Saturninus

Saint Saturninus

Saturninus is a guy about whom we really wish we had more background information.  While a couple of sources place him in the first century of the church – a contemporary and friend of the Apostles, more reliable sources place him in the third century.  Many fanciful stories were written in later years about him – here is what we know for certain:

After a number of Roman persecutions had decimated the Christian communities in the Western part of the Roman Empire, Pope Fabian sent a number of missionaries to various parts of Gaul (France) to re-evangelize that part of the world.  One of these missionaries, named Saturninus, was sent to the city of Toulouse.  He spent a dozen years in that city, and his ministry bore much fruit in the conversion of souls and training of church leaders.  Saturninus, while walking from his residence to his church, had to pass by the capitol – also the chief temple in the city.

It was said that when Saturninus passed by the temple, that the gods would go silent.  It is also very likely that converts to Christianity ceased patronizing the temple and the priests wanted to put a stop to a further drain on their follower base. 

On November 29^th, 257 AD, temple leaders bound Saturninus and drug him into the temple.  In an effort to appease their gods, they insisted Saturninus sacrifice a bull to their gods.  History records Saturninus’ reply: “I adore only one God and to Him I am ready to offer a sacrifice of praise.  Your gods are devils and are more delighted with the sacrifice of your souls that with those of your bulls.  How can I fear them [gods] whom you acknowledge, tremble before a Christian?”

Enraged, Saturninus was condemned to be dragged by the bull through the town until the rope broke.  They tied his feet to a rope and the bull was let loose.  He was violently dragged through the streets, killing him.  When the rope broke, what was left of his body was rescued by two faithful Christian women and hidden away.  A century later, when the practice of Christianity was no longer forbidden, the bishop of Toulouse erected a small church on the site where the rope broke as a place to house the body of Saturninus.  Over the centuries, this building was expanded into a magnificent cathedral.  Roman Catholics celebrate his feast day on the day of his martyrdom: November 29^th.

Christian History periodic e-mail, 29 Nov 2020.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnin
https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=802

 

 

 

Clement

Clement I

Clement I of Rome (not to be confused with later Popes Clement or Clement of Alexandria (d ~215 AD), is often understood to be the person named Clement called out in the Biblical book of Philippians. 

Indeed, true comrade, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. – Philippians 4:3

While we see Clement as a faithful member of the church in Philippi in the Scripture, Clement is subsequently named in different lists as either the second or fourth bishop of Rome.  Church tradition holds that he was specifically consecrated by Peter for the role, serving from AD 88 to AD 99.

While a number of writings are attributed to Clement, the only one which can be said with certainty to be from the pen of this church father is a letter to the church in Corinth.  This letter is considered to be the earliest Christian document outside of the New Testament.

Clement’s letter to the church in Corinth indicates that the Corinthians has repented of the divisiveness shown in Paul’s letters to the same churches.  However, they were beginning to fragment again, even worse than when Paul wrote to them, to the point of expelling two of their elders.  It is a long letter (65 chapters containing over 14,000 words) full of Biblical teaching and exhortations to humility and brotherly love.  He writes of the martyrdom of both Peter and Paul as well as others who gave their lives for the faith.  He speaks of church government, and gives specific counsel to reinstate the two elders who had been expelled. 

Chapter 23 begins a great dissertation on the Resurrection of Christ.  He brings the example of the Phoenix (a single bird he attributed to the Arabian area), a bird which was said to live exactly 500 years, then return to Egypt to die by burning itself to death.  Then, from the ashes a worm appeared which grew into the next phoenix.  Apparently, Clement believed the story to be true and used it as a beautiful illustration of the resurrection.

Clement was arrested under the persecution of the Roman Emperor Trajan and set to work in a stone quarry on the Crimean peninsula.  There is a legend about him during this time that they had a severe shortage of water.  Clement prayed for water and, according to the legend, had a vision of a lamb on a hill.  Taking a pickaxe, he walked up to where the lamb was, struck the ground with the pickaxe, and a clear gusher of water flowed to quench the thirst of the prisoners.

Clement was martyred by being tied to an anchor and thrown into the Black Sea. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Clement_I#Epistle_of_Clement

https://www.christian-history.org/clement-of-rome.html

https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1010.htm

 

 

 

 

Robert Boyle

Robert Boyle 

Boyle’s Law: the pressure of a fixed amount of gas is inversely proportional to its volume.

Robert Boyle, born in 1627, is known as one of the founders of modern chemistry and one of the pioneers of the modern experimental scientific method. He was born the fourteenth of fifteen children to Robert Boyle, the First Earl of Cork, in Ireland. Despite having the advantages of great wealth, Robert’s father saw fit to ensure his children understood the value of education and hard work, so he was sent to live with a peasant family for a number of his childhood years. It was likely during these years that, at age 13, young Robert awoke with a start to a loud clap of thunder, the beginning of a fierce storm. He later wrote that it was that storm which compelled him to think of the torments of an eternity apart from God, and he committed his life to Christ at that young age.

At age 17, young Robert with a brother was on an extended tour of Europe. Already with an intense interest in science, he visited many eminent scientists of his day. He was actually en route to visit the great Galileo in Italy when Galileo died. Despite that, he was able to visit and study in many of the great centers of learning in his day.

His studies and influences during that trip had a profound impact on his thinking. In this day, scientific study existed mainly in repeating what ‘authorities’ had previously declared to be true. Since Aristotle had declared that a true vacuum could not exist, it was accepted as fact. Robert asked questions like, “How did Aristotle know this?” He wanted to be shown, not just be taught. As a result, he invented devices with which to experiment to see these laws in action, or to disprove them.

During this trip, an uprising in Ireland broke out and Robert’s father had to spend all his available resources in defending his land and could no longer support his children in their travels. His father and at least one brother died as a result of that war. Robert had to end up working and selling his own valuables to pay for his tutor as long as possible, but when he sold the last of his available goods, he used the money to travel home. Robert stayed with a recently widowed sister and spent a great deal of effort to back on his feet, with the little inheritance he received.

Robert’s intellect, though still a young man, got the attention of a group of scholars in Oxford University. He joined an underground group of scientists who called themselves the “Invisible College” – so named due to the fact that they had no formal structure or organization. Like Robert, many of these scientists were devout Christians and sought to encourage each other in understanding the universe bequeathed to them by God. While he never received a degree or a professorship, his acumen and reputation elevated him to the greatest scientists in England in his day. He separated the science of Chemistry away from the witchcraft of Alchemy.

Boyle believed that God designed nature to work according to certain natural laws, a reflection of His purposeful design. A scientist’s duty, then, is to discover these laws and use them for the betterment of mankind and, more importantly, to shine a spotlight on the Creator of the Universe. Later scientists, even to this day, use the laws of nature to remove God from the universe, but to Boyle and his colleagues in the Invisible College, it was the exact opposite.

A student of the Bible, as well as science, Robert learned Greek, Cyriac, and Hebrew so he could read the Bible in its original languages. Any conflict between the Bible and science, he explained, existed only because of a mistake in the science or an incorrect interpretation of the Scripture.

Robert Boyle’s whole life, including his scientific work, existed to glorify God. He produced many theological writings, including works on Divine love, the evils of swearing, ethics, the study of theology, and the style of Scripture. He even wrote a Christian novel, called the Martyrdom of Theodora and Didymus. He supported numerous missionary works throughout the reaches of the British Empire, including in the American colonies, and in his will established a series of lectures defending the Christian faith from those who would detract from it. Mostly, though, in the great scientist Robert Boyle, we have an unflinching testimony of a humble man who sought to serve and discover His Creator – and to make Him known to the world.

Quotes from Robert Boyle: 

“Is it wise to dispute anxiously about the properties of an atom, and be careless about the enquiry into the attributes of the great God, who formed all things?” 

“I am not a Christian, because it is the religion of my country and my friends. When I choose to travel the beaten road, it is not because I find it is the road, but because I judge it is the way.” 

“From a knowledge of His work, we shall know Him.” 

https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1601-1700/robert-boyle-father-of-modern-chemistry-11630103.html 

https://crev.info/scientists/robert-boyle/ 

https://www.icr.org/article/science-man-god-robert-boyle/

Elias Boudinot / American Bible Society

Elias Boudinot

Elias Boudinot was one of our founding fathers.  Born in Philadelphia in 1740, he was literally the next-door neighbor of Benjamin Franklin growing up, until his father was appointed to a position at Princeton.  Elias became a successful lawyer, and later became an active supporter of the American Revolution.  During the Revolutionary War, he loaned and gave money to equip units for battle.  Elias was elected to the New Jersey Provisional Congress and was appointed a Colonel by General Washington to oversee matters of prisoners of war during the conflict.

Elias was appointed to the Continental Congress after the war, where he served a one-year term as the Congress’ fourth president.  Elias served three terms as elected Representative from New Jersey and, when he refused to run again, President Washington appointed him as director of the US Mint – a position he held for ten years.  During all his time in office and in government service, Elias advocated for the Christian faith in American life.  He did so by advocating for the rights of Native Americans and slaves in the states – using God’s Word as a basis for his advocacy.  He advocated for prayer in the new nation, and was one of the first to push for the establishment of a Thanksgiving Day holiday.

In 1816, when Elias was 75 years old, he was given a report that some young men had researched and written together.  This report painted a bleak picture that many people within the United States had no access to a copy of the Bible.  There were a number of smaller Bible societies in the nation trying to fill this need, with marginal success.  Elias was moved by this, and made extraordinary efforts to unify the various Bible societies and the various Christian churches committed to the cause.  Four months after beginning his work, Elias was named the first president of the American Bible Society.  In response, he said, “I am not ashamed to confess that I accept the appointment as the greatest honor that could have been conferred on me this side of the grave.”  He continued, “I am so convinced that the whole of this business is the work of God Himself, by His Holy Spirit, that even hoping against hope I am encouraged to press on through the good report and evil report, to accomplish His will on earth as it is in Heaven.  So apparent is the hand of God in this disposing the hearts of so many men, so diversified their sentiments as to religious matters of minor importance, and uniting them as a band of brothers in this grand object that even infidels are compelled to say, ‘It is the work of the Lord, and it is wonderful in our eyes!’  Having this confidence, let us go on and we shall prosper.”

Elias spent the next 5 years unifying the efforts of the various smaller Bible societies into one homogenous whole.  He donated $10,000 of his own money to set up a headquarters in New York and begin work.  Elias was a big believer in efficiency and innovation, and the American Bible Society became one of the earliest American publishers to use stereotype plates and steam-powered presses in its Bible publishing.  In 1817, the organization presented 65 Bibles to the crew of the USS John Adams – the inauguration of its lengthy and fruitful ministry to the US military.  In 1819, they published their first translation of the Bible, a ministry to the Delaware Indians.

Elias’ death in 1821 has not dimmed the ministry of the American Bible Society.  Today, they remain very active in military ministry, Bible translation, and publishing & distribution – among other ministries.  Elias Boudinot left a fantastic legacy, indeed.

http://sites.tld.bible/history/elias_boudinot/

https://news.americanbible.org/blog/entry/corporate-blog/working-together-for-the-cause-of-the-gospel

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

James Evans

James Evans

James Evans was born in 1801 in England and moved with his parents to Canada when he was 21 years old.  In Canada, James married and had two daughters, only one of whom survived to adulthood.  He found employment as a teacher, and was later educated and ordained as a Methodist minister.  He was appointed as a missionary to the Cree Indians in Manitoba.

James learned the language and culture of the Cree.  Realizing the importance of reading and understanding God’s Word, James invented an alphabet for the Cree and taught them to read using wood ash as ink and birch bark as a writing surface.  He hand-wrote Bible verses and hymns on birch bark sheets for his followers.

Failing to secure a printing press from his missions organization, he built one himself.  He would salvage lead from the liners of old tea chests, melt it down and pour it into wooden molds he carved himself.  When he could, he would take an old piece of lead shot, carving it out of a tree trunk, and use a small knife to shape it into a specific letter he needed.  Using soot for ink and unrolled birch bark for paper, he printed small books and portions of Scripture for his flock – all in the writing system he invented.

In 1844, James was on a canoe trip with his very close Native friend and linguistic teacher named Thomas.  They were traveling to answer many questions that had been raised by a quarrelsome Roman Catholic missionary in the area.  During the trip, James’ gun accidentally discharged, killing his friend.  Fellow missionaries urged James to flee, but his sense of personal responsibility compelled him to return.  He returned Thomas’ body to his elderly, widowed mother and explained what happened.  In accordance with the tribe’s custom, the woman would have been well within her rights to have James executed – something James freely offered.  When she declined, James then offered himself as her ‘adopted’ son, offering to take care of her in her old age as a son was expected to do.  The offer greatly impressed her, as well as the entire tribe.  James shared his income with her the rest of his short life.

James was greatly affected by the incident, and his surviving writings show them to be erratic after this point.  Soon after, competing missionaries and liquor traders leveled charges of sexual impropriety against him based on his practice of using his home to nurse sick young women and girls back to health – at a time where they would have had no place else to go.  Because of the seriousness of the charge, James immediately requested a disciplinary hearing on himself so evidence could be brought to light.  James was cleared of the charges, but admonished that keeping young girls in his home was improper.

Though he was found not guilty of the charges, the stench of the accusation remained, and James was asked to come to England to report to his sponsoring missions society and to allow things to cool down back home.  He preached in many areas in England and had a sudden heart attack following a missions rally in Lincolnshire.  James died at the young age of 45.  James’ ashes were returned to Manitoba and spread there, on the missions ground he found so fertile.

He had a tough end, but James contributed greatly to the spread of the Gospel among the Indians of Manitoba.  Not only the Cree, but other tribes continue to use the alphabet system he developed for them.  Other missions groups picked up this system and continued to evangelize the Natives of Canada using the language and alphabet developed specifically for them. 

https://krassoc.wordpress.com/2012/09/08/james-evans-wesleyan-methodist-minister-and-missionary-teacher/

https://www.cwjefferys.ca/rev-james-evans-teaching-indians-his-system-of-cree-syllabic-writing

http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/evans_j.shtml

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Helen Howarth Lemmel

Helen Lemmel was born in 1863 in England, the daughter of a minister who emigrated to America when she was a child.  She was a very gifted musically and her parents paid for music teachers as often as they could.  She eventually returned to Europe as a young woman to study music in Germany where she earned a reputation as a brilliant singer.

In Europe, Helen married a wealthy European and the two came to America where they traveled widely throughout the United States, especially in the Midwest.  Helen sang in various churches – often singing hymns she wrote herself.  She later taught voice in the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and later at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles.  She was involved in some of the musical worship of Evangelist Billy Sunday and wrote many songs and hymns for adults and children.  She even authored a Christian book for children which was widely read in her day.

In her middle-age years, Helen was diagnosed with a disease which ended up making her permanently blind.  As a result of this her husband abandoned her, leaving her destitute.  It was in dealing with this dual tragedy that a friend brought and read to her a tract written by a missionary.  This little tract contained a statement which had a profound impact on her.  It read, “So then, turn your eyes upon Him, look full into His face and you will find that the things of earth will acquire a strange new dimness.”  Helen wrote the words to her hymn Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus that same week, stating that the words were “dictated by the Holy Spirit.”  It was first published in 1918 under the title “Heavenly Vision” and has been a staple in Christian hymnals ever since.

Helen continued to write songs of praise and worship, often calling friends over at odd hours to write down the words for her when they would come to her mind.  In her later years, numerous visitors would tell of her joy and enthusiasm.  Though in a sparse apartment and living off of government and charitable assistance Helen, when asked how she was doing, would reply, “I’m doing well in the things that count.”  She had a small plastic keyboard by her bed.  There she would play, sing, and pray.  She was known to say, “One day God is going to bless me with a great heavenly keyboard.  I can hardly wait!”

Helen died in Seattle, Washington, on November 1^st, 1961, just 13 days short of her 98^th birthday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=682yRGibD1U

http://chrisfieldblog.com/2008/11/14/blind-helen-howarth-lemmel-turns-our-eyes

https://womenofchristianity.com/turn-your-eyes-upon-jesus-by-helen-lemmel-hymn-story/

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

Johannes Kepler

Johannes Kepler

In the year 1577, a six-year-old boy in Germany stared into the sky at a comet, prominently visible in the night sky.  This, along with a lunar eclipse three years later produced a deep love for astronomy in young Johannes Kepler. 

Kepler was a sickly child, and unhappy.  He nearly died from contracting smallpox at an early age.  His father was a mercenary soldier and was away from home for most of his son’s early years.  Eventually, Johannes was sent to live with his grandfather who was a godly man and a great influence on the boy.  His grandfather noticed an academic ability in the boy and sent him to school, where he soon excelled academically.

Against his recently-returned father’s wishes, Johannes accepted a scholarship to a major university.  His studies included Latin, Greek, the Bible, mathematics, and astronomy, where he studied the recent theory of a sun-centered solar system advocated for by Copernicus and became a fierce advocate.  His intention was to study to become a minister, but when he was offered a position as a mathematics and astronomy teacher he realized it as God’s leading and accepted the position.

Kepler’s goal was to glorify God through his mathematical and astronomical studies.  His scientific notes are riddled with prayers of praise to God.  Kepler believed that the more the orderliness of God’s creation was studied by Christians, the more they would be driven to deeper and deeper worship of the Creator.  He often wrote, “O God, I am thinking Thy thoughts after thee.”  He realized that the Scripture even called the heathen to look upon Creation to discover the Creator – why not more so those who follow God every day?

Kepler believed firmly that since there was a Creator of order, there was a precision and orderliness to the universe which could be explained mathematically if one would diligently search it out.  With that as a foundation, Kepler studied and eventually proved Copernicus’ theories – and even improved on them by discovering the paths of the planets were not perfectly circular, but more elliptical.  He established laws for planetary velocity and for the relationship between orbital periods and the distances of planets from the sun.  His three laws for planetary motion have formed the basis for our understanding of the solar system.

Kepler also undertook a study of what affects the alignment of the planets and the phases of the moon had on the earth.  With their limited knowledge, scientists were unsure which events on earth were affected by events in the heavens and which were not.  Today we understand that the positioning of the moon affects things like seasons and tides, but not in areas which today we would consign to the practice of astrology.  Kepler studied these affects from a scientific perspective and wrote about his research, effectively separating the scientific from the superstitious. 

Johannes Kepler lived a tough life.  Having born the trials of his childhood, as an adult he buried his first wife and lost three of his six children in their childhood.  A stubborn Calvinist, he refused to bow to the doctrinal bent of the day, simply stating “I am a Christian” when asked to summarize his faith.  Such conviction often led to persecution and forced relocation.  Since he supported the theories of Copernicus, many prominent scientists of his day shunned him and would not promote his work.  It was not until late in his life and after his death that his work was recognized as the genius that it was.

Despite all this, Kepler remained humble.  His desire was to “Let my name perish if only the name of God the Father is thereby elevated.”  He was willing to put aside his own plans for his life and say later, “I had the intention of becoming a theologian…but now I see how God is, by my endeavors, also glorified in astronomy, for ‘the heavens declare the glory of God.’”

https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/kepler-the-heavens-declare-gods-glory-11630018.html

https://answersingenesis.org/creation-scientists/profiles/johannes-kepler/

https://www.icr.org/article/science-man-god-johann-kepler