February 6: Today in Christian History

February 6, 897

Death of Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople, one of the most learned scholars of his day. He had been an enemy of Rome and excommnunicated Pope Nicholas I and his associates, one of the events that will lead to the schism between the eastern and western branches of the church.

February 6, 1481

First auto-da-fé in Spain, a ritual of public penance of condemned heretics and apostates. Such events would often be accompanied by the execution of the “heretics.”

February 6, 1497

Death on the European continent of Jean de Ockeghem, a composer of Christian music, including a well-known requiem and many motets.

February 6, 1557

Acting on the earlier command of Cardinal Pole, Roman Catholics at Cambridge, England, dig up the remains of Martin Bucer and Paul Fagius, Protestants who had served as professors at the university, and burn them publicly in the market place.

February 6, 1564

John Calvin preaches his last sermon. His mouth fills with blood and he has to leave the pulpit. He had been carried to church in a chair. Three months later he will die.

February 6, 1812

On a bitterly cold day, Adoniram Judson, Gordon Hall, Luther Rice, Samuel Newell, and Samuel Nott are ordained for foreign service at Salem, Massachusetts, the first foreign missionaries of the United States.

February 6, 1857

Presbyterian minister Edward Norris Kirk arrives in Paris to establish its American Church. He was well-known in the United States as a preacher, revivalist, and author. Among those converted under his ministry was Dwight L. Moody.

February 6, 1870

Death in Bristol, England, of Mary Groves Müller, the faith-filled and godly wife of George Müller.

February 6, 1876

Admission of Daniel Olubi as a priest in Nigeria’s Anglican Church. He had already shown himself an effective worker in the Anglican mission and will become even more influential as the years pass, establishing the gospel among his people.

February 6, 1910

Death in Washington, DC, of Harriet Eugenia Peck Buell, author of the hymn “A Child of the King.”