Christian
History of St. Francis of Assisi
Reading Time: 7 minutesHistory of St. Francis of Assisi he man we know as St. Francis was born in Assisi, Italy, in 1181 or 1182, and died on October 3, 1226. His feast day is October 4. In October 2025, the Italian Parliament restored October 4th as a national feast, previously dropped in 1977, to take effect this…
Read MoreHistory of Michaelmas: Who is St. Michael?
Reading Time: 9 minutesHISTORY OF MICHAELMAS eptember 29 is Michaelmas, meaning “Michael’s Mass” or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels. It’s known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels, in the Roman Catholic Church, or as the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels in the Anglican Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church, instead,…
Read MoreHistory of September: The Start of Fall
Reading Time: 2 minutesHISTORY OF SEPTEMBER ou may have noticed that September sounds like the Latin word for seven. And you’d be perceptive — septem is the Latin word for seven, and this month used to be the seventh month of the ancient Roman calendar. This Latin numbering continues through the year’s remaining months, as highlighted below: octo/eight,…
Read MoreHistory of St. Augustine: Sinner and Theologian
Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF ST. AUGUSTINE he Feast of Saint Augustine is celebrated on August 28, the date of his death in 430 A.D. Augustine is considered the most influential bishop in history; he is the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, and several cities and dioceses worldwide. Most of what we know about him is from…
Read MoreHistory of August: Who Is It Named After?
Reading Time: 4 minutesHISTORY OF AUGUST hat’s in a name? The name of this month was not always August; previously, the Romans referred to it as Sextilis. Because the calendar then started in March, this was the sixth month. This was back in the days of Romulus in 753 B.C., when there were originally ten months (… Sept,…
Read MoreHistory of William Wilberforce: Champion of British Slavery Abolition
Reading Time: 6 minutesHISTORY OF WILLIAM WILBERFORCE ne hundred ninety-three years ago today, on July 26, 1833, the Slavery Abolition Act passed its third reading in the House of Commons, ensuring the end of slavery in the British Empire. William Wilberforce had championed the cause for nearly half a century. This article, published on the anniversary of the…
Read MoreHistory of St. James Day: and El Camino de Santiago
Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF ST. JAMES DAY: AND EL CAMINO DE SANTIAGO uly 25 is the Feast Day of St. James, and Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, and some Protestants accordingly celebrate St. James Day. For Orthodox churches that follow the Julian calendar, it’s on April 30. Each summer, pilgrims walk the Camino de Santiago, or the Way…
Read MoreHistory of John Calvin: The Genius of Geneva
Reading Time: 4 minutesHISTORY OF JOHN CALVIN 🎙️Podcast version n July 10, 1509, in Noyon, France, Jehan Cauvin, known to us as John Calvin, was born. Of all the leaders of the Protestant Reformation, none was more significant in forming biblical theology or ecclesiastic thought than this one man. Calvin’s teaching and tradition penetrated more of the world…
Read MoreIs America a Christian Country?
Reading Time: 9 minutesIS AMERICA A CHRISTIAN COUNTRY? n response to a recent article I published, one of my readers asked me this question: “Is America a Christian country?” My students have asked me this question often over the years. It usually takes me several lessons to lay the historical foundation to address the question. The answer is complex,…
Read MoreHistory of John Witherspoon: the Ordained Founding Father
Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF JOHN WITHERSPOON: THE ORDAINED FOUNDING FATHER Part of the series on America 250, the US Semiquincentennial Podcast version [In my previous article, I discussed how the American Revolution against England was driven by the Enlightenment, the Age of Reason… and Religion, the predominantly Protestant Christian faith energized by the revival of the Great Awakening.] ohn Witherspoon,…
Read MoreAmerican Revolution: Reason and Religion
Reading Time: 5 minutesAmerican Revolution – Reason and Religion Part of the series on America 250, the US Semiquincentennial Podcast version [In my previous article, I discussed how America’s experiment in self-government has been unique across 250 years.] wo waves propelled the 13 colonies into the prospect of independence from England and a call to write…
Read MoreHistory of St. John the Baptist Day: Midsummer
Reading Time: 6 minutesHISTORY OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST DAY Podcast version he Feast of St. John the Baptist, or the Nativity of St John the Forerunner, sometimes called St. John the Baptist Day, is celebrated on June 24 in many places worldwide, though not much in the United States, as we’ll see below. The celebration of…
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