February 16
Philipp Melanchthon (born on this date in 1497) was a
brilliant student of the classics and a humanist scholar. In
1518 he was appointed to teach along with Martin Luther at
the University of Wittenberg. At Luther's urging,
Melanchthon began teaching theology and Scripture in
addition to his courses in classical studies. In April 1530
Emperor Charles V called an official meeting between the
representative of Lutheranism and Roman Catholicism, hoping
to effect a meeting of minds between two opposing groups.
Since Luther was at that time under papal excommunication
and an imperial ban, Melanchthon was assigned the duty of
being the chief Lutheran representative at this meeting. He
is especially remembered and honored as the author of the
Augsburg Confession, which was officially presented by the
German princes to the emperor on 25 June 1530, as the
defining document of Lutheranism within Christendom.
Melanchthon died on 19 April 1560. [From
"Commemorations
Biographies," Lutheran Service
Book, LCMS Commission on Worship]
1519
Gaspard de Coligny, French Huguenot leader, was born (d.
24 August 1572).
1561
Cornelius Canis (also de Hondt, d'Hondt), a
Franco-Flemish composer, singer and choir director of the
Renaissance, active for much of his life in the Grande
Chapelle, the imperial Habsburg music establishment
during the reign of Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V (1500–1558), died
(b. between 1500 and 1510).
1791
Samuel Gilman, hymnist, was born at
Gloucester, Massachusetts (d. 9 February 1858, Kingston,
Massachusetts).
1801 The
African Methodist Episcopal
Zion (AMEZ) Church was officially incorporated as a
Protestant denomination and chartered, distinctly separate
from its parent, the Methodist Episcopal Church.
1817 Azariah Smith, missionary to Armenia and
Turkey, was born in Manlius, New York (d. 3 June 1851).
1851 Friedrich Rechlin, professor at Concordia
Teachers College (Addison and River Forest, Illinois), was
born in Bergen, Central Ruegen island in the Baltic Sea,
Pomerania (d. 9 December 1915).
1852 Charles Taze Russell was born in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 31 October 1916).
1855 Heinrich Huet, Ohio Synod pastor, died (b.
14 February 1772).
1857 Philipp Wambsganss of Fort Wayne, Indiana,
institutional minister, was born (d. 21 April 1933, Fort
Wayne). His interests centered in hospitals and child
welfare agencies.
1864 William Lee Hunton, Lutheran publishing
house manager, was born in Morrisburg, Ontario, Canada (d.
12 October 1930).
1872 Henry F. Chorley, hymnist, died (b.
15 December 1808).
1886 Hans Knudsen, missionary to Tranquebar for
seven years, died (b. 11 January 1813, Copenhagen).
1903 Martin Paul William Simon, missionary to
China and author, was born in Zachow, Wisconsin (d. 23
September 1969, Saint Louis).
1904 Carl Aaron Swensson, Swedish Lutheran
educator and theologian, died (b. 25 June 1857, Sugargrove,
Pennsylvania).
1911 “Rise Up, O Men of God” by William P. Merrill (1867–1954)
was first published in the Presbyterian periodical The Continent. Merrill wrote
the hymn that same year while aboard a steamer on Lake
Michigan, heading back to his home in Chicago.
1921
Benjamin B. Warfield, Presbyterian
theologian, died (b. 5 November 1851, Lexington, Kentucky).
1925 Olav L. Kirkeberg, president of the Danish
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, died (b. 11 October
1849, Valdres, Norway).