March 9

395 Gregory of Nyssa, Cappadocian father and bishop, died (b. ca. 335).

1509 Martin Luther received his bachelor of Bible degree from the University of Erfurt. Prior to this he had been a visiting professor at the University of Wittenberg (1508) to lecture on Aristotle’s Ethics. He preferred the study of theology and pursued a degree in Bible.

1569 The Altenburger Religionsgespräch, a colloquy held at Altenburg, Saxony, concluded on this date after beginning on 20 October 1568.

1694 Caspar Sagittarius, German church historian, died (b. 1643 at Lüneburg).

1708 General Article III rescript (Saxony) of this date fixed the maximum length of the main sermon at one hour and of the secondary and weekday sermon at forty-five minutes.

1809 Christopher Emanuel Schultze, son-in-law of H. M. Muhlenberg and a Lutheran pastor in Philadelphia, died (b. 25 January 1740, Saxony).

1813 Jane Borthwick, hymnist, was born at Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 7 September 1897).

1825 Anna Laetitia Aikin Barbauld, poet and author, died in Palgrave, Suffolk, England (b. 20 June 1743).

1839 Phoebe Palmer Knapp, American Methodist hymn writer, was born in New York City (d. 10 July 1908).

1875 Martin Fallas Shaw, English church organist, was born in Kennington (d. 24 October 1958).

1922 Williston Walker, American church historian, died (b. 1 July 1860).

1931 Emanuel Cronenwett, pastor, hymnist, hymn translator and poet, died at Butler, Pennsylvania (b. 22 February 1841).

1932 Melanchthon Gideon Groseclose Scherer, Lutheran theologian, died (b. 16 March 1861).

1939 Frederick Berg, the first resident missionary and pastor of the African American Lutheran church in Little Rock, Arkansas, died (b. 20 March 1856).

1946 Oscar John Johnson, Lutheran college president, died (b. 8 October 1870, Cleburne, Kansas).

1948 Civilla D. Martin (b. 21 August 1866), American hymn writer, died.

1952 Edwin Albert Benjamin Schlueter, president of the Lutheran Synodical Conference, died (b. 28 August 1880, Watertown, Wisconsin).

1958 Kramer Chapel at Concordia Senior College (Fort Wayne, Indiana) was dedicated.

1984 Ralph A. Bohlmann, president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, met with Pope John Paul II (1920–2005) at the Vatican in Rome.