February 27
280: Birth of Constantine the Great, who later became the first Roman emperor to be converted (ca. 312) to the Christian faith.
1536: The Swiss reformers in Basel adopt the First Helvetic Confession, also known as the Second Basel Confession, drafted by Heinrich Bullinger and Leo Jud.
1710: Mennonite Melchior Zahler is betrayed, captured, and imprisoned by the authorities in Switzerland at the instigation of a Reformed churchman. His children and possessions are taken away and he is brought to Berne, where he is sentenced to be transported to America, a sentence which his followers got annulled later.
1830: Death of Quaker leader Elias Hicks, founder of the Hicksites that reject creeds and teach progressive revelation. Hicks was also instrumental in getting legislation passed banning slavery in New York state.
1838: Birth of William J. Kirkpatrick, American Methodist composer, who edited his first collection of hymns at 21, and is still remembered for composing the melodies for the following hymns: “He Hideth My Soul,” “‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus,” “Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It” and “Lord, I’m Coming Home.”
1839: Scottish clergyman Robert Murray McCheyne commented in a letter, “Most of God’s people are content to be saved from the hell that is without. They are not so anxious to be saved from the hell that is within.”
1937: Death of Emily Malbone Morgan, the founder of the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross. The Episcopal Church commemorates her as a prophetic witness.
1938: English Bible commentator Arthur W. Pink exhorted in a letter, “Slackness and carelessness are inexcusable in a child of God. He should ever present a model and example of conscientiousness, painstaking care, and exactness.”
1996: A Muslim mob of around ten thousand attacks Coptic Christian homes in Egypt’s Nile Delta.
Edited by:Â T. Chempilayil MCBS
Courtesy: www.studylight.org