Author

  1. Sunday, September 8, 2019

    book
    09/08/19
    1 min
    By Dan van Voorhis
    On this day, we remember the founding of Harvard in 1636, and the birthday of Peter Martyr Vermigli, who began teaching in Strassbourg and ended in Zurich. The reading is from "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" by Oscar Wilde.
    Sunday, September 8, 2019

  2. Saturday, September 7, 2019

    book
    09/07/19
    1 min
    By Dan van Voorhis
    Today we celebrate the birthday of Jacobus Acontius, author of Satanae Stratagemata, and Thomas Erastus, author of Explicatio gravissimae quaestionis. The reading is a bit better known, a poem from Chad Bird, "Were You There?"
    Saturday, September 7, 2019

  3. Friday, September 6, 2019

    book
    09/06/19
    1 min
    By Dan van Voorhis
    On this day, the "Pilgrims" set sail on Mayflower in 1620. The notable patriarch of American Lutheranism, Henry Melchior Muehlenberg, was born on this day in 1711. The reading is from "The Ragamuffin Gospel" by Brennan Manning.
    Friday, September 6, 2019

  4. 73: John Bunyan, “The Pilgrim's Progress” - The City of Destruction

    book
    09/05/19
    2 mins
    By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley
    Once I was a pilgrim, a road warrior searching for a righteous end. Gillespie and Riley read and discuss John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress." This week, chapter one, The City of Destruction. We talk about apocalyptic literature, our old friend Plato, the necessity of a real present tense Jesus, and why Riley's version of The Pilgrim's Progress would be a pamphlet.
    73: John Bunyan, “The Pilgrim's Progress” - The City of Destruction

  5. Thursday, September 5, 2019

    book
    09/05/19
    1 min
    By Dan van Voorhis
    On this day, we remember the birthday of Tommasso Campanella, utopian and astrologer, and also, Gottfried Arnold, theologian and historian. The reading is the hymn, "Thou Who Breakest Every Chain," by Gottfried Arnold.
    Thursday, September 5, 2019

  6. Wednesday, September 4, 2019

    book
    09/04/19
    1 min
    By Dan van Voorhis
    On this day, we remember Roman Catholic cardinal and archbishop František Tomášek, who helped the demise of the Czechoslovak communist regime. We also the radical Calvinist Jan van Hembyze, whose betrayal resulted in his beheading in 1584. The reading is by J.R.R. Tolkien, "Song of Aragorn."
    Wednesday, September 4, 2019

  7. Tuesday, September 3, 2019

    book
    09/03/19
    1 min
    By Dan van Voorhis
    On this day, we remember two ecclesiastical figures, Pope Gregory, who was born in 540, and Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Oliver Cromwell, who died in 1658. The reading is from C.S. Lewis, "As the Ruin Falls."
    Tuesday, September 3, 2019

  8. Monday, September 2, 2019

    book
    09/02/19
    1 min
    By Dan van Voorhis
    On this day, we remember the most impressive Symeon the Stylite, who died in 459 on his pedestal. We also remember Danish pastor N.F.S. Grundtvig, d. 1872. The reading is "Abide Among Us, We Implore Thee" from Grundtvig.
    Monday, September 2, 2019

  9. Sunday, September 1, 2019

    book
    09/01/19
    1 min
    By Dan van Voorhis
    We remember French polymath Marin Mersenne, who died on this day in 1648. We also commemorate the founding of the Order of St. Gregory the Great in 1831. The reading is from H.W. Longfellow, "Blind Bartimaeus."
    Sunday, September 1, 2019

  10. Saturday, August 31, 2019

    book
    08/31/19
    1 min
    By Dan van Voorhis
    On this day, we remember two Biblical figures, Nicodemus & Joseph of Arimethea. On this day in 1688 John Bunyan died, the Puritan author of "Pilgrim's Progress." The reading is from William Blake, "And Did Those Feet."
    Saturday, August 31, 2019

  11. Friday, August 30, 2019

    book
    08/30/19
    1 min
    By Dan van Voorhis
    On this day, we remember the siege and sack of Jerusalem in AD 70. Also on this day in 1637, Anne Hutchinson was banished from the Massachusetts Bay colony. The reading is "My Body Is a Broken Toy" by Maurice Baring.
    Friday, August 30, 2019

  12. Thursday, August 29, 2019

    book
    08/29/19
    1 min
    By Dan van Voorhis
    On this day, we remember the beheading of St. John the Baptist, one of the oldest feast days in the church. We also remember German humanist Ulrich von Hutten, who later joined the Reformation. The reading is an excerpt from "The Meaning of the City" by Jacques Ellul.
    Thursday, August 29, 2019