August 20
651: Murder of King Oswin of Deira in Northern England, who had renounced his throne to save blood-shed, but was betrayed. His murder prompted Trumhere to establish a monastery in his honor.
684: Demise of St. Philibert of France, a well-known abbott and monastic founder. He is also known as Philibert of Jumiéges Abbey.
1153: Passing away of Bernard of Clairvaux, French theologian, monastic reformer, and hymn-writer, who is venerated in the catholic church.
1384: Repose of Gerhard Groot, the founder of the Brethren of the Common Life, a movement which invited laymen to a life of spirituality and simplicity.
1527: Diet of Odense admits Lutherans in Denmark.
1580: Demise of Jerome Osorio, a Portuguese prelate and author, respected for his piety and charity and well-known for his proficiency in Latin.
1740: Martyrdom of Theocharis of Neopolis, an Orthodox Christian, who refused to marry the daughter of the governor of Nevsehir in the Ottoman Empire on condition of converting to Islam. He had to pay with his life for holding on to his faith.
1745: Birth of Francis Asbury, English Methodist missionary and bishop of the American colonies who traveled 300,000 miles on horseback in 42 years, ministering on the Eastern seaboard.
1804: Repose of Pitambara Singha from an asthmatic complaint, who had come to know about salvation in a Baptist tract printed at Serampore, immediately visited the mission there, and converted to Christianity. He also became a Christian author and an evangelist.
1843: Demise of Ganga Narayan Sil, a learned convert from Hinduism, who had become a street preacher for Hindus and Muslims.
1855: The first World’s Conference of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) takes place in Paris under the title “Conference Universelle des Unions Chrétiennes de Jeunes Gens,” which adopted the historic Paris “basis,” which seeks to unite all members who believe in and serve Christ, ignoring all kinds of differences. It says: “Any differences of opinion on other subjects, however important in themselves, shall not interfere with the harmonious relations of the constituent members and associates of the World Alliance.”
1884: Birth of Rudolf Bultmann, German New Testament scholar, who pioneered Form Criticism with his work History of the Synoptic Tradition (1921). He also sought to identify the devices of Hebrew speech in order to make the central Gospel message meaningful to moderns.
1886: Birth of Paul Tillich, a German philosophical theologian, who advocated “myth” as a signpost, participating in the reality to which it points. Evangelicals criticize Tillich for his pantheistic views of God.
1913: Demise of Robert McDonald, an Anglican missionary and gifted linguist, who evangelized among First Nation peoples of Canada, particularly in the northwest Arctic.
1935: Kenneth Pike, a trail-blazing linguist, crosses into Mexico as a missionary. He also founded the Summer Institute of Linguistics.
1952: Demise of J. Frank Norris, a controversial fundamentalist Baptist pastor, radio speaker, and editor, who was often accused arson, perjury, libel, and murder
1958: A pentecostal sect formed by Grady R. Kent out of the Church of God of Prophecy, formally adopts its name “The Church of God of All Nations.”
1965: Jonathan Myrick Daniels, a theological student in the Episcopal Church, is killed by a shotgun blast, while shielding an African-American woman from the gunman.
Edited by: T. Chempilayil MCBS
Courtesy: www.studylight.org