Some Church History Anniversaries 2017

   

367 Death of Hilary of Bishop of Poitiers,  sometimes referred to as the "Hammer of the Arians"
1467 Birth of John Colet, English churchman and educational pioneer. Dean of St Paul's.

1517 The day before the Feast of All Saints, the 33-year-old Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg

1717 Births of three hymn writers

Baptists Benjamin Beddome (Jan 23) a pastor in the Cotswolds and Anne Steele the daughter of a pastor in Hampshire.

And Welsh Calvinistic Methodist William Williams Pantycelyn (Feb 11)

Also, the death of Madame Guyon, a French mystic and one of the key advocates of Quietism, although she never called herself a Quietist. Quietism was considered heretical by the Roman Catholic Church, and she was imprisoned 1695-1703 after publishing a book on the topic, A Short and Easy Method of Prayer.

1767 Death of Michael Bruce, short lived Scottish poet and hymn writer.

(also failed Baptist minister Thomas Flower)

1867 Birth of Amy Carmichael, Protestant Christian missionary in India, who opened an orphanage and founded a mission in Dohnavur. She served in India for 55 years without furlough and wrote many books about the missionary work there.
What have I missed?

Iain Murray on Amy Carmichael

Like London buses so with biographies of Christian women it sees. This in is quite a contrast to that of Mrs Lloyd-Jones. Iain Murray commends the larger biographies by Houghton and Elliot but this little book is very useful in its ability not only to give the basic story but to attempt some perceptive theological analysis as well. A danger for those who are Reformed in their theology is to dismiss those who they do not know as being overtly on the same page theologically. In the case of Amy Carmichael, Murray argues, that would be a mistake, as despite some obvious issues here is a woman who with great tenacity and commitment lived for God's glory and did a massive amount of good in her time. Do get hold of this very challenging little book and learn the story of one of God's servants. One of Murray's hopes is to produce an interest in her poetry and other works. It will be interesting to know if that happens.