Michael Faraday

 

Michael Faraday

The great Physicist Albert Einstein kept a picture on the wall of his study of the man he saw as providing the foundation of his own scientific work – Michael Faraday.

Michael Faraday was born in England in a lower-class family in the year 1791.  When he was 14 years old, he was apprenticed to a bookbinder and bookseller.  While working there, he began to take an interest in the books he was working on – especially those of a scientific nature.  His book-binding work led him to interface with a number of people who influenced his scientific mind, including Ada Lovelace who, along with Charles Babbage, are credited with ‘programming’ the first computer; and Jane Marcet, who wrote educational works on Chemistry.

The owner of the book shop saw Michael’s interest in science and set up a small laboratory for him to conduct his own scientific experiments after-hours.  When his seven-year apprenticeship came to an end, Michael applied for and was eventually accepted as an assistant at the eminent Royal Institution, in Westminster, which was dedicated to scientific research.  There, Mr Faraday was able to indulge his scientific curiosity and over his 50+ year residency, rose to a position of great prominence within the Institution.

Michael made great discoveries in the fields Physics and Chemistry: he was the discoverer of Benzene, was instrumental in liquefying gases such as Chlorine, developed different iron alloys, and developed various types of glass used for different optical purposes.

Perhaps his most significant discoveries were in the field of electricity.  Michael made great studies in electrolysis.  He discovered electromagnetic induction – the ability for a current passing through one conductor to induce a current in another.  This, along with similar discoveries, set the foundation for the invention of the electric motor and the invention of transformers and other devices allowing for the long-distance transport of electricity.  He popularized modern electrical terminology such as anode, cathode, electrode, and ion.

Michael Faraday was a devout Christian, belonging to a Fundamentalist offshoot of the Church of Scotland.  This very disciplined church believed strongly in the literal interpretation of the Scriptures and sought to live as close to the pattern of the New Testament church as possible.  He was a deacon in his church, and served in the position of Elder for a few years – the latter roughly equivalent to an Associate Pastor.  Those who knew him spoke of his character as simple, modest, and humble.  He understood that his scientific discoveries would not allow him to ‘find’ God, but he was prompted in his study to better understand the beauty and symmetry of God’s creation.  His favorite Biblical book was Job, because of how Job realized he could not find God by his own reasoning, but only through the Scriptures.  He wrote that a Christian finds his guide for life in the Word of God, and direction through fear through grace and via the Scriptures.

As a very prominent scientist, Michael was able to make the unusual move from the lower-classes to rubbing elbows with the upper-crust of British society.  He was consulted and honored by eminent scientists throughout Europe, and even received recognition from Queen Victoria herself.  Despite this, he lived with his wife in a modest home on the grounds of the Institute and refused many honors, including a Knighthood and Presidency of the Royal Institute, stating that it was against Biblical teaching to pursue worldly reward and that he would rather to remain “plain Mr Faraday to the end.”  Late in his life, when it was hinted to him that he was destined for burial in Westminster Abbey next to Sir Isaac Newton, he urged his family to resist it.  In accordance with his wishes, after his death in 1867, he was given a simple burial in a common cemetery.  Westminster Abbey did erect a plaque in his memory near the grave of Sir Isaac Newton, however.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Faraday#:~:text=Faraday%20was%20a%20devout%20Christian%3B%20his%20Sandemanian%20denomination,was%20located%20at%20Paul%27s%20Alley%20in%20the%20Barbican.

https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/michael-faraday-11630518.html

https://www.christiantoday.com.au/news/michael-faraday-his-christian-faith-influenced-his-science.html

http://silas.psfc.mit.edu/Faraday/

 

All Hail the Power of Jesus Name

 

The National Anthem of the Christian Faith

 Edward Perronet lived in the 18^th century, born in England in 1726 and died in 1792.  He came to faith at an early age, due to the influence of his godly parents.  Entering the Anglican ministry, he became associated for many years with John and Charles Wesley.

Edward’s clever wit made him rather popular.  At one point, John Wesley put him on the spot and unexpectedly announced that his friend Edward was going to preach the next sermon.  Edward stood up and proclaimed that he was going to deliver the greatest sermon ever preached.  He opened his Bible to Matthew and read chapters 5, 6, and 7, The Sermon on the Mount, then sat back down.

In the November 1779 issue of The Gospel Magazine, edited by Rock of Ages author Augustus Toplady, a hymn appeared, the author labeled as ‘Anonymous’.  The first verse of the hymn was:

                All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name!  Let angels prostrate fall;

                Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all!

Alongside the hymn appeared a separate poem – the first letter of each line spelled out the name “Edward Perronet”.

This 8-stanza hymn has been called “The National Anthem of the Christian Faith”.  It has been translated into almost every language on the globe where the Christian faith is represented, and is often used to this day in evangelistic work.

Reverend E.P. Scott, late in the 18^th century, traveled to India for purposes of evangelism.  He heard of a tribe of people who had never been reached with the Gospel.  He traveled alone to reach them and, nearing their territory, was suddenly confronted by a band of warriors from the tribe who all pointed their spears at his heart.  Fearing his life was at an end, he pulled out his violin, closed his eyes, and played the tune of this hymn, fully expecting to be martyred at any moment.  When he finished the song, he looked up and saw the warriors, many with tears in their eyes, and all spears lowered.  Reverend Scott had the privilege of spending two years with that tribe and seeing many of them come to faith.

Morgan, Robert J., Then Sings My Soul, Nelson Publishers, 2003.

https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1701-1800/perronets-national-anthem-of-christendom-11630316.html

https://www.christianmusicandhymns.com/2015/03/all-hail-power-of-jesus-name-edward.html

Lemuel Haynes

Lemuel Haynes

Lemuel Haynes was born in Massachusetts in 1753.  A black child, he was abandoned by his parents at about 5 months of age.  He was taken on by a church deacon in a common practice of indentured servitude – he would work for the man until age 21, in return for the deacon’s raising him.  Lemuel became, in all but name, a member of the family.  Lemuel was given the opportunity to attend school, a rare experience for blacks in his day.  He was fascinated especially with the study of theology, especially the contemporary works of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield.  One evening as a boy, while laying outside in a quiet moment, he saw the Aurora Borealis – the Northern Lights – and quietly gave his heart and life to Christ.

In the home in which he was raised, a common Saturday evening practice was to read a sermon out loud.  One evening, when Lemuel was asked to read, he read an especially rousing sermon.  When asked who wrote the sermon, he sheepishly replied that he had written it himself.  From that point on, he was often asked to proofread sermons or preach in a fill-in capacity.

At age 21 he was freed from his servitude and enlisted as a Minuteman in the Continental Army the day after the battles of Lexington and Concord.  He participated in the siege of Boston, and later became one of Ethan Allen’s famed “Green Mountain Boys” and participated in the conquest of Fort Ticonderoga in 1776.  Soon after this, he contracted Typhus, ending his military service.

Lemuel continued his theological studies, was licensed to preach in 1780 and was fully ordained to the ministry in 1785 – the first ordained black minister in the United States.  Over the course of the rest of his life, he pastored churches throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, and New York.  Notably, his congregations were either mixed-race or all white, a unique circumstance for that day.  His churches experienced great growth during his tenure.

Lemuel wrote often, on topics theological as well as social.  He was the first African-American published in the United States, and eventually gained an international audience.  Probably his most significant social writing was an essay he wrote as a soldier, inspired by the Declaration of Independence, entitled “Liberty Further Extended.”  In it, he took from Acts 17:26, Paul’s sermon on Mars Hill, “…and He made from one [man], every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation” to demonstrate the equality of all races and point out the shortcoming of the Declaration in not extending that same freedom to existing slaves and indentured servants.  He favored an immediate emancipation rather than the gradual emancipation many of the Founders envisioned.  He pointed out clearly and boldly that slavery was sin, and he pointed out the irony of slaveowners fighting for liberty while denying it to others.

Theologically, he gained great respect when, unknown to him until the last minute, a prominent Universalist preacher was invited to his church to speak.  After a lengthy sermon attempting to demonstrate that salvation was universal (i.e. a loving God wouldn’t condemn anyone to Hell), Lemuel was asked if he wanted to respond.  He stood up and, with no notes or preparation, gave a sermon of his own entitled “Universal Salvation – An Ancient False Doctrine”.  He articulated clearly through the Scriptures and plain logic, without disparaging the previous speaker or even mentioning him by name, the Biblical doctrine of salvation.  Wonderful tact!

Reverend Haynes married a white school teacher named Elizabeth Babbitt.  The couple had ten children, and surviving letters between the siblings speak glowingly of their father and memories of family devotions and prayer.

Lemuel Haynes passed into Glory in 1833, at age 80, in his Congregationalist church in South Granville, New York.  He composed his own epitaph: “Here lies the dust of a poor hell-deserving sinner who ventured into eternity trusting wholly on the merits of Christ for salvation.  In the full belief of the great doctrines he preached while on earth, he invites his children, and all who read this, to trust their eternal interest in the same foundation.”

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemuel_Haynes

https://wallbuilders.com/lemuel-haynes/#

https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/haynes-lemuel-1753-1833/

https://thefoundingproject.com/lemuel-haynes-african-american-founder/

https://revivedthoughts.com/lemuel-haynes-universal-salvation-an-ancient-false-doctrine/

https://www.facebook.com/museumoftheBible/photos/a.656534441128184/2710890175692590/