Today in Christian History

[MaKettle]

Oct. 29, 1955   

American missionary Jim Elliot, 28, wrote in his journal: 'First time I ever saw an Auca--1500' is a long ways if you're looking out of an airplane.' Ten weeks later, on Jan 8, 1956, Jim and four other missionaries would be speared to death by these same Indians they had come to Ecuador in hopes of evangelizing.

[MaKettle]

Oct. 30, 1536   

Thirteen years after Lutheran ministers came to bring spiritual renewal to its people, Denmark adopted Lutheranism as its official state religion.

[MaKettle]

Oct. 31, 1517   

German Augustinian monk Martin Luther, 31, nailed to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg a list of 95 theological points he wished to debate ... and touched off the Protestant Reformation!

[MaKettle]

Nov. 1, 1512   

Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo, 37, unveiled his 5,808-square-foot masterpiece, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. He had been commissioned in 1508 by Pope Julius II to do a work depicting the whole story of the Bible.

[MaKettle]

Nov. 2, 1789   

During the chaos of the French Revolution, the property of the Church in France was taken over by the state.

[MaKettle]

Nov. 3, 1818   

Pliny Fisk, 26, set sail for Palestine. Ordained by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Fisk became the first American missionary to journey to the Near East.

[MaKettle]

Nov. 4, 1966   

London's "Evening Standard" newspaper published John Lennon's controversial remark stating that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus." The quote touched off a storm of controversy and international protest, resulting in a world-wide boycott of Beatles music.

[MaKettle]

Nov. 5, 1950   

Billy Graham's "Hour of Decision" program was first broadcast over television.

[MaKettle]

Nov. 6, 1789   

Following the American Revolution, Father John Carroll, 54, was appointed the first Roman Catholic bishop in the newly organized and independent United States of America.

[MaKettle]

Nov. 7, 1837   

American Presbyterian abolitionist and newspaper editor Elijah P. Lovejoy, 35, was murdered. Forced earlier to move his business from St. Louis to Alton, Illinois, Lovejoy was shot during the night by an anti-abolitionist mob while defending his presses.

[MaKettle]

Nov. 8, 1837   

Mt. Holyoke Seminary first opened in Massachusetts. Founded by Mary Lyon, 39, it was the first college in the U.S. established specifically for the education of women.

[MaKettle]

Nov.9, 1938   

The worst Jewish pogrom in peacetime Germany took place as Nazi thugs led a "spontaneous" campaign of terror. During the night 267 synagogues were plundered, 7,500 shops were wrecked, 91 Jews were killed and 20,000 others were arrested and sent to concentration camps. It was afterward known as "Kristallnacht" because of the thousands of windows broken.

[MaKettle]

Nov. 10, 1871   

Following seven months of searching, foreign correspondent to the "New York Herald" Henry M. Stanley succeeded at last in locating Scottish missionary David Livingstone in Ujiji, Central Africa. Stanley prefaced his encounter with these words: 'Dr. Livingstone, I presume.'

[MaKettle]

Nov. 11, 1966   

The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren voted to merge into one denomination in the U.S., afterward to be called the United Methodist Church. (The "declaration of union" took place officially on April 23, 1968.)

[MaKettle]

Nov. 12, 1701   

The Carolina Assembly passed a Vestry Act making the Church of England the official religion of the Carolina Colony. (Strong opposition by Quakers and other resident Nonconformists forced the colony's proprietors to revoke their legislation two years later.)