November 4: Today in Christian History

November 4, 846

Repose (death) in Antidium of Ioannikios the Great, a monk who had formerly been a brave soldier. As a monk he practiced great austerities and was alleged to have performed miracles. At first he was on the side of those who opposed icons but later came to favor their use.

November 4, 1743

John Wesley describes a curious incident in his journal in which a farce titled Trick upon Trick or Methodism Displayed takes place in a hall. As the actors mock Methodism, the crowd is thrown into a panic because their seats and the stage begin to collapse. Undaunted, the actors try several times to go on with the farce, but each time they do, further collapse occurs until finally the show is given up.

November 4, 1794

The London Missionary Society is founded.

November 4, 1847

Death of Felix Mendelssohn, whose compositions include the religious oratorios St. Paul and Elijah.

November 4, 1859 

Dutch-born, American-trained Guido Fridolin Verbeck arrived in Nagasaki, Japan. In 1871 the Japanese Emperor took the extraordinary step of conferring on this missionary the Order of the Rising Sun.

November 4, 1884

C. T. Studd, one of a group of Christian students known as The Cambridge Seven, meets missionary Hudson Taylor and is accepted for service in the China Inland Mission.

November 4, 1891

Charles A. Briggs is called to present his defense before the New York Presbytery for attacking biblical inspiration.

November 4, 1898

Pan Xiushan, the first Christian convert of the Hmu tribe in China’s Guizhou Province, becomes also the tribe’s first martyr when struck down with a sword. Minutes later William Fleming, a missionary for whom he translated, is also killed, the first martyr of the China Inland Mission.

November 4, 1928

A. W. Tozer begins his long-lasting Chicago ministry.