January 26: Today in Christian History

January 26, 404

Death in Palestine of Paula, Jerome’s patron and pupil.

January 26, 1557

Cardinal Pole leads a cleansing at Cambridge University against the “heretical” preachers Martin Bucer and Paulus Phagius who have both been dead for several years. The sentence excommunicates and anathematizes them and orders their bones be dug out of holy ground and publicly burned. He also interdicts anyone in possession of “heretical” books.

January 26, 1564

In the papal bull Bendictus Deus Pope Pius IV confirms decrees of the Council of Trent that include repudiation of Calvinist and Zwinglian teachings on the Eucharist; affirmation of penance and extreme unction as sacraments; a reaffirmation that tradition is a source of divine revelation; and a declaration that the Vulgate translation is the only authentic Latin version for public use. Trent also abolished the practice of preaching papal indulgences.

January 26, 1681

Isabel Alison and Marion Harvie are hanged in Edinburgh for their Covenanter beliefs. They sing Psalm 84 on the scaffold. Marion declares the government has no crime such as murder to charge against her but only religious views. The major in charge of the executions orders the hangman to “cast her over” to choke off any further testimony. .

January 26, 1906

The Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee), a Pentecostal denomination, convenes its first General Assembly.

January 26, 1936

Death of African revival leader Blasio Kigozi at Kampala, Uganda, of tick fever. Inscribed on his tombstone will be the word zukuka (“awaken”).

January 26, 1949

Death in Washington, DC, during the early hours of the morning, of Presbyterian minister Peter Marshall of heart problems at age forty-six. He had been the vibrant and influential chaplain of the United States Senate. His widow, Catherine, will tell his story in A Man Called Peter.

January 26, 1962

Death of George Jeffreys, founder of Elim Pentecostal Churches, at his home in Clapham, England.

January 26, 1992

Mr. Boushra Khaliel, a Coptic Christian in Dairut, Egypt, drops charges against militant Muslims who had beaten him severely with pipes, leaving his right arm paralyzed. He had been warned that if he refused to drop the charges, his family would suffer the same brutality.

January 26, 1996

Father L. Bridget and Sister Vridhi Ekka are sentenced to six months rigorous imprisonment for “forcibly converting” ninety-four Indians to Christianity in the Ambikapur, India, district, although they neither lured nor coerced anyone to become a Christian.