Jan. 4 in Christian History

Jan 04, 2013 06:28 AM EST

1528 - Ferdinand of Austria, younger brother to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, issued the first secular mandate forbidding the Anabaptist religious movement.


1540 - German Reformer Martin Luther testified in a sermon: 'Faith is the "yes" of the heart, a conviction on which one stakes one's life.'


1915 - Democrat Moses Alexander, 62, was sworn in as governor of Idaho. He was the first elected Jewish governor in the U.S., and served two terms (1915-19).


1947 - Presbyterian clergyman Peter Marshall ("A Man Called Peter"), 45, was elected Chaplain of the U.S. Senate. He was the 54th chaplain chosen in the Senate's history, and the first Presbyterian appointed since 1879.


1953 - "The Catholic Hour" first aired over NBC-television. This long-running series was produced in cooperation with the National Council of Catholic Men and aired through August 1970.


© 1987-2013, William D. Blake. Used by permission of the author, from

Almanac of the Christian Church