Sermons & Devotionals by Short Biographies

Nikolai Grundtvig, Bishop and Writer Nikolai Frederik Severin Gundtvig and Soren Kierkegaard are the two principal figures in Danish theology in the 19th century. Grundtvig was born in 1783, and at the age of 20 graduated from the University of Copenhagen with a degree in theology. At the University... Read More

Onesimos Nesib, Translator and Missionary Onesimos, was born in about 1855, in western Ethiopia. He was captured by slave traders and brought to the coast. There Swedish missionaries bought him, freed him, educated him, and converted him. He belonged to the Galla people, the largest linguistic group... Read More

ORIGEN (AD 185-254) The same persecution in which Perpetua and her companions suffered at Carthage raged also at Alexandria in Egypt, where a learned man named Leonides was one of the martyrs (AD 202). Leonides had a son named Origen, whom he had brought up very carefully, and had taught to get some... Read More

Born: May 21, 1813, Gul­larp, Skåne, Swe­den. Died: October 22, 1882, Karls­­hamn, Blek­inge, Swe­den. Buried: Karls­­hamn, Blek­inge, Sweden. Sweden’s “Spiritual Troubadour,” Ahnfelt com­posed or ar­ranged the mu­sic for all of Li­na San­dell-Berg’s hymns, in­clud­ing Children of The Heav­en­ly Fa­... Read More

"We are in danger of forgetting that we cannot do what God does, and that God will not do what we can do." -OC Some years ago a friend gave me a copy of "My Utmost for His Highest." I was thankful and I began to read it, but it didn't do much for me and I put it aside. A few years later, after a few... Read More

Pachomius, Founder of Christian Community Monasticism Pachomius was born in Egypt around 290, and is said to have served as a soldier, and to have become a Christian shortly after completing his military service. In about 320 he went to live as a hermit at Tabennisi, on the Nile in Upper (Southern) ... Read More

Fire kindles more fire. In 1904 one of the most significant revivals of the modern Church age swept through Wales. News of the Welsh revival quickly encircled the globe, bringing with it sparks of hope and expectation. Soon revival fires were burning in India, China, Korea and America. Instrumental ... Read More

Patrick was born about 390, in southwest Britain, somewhere between the Severn and the Clyde rivers, son of a deacon and grandson of a priest. When about sixteen years old, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland. Until this time, he had, by his own account, cared nothing ... Read More

Paul Tillich is generally considered one of the century's outstanding and influential thinkers. After teaching theology and philosophy at various German universities, he came to the United States in 1933. For many years he was Professor of Philosophical Theology at Union Theological Seminary in New ... Read More

During a persecution of Christians under the emperor Septimius Severus, a group of Christians died together in the arena at Carthage. Their final days have been recorded for us in a document that is partly in their own words, and partly in those of an anonymous narrator (sometimes thought to be Tert... Read More

The "heavenly birthday" of Anselm is also that of Peter Abelard, a brilliant lecturer, debater, and philosopher of the following generation. Anselm and Abelard are often regarded as two poles in Christian understanding of the Atonement (see articles cited in the entry for Anselm). (Note: In books an... Read More

It was June 26, 1702. After thirty-six hours labor, Monica Doddridge gave birth to her twentieth child. It was obviously stillborn and Monica's hopes were dashed. Eighteen of her children had already died in infancy and she had so wished to have a brother for her only surviving child Elizabeth. The ... Read More

Philipp Schwartzerd was born in Bretten, Germany, in 1497. After the death of his father in 1508, his education was supervised by his great-uncle, Johann Reuchlin, the most distinguished (non-Jewish) Hebrew scholar of his day, and author of De Rudimentis Hebraicis, a dictionary and grammar of the He... Read More

Polycarp was Bishop of Smyrna (today known as Izmir), a city on the west coast of Turkey. The letters to the "seven churches in Asia" at the beginning of the book of Revelation include a letter to the church in Smyrna, identifying it as a church undergoing persecution. Polycarp is said to have known... Read More

PRAYING JOHN HYDE Apostle to India (1865 - 1912) John Hyde was born in 1865 in Carthage, Illinois. His father was Rev Smith Harris Hyde a Presbyterian. John and his brother Edmund attended seminary together. John looked up to and admired his older brother very much.Edmund had his sights on becoming ... Read More

Reuben Archer Torrey BORN: January 28, 1856 Hoboken, New Jersey DIED: October 26, 1928 Asheville, North Carolina LIFE SPAN: 72 years, 8 months, 28 days EXCELLENCE IN TWO AREAS of ministry has been achieved by a few; it has been a rare genius who has been so gifted in three areas, but to excel in fou... Read More

Richard Baxter was born on the 12th of November, 1615 at Rowton, Salop, and died at the age of 76 on the 8th of December, 1691. We meet here this evening to commemorate the 300 years of his death. This event is one of several which have been arranged here in Kidderminster. Many of you will know that... Read More

On any list of great English theologians, the name of Richard Hooker would appear at or near the top. His masterpiece is The Laws Of Ecclesiastical Polity. Its philosophical base is Aristotelian, with a strong emphasis on natural law eternally planted by God in creation. On this foundation, all posi... Read More

Robert Murray McCheyne 1813-1843 Robert Murray McCheyne was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, May 21, 1813. He taught himself the Greek alphabet at the age of four. He later distinguished himself as a student of Edinburgh University. McCheyne became pastor of St. Peter's Church of Dundee, Scotland (Presb... Read More

Robert Raikes 1736-1811 Sunday School, the greatest lay movement since Pentecost, was founded by a layman. Robert Raikes was the crusading editor of Gloucester Journal. After becoming frustrated with inefficient jail reforms, Raikes was convinced vice could be better prevented than cured. While visi... Read More