Friday, December 31, 2010
1384 - John Wycliffe on His Death Bed
Word that John Wycliffe was dying whipped like storm winds across England. On December 30, 1384, clerics--many of them his enemies--crowded into his room at Lutterworth. If they hoped to hear some last word or a recantation from him, they were disappointed. When John had his second stroke, he was paralyzed and unable to speak. John was the most famous priest of his day. His learning was immense. He spoke boldly against the errors of the popes and the clergy in his day. Pastors should live lives of simplicity and holiness--shepherding their people, not plundering them. If the people in England were to ever know the truth, John reasoned that they must have the Word of God in their own language. Under his direction, the Bible was translated into English for the first time... (Read more)
Read the full article here
1524 - Johann von Staupitz, Luther's Confessor
"If it had not been for Dr. Staupitz, I should have sunk in hell," said Martin Luther. Johann von Staupitz was the vicar of the Augustinian order at the University of Wittenberg when Luther responded to an invitation by Frederick the Wise by coming there to teach. Johann died at Salzburg on December 28, 1524. He had written books on predestination, faith and love. Pope Paul IV placed these on the Index of Prohibited Books... (Read more)
Read the full article here
1767 - Marie Durand Released at Last
On December 26, 1767, the day after Christmas, thirty-six prisoners, some of them sick and broken, stumbled out of the Tower of Constance. Among them was Marie Durand. She had been in the tower thirty-eight years. When Marie entered the Tower--so cold in Winter and so hot in Summer--it was as if a ray of sunshine had penetrated its darkness and despair. Although just fifteen, she became the tireless Christian focus of the Tower, and remained the spiritual leader of the prisoners... (Read more)
Read the full article here
1973 - Solzhenitsyn's "Gulag Archipelago" Published
Alexander Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1970 for his realistic tale of prison existence: "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich." An embarrased Soviet government would not allow him to accept the prize. On December 28, 1973 a new book by the Nobel-winner appeared in the Paris book markets. This book, too, was about prison--a documentary of the horrors of the Gulag Archipelago, Stalin's prison camps in central Asia... (Read more)
Read the full article here
Word that John Wycliffe was dying whipped like storm winds across England. On December 30, 1384, clerics--many of them his enemies--crowded into his room at Lutterworth. If they hoped to hear some last word or a recantation from him, they were disappointed. When John had his second stroke, he was paralyzed and unable to speak. John was the most famous priest of his day. His learning was immense. He spoke boldly against the errors of the popes and the clergy in his day. Pastors should live lives of simplicity and holiness--shepherding their people, not plundering them. If the people in England were to ever know the truth, John reasoned that they must have the Word of God in their own language. Under his direction, the Bible was translated into English for the first time... (Read more)
Read the full article here
1524 - Johann von Staupitz, Luther's Confessor
"If it had not been for Dr. Staupitz, I should have sunk in hell," said Martin Luther. Johann von Staupitz was the vicar of the Augustinian order at the University of Wittenberg when Luther responded to an invitation by Frederick the Wise by coming there to teach. Johann died at Salzburg on December 28, 1524. He had written books on predestination, faith and love. Pope Paul IV placed these on the Index of Prohibited Books... (Read more)
Read the full article here
1767 - Marie Durand Released at Last
On December 26, 1767, the day after Christmas, thirty-six prisoners, some of them sick and broken, stumbled out of the Tower of Constance. Among them was Marie Durand. She had been in the tower thirty-eight years. When Marie entered the Tower--so cold in Winter and so hot in Summer--it was as if a ray of sunshine had penetrated its darkness and despair. Although just fifteen, she became the tireless Christian focus of the Tower, and remained the spiritual leader of the prisoners... (Read more)
Read the full article here
1973 - Solzhenitsyn's "Gulag Archipelago" Published
Alexander Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1970 for his realistic tale of prison existence: "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich." An embarrased Soviet government would not allow him to accept the prize. On December 28, 1973 a new book by the Nobel-winner appeared in the Paris book markets. This book, too, was about prison--a documentary of the horrors of the Gulag Archipelago, Stalin's prison camps in central Asia... (Read more)
Read the full article here
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