October 12: Today in Christian History

October 12: Today in Christian History

October 12, 1492

Columbus reaches an island in what will become known as the West Indies. His writings show he intended to bring the gospel as well as pursue his secular ends.

October 12, 1518

Martin Luther and Cardinal Cajetan meet in Augsburg over the following three days to discuss Luther’s 95 Theses. Cajetan tells Luther he must recant unconditionally.

October 12, 1658

English Congregationalists Adopted a Confession of Faith 

October 12, 1772

Conversion of Benjamin Abbott, who will become an American revival leader. His conversion to Christianity came after fearful mental struggles, influenced by the preaching of Abraham Whitworth.

October 12, 1845

Death of Elizabeth Fry. A Quaker, she was known as a pioneer in prison reform.

October 12, 1868

The Jesuits are expelled from Spain.

October 12, 1881

Death of Josiah G. Holland, American news editor and author of the Christmas hymn “There’s a Song in the Air.” After a brief career in medicine, Holland had established a weekly newspaper. Later he joined the staff of the Springfield Republican, in Massachusetts. Holland also helped found Scribner’s Magazine, serving as its editor the rest of his life.

October 12, 1894

Carl Strehlow, German missionary to Australia, arrives at Hermannsburg station where he is appointed head of the mission and will translate the Bible into three aboriginal languages.

October 12, 1895

Death of hymnwriter Frances Humphreys Alexander, best known for “There is a Green Hill Far Away” and the Christmas carol “Once in Royal David’s City.”

October 12, 1901

Death of Edward Raimond Baierlein, Lutheran missionary among the Chippewa Indians near Frankenmuth, Michigan, and and later among the people of Sadras, Cuddalore, and Tranquebar, India. He wrote books about his Michigan work, where he was beloved for treating the Indians as true equals.

October 12, 1907

Missionaries May Law and Rosa Pittman arrive in Hong Kong where they will help establish a Pentecostal presence, be quarantined several weeks after contracting smallpox, and begin to learn Chinese.

October 12, 1915

A German firing squad executes the British nurse Edith Cavell who had helped allied soldiers escape. At her death she says she has to go deeper to true love.

October 12, 1951

Simon Kimbangu dies after being imprisoned for years by Belgian authorities in Congo Free State. Baptist-trained, he had preached a Christian gospel of one God, healed the sick, and alarmed colonial administrators. 

October 12, 2000 

In India, K.S. Sudarshan told members of his Hindu nationalist group, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), that the Indian government should expel all foreign churches and set up a state church similar to the government-controlled church in China.

October 12, 2005

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez decides to expel the New Tribes Mission, which he says is an imperialist invasion working with the CIA. This follows a suggestion by televangelist Pat Robertson that perhaps Chavez should be assassinated.

October 12, 2014

Death of Tsehay Tolessa, an Ethiopian woman whose deep Christian faith had taken her through years of captivity and torture at the hands of Marxist Dergs in degrading conditions.


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