Today in History (February 5): 1682 This date became February 16 in Alsace (part of France at that time) when the Gregorian calendar was adopted 1705 Philip Jakob Spener, father of Pietism, died at Berlin (b. 1635 in Upper Alsace); received a devout education from his parents and additional spiritual nourishment from Johann Arndt; was a pastor in various locations, including the influential position of court preacher at Dresden; in 1691 he was called as provost of St. Nicolai to Berlin, where he was instrumental in placing his friends, A. H. Francke and Paul Anton, as professors in Halle; Spener was also influenced by Reformed sources and stood for a mild form of Chiliasm; his religious upbringing caused him to set up weekly sessions in his home where pastors and laymen could meet together for Bible study and prayer; his most famous writing is no doubt the 1675 _Pia Desideris_ (Pious Desires), in which he set forth the essence of his doctrines of Pietism; his emphasis on the new birth and exemplary Christian living helped revitalize stagnant German Lutheranism 1736 John and Charles Wesley, the two English brothers who helped pioneer the Methodist movement, first arrived in America at Savannah, Georgia; while yet students at Oxford University, they had been invited by Georgia's governor Oglethorpe to come to America as missionaries to the Indians 1837 Dwight L. Moody, American evangelist, born at Northfield, Massachusetts; at age 18, he gave his life to Jesus Christ through the testimony of his Sunday-school teacher, Edward Kimball; five years later he left his job in his uncle's shoe repair shop to devote his life to Christian evangelism and education 1887 The Chicago Evangelization Society was founded by evangelist Dwight L. Moody and English-born educator Emma Dryer; this educational organization eventually grew to become the Moody Bible Institute 1903 Eugen Adolf Notz, Hebrew professor in Wisconsin Synod, died 1917 Justus Heinrich Naumann, president of Minnesota Synod, died 1927 Johan Arndt Bergh, United Norwegian Lutheran Church leader, died If you wish to use these items, please get permission. Permission to post TIH items on LUTHERAN-ROOTS was received from Marvin A. Huggins, C.A., Associate Director Concordia Historical Institute (314)505-7921 801 De Mun Avenue FAX: (314)505-7901 St. Louis, MO 63105-3168 mhuggins@chi.lcms.org Web Page: http://chi.lcms.org/ for today, John Birkholz brotherjohn@imt.net 963 McIver Road Great Falls, MT 59404