classes
properly trained, the king could not properly perform his tasks. So, Alfred required his nobles learn how to
read and to know something of the civilized heritage of Christendom.

A Strategic Pattern of Leadership

Alfred's reign was a turning point in Britain's history and actually marked the beginning of the development
of political unification and an English royal government. Alfred recognized that as an island, England
needed a navy. He designed ships that were more durable than the Viking ships and established the English
navy. He reorganized the army into two parts, with each serving six months. While one part was at war, the
other would be working at home and also protecting the villages. He had larger fortifications built at
strategic points to defend against the Danes. These fortifications were known as burghs; many later became
commercial centers and towns.

The Ten Commandments His Foundation

Alfred's law code began with an introduction containing a translation of the Ten Commandments into
English. God's law was to be the basis of the law for Alfred's Christian nation if it wished to be blessed by
God. Following the Ten Commandments, Alfred included the Law of Moses (Exodus 21:1-23:19), the
Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12), and a brief account of apostolic history and the growth of Christian law among
the Christian nations. Christian principles formed Alfred's concept of justice as he chose the laws which
were to be included from the Saxon tradition. In establishing justice in his kingdom, Alfred was especially
concerned with protecting the weaker members of society, limiting blood feud, and reinforcing the duty of
men to their lords. Heathen practices were forbidden, and the church was protected by law and granted
immunity from taxation. The clergy became part of the king's council.

127
Gathering Timber for Others to Build
In spite of the great achievements of Alfred's 30-year reign (871-901), Alfred was not a strong man. He was
sickly and suffered abdominal problems, but persevered to complete the tasks he felt God had given him.
Alfred shows the immense role one man can play in a people's history. He once described himself as
working in a great forest, gathering timber from which others could build. Alfred's descendants followed his
example for the next 75 years of wise rule for their Christian land.

What About the Coerced Baptism of Guthrum

The very idea of forced conversion or compelled baptism offends our modern sensibilities. But Winston
Churchill sheds an interesting light on this event in his monumental work History of the English Speaking
Peoples (vol. 1, ch. 7), in which he observed:

Alfred had longer ends in view. It is strange that he should have wished to convert these savage foes.
Baptism as a penalty of defeat might lose its spiritual quality. The workings of the spirit are mysterious, but
we must still wonder how the hearts of these hard-bitten swordsmen and pirates could be changed in a single
day. Alfred meant to make a lasting peace with Guthrum. He had him and his army in his power. He could
have starved them into surrender and slaughtered them to a man. He wished instead to divide the land with
them, and that the two races, in spite of fearful injuries given and received, should dwell together in amity.
He received Guthrum with thirty prominent buccaneers in his camp. He stood godfather to Guthrum; he
raised him from the font; he entertained him for twelve days; he presented him and his warriors with costly
gifts; he called him his son. This sublime power to rise above the whole force of circumstances, to remain
unbiased by the extremes of victory or defeat, to persevere in the teeth of disaster, to greet returning fortune
with a cool eye, to have faith in men after repeated betrayals, raises Alfred far above the turmoil of barbaric
wars to his pinnacle of deathless glory."

ALBRECHT DÜRER,
REFORMATION MEDIA MAN
The sixteenth century Reformation in Europe centered primarily on theology
and doctrinal debate. But the Reformation was also a turning point in the
history of mass communications, particularly related to the advent of the
printing press and the new capacity it brought for the rapid circulation of
ideas to many people. Print would be used primarily to publish words. But it
was soon discovered that pictures could also have a profound affect on the
shaping of consciousness. One who most helped advance that awareness was
Albrecht Dürer, a fellow German and contemporary of Martin Luther.

You Have Seen His Work

You know the familiar "Praying hands" that you see in gift shops and other
places? You can find them as wall hangings, plaster models, cross-stitched pictures, acrylic etchings, or as
brass bookends. The creator of the original drawing, for these was Albrecht Dürer, and he surely would be
astounded at the many uses put to this one work.

Albrecht was born in 1471, the oldest son and third of eighteen children, to a goldsmith in Nuremberg,
Germany. His father, Albrecht Dürer the Elder, worked hard to support his large family, but he faced many
trials and difficulties. Only three of his eighteen children survived to adulthood. Yet, he was an honest man
who became the official assayer of precious metals for Nuremberg. Albrecht wrote that his father won just
praise from all who knew him, for he lived an honorable Christian life, was a man patient of spirit, mild and
peaceable to all, and very thankful toward God . . . He was also of few words and was a God-fearing
man . . . This man, my dear father, was very careful of his children to bring them up to honor God. The
younger Albrecht was an apprentice in his father's goldsmith shop, but his real desire was to be an artist.

Recognizing his son's talents, the father sent Albrecht at fifteen to be an apprentice in the shop of
Nuremberg painter Michael Wolgemut. Here Albrecht received a basic training in the mixing of colors and
drawing inks, the preparation of panels, and the composition of large-scale works. He also learned the art of

128
woodcut design, for Wolgemut was the first German painter to design woodcuts as illustrations for the
newly developed art of the printed book. Albrecht's godfather, Anton Koberger, was a printer, and Albrecht
became familiar early with the new printing technology.

The Education of a Creative Artist

Once his apprenticeship was complete, Dürer spent two years as a journeyman, traveling to study for a time
with other eminent craftsmen in Germany. In Mainz, where just thirty-five years earlier Johann Gutenberg
had invented the printing press, Albrecht became familiar with Erhard Reuwich, the first artist who also was
a publisher. Reuwich's Travels in the Holy Land was full of sketches depicting the architecture, costumes,
landscape, and flora and fauna of the Holy Land. In Reuwich's work Albrecht found an appreciation for
nature studies as well as an awareness of the unique usefulness of the illustrated book. Reuwich, who had
spent a brief time in Venice, had learned linear perspective from the Italian artists. Albrecht, realizing he
could learn important artistic techniques from the Italians, planned to travel to Venice, but his father called
him home to be married first.

An Arranged Marriage
In 1494 Dürer married Agnes Frey, who brought a dowry of 200 florins to the marriage. The match appears
to have been totally a business deal between Albrecht's father and Hans Frey, a master craftsman who
worked in brass and hammered copper. There apparently was not much romance between Agnes and
Albrecht although they seemed to have developed a comfortable relationship. They did not have any
children. Shortly after his marriage, Albrecht went to Venice, to learn from the Italian Renaissance artists.
For the first time he became acquainted with classical art and began to study theories of proportion and
perspective. Dürer was encouraged in his artistic studies by two Nuremberg leaders eager to bring the Italian
Renaissance ideals to Germany -- Willibald Pirckheimer and Konrad Celtis. Both were interested in the
ancient classics and the new scientific learning, dreaming of a German cultural revival; Albrecht Dürer
would be an important part of their dream's fulfillment.

This Artist Paid His Own Way

When Dürer returned to Nuremberg in 1495, he opened his shop and immediately began building up a stock
of engravings and woodcuts for sale. Though Dürer was an artist who could work in a variety of mediums,
he realized that woodcuts and engravings made art available to the widest possible public. Dürer hired an
agent who could sell his prints in the fairs and markets of Europe. Unlike many artists of the day, Dürer was
not dependent on patrons who ordered specific works, but was free to create the art of his choosing to sell to
the public.

Teaching Theology through the Arts

Dürer's earliest major work, The Apocalypse, was a series of large prints illustrating the book of Revelation,
with the Scripture on the reverse side. To make these Dürer used large blocks of hardwood cut to the size of
full pages of paper, several times larger than the blocks then in use. Dürer's large illustrations were detailed
and full of energy. His Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse has never been surpassed. Dürer followed the
Apocalypse with Life of Mary and a large and small series on the Passion of Christ. These illustrations were
designed to be used by teachers and clergy, but, in a day before widespread literacy, could also be important
devotional tools for Christian laymen.

Dürer believed art was rooted in nature, and his works gave great attention to detail and realism. He
recognized his artistic talent was a gift from God, and he set a high artistic standard for himself so that his
work could most glorify his Creator. Dürer did many portraits of famous people in his day, including the
humanist Erasmus and Emperor Maximilian I. One of his earliest portraits was of Friedrich the Wise,
Elector of Saxony. Friedrich had founded the University of Wittenberg to encourage a Christian classical
education. Martin Luther became professor of theology at the university, and Albrecht Dürer came under
Luther's influence. Dürer and several of his friends on the Nuremberg City Council had begun attending
services at the Augustinian Church. Several times Johann von Staupitz, Vicar General of the German
Congregation of Augustinians and Luther's mentor, gave sermon series at the church. Dürer and his
companions were deeply moved, as Luther had been, with Staupitz's emphasis on Christ's passion as the
only key to forgiveness from sin.

When Dürer returned to Nuremberg, he devoted almost all of his work to Biblical subjects. In 1525
Nuremberg became a Protestant city. The following year Dürer made a present to the Nuremberg City
Council of The Four Holy Men -- Sts. John, Peter, Mark and Paul. Below the painting Dürer wrote, "All

129
worldly rulers in these dangerous times should give good heed that they receive not human misguidance for
the Word of God, for God will have nothing added to His Word nor taken away from it. Hear therefore these
four excellent men, Peter, John, Paul, and Mark and their warning." Albrecht Dürer died in Nuremberg on
April 6, 1528. When Luther heard of his death, he wrote: It is natural and right to weep for so excellent a
man . . . still you should rather think him blessed, as one whom Christ has taken in the fullness of his
wisdom and by a happy death from these most troublous times, and perhaps from times even more troublous
which are to come, lest one who was worthy to look on nothing but excellence, should be forced to behold
things most vile. May he rest in peace. Amen.

Dürer and Luther

When Friedrich the Wise sent Dürer one of Luther's books in 1520, Dürer wrote the Elector's secretary: I
pray Your Honor to convey my humble gratitude to His Electoral grace, and beg him humbly that he will
protect the praiseworthy Dr. Martin Luther for the sake of Christian truth. It matters more than all the
riches and power of this world, for with time everything passes away; only the truth is eternal. And if God
helps me to come to Dr. Martin Luther, then I will carefully draw his portrait and engrave it in copper for a
lasting remembrance of this Christian man who has helped me out of great distress. And I beg your
worthiness to send me as my payment anything new that Dr. Martin may write in German.

Dürer's neighbor in Nuremberg, Lazarus Spengler, was Secretary of the Nuremberg City Council and
became a leader of establishing the Reformation in the city. Both Spengler and their mutual friend
Pirckheimer were accused as heretics in the 1520 papal bull that demanded Luther's recantation or
excommunication. During an extended business trip to the Netherlands in 1520-1521, Dürer bought several
of Luther's works and continued to admire his teachings. When he heard of Luther's kidnapping after the
Diet of Worms, not knowing whether he was dead or alive, Dürer offered a prayer: . . . if we have lost this
man, who has written more clearly than any that has lived for 140 years, and to whom Thou hast given such
a spirit of the Gospel, we pray Thee, O Heavenly Father, that Thou wouldst again give Thy Holy Spirit to
another . . . O God, if Luther is dead, who will henceforth deliver the Holy Gospel to us with such
clearness? Unknown to Dürer at the time, Luther was very much alive and had been placed in hiding by his
friends to protect him from capture by the imperial or papal forces.

About Those Praying Hands

There is a wonderfully touching story about Dürer's Praying Hands that is circulated widely.
It tells of Dürer doing his creation in appreciation of a brother who went to work in the mines
to support Albrecht's education. There his hands were deformed. The only problem is we
cannot find any credible source for this story. The main writer for this issue, Dr. Diana
Severance, even visited Dürer's house, now a museum, in Nuremburg, to ask the source of the
story, and they had no idea. So if you know, tell us, and we will publish it in a future issue.

130
 YOU WOULDN'T WANT TO ARGUE
WITH ARGULA
1492, that famous year Columbus sailed the ocean blue into the New World, was the
same year Argula von Stauff was born into the Old World. Though relatively
unknown today, Argula was a powerful presence in the early years of the
Reformation. Her knowledge of Scripture and conviction of truth compelled her to
stand courageously against university leaders, city councils, and noblemen.

Argula serving as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Kunigunde

Argula became the first Protestant woman writer and effectively harnessed the
printing press to publish pamphlets for her cause. The von Stauff family had the
privilege of being independent lords in Bavaria, Germany accountable only to the
Emperor. Education was valued in the von Stauff home, even for girls, and Argula was taught to read early.
When she was ten her father gave her a beautiful, expensive Bible in German. Franciscan preachers,
however, discouraged Argula from any Bible study, warning her that she would become confused if she
tried to understand it.

As a young girl, Argula joined the court in MÙnich and became a maid-in-waiting to Queen Kunigunde,
sister of the Emperor Maximillian. There was a great interest in spiritual affairs at the court that Argula
would have absorbed. Here she probably began reading and studying the Bible in earnest. John von Staupitz,
the Augustinian mentor of Martin Luther, spoke frequently at court and dedicated his Handbook on the Love
of God to Kunigunde. Staupitz wrote that Christ's merits, not ours, bring us salvation. He criticized many of
the superstitions of the day and emphasized the Christian must be more concerned with fulfilling the spirit of
Christ's commandments than the letter of the law.

While still in her teens Argula suffered a series of tragedies that undoubtedly sent her to the Scriptures to
find comfort and strength. In 1509 when she was 17 years old, both of her parents died of the plague. Her
uncle Hieronymus became her guardian, but he became caught up in political intrigues at the Bavarian Court
and was executed in 1516. That same year Argula married Friedrick von Grumbach, of an old Frankish
family. Friedrich was administrator of Dietfort and had other land holdings throughout Bavaria. Argula and
Friedrich had four children: George, Hans Georg, Gottfried, and Apollonia.

A Mixed Marriage
Argula took the initiative and placed all of the children in Protestant schools. George, the oldest, studied in
Buremberg and Wittenberg, where he stayed for a time with Luther's close associate, Philip Melanchthon.
Argula maintained contact with the Wittenberg leaders of the Reformation, Melanchthon, Luther, and
Spalatin, but her husband did not accept the Reformation and remained Roman Catholic. This undoubtedly
caused difficulty in Argula's marriage. In one of her writings Argula sighed, "May God teach me to
understand how I should act towards my man."

While remaining faithful to her husband, Argula could not refrain from standing firm for the teachings she
was discovering in the Scriptures. Barrel loads of Lutheran books were imported into Bavaria during this
time, and many informal groups met to discuss them. Argula studied many of the pamphlets from
Wittenberg and reread the Scriptures in the light of them. Through her von Stauff relatives she also came in
contact with reforming scholars and priests near her home. In 1522 Argula's younger brother Marcellus
began attending the University of Ingolstadt. Marcellus undoubtedly informed his sister of the affair of
Arsacius Seehofer.

The Arsacius Affair

In March 1522, the Bavarian Court at MÙnich issued a mandate against the reception of Lutheran ideas.
Arsacius Seehofer had been to Wittenberg and studied under Luther's associate Philip Melanchthon. He
brought back many of Luther's writings to the University at Ingolstadt where he attended as a student and
stayed on after graduation to teach. He introduced Reformation teachings into his lectures. Ingolstadt's most
notable faculty member was none other than John Eck -- the erstwhile academic foe and capable prosecutor

131
of Luther. This was no place to espouse the controversial ideas from Wittenburg. So in December, 1522
Arsacius was arrested, forced to renounce Luther's teachings and confined in the Ettal monastery.

Argula was outraged by such persecution and consulted Andreas Osiander of Nuremberg about what could
be done. Though what advice Osiander gave is unknown, we do know that Osiander was very impressed
with Argula's depth of Scriptural knowledge. On September 20, 1523 Argula sent a long letter to the Rector
and Council of Ingolstadt University challenging them to show what heresy there was in any of Arsacius'
reforming views. She urged the university to follow the Scriptures, not Roman traditions. That a woman
would have the audacity to address the university leaders of the day was shocking. But even more
astonishing were her wisdom, logic, and use of Scriptures.

Argula Argues Her Case

Argula wrote that, though a woman, she was compelled to speak out and challenge the university's actions.
Men had remained silent in the case, but she could not allow the Gospel to remain stifled. In Matthew 10:32,
Jesus said "Whoever confesses Me before men, him I also will confess before My Father who is in heaven.
But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My father who is in heaven." Ezekiel 33
says, "If you see your brother sin, reprove him, or I will require his blood at your hands." So Argula felt that
under God she had no choice. She must speak: How in God's name can you and your university expect to
prevail, when you deploy such foolish violence against the word of God; when you force someone to hold
the Holy Gospel in their hands for the very purpose of denying it, as you did in the case of Arsacius
Seehofer?

Not Just Women's Chit-chat

In her letter Argula cited over 80 Scriptures. Indeed, her letter is largely a stringing together of Scriptures
applicable to the situation. She placed the human wisdom of the university along side the words of Scripture
and found the human wisdom foolish in the sight of God. For Argula the Scriptures were supreme and
superior to the tradition, customs, and authority of the University. She concluded her letter with the words:
What I have written to you is no woman's chit-chat, but the word of God; and (I write) as a member of the
Christian Church, against which the gates of Hell cannot prevail. Against the Roman, however, they do
prevail. Just look at that Church! How is it to prevail against the gates of Hell? God give us grace, that we
all may be saved, and may (God) rule us according to his will. Now may His grace carry the day.

A Quick Sensation, a Harsh Reaction

Argula's letter was briefly circulated in manuscript, then it was printed as a pamphlet. It became a quick and
notable sensation. Within two months it went through fourteen editions. The Ingolstadt theologians were
furious at this attack on them and wanted "the silly bag tamed." Counselors to Duke Wilhelm advised him of
the dangers of leaving the "female devil" unpunished. Argula had no position herself, so Duke Wilhelm
punished her husband, since he was responsible for her, by relieving him of his post as administrator of
Dietfort. This put Argula's family under a financial strain and undoubtedly increased the tension in Argula's
marriage. Professor Hauer preached a sermon lambasting her in caustic term. Among Reformers, however,
Argula was admired. Balthasar Hubmaier, preacher in nearby Regensburg at the time, wrote that Argula von
Stauff "knows more of the divine Word than all of the red hats (canon lawyers and cardinals) ever saw or
could conceive of." Hubmaier compared Argula to heroic women in the Bible. Though Argula's letter
angered many, the University of Ingolstadt did not think it worthy to answer the woman's attack.

Undeterred, in November, 1523 Argula traveled to Nuremberg to encourage princes attending the Reichstag
to accept the Reformation principles. It was very unusual for a woman by herself to lobby and write
pamphlets for any cause, but Argula's confidence in the Scriptures gave her courage. As she wrote to
Spalatin, chaplain to Frederick the Wise, "Have no anxiety; God is in control. He knows how things are and
will preserve us; he who protects Israel slumbers not (Psalm 121:5). It is all in his hand; he will calm the
troubles and bring matters to a good conclusion." In 1530 Argula traveled to Coburg to meet with Martin
Luther, who had earlier written her encouraging letters. Argula then went on the convention in Augsburg,
where she arranged a meeting between Melanchthon and Bucer to try to settle their differences over the
Lord's Supper. Argula's public life, however, was largely at an end.

In 1530 her husband Frederick died. In 1533 she married Count von Schlick, who was more sympathetic to
the Reformation, but he died two years later. Three of her children also died before Argula's own death in
1568. Argula's letter writing and lobbying did not succeed in establishing Reformation principles in Bavaria,
and the Roman Church in the region increasingly repressed those who opposed its beliefs and practices.

132
Nevertheless, Argula's voice had been important. She boldly spoke up for the supremacy of Scriptures and
the priesthood of all believers (including women). She sought an open discussion in the language of the
people between lay people and theological leaders on the Bible's teaching on morality, law, and politics. As
Argula wrote in her letter to the University of Ingolstadt: The Lord says, John 12, 'I am the light that has
come into the world'. . . . It is my heartfelt wish that this light should dwell in all of us and shine upon all
callous and blinded hearts. Amen.

Dear Sirs . . . Excerpts from Argula's 1523 letter to the faculty at Ingolstadt
To the honorable, worthy, highborn, erudite, noble, stalwart Rector and all the Faculty of the University of
Ingolstadt: When I heard what you had done to Arsacius Seehofer under terror of imprisonment and the
stake, my heart trembled and my bones quaked. What have Luther and Melanchthon taught save the Word of
God? You have condemned them. You have not refuted them. Where do you read in the Bible that Christ, the
apostles, and the prophets imprisoned, banished, burned, or murdered anyone? You tell us that we must
obey the magistrates. Correct. But neither the pope, nor the Kaiser, not the princes have any authority over
the Word of God. You need not think you can pull God, the prophets and the apostles out of heaven with
papal decretals drawn from Aristotle, who was not a Christian at all. . . .

You seek to destroy all of Luther's works. In that case you will have to destroy the New Testament, which he
has translated. In the German writings of Luther and Melanchthon I have found nothing heretical. . . Even if
Luther should recant, what he has said would still be the Word of God. I would be willing to come and
dispute with you in German. . . . You have the key of knowledge and you close the kingdom of heaven. But
you are defeating yourselves. The news of what has been done to this lad of 18 has reached us and other
cities in so short a time that soon it will be known to all the world. The Lord will forgive Arsacius, as he
forgave Peter, who denied his master, though not threatened by prison and fire. Great good will yet come
from this young man. I send you not a woman's ranting, but the Word of God. I write as a member of the
Church of Christ against which the gates of hell shall not prevail. . .

So, Which Was She?

The Ingolstadt Theologians said about her . . .

A silly bag
Wretched and pathetic daughter of Eve
A female desperado
An arrogant devil
A shameless whore

Reformer Balthasar Hubmaier said about her . . .

A pious woman
A Christian woman Knows the Divine Word better than clergy
Like Deborah and Hulda in Old Testament
Like daughters of Philip in New Testament

133