February 16: Today in Christian History

February 16, 309

Pamphilius of Caesarea is beheaded for his Christian faith. He had founded a library in Palestine and trained many pulpils, including Eusebius, the first notable church historian.

February 16, 1684

Death of non-conformist pastor Francis Bampfield in Newgate Prison, having been held too long in a damp area. Once a Royalist, his loyalty to the crown had not protected him from the religious persecution of England’s King Charles II. Bampfield dies outside the Church of England, a “non-conformist” committed to Seventh-Day Baptist views.

February 16, 1844

Death in Calcutta from cholera of Koilas Chunder Mookerjee, a young Hindu convert to Christianity who had suffered considerable persecution. Immediately after his baptism he had endeavored to evangelize fellow Indians.

February 16, 1910

Conversion in Galeton, Pennsylvania, of Robert T. Ketcham under the preaching of Harry S. Tillis. He will become a leader in forming the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches.

February 16, 1911

The Continent, a Presbyterian periodical, publishes the hymn, “Rise Up, O Men of God,” by William P. Merrill. The words had formed in his mind while he was crossing Lake Michigan on a ferry.

February 16, 1912

Death in Japan of Nikolai, archbishop of the Russian Orthodox Church in Japan. Through a careful strategy that targeted selected groups and by making the Japanese church as independent as possible from the Russian church, he had seen 33,000 converts.

February 16, 1921

Death in Princeton, New Jersey, of B.B. (Benjamin Breckinridge) Warfield, a renowned Calvinist theologian and the author of The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible. Although feeling weak, he had taught classes that day. He had cared for his invalid wife for thirty-nine years after she was struck by lightning.

February 16, 1977

Murder of Archbishop Luwum for his Christian faith in Uganda under the brutal dictatorship of Idi Amin.