Bio of Saint Jerome who died on the 30th of September 430-This Week in Christian History for the week of September 29- October 5

Jerome was born Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus around 347 in Stridon. He went to Rome to pursue philosophy, but was alienated by the Hedonistic culture there. He would sometimes engage in the wanton behavior, but was always repentant afterwards. He wandered around the crypts of the martyrs and apostles and began to see their tombs as a picture of Hell.

He moved to Trier with his friend Bonosus and he started his theological studies. He travelled and became friends with many Christians. He became ill and two of his friends died. He was strongly affected by this and so he exclusively wrote on Christian topics. He went into the desert to live the life of a hermit and to study and write. He became associated with influential people, but was not popular in Rome because he did not hold back criticism of the clergy and forbade mourning of the dead in excess.

He was ordained a bishop and travelled through a few sees. It was during this time that he started on his greatest work, the Vulgate version of the Bible. It was written in the vulgar, or common form, of Latin. He was advised by many of his friends not to focus on the Hebrew and Greek texts, since the Septuagint was considered the best form of the Bible at the time. Jerome also wrote many commentaries on the Bible. He was also an accomplished historian who has written and also copied many important works. He died in the area around Bethlehem on September the 30^th, 430.

Come, tame a wolf, flee from the wrath of the king, feel the horror of impending doom on a ship, and the uncertainty of one’s own salvation with these great heroes of the faith.

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Bio of Johnny Appleseed - This Week in Christian History for the week of 9-22-28

On September 26^th 1774 Jonathan Chapman was born. Johnny Appleseed, as he is known, left his father after he turned 18 to go west with his younger brother Nathaniel. Eventually his father moved to Ohio and Nathaniel moved back with their father and his family. Johnny Appleseed started to work in an orchard for a Mr. Crawford.

 

Johnny Appleseed planted nurseries of apples for settlers. The settlers had to plant pears or apples to secure their rights to the land, since apples and pear are not native to the Americas. The nurseries were very popular. He also preached as he travelled around. His theology was like The New Church, which placed an emphasis on nature.

He preached in exchange for a place to sleep. He was regarded as having a great eloquence, although it was in a unique way. He told stories to children, sometimes of his travels and some old stories from Sweden that his parents used to tell him. A traveling preacher once was preaching about poverty and repeatedly asked where the humbly dressed barefoot Christian’s were, Johnny Appleseed put his bare foot on a stump to show it and said, “Here’s your primitive Christian.”

Johnny Appleseed once noticed mosquitoes getting burned by his campfire and doused the campfire to protect them. He also slept in the snow rather than disturb a bear and her cubs. There are many stories about his which are mythical, like the picture of him wandering around aimlessly spreading apple seeds. Due to this tendency, the exact details of his death are not known, there are several different versions. This only proves the love that people had for the man who loved God and nature.

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It is also currently available at Barnes and nobles and should be available to order now or shortly from anywhere that sells books. The book is about Thomas Becket, Martin Luther, John Wesley and Francis of Assisi and is written in creative nonfiction style, I have excepts of the book here on my website williamdeanhamilton.net

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Bio of William F. Albright - This Week in Christian History for the week of September 15-21

William Albright was an archeologist who was a leader in substantiating the accuracy of the Bible. He graduated from Upper Iowa University, as did a certain blogger who shall remain nameless. Albright did not believe that the Bible was inspired by God, but he did confirm the accuracy of many of the passages of the Bible and viewed the Bible as being a reliable source of history. Because of this viewpoint he has been recently attacked by more liberal archeologists who doubt historical events portrayed in the Bible.

He was the creator of Biblical Archeology, which uses conventional archeological methods to study sites which have some relationship to the Bible. He is considered to be one of the last orientalists, which means that he studied the culture, language, and history of the Middle East at one time to gain a further understanding of their interrelationships.

Albright was an expert in many fields besides archeology and he applied his knowledge of ceramics to able to more accurately pin down dates at dig sites. He also mastered 26 ancient and modern languages. He contributed to many different fields because of the breadth of his knowledge and published 1,100 articles, books, notes and journals.

He excavated many Biblical sites, and was instrumental in dating the Dead Sea Scrolls. Albright was also the editor of the Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research. He was the first non-Jewish person to win the title of “Worthy One of Jerusalem.” Many of his students became famous scholars due to his influence.

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It is also currently available at Barnes and nobles and should be available to order now or shortly from anywhere that sells books. The book is about Thomas Becket, Martin Luther, John Wesley and Francis of Assisi and is written in creative nonfiction style, I have excepts of the book here on my website williamdeanhamilton.net

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Cluny Abbey was founded September 11, 910 - This Week in Christian History for the week of September 8-14, 2013

On 11^th September 910, William I, Duke of Aquitaine founded Cluny Abbey. He had gained power through inheritance and a series of wars and his lands stretched from Austrasia to Toulouse (in France). At the time most monasteries were privately owned, however he made the abbey responsible only to the pope. This meant that his family couldn’t nominate abbots and other officials.

William I nominated Berno as the first abbot of Cluny. Berno had been a monk at St. Martin’s Abbey and was later sent to Baume Abbey to reform it. He held Cluny Abbey to the Benedictine Rule. Although the rule would become the main rule of monasteries during the middle ages, it was not intended for monasteries in the modern sense of the word; it was intended to be a rule for communities.

This was the first of the Cluniac Reforms. The reforms were necessary because of widespread corruption in the Church. One of the most common was called Simony, or paying to receive sacraments. The most common form of this was to pay for a position within the church. Since a monastery required land, it needed to be sanctioned by the local lord. The lord would demand rights that interfered with religious duties. The lord might also want his associates and family appointed to posts.

The Cluniac Reforms spread through France and into England, Spain and Italy. In the end more than a thousand monasteries adopted the new format. This enabled the monasteries to follow the Rule of Saint Benedict more strictly.

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It is also currently available at Barnes and nobles and should be available to order now or shortly from anywhere that sells books. The book is about Thomas Becket, Martin Luther, John Wesley and Francis of Assisi and is written in creative nonfiction style, I have excepts of the book here on my website williamdeanhamilton.net

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Bio of J. R. R. Tolkien - This Week in Christian History for the week of September 1-7

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on January 3^rd 1892 in what would become South Africa. When he was a child he was bitten by a spider, which some speculate influenced his later works. After the death of his father, his family moved back to England where they moved around a lot. His mother, Mabel, joined the Catholic Church, much to the dismay of her Baptist family, who stopped supporting her and J. R. R..

Mabel died in 1904 when J. R. R. was only 12. He was raised by Father Morgan. He graduated with honors from Exeter College with an emphasis on English and Literature. Tolkien met Edith, a protestant woman, whom his guardian vehemently objected to and forbade him to see her until he was 21. On turning 21 he professed his love, and they were married after she converted to Catholicism.

Tolkien joined the army after the outbreak of WWI, serving in trenches. His considerable health problems kept him from being in the field much of the time, and this probably saved his life. He wrote that all of his childhood friends but one had been killed. After the war he worked for The Oxford English Dictionary and then became a professor. It was while he was serving as a fellow at Pembroke College that he wrote “The Hobbit” and the first part of “The Lord of the Rings.” It took a few years to catch on and it was during the 60’s that he became wildly popular.

Tolkien was instrumental in converting C.S. Lewis to the Christian faith, although he was disappointed Lewis chose to join the Church of England. He was also a member of the Inklings, a literary group which had Christian tendencies. While Tolkien didn’t use the overt Christian themes that Lewis employed, the Bible influenced some of the scenes in his stories. Tolkien died on September 2, 1973.

My new book, would you do what they did great Christian leaders from our past is now available to order from Amazon.com here is the link: Would You Do What They Did? - Great Christian Leaders From Our Past
It is also currently available at Barnes and nobles and should be available to order now or shortly from anywhere that sells books. The book is about Thomas Becket, Martin Luther, John Wesley and Francis of Assisi and is written in creative nonfiction style, I have excepts of the book here on my website williamdeanhamilton.net

Thank you for reading.