history

An Asbury Theological Seminary professor says the word "outpouring" and not "revival" may be the best label to describe the recent events at the school until church historians have more time to evaluate what took place.

Today’s federal holiday was established in 1885 in recognition of President George Washington (whose birthday is on February 22) and was later expanded to include Abraham Lincoln (whose birthday is on February 12) and eventually all presidents. However, presidential historian Alexis Coe claims in the New York Times that our first president “would hate Presidents’ Day.” I will summarize her argument into three assertions.

The first is ironic: while we celebrate our presidents today, no president was actually born on February 20. The second is more practical: several states don’t recognize this day at all and many do so only sparingly, with Southern states typically omitting Lincoln from their observances. A third assertion is especially relevant, however: “The president, senators and representatives ... serve at the American electorate’s pleasure, and not the other way around.”

In other words, the more we depend on a single person to lead and protect our nation, the more we slide from democracy into demagoguery. As we will see, this is a principle of special relevance to evangelical Christians today.

Josephine Bakhita died on this day in 1947. She was a remarkable believer who reveled in the love of God and lived her life in service to Him, despite the years she suffered in abusive slavery. Born around the year 1869 in the troubled region of Darfur in Sudan, she was kidnapped by Arab slave traders while still a child, in about 1877. This began a horrific 12-year ordeal as a slave.

Ultimately, none of us are so good that we are beyond the need for God’s help or so bad that we are beyond his redemption. Every day brings the chance to be a hero or a villain in God’s story.

A 2,900-year-old basalt stone slab contains an extra-biblical reference to King David in support of him being an actual “historical figure,” according to scholars writing in the latest edition of the Biblical Archaeology Review.

A Byzantine church dating back to the 6th century was uncovered in the Jericho area of the West Bank, the Civil Administration’s Archaeological Unit announced Wednesday.

This week marks the death of Amy Carmichael, missionary to India and defender of children. Though she died in 1951, she is a profound example of not only being faithful to the Gospel but of what being faithful to the Gospel means. Throughout history, in fact, Christians have taken the lead in defending children.

To be Christian, especially in this confusing cultural moment, requires the intentional cultivation of our minds. An exemplary model of someone who took this calling seriously is James Clerk Maxwell.

Archaeologists with the Israeli Antiquities Authority uncovered hundreds of artifacts during an excavation of a burial cave that is believed by some to be the tomb of Jesus' midwife, Salome.

An Israeli ancient history professor has recently translated inscriptions describing the life of the biblical Judean King Hezekiah.