SumTinWong
8th March 2005, 11:50 AM
March 7, 203: Perpetua, a Christian about 22 years old, her slave, Felicitas, and several others are martyred at the arena in Carthage. They were flogged, attacked by hungry leopards, and finally beheaded. Perpetua remains one of early Christianity's most famous martyrs.
March 7, 1274: Thomas Aquinas, one of the most significant theologians of all time, dies at age 48. Known for his adaptation of Aristotle's writings to Christianity, he became famous for his massive Summa Theologiae (or "A summation of theological knowledge"). In its early pages, he stated, "In sacred theology, all things are treated from the standpoint of God." Thomas proceeded to distinguish between philosophy and theology and between reason and revelation, though he emphasized that these did not contradict each other. Both are fountains of knowledge; both come from God.
March 7, 1530: Pope Clement VII rejects Henry VIII's request to divorce Catherine of Aragon. Henry eventually responded by declaring himself supreme head of England's church.
March 7, 1964: At a Roman parish church, Pope Paul VI celebrates mass in Italian instead of Latin, implementing one of the most significant changes of the Second Vatican Council—worship in the vernacular.
March 8, 1782: Ninety-six Native Americans, who had converted to Christianity and were living peacefully in the Moravian Brethren town of Gnadenhutten (near New Philadelphia), Ohio, are killed by militiamen in "retaliation" for Indian raids made elsewhere in the Ohio territory.
March 8, 1887: Congregational minister Henry Ward Beecher, an impassioned abolitionist and the most famous American preacher of his day, dies at age 73.
March 8, 1915: The U.S. Supreme Court finds religious education in the public schools in violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution.
March 9, 320 (traditional date): Roman soldiers leave Christian soldiers naked on the ice of a frozen pond in Sebaste, Armenia.They placed baths of hot water around them to tempt them to renounce their faith. When one did so, a pagan guard—inspired by the fortitude of the remaining Christians—converted and joined the freezing Christians. They were all killed and made famous by Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nyssa.
March 9, 395 (traditional date): Gregory of Nyssa, Cappadocian father and bishop, dies. An outstanding thinker, theologian, orator, and ascetical author, he was very influential in developing the theology of the Trinity.
March 9, 1831: Evangelist Charles Finney concludes a six-month series of meetings in Rochester, New York. The meetings, which have been called "the world's greatest single revival campaign," led to the closing of the town's theater and taverns, a two-thirds drop in crime, and a reported 100,000 conversions.
March 10, 1302: Pope Boniface VIII sentences Italian poet and politician Dante Alighieri, author of the Divine Comedy, to be burned to death for political reasons. He avoided the fate by living in exile, but he never saw his wife again.
March 10, 1528: Balthasar Hubmaier, called by his enemies "head and most important of the Anabaptists," is burned at the stake in Vienna after being deemed a heretic by a Roman Catholic court. In addition to his writings against Lutherans and Zwinglians, he penned one of the earliest arguments for religious toleration. Though other Anabaptist leaders rejected his pleas for a tolerant Christian government and judicious use of the sword, they adopted his arguments for adult baptism, tolerance, and free will.
March 10, 1681: Charles II makes English Quaker William Penn sole proprietor of the colonial American territory known today as the state of Pennsylvania. Penn gave legal rights not only to Native Americans but also to persecuted Christians like the Mennonites.
March 10, 1748: John Newton, the captain of a slave ship, converts to Christianity during a huge storm at sea. He had been reading Thomas a Kempis's The Imitation of Christ, and was struck by a line about the "uncertain continuance of life." He eventually became an Anglican clergyman, the author of the famous hymn "Amazing Grace," and a zealous abolitionist.
March 10, 1880: Commissioner George S. Railton and seven women arrive in New York City to establish the Salvation Army in the United States.
March 10, 1898: George Mueller, English philanthropist and evangelist, dies. He, in his 93 years helped more than 10,000 English orphans.
March 10, 1913: Harriet Tubman, known as "Grandma Moses" for her work rescuing slaves and guiding them to the north on what was dubbed "the Underground Railroad," dies. Her 19 rescues (of about 300 slaves) were successful, she said, because God showed her the way. "'Twant me, 'twas the Lord," said the diminutive woman who herself escaped slavery. "I always told him, 'I trust to you. I don't know where to go or what to do, but I expect you to lead me,' and he always did".
March 11, 843: Eastern churches officially reintroduced and sanctioned icons, after an 89-year controversy that occasionally turned violent.
March 11, 1513: Leo X is elected pope. His eight-year tenure, marked by gross excesses and immorality, would culminate his 1520 excommunication of Martin Luther.
March 11, 1812: Fire engulfs missionary William Carey's print shop in Serampore, India, destroying his massive polyglot dictionary, two grammar books, sets of type for 14 eastern languages, and whole versions of the Bible. Undaunted, Carey said, "The loss is heavy, but as traveling a road the second time is usually done with greater ease and certainty than the first time, so I trust the work will lose nothing of real value . . . We are cast down but not in despair." News of the fire also catapulted Carey to fame, bringing in abundant funds and volunteer labor.
March 11, 1965: White Boston minister James J. Reeb dies after being beaten during a civil rights demonstration in Selma, Alabama.
March 12, 417: Pope Innocent I dies. His claims for the Roman see's supremacy went farther than any of his predecessors, as he asserted Rome's reach extended to the whole church.
March 12, 1088: Odo of Lagery is elected pope and takes the name Urban II. Though he had some trouble taking his office (Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV supported an antipope, Clement III), he made a name for himself by proclaiming the first Crusade in 1095. His phrase "God wills it" in that proclamation became the battle cry for Christendom.
March 13, 1456 (traditional date): Johann Gutenberg first publishes the Bible on his printing press with movable type.
March 13, 1925: Austin Peay, governor of Tennessee, signs the "Butler Bill," prohibiting any teaching that contradicted the Genesis creation story. By July, John Scopes was on trial for violating the legislation and the "trial of the century" had begun.
March 7, 1274: Thomas Aquinas, one of the most significant theologians of all time, dies at age 48. Known for his adaptation of Aristotle's writings to Christianity, he became famous for his massive Summa Theologiae (or "A summation of theological knowledge"). In its early pages, he stated, "In sacred theology, all things are treated from the standpoint of God." Thomas proceeded to distinguish between philosophy and theology and between reason and revelation, though he emphasized that these did not contradict each other. Both are fountains of knowledge; both come from God.
March 7, 1530: Pope Clement VII rejects Henry VIII's request to divorce Catherine of Aragon. Henry eventually responded by declaring himself supreme head of England's church.
March 7, 1964: At a Roman parish church, Pope Paul VI celebrates mass in Italian instead of Latin, implementing one of the most significant changes of the Second Vatican Council—worship in the vernacular.
March 8, 1782: Ninety-six Native Americans, who had converted to Christianity and were living peacefully in the Moravian Brethren town of Gnadenhutten (near New Philadelphia), Ohio, are killed by militiamen in "retaliation" for Indian raids made elsewhere in the Ohio territory.
March 8, 1887: Congregational minister Henry Ward Beecher, an impassioned abolitionist and the most famous American preacher of his day, dies at age 73.
March 8, 1915: The U.S. Supreme Court finds religious education in the public schools in violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution.
March 9, 320 (traditional date): Roman soldiers leave Christian soldiers naked on the ice of a frozen pond in Sebaste, Armenia.They placed baths of hot water around them to tempt them to renounce their faith. When one did so, a pagan guard—inspired by the fortitude of the remaining Christians—converted and joined the freezing Christians. They were all killed and made famous by Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nyssa.
March 9, 395 (traditional date): Gregory of Nyssa, Cappadocian father and bishop, dies. An outstanding thinker, theologian, orator, and ascetical author, he was very influential in developing the theology of the Trinity.
March 9, 1831: Evangelist Charles Finney concludes a six-month series of meetings in Rochester, New York. The meetings, which have been called "the world's greatest single revival campaign," led to the closing of the town's theater and taverns, a two-thirds drop in crime, and a reported 100,000 conversions.
March 10, 1302: Pope Boniface VIII sentences Italian poet and politician Dante Alighieri, author of the Divine Comedy, to be burned to death for political reasons. He avoided the fate by living in exile, but he never saw his wife again.
March 10, 1528: Balthasar Hubmaier, called by his enemies "head and most important of the Anabaptists," is burned at the stake in Vienna after being deemed a heretic by a Roman Catholic court. In addition to his writings against Lutherans and Zwinglians, he penned one of the earliest arguments for religious toleration. Though other Anabaptist leaders rejected his pleas for a tolerant Christian government and judicious use of the sword, they adopted his arguments for adult baptism, tolerance, and free will.
March 10, 1681: Charles II makes English Quaker William Penn sole proprietor of the colonial American territory known today as the state of Pennsylvania. Penn gave legal rights not only to Native Americans but also to persecuted Christians like the Mennonites.
March 10, 1748: John Newton, the captain of a slave ship, converts to Christianity during a huge storm at sea. He had been reading Thomas a Kempis's The Imitation of Christ, and was struck by a line about the "uncertain continuance of life." He eventually became an Anglican clergyman, the author of the famous hymn "Amazing Grace," and a zealous abolitionist.
March 10, 1880: Commissioner George S. Railton and seven women arrive in New York City to establish the Salvation Army in the United States.
March 10, 1898: George Mueller, English philanthropist and evangelist, dies. He, in his 93 years helped more than 10,000 English orphans.
March 10, 1913: Harriet Tubman, known as "Grandma Moses" for her work rescuing slaves and guiding them to the north on what was dubbed "the Underground Railroad," dies. Her 19 rescues (of about 300 slaves) were successful, she said, because God showed her the way. "'Twant me, 'twas the Lord," said the diminutive woman who herself escaped slavery. "I always told him, 'I trust to you. I don't know where to go or what to do, but I expect you to lead me,' and he always did".
March 11, 843: Eastern churches officially reintroduced and sanctioned icons, after an 89-year controversy that occasionally turned violent.
March 11, 1513: Leo X is elected pope. His eight-year tenure, marked by gross excesses and immorality, would culminate his 1520 excommunication of Martin Luther.
March 11, 1812: Fire engulfs missionary William Carey's print shop in Serampore, India, destroying his massive polyglot dictionary, two grammar books, sets of type for 14 eastern languages, and whole versions of the Bible. Undaunted, Carey said, "The loss is heavy, but as traveling a road the second time is usually done with greater ease and certainty than the first time, so I trust the work will lose nothing of real value . . . We are cast down but not in despair." News of the fire also catapulted Carey to fame, bringing in abundant funds and volunteer labor.
March 11, 1965: White Boston minister James J. Reeb dies after being beaten during a civil rights demonstration in Selma, Alabama.
March 12, 417: Pope Innocent I dies. His claims for the Roman see's supremacy went farther than any of his predecessors, as he asserted Rome's reach extended to the whole church.
March 12, 1088: Odo of Lagery is elected pope and takes the name Urban II. Though he had some trouble taking his office (Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV supported an antipope, Clement III), he made a name for himself by proclaiming the first Crusade in 1095. His phrase "God wills it" in that proclamation became the battle cry for Christendom.
March 13, 1456 (traditional date): Johann Gutenberg first publishes the Bible on his printing press with movable type.
March 13, 1925: Austin Peay, governor of Tennessee, signs the "Butler Bill," prohibiting any teaching that contradicted the Genesis creation story. By July, John Scopes was on trial for violating the legislation and the "trial of the century" had begun.