Tuesday, February 4, 2025

*** This is a rough transcript of today’s show ***

It is the 4th of February 2025. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

It is not often that we make note of a saint still living- I suppose I’d like to let people finish their story- but today we wish a very happy birthday- a 77th birthday to Vincent Damon Furnier, who was born on this, the 4th of February in 1948 in Detroit Michigan.

You say, “who?” Well, he changed his name legally after his band broke up so that he could keep touring with the band's name… it was Alice Cooper. “Alice Cooper” was chosen by the band that played glam/goth rock music that leaned into Halloween-ish theatrics. “Alice Cooper” was reminiscent of “Betty Crocker,” Vincent said… but no one calls him Vincent; he is legally “Alice Cooper,” and in the 1970s, there were maybe only a handful of megastars bigger than the man whose show included mock executions and buckets of fake blood. Songs like “I’m Eighteen,” “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” and “Schools Out” became teen-bop anarchy classics.

In the 70s, he had a world-class cocaine addiction, and while he could kick a substance for a season, it wasn’t until the 1980s that he got clean and made public that his change was on account of his faith in Christ.

There are a number of foggy elements to the story- including his description as a prodigal and his family’s connection to the church. His father was a pastor, and his grandfather was “an evangelist” (this can be a simple descriptor of someone, or it can refer to an office in certain bodies…) the church body is called the “Church of Jesus Christ,” and if your spider-sense clicks in here You would be correct… they are an offshoot of the Latter Day Saints, the so-called “Bickertonite” faction. But he would marry a dancer on his tour- Cheryl Goddard, who was the daughter of a Baptist minister, and so when the “prodigal,” as he calls himself- came back, it was to a church inside the general pale of orthodoxy.

In his testimony, you can hear Alice explain that the “good news” came a little later for him as his background made him afraid of hell- and with a number of his acquaintances had died (he knew Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin and that whole crew that died auspiciously at the age of 27) he was keen on following this path into a Christian life based on the hope of Jesus and his forgiveness. Great, so now what?

Did he need to abandon his shtick? He would explain that while he doesn’t play anything from his catalog that is explicit or inappropriate, he still plays up the Halloween/goth character of “Alice Cooper” as a villain, but one that is ultimately humbled and redeemed.  

He has gone on to become friends with a who's who in that world- and is outspoken about his faith- he has presented Bibles to his friends, including Johnny Depp and Marilyn Manson. Asked about the criticism he receives from some Christians for his friendships in the rock and metal world, he responded:

 “The very fact that He cared enough about me to save my life about 20 times, and help me survive a million different things, to put me where I am now, and the challenge I have now to be a Christian in the rock business, He kind of put me in the camp of the Philistines, which is okay.”

The dude keeps making records with albums in both 21 and 23- and while he is NOT a “Christian artist,” he claims to be an artist who is a Christian, and thus, thematically, his music plays in the genre but doesn’t push beyond proscribed limits. Told in his 30s that he had little time left to live if he didn’t change things up, Alice Cooper came to a faith in Christ and is celebrating 77 years today- happy birthday, Vincent, er…. Alice

The last word for today from the daily lectionary is 1 Corinthians 14, and I invite you to do with it what you will….

18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19 But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

20 Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. 21 In the Law it is written:

“With other tongues
    and through the lips of foreigners
I will speak to this people,
    but even then they will not listen to me,
says the Lord.”

22 Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 24 But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, 25 as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 4th of February 2025, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man singing “No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers dirty looks” - Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who- true story- saw Alice Cooper at a Ligonier conference somewhere in Arizona around 1999… Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.