1662 - Birth of Matthew Henry, English Presbyterian pastor. He is remembered for his "Exposition of the Old and New Testaments" (1708-10) - still in print! - whose value lies in its devotional and practical comments on the books of the Bible.
1685 - Louis XIV revoked the 1598 Edict of Nantes, which had permitted French Protestants limited religious tolerance. The Huguenot exodus which followed drained France's industrial economy, and possibly hastened the French Revolution.
1931 - English apologist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter: 'The [Christian] "doctrines" are translations into our concepts and ideas of that which God has already expressed in language more adequate, namely the actual incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection.'
1949 - Country songwriter Stuart Hamblen, 31, underwent a spiritual conversion. Author of the popular 1954 hit "This Old House," Hamblen later wrote such Christian favorites as "It Is No Secret What God Can Do," "How Big is God?" and "They That Wait Upon the Lord."
1954 - "The Week in Religion" aired for the last time over Dumont television. First broadcast in March 1952, this ecumenical Sunday evening panel show divided the hour into 20-minute segments each for Protestant, Catholic and Jewish news.
© 1987-2010, William D. Blake. Used by permission of the author, from
Almanac of the Christian Church
