August 29
284: The Calendar of the Martyrs in the Coptic Church begins today. The date was chosen in commemoration of the martyrs during the persecution under the Roman Emperor Diocletian.
1530: Members of the Evangelical Estates decide to prepare an apology for the Augsburg Confession to be presented to Emperor Charles V.
1572: Following the onset of the St. Bartholomew Day’s Massacre, the officials in Lyon (France) place Protestants under protective custody in the city’s convents and jails.
1654: Oliver Cromwell’s government issues an ordinance appointing lay commissioners – consists of fifteen to thirty laymen and eight to ten divines as assessors – in all the counties of England and Wales with power to suspend all “scandalous, ignorant and insufficient [incompetent] ministers and schoolmasters.”
1683: John Dick, a Scotsman following Covenanter faith, is captured and brought before the committee of public affairs during King Charles II’s reign.
1792: Birth of Charles G. Finney, American revivalist and educator, who converted to Christian faith at the age of 29, and later conducted revival services and maintained a close affiliation with Oberlin College in Ohio.
1831: Michael Faraday, a devout Christian, invents electricity, inducing an electrical current in one wire from the current in another, a discovery that totally transformed the world.
1852: The Latter Day Saints publish their doctrine of “celestial marriage,” popularly known as polygamy, which was accepted by The Mormon Church until the Manifest of 1890 rejected the practice.
1867: The Social Brethren are officially organized in Illinois, US, whose church doctrine is a blend of Methodist and Baptist polity.
1917: Demise of Ernest W. Shurtleff, American Congregational clergyman and author of the hymn, “Lead On, O King Eternal.” He died during World War I, while doing relief work along with his wife.
1928: W. A. Criswell is ordained in the Southern Baptist Church. He became famous for his excellent expository preaching and will pastor a large Dallas church which also had evangelist Billy Graham as its member.
Edited by: T. Chempilayil MCBS
Courtesy:Â www.studylight.org