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The One Year Book of Christian History

Copyright © 2003 by E. Michael Rusten and Sharon O. Rusten. All rights reserved.

Cover photograph of Billy Graham from the Billy Graham Center Archives, Wheaton, Illinois. All rightsreserved.

Cover photographs of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Corrie ten Boom, and John and Susanna Wesleycourtesy of the Billy Graham Center Museum, Wheaton, Illinois. All rights reserved.

Cover images of the tent revival and John Calvin from Stock Montage, Inc. All rights reserved.

Designed by Zandrah Maguigad

Edited by Susan Taylor

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Transla-tion, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189.All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®.Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of ZondervanPublishing House. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Rusten, E. Michael date.The one year book of Christian history / E. Michael Rusten and Sharon O. Rusten.

p. cm.Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 0-8423-5507-3 (sc)1. Church history. 2. Christian biography. 3. Devotional calendars. I. Rusten, Sharon O. II. Title.

BR153.R79 2003270—dc21 2002014504

Printed in the United States of America

09 08 07 06 05 04 038 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiiiIntroduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv

January1. Standing for “the Full Truthfulness”

of the Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22. An Appointment in Heaven. . . . . . . . . . 43. Choosing Whom You Will Serve . . . . . . 64. Where Is Camus? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85. Struggling to Kneel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106. Look unto Me . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127. From the Poolroom to the Pulpit. . . . . 148. Rebels under Judgment . . . . . . . . . . . . 169. The Gates of Pearly Splendor. . . . . . . . 18

10. His Last Prayer Meeting. . . . . . . . . . . . 2011. A Mind for the Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2212. A Traveler on His Way to Jerusalem . . 2413. Stop the Presses! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2614. Whose Body? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2815. A Change of Heart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3016. God’s Little Lamb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3217. Theodosius the Great . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3418. A Life-Changing Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . 3619. Detour to Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3820. A Bible for Everyone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4021. The Great Gillespie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4222. Strait Is the Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4423. From Slave to Servant of God . . . . . . . 4624. “A Land Fairer Than Day” . . . . . . . . . . 4825. A Divine String of Events . . . . . . . . . . 5026. In Seeking, They Found . . . . . . . . . . . 5227. Humanity: Sinful or Innocent

at Birth?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5428. The Momentous Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5629. A Christian in the White House. . . . . . 5830. Kurt Who? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6031. From Apathy to Courage. . . . . . . . . . . 62

February1. A Life-Changing Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 642. The Holy Roman Empire. . . . . . . . . . . 663. A Pastor’s Son as President . . . . . . . . . 684. Little Quicksilver. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 705. If I, or an Angel from Heaven, Should

Preach Any Other Gospel . . . . . . . . . . 72

6. The Lord Was Good and Did Good. . . 747. Something Big Happened . . . . . . . . . . 768. An Ill-Fated Egotist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 789. A Brand Plucked out of the Burning . . 80

10. Could This Marriage Be Saved? . . . . . . 8211. A Final “Good Night” . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8412. The Nine-Day Queen . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8613. He Followed God’s Call. . . . . . . . . . . . 8814. In Sickness and in Health . . . . . . . . . . 9015. Knowing the Big Picture Helps . . . . . . 9216. The Last Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9417. The Last to Be Hanged . . . . . . . . . . . . 9618. A Tinker’s Pilgrimage . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9819. Faith Quake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10020. What Ever Happened to That

Dancing Instructor?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10221. Be Still, My Soul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10422. The Door of the Beginning and

the End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10623. The Great Persecution . . . . . . . . . . . . 10824. Two of a Kind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11025. Is Jesus Eternal?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11226. Physician of Souls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11427. The Spread of Revival . . . . . . . . . . . . 11628. Skin on the Hands of God . . . . . . . . . 11829. The Reek of Patrick Hamilton . . . . . . 120

March1. An Influential Friendship . . . . . . . . . 1222. He Finished Well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1243. The Sword of the King of Babylon

Is against You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1264. Bloody Mary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1285. The Sacrifice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1306. Two Weeks on Gibraltar . . . . . . . . . . 1327. Standing Firm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1348. Blessed Assurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1369. Who Were the Maccabees? . . . . . . . . 138

10. Together Forever. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14011. It Burned, Then Returned . . . . . . . . . 14212. From Curse to Blessing . . . . . . . . . . . 14413. A Prison Door to Eternal Life. . . . . . . 14614. The Great Ulster Revival . . . . . . . . . . 14815. The Ides of March . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

vii

16. The Results of Not Taking GodSeriously . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

17. Just As I Am . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15418. The Cambridge Seven . . . . . . . . . . . . 15619. Linked by the Pen and the Savior . . . 15820. Glory Dwelleth in Immanuel’s Land . . 16021. Amazing Grace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16222. A Special Instrument of God . . . . . . . 16423. Revival at Crossweeksung . . . . . . . . . 16624. The Best-Selling Book of All Time . . . 16825. Navigator to Many. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17026. We Shall Meet Again When We

Shall Be Merry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17227. Disastrous Marriages . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17428. Costly Devotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17629. The Downside of Miracles . . . . . . . . . 17830. Messiah, King, and Lamb . . . . . . . . . 18031. The Fig Tree and the Temple . . . . . . 182

April1. What the Future Holds . . . . . . . . . . . 1842. The Last Supper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1863. The Crucifixion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1884. The Deception. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1905. He Is Risen! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1926. Latter-Day Saints? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1947. You Must Be Born Again! . . . . . . . . . 1968. The Sons of Moody . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1989. A Dream Cut Short . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

10. Watchman Nee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20211. A Pacifist on the Front Line . . . . . . . . 20412. A Welcome to Heaven. . . . . . . . . . . . 20613. Authenticity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20814. A Last Will and Testament . . . . . . . . 21015. A Hero of the Titanic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21216. A Godly Heritage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21417. The Diet of Worms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21618. The Complete Cambridge Man . . . . . 21819. Prophet and Statesman? . . . . . . . . . . 22020. Columbine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22221. The City Set on Seven Hills . . . . . . . . 22422. Trying to Avoid Geneva. . . . . . . . . . . 22623. World History in Advance. . . . . . . . . 22824. A Gifted Mind and Still

Greater Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23025. John Calvin’s Testament . . . . . . . . . . 23226. Left Alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23427. Vassar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

28. The Glorious Temple . . . . . . . . . . . . 23829. The Child Who Knew More Than

His Parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24030. Minka and Margaret . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

May1. The Death of John Brown . . . . . . . . . 2442. A Narrow Escape. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2463. The Apostle of Greenland . . . . . . . . . 2484. The Serenity of Heaven . . . . . . . . . . . 2505. The Holy Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2526. From Log Cabin to University . . . . . . 2547. He Wouldn’t Change a Thing . . . . . . 2568. From Enemies to Friends . . . . . . . . . 2589. The Captain’s Last Words . . . . . . . . . 260

10. Stonewall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26211. The Faithful Margarets . . . . . . . . . . . 26412. A Man of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26613. The Reforming Monk . . . . . . . . . . . . 26814. Out of Sight but Victorious . . . . . . . . 27015. Birth of a Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27216. A Hero of the Poor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27417. A Father’s Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27618. The Godly General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27819. Anne Boleyn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28020. A Heart Strangely Warmed . . . . . . . . 28221. The Ninety and Nine. . . . . . . . . . . . . 28422. The Beginnings of an Evangelist . . . . 28623. The Miracle of Johane . . . . . . . . . . . . 28824. Pentecost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29025. Honor Your Mother. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29226. The Role of Emotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29427. Fair Sunshine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29628. Rumor Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29829. The Star of Bethlehem . . . . . . . . . . . . 30030. Jerome of Prague . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30231. “Expect Great Things” . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

June1. A Man of Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3062. From Persecutor to Persecuted . . . . . 3083. The Pharisees versus the Sadducees. . 3104. Rescued in the Nick of Time . . . . . . . 3125. Brought Together by a Snake. . . . . . . 3146. The Patient Laborer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3167. Fulfillment of Prophecy? . . . . . . . . . . 3188. A Man Named Mohammed . . . . . . . . 3209. Undeserved Honor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

viii

10. How Great Was Alexander?. . . . . . . . 32411. From Killers to Converts . . . . . . . . . . 32612. A City upon a Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32813. Two Messengers, Two Results . . . . . . 33014. Things Aren’t Always What

They Seem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33215. One Thing Leads to Another . . . . . . . 33416. “Don’t Fire until You See the

Whites of Their Eyes” . . . . . . . . . . . . 33617. An Unexpected Arrival . . . . . . . . . . . 33818. The Fugitive Translator . . . . . . . . . . . 34019. An Inquiring Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34220. The First War in North America . . . . 34421. Does the Sun Circle the Earth? . . . . . 34622. The Good Teacher. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34823. Train Up a Child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35024. The Prayer for Jabez . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35225. The Cost of Incomplete Obedience . . 35426. A Letter from Prison . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35627. A Deceitful Emperor . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35828. A King Who Threw His Weight

Around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36029. Under a Haystack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36230. A Wife’s Faithful Prayers . . . . . . . . . . 364

July1. When God Went to Hawaii . . . . . . . . 3662. Civil War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3683. One Man’s Odyssey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3704. God Gave the Increase. . . . . . . . . . . . 3725. Fruitful Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3746. The Boy King . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3767. The Founder of American

Democracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3788. Sinners in the Hands of an

Angry God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3809. Undemonstrative Love . . . . . . . . . . . 382

10. A Life of Sacrifice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38411. The Flying Scotsman . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38612. What Should I Be?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38813. Persistence Pays. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39014. The Man from Plains . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39215. An About-Face . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39416. The Outcastes Were Not Cast Out. . . 39617. The Story of a Seaman. . . . . . . . . . . . 39818. The Last King . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40019. The Antidote to Disunity . . . . . . . . . . 40220. Planting Gospel Seed. . . . . . . . . . . . . 404

21. The Monkey Trial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40622. The Defender of the Covenant. . . . . . 40823. A Love Story Cut Short . . . . . . . . . . . 41024. Water Dog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41225. Freed to Preach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41426. Dedication to a Cause . . . . . . . . . . . . 41627. Covenanter Prophet . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41828. Why, God? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42029. A Power Struggle or a Holy War? . . . 42230. Miss Happiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42431. The Making of a Prophet . . . . . . . . . . 426

August1. The Star-Spangled Banner . . . . . . . . . 4282. The Other Departure of 1492 . . . . . . 4303. The Boxers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4324. God’s Hand Was on Him . . . . . . . . . 4345. Sixty Hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4366. The Cane Ridge Revival. . . . . . . . . . . 4387. The Methodist Parson . . . . . . . . . . . . 4408. A Watchman for Israel . . . . . . . . . . . 4429. A Personal Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444

10. He Lived to Translate . . . . . . . . . . . . 44611. Rock of Ages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44812. The President’s Hatchet Man . . . . . . . 45013. More Love to Thee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45214. A Future Wilderness Judgment . . . . . 45415. From Religion to Salvation . . . . . . . . 45616. The Precocious Young Pastor . . . . . . 45817. The Sioux Uprising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46018. China’s Greatest Evangelist . . . . . . . . 46219. Hope—The Anchor for the Soul . . . . 46420. Tortured for His Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . 46621. Revival in the Army. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46822. A New Testament for the Tzeltals . . . 47023. The Rescue of Praise and Prayer . . . . 47224. St. Bartholomew’s Day. . . . . . . . . . . . 47425. A Startling Interruption . . . . . . . . . . . 47626. An Ape of a Cold God . . . . . . . . . . . . 47827. America’s First College President. . . . 48028. Fulfilling the Vision. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48229. A Mother’s Dream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48430. The Shame of Shansi . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48631. Martyred for His Marriage . . . . . . . . . 488

September1. The Agony and the Ecstasy . . . . . . . . 4902. Not One Stone upon Another . . . . . . 492

ix

3. A Famous Mother . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4944. A Spiritual Secret. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4965. Winning over Paganism . . . . . . . . . . 4986. The High Cost of Taking a Stand. . . . 5007. Injustice from Within . . . . . . . . . . . . 5028. The Necessity of Personal Faith . . . . . 5049. The Power of Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506

10. An Unrecognized Fulfillment . . . . . . 50811. Setting Dates for the Rapture

Can Backfire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51012. A Case Study in Changing a Nation’s

Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51213. Wife Number Nineteen . . . . . . . . . . . 51414. Handel’s Messiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51615. Our Negatives Are Sometimes

God’s Positives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51816. Torture in the Name of Christ . . . . . . 52017. Our God Is a Jealous God . . . . . . . . . 52218. Exiled to Patmos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52419. Triumph in the Face of Trial . . . . . . . 52620. Sorrow Is Part of Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . 52821. A Pep Talk and a Promise . . . . . . . . . 53022. The Shame of Salem . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53223. The Fulton Street Prayer Meeting . . . 53424. An Influential Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53625. A True Nobleman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53826. From Conscientious Objector

to War Hero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54027. From Death to Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54228. A Peep-of-Day Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . 54429. Faithful to the End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54630. The Results of a Decision

Long Ago. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548

October1. The End of an Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . 5502. An Amazing Accomplishment . . . . . . 5523. With a Song in Her Heart . . . . . . . . . 5544. A Match Made in Heaven . . . . . . . . . 5565. A Mother’s Legacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5586. Baptism of Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5607. He Went Forth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5628. A Turning Point for Israel . . . . . . . . . 5649. The First Group Bible Study . . . . . . . 566

10. An Attorney Who Switched Clients . . 56811. The Voyage of the “Christ Bearer” . . . 57012. Misguided Nonchalance . . . . . . . . . . 57213. A Mother’s Agony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574

14. The Perils of Persecution . . . . . . . . . . 57615. An Incredible Journey from

Housemaid to Heroine . . . . . . . . . . . 57816. The Surprise Ending . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58017. Seeing the Big Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . 58218. The Extinguishing of Protestantism

in France. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58419. “Vengeance Is Mine,” Saith the Lord . 58620. A Close Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58821. Paying the Ultimate Price . . . . . . . . . 59022. A Small Beginning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59223. An Eyewitness Account . . . . . . . . . . . 59424. Life out of Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59625. Words of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59826. The Ambiguous Emperor . . . . . . . . . 60027. Play Ball! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60228. Death by Velvet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60429. A Theologian Becomes Prime

Minister. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60630. The Church Divides . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60831. Security Takes More Than Walls . . . . 610

November1. A Man of Extremes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6122. An Unlikely Threesome. . . . . . . . . . . 6143. The Times and Seasons Are God’s . . . 6164. One Man’s Spiritual Journey . . . . . . . 6185. Even the Wind and Waves

Obey Him . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6206. Facing a Hostile Audience . . . . . . . . . 6227. The Promise Is to You and Your

Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6248. One Man’s Dilemma . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6269. A Day in the Life of George

Whitefield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62810. A Man of Influence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63011. A Momentous Document . . . . . . . . . 63212. The Divine Prayer Assignment. . . . . . 63413. A Life Transformed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63614. Starvation at Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63815. My Utmost for His Highest . . . . . . . . 64016. The Power of Hymns. . . . . . . . . . . . . 64217. The Gypsy Evangelist . . . . . . . . . . . . 64418. A Test of Vows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64619. “A Dear and Merciful Savior”. . . . . . . 64820. Blind but Not Handicapped . . . . . . . 65021. Living by Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65222. A Date We Remember . . . . . . . . . . . . 654

x

23. A Life Spent in Battle. . . . . . . . . . . . . 65624. Content to Be Second . . . . . . . . . . . . 65825. The Ugly Poet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66026. A Journey from Depression to Faith . 66227. The Best Sermon Ever? . . . . . . . . . . . 66428. A Tale of Misplaced Trust . . . . . . . . . 66629. Scrolls for Sale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66830. A Grandfather’s Love. . . . . . . . . . . . . 670

December1. Peace like a River. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6722. Go for Me to China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6743. “From Pearl Harbor to Calvary”. . . . . 6764. O for Friday! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6785. The Land of the Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6806. Going to Heaven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6827. The Future of Jerusalem . . . . . . . . . . 6848. A Pen in the Hand of God . . . . . . . . . 6869. The Pen Is Mightier Than

the Sword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68810. Ghostwriter? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69011. In the Darkest Hour . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69212. Little Woman, Long Shadow . . . . . . . 69413. The Reluctant Pope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69614. “I Know Not the Hour” . . . . . . . . . . . 69815. Change My Sighs to Praise . . . . . . . . 700

16. The Manifestation of Zeus . . . . . . . . . 70217. A Knife and a Bladder of Ink . . . . . . . 70418. The Good Shepherd . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70619. They Went without God . . . . . . . . . . 70820. The Blind Evangelist . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71021. A Sinner Saved by Grace . . . . . . . . . . 71222. The Spirit and the Bride

Say, “Come” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71423. A Contemplative Christmas. . . . . . . . 71624. “Grant Us Fair Weather” . . . . . . . . . . 71825. The Bells of Christmas. . . . . . . . . . . . 72026. Immanuel’s Land. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72227. From Head to Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72428. No Mere Man Is the Christ I Know . . 72629. One More Night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72830. The End of the Temple . . . . . . . . . . . 73031. Of God and the Elements . . . . . . . . . 732

Chronological Order of Eventsin This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 735

Key to Source Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 757Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 759Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 787Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 795About the Authors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 803

xi

January 1He fought for the faith.

BORN IN 1881, J. Gresham Machen grew up in an educated, well-to-do Pres-byterian family in Baltimore. He majored in classics at Johns Hopkins Univer-sity and graduated first in his class in 1901. He then entered the graduateprogram but after one year enrolled in Princeton Seminary. Following his grad-uation in 1905, he studied in Germany for a year and then returned to Prince-ton Seminary as a professor of New Testament in 1906.

Gresham Machen was known for his serious research and scholarly writ-ing on various New Testament topics. He also became known for his defenseof conservative theology, especially the authority of Scripture. After publish-ing Christianity and Liberalism in 1923, he became a nationally recognized fig-ure. He maintained that liberalism was not a variety of Christianity but wasinstead an entirely different religion.

“Liberalism appeals to man’s will, while Christianity announces, first, agracious act of God.” He argued that historical Christianity had always beenrooted in the saving acts of Christ’s death and resurrection, whereas liberalProtestantism reduced Christianity to a set of general religious principles re-garding the moral teachings of Jesus.

These beliefs caused Machen to become a controversial figure both atPrinceton Seminary and within his denomination, the Presbyterian ChurchU.S.A., as these institutions were beginning to shift toward a more liberaltheological stance. Princeton’s drift into liberalism was heartbreaking forMachen, who fought hard to keep the seminary committed to the creeds of thePresbyterian Church. He pleaded with the seminary faculty to stand for “thefull truthfulness of the Bible as the Word of God and for the vigorous defenseand propagation of the Reformed or Calvinistic system of doctrine, which isthe system of doctrine that the Bible teaches.”

It was a losing battle. Princeton officially reorganized in 1929 to ensure amore inclusive theological curriculum. This left Machen and other Reformedprofessors worried about the lack of evangelical training for future Presbyterianministers. In response, Machen and other Reformed faculty members leftPrinceton and founded Philadelphia’s Westminster Theological Seminary, aninstitution that would stand for theological orthodoxy and academic excellence.Gresham Machen was a professor of New Testament there until his death.

At Westminster, Machen continued to fight liberalism within the Presby-

2

terian Church. In 1933 he helped form the conservative Independent Boardfor Presbyterian Foreign Missions in order to counteract the liberalism thatwas infiltrating Presbyterian foreign missions. The Presbyterian General As-sembly rejected this new mission board, and in 1935 Machen was tried andsuspended from the ministry of the Presbyterian Church for refusing to breakhis ties to the Independent Board.

Machen then played a central role in founding a new denomination, thePresbyterian Church of America (later the Orthodox Presbyterian Church),which over time continued to uphold theological orthodoxy.

While speaking in Bismarck, North Dakota, in December 1936, Machencame down with pneumonia, yet he continued preaching even though it wasextremely cold and he was very sick. Finally he was hospitalized. When afriend visited him New Year’s Eve, Machen told him about a vision of heavenhe had had in the hospital: “Sam, it was glorious, it was glorious.” He died thenext day on January 1, 1937.

ReflectionRespond to Gresham Machen’s statement that “liberalism appealsto man’s will, while Christianity announces . . . a gracious act of God.”Where does your church or denomination stand on the conservative/liberal theological continuum? Where do you stand?

HYes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone in all the world.And it was only right that God—who made everything and for whomeverything was made—should bring his many children into glory.Through the suffering of Jesus, God made him a perfect leader, onefit to bring them into their salvation. HEBREWS 2:9-10

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STANDING FOR “THE FULLTRUTHFULNESS” OF THE BIBLE

January 2He wept with those who wept.

EDWARD D. GRIFFIN resigned his pastorate at the Newark Presbyterian Church,one of the largest churches in the nation, to become professor of pulpit elo-quence at the newly established Andover Theological Seminary in Massachu-setts.1 When Griffin moved from New Jersey to Boston to assume his newposition, he was accompanied by five students who would attend the new semi-nary. One of them, Lewis LeCount Conger, soon fell seriously ill, and Griffin,who had grown to love the young man deeply, sought to inform and comfortthe family of the ailing seminary student. Griffin’s poignant correspondencewith those who loved Lewis Conger began:

January 2, 1810My Dear Sir,

How often have you and your dear family said, “The Lord reigneth, letthe earth rejoice.” What a blessing it is that he has the appointment of all ourchanges and trials. . . . You have given a son to Christ, and if he has workfor him on the earth, he will preserve him and make him a blessing to thechurch; but if he has other designs, he will, I doubt not, take him to himself.. . . Lewis has the typhus fever. His mind is weak; but he loves to hear of thename of Christ, and will listen with deep interest and tender affection toevery thing that is said about that blessed Savior. . . . I beseech you, my dearfriends . . . Prepare for every thing which God has in store for you. . . . MayGod Almighty support you, my dear friends, under this trial, is my prayer.

January 3, 1810We do little else but pray for him; and the whole college is crying with tears,“Spare him, spare him!” . . . I cannot but humbly and earnestly pray thatGod will spare him for your sakes, and for ours, and for the sake of Christ.

January 6, 1810The Almighty God support you, my dear friends, under the trials you mustfeel. I wish with all my heart that I had something agreeable to communicate.And I have—Jesus of Nazareth reigns. The infinite God is happy. And ourdear Lewis is happy. Ah, my heart, why this aching and trembling? The willof God is done. Lewis himself wished that the will of God might be done. And

4

I am confident that he does not wish to oppose it now. . . . Lewis left theseabodes of pain this morning at 10 o’clock. . . .

No young man was ever more beloved. . . . He has not lived in vain.. . . He has been the means of good to some souls; and by his influenceon the college, has probably been indirectly the means of some good tothousands. . . .

January 7, 1810My friends, it is all the appointment of heaven. Eternal wisdom fixed it thathe should die at this time and place. . . .

Think not my dear friends, that you have lost your pains in giving himan education. No, you have been fitting him for more than a pulpit—for ahigher throne in heaven. . . . There he is! Think not of him on a bed of sick-ness, in a land of strangers. . . . Think of him on Mount Zion. There is allthat is Lewis. The rest is mere dust. We have not lost him. He is only gonea little before us. . . . There we shall soon find him and enjoy him again,and forever—far more than we ever did in this world. . . .

Your afflicted and affectionate friend,E. D. Griffin

ReflectionHave you lost a friend or loved one in the prime of life and wondered whyGod took that person? Can you think of any reasons why he took LewisConger? Is it really necessary for us to know why?

HThe righteous pass away; the godly often die before their time. Andno one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand thatGod is protecting them from the evil to come. For the godly who diewill rest in peace. ISAIAH 57:1-2

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AN APPOINTMENTIN HEAVEN

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8

their faith wrote letters of pardon to large numbers of those who had deniedChrist. Some dishonest individuals produced amnesty papers in the name ofdead martyrs.

Bishops were divided over how to treat the lapsed Christians. Some calledfor rigid excommunication. Some demanded a general amnesty. Eventually,they agreed that those who actually sacrificed to the gods should be readmit-ted to communion only when dying. Those who obtained a false Roman cer-tificate but had not actually sacrificed to the gods could be readmitted uponrepentance and penance. Without sorrow for their unfaithfulness, they wouldreceive no grace. However, bitter dissensions over the matter continued withresulting schisms.

When another great persecution arose under Emperor Valerian in 257, awider amnesty was offered to those who had defected during the days ofDecius. This was not the sign of a weakened standard but rather a gracious op-portunity for the shunned to stand where once they had fallen. Many returnedto the fold. Many, in turn, sacrificed their lives for Christ.

ReflectionHow do you feel the church should have dealt with Christians whosacrificed to the Roman gods or who obtained counterfeit certificatesof compliance? How should churches today deal with members engagedin egregious sin?

HDear brothers and sisters, if another Christian is overcome by somesin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that personback onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the sametemptation yourself. GALATIANS 6:1

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CHOOSING WHOMYOU WILL SERVE