Dwight L Moody (above, with beard, and his Sunday School class), the American evangelist and leader of a transatlantic revival, died today in 1899. Originally from Chicago, he was first invited to evangelize in the British Isles in the 1870s, where he made preaching tours with Ira D Sankey, his gospel singing partner. Moody’s heartfelt preaching focused on revival and personal conversion, with noon prayer meetings, afternoon Bible readings, and evening services where people came forward to commit their lives to Christ. It has been estimated that Moody preached to more than 100 million people throughout his lifetime, and he has been described as ‘the first evangelist since Whitefield to shake two continents for God’.
Like a Virgin, the breakthrough song by pop singer-songwriter Madonna, became a number one hit in the USA today in 1984. Madonna Ciccone, who was raised in a devout Italian-American Catholic family, wore a crucifix and rosary in the pop video, creating a transgressive mix of sex and religion which brought her into sharp conflict with the Catholic Church. She was rebuked by Pope John Paul II in 1990 and dedicated a performance of ‘Like a Virgin’ to Pope Benedict XVI in 2008.
‘Be strong, believe in freedom and in God, love yourself, understand your sexuality, have a sense of humor, masturbate, don’t judge people by their religion, color or sexual habits, love life and your family.’ Madonna
Today is the feast day of Lottie Moon, a Southern Baptist missionary who gave 40 years of her life to working in China. When she arrived in Dengzhou, Northern China, in 1873, she was sent to teach in a school, but quickly became frustrated that as a single woman she did not have the freedom enjoyed by married male missionaries to do mission and church planting. Through a campaign of persistent letter writing and articles, and through her charismatic personality, she eventually won the right to do mission work, and was especially successful in outreach to Chinese women. She died on Christmas Eve, 1912.
Antipope John XXIII died today in 1419. He was antipope for three and a half years, at a time when there were three popes all claiming to be the true pope. Gregory was pope in Rome, but had little support. Benedict was pope in Avignon, France, but his support was crumbling. John was pope in Pisa, and had the support of France, England and Portugal, but was blocked from getting to Rome by the powerful King of Naples. The whole papal mess was sorted out at the Council of Constance, which persuaded all three popes to stand down. But in a final throw of the dice, John sneaked away the council disguised as a postman, hoping to reassert his power. The council reacted with fury and had him captured and imprisoned for a while. The new Pope Martin V made him a cardinal, but he died a few months later.
Richard Alleine, the English Puritan minister and author, died today in 1681. He flourished in the time of Cromwell, but was ejected from his church when Charles II became king. One of his many books, Vindication of Godliness, was published illegally and sold in good numbers until the king’s printer, Roger Norton, had the edition seized. Spotting a chance to make money, he bought all the copies as scrap for virtually nothing, repackaged the lot and started selling them at a profit. This scam was discovered, and Alleine’s books were sentenced to be bisked – the pages were rubbed with an inky brush. Despite this, the book survived, and became a favourite read for John Wesley.
‘Good news from heaven! the Day-spring from on high hath visited this undone world! After a deluge of sin and misery, behold the bow in the cloud… This covenant is the hope of sinners, the riches of saints, the magna charta of the city of God: the forfeited lease of eternity renewed; God’s deed of gift, wherein he has, on fair conditions, granted sinners their lives, and settled upon his saints an everlasting inheritance.’ Richard Alleine, Vindication of Godliness, 1663
Image: Library of Congress