This week in persecuted church history (October 11-17)

Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.
Hebrews 13:7b (ESV)

October 11, 290: By order of Maximus, governor of Cilicia, three Christians, Tarachus, an aged man, Probus, and Andronicus are ordered executed in Tarsus after being repeatedly tortured and pressured to recant their faith.  When attempts to have them mauled by wild animals failed, they were ordered to be killed by the sword.

October 11, 1521: Leo X conferred the title "Fidei Defensor" (Defender of the Faith) upon England's Henry VIII for his tract "The Assertion of the Seven Sacraments," written against Martin Luther. Three popes and 13 years later, Henry severed all ties with Rome, making the Church of England a separate church body.

October 11, 1559: The last three of six sisters arrested by the Margrave of Antwerp are executed. On the 20th of May, 1559, the Margrave of Antwerp, seeking one upon whose head a price of three hundred guilders was set, went forth with many servants, and surrounded and entered two houses, in which they found six sisters, namely, Maeyken Kats, Magdaleentken, Aechtken of Zierickzee, the elderly Maeyken, Grietgen Bonaventuers, and Maeyken de Korte. But however much they searched the houses they could not find the one whom they sought. He decided that since he could not accomplish his purpose, he would take these six sisters with him and shut them in a dark prison. Afterwards they were interrogated where they freely confessed their faith, and could not be brought to recant, neither by the imperial decree, nor by threats or torture; nor did they betray any one. Hence, on the 8th of June, the first three were sentenced to death, and drowned in prison by night.

Afterwards, on October 11, the last three sisters were also condemned to death;  Maeyken, the honourable elderly widow, who was worthy of double honour, was drowned, while Grietken Bonaventuers and Maeyken de Korte had to taste death by the sword (unusual with women) for the truth, for which their Lord, whom they loved and did not forget, will likewise not forget them, but gladly receive them into His kingdom and joyfully feast in paradise.

October 11, 2006: Fr. Boulous Iskander (59), a Syrian Orthodox priest is found beheaded and dismembered in Mosul, Iraq, two days after being kidnapped.

October 11, 2008: A Christian music store owner, Farques Batool, is killed and his nephew injured when gunmen storm into his store in the city of Mosul, Iraq and open fire.

October 12, 1518: German reformer Martin Luther undergoes an excruciating interview about his 95 Theses (posted one year earlier) with Cardinal Thomas Cajetan in Augsburg. It was so painful, Luther later recalled, that he could not even ride a horse because his bowels ran freely from morning to night

October 12, 1571: Dutch believer Douwe Eeuwouts, after long imprisonment, is sentenced to death, to be drowned the following night.

October 12, 2007: Muslim militants bludgeon Henry Emmanuel Ogbaje with wooden clubs while he is on his way home from his church in the area of Gamji Gate, Kaduna state, Nigeria. A few hours later, he died from his injuries.

October 13, 2004: Two Protestant Christians are killed when attackers wielding swords stop them on a crowded street in Jono Oge, a village near Palu, Indonesia. One man, Yahya Yuta Jama, dies immediately of neck wounds. The other, Sakeas Tesa, dies on his way to the hospital.

October 14, 1656: Massachusetts enacts a law prohibiting "Quakerism" or harboring Quakers.

October 15, 1590: Jacob Platser after have been was imprisoned and kept in bonds for eight weeks was beheaded in Tyrol  since he would not renounce his evangelical faith.

October 15, 1932: A small party of supporters gathers in Liverpool, England, to send Gladys Aylward, a 28-year-old parlormaid, off on a dangerous missionary journey to China. Though she'd been turned down by the missions agency she applied to, she went on to become one of the most amazing single woman missionaries of modern history.

October 16, 1555: Bishops Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer are burned at the stake in Oxford. England. As he was being tied to the stake, Ridley prayed, "Oh, heavenly Father, I give unto thee most hearty thanks that thou hast called me to be a professor of thee, even unto death. I beseech thee, Lord God, have mercy on this realm of England, and deliver it from all her enemies." 

Ridley's brother had brought some gunpowder for the men to place around their necks so death could come more quickly, but Ridley still suffered greatly. With a loud voice Ridley cried, "Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit...", but the wood was green and burned only Ridley's lower parts without touching his upper body. He was heard to repeatedly call out, "Lord have mercy upon me! I cannot burn..Let the fire come unto me, I cannot burn." One of the bystanders finally brought the flames to the top of the pyre to hasten Ridley's death.

Latimer died much more quickly; as the flames quickly rose, Latimer encouraged Ridley, "Be of good comfort, Mr. Ridley, and play the man! We shall this day light such a candle by God's grace, in England, as I trust never shall be put out."

October 16, 1925: The Texas State Text Book Board bans evolutionary theory from all its textbooks

October 16, 1978: The Roman Catholic College of Cardinals chooses Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla to be the new pope. Taking the name John Paul II, he became the first non-Italian pope in 456 years. Many credit Pope John Paul II as a main contributor to the downfall of communism in eastern Europe.

October 16, 2004: Homemade bombs explode in five separate churches in Baghdad. Because of the early hour, there are no injuries, but the coordinated attack is clearly aimed at intimidating Iraq's Christian community. All five buildings suffer exterior damage, some extensive. The churches attacked are St. Joseph Church in the Nafaq Al-Shurta area, St. Jacob's Church and St. George's Church in the Doura neighborhood, the Church of Rome in the Karrada neighborhood and St.Thomas Church in the Mansour area.

October 16, 2006: Reverend Irianto Kongkoli (42), acting head of the Central Sulawesi Christian Church (GKST), is shot at close range and killed while shopping with his wife and five-year-old daughter in Palu, Indonesia.

October 17, 107: Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch dies in the arena in Rome, condemned to death by the Emperor Trajan. The Apostolic Father closest in thought to the New Testament writers, Ignatius wrote seven letters under armed guard on his way to Rome—some asking that the church not interfere with his "true sacrifice"

October 17, 1009: Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulcher is destroyed by order of al-Hakim, the Caliph of Egypt. For close to forty years, Christians were forbidden to visit the site.

October 17, 1480: The Spanish Inquisition is activated.

October 17, 2003: Pastor Jairo Solís López is killed in the municipality of Mapastepec, Chiapas, Mexico.

October 17, 2006: Eritrean Christians Immanuel Andegeresgh (23) and Kibrom Firemichel (30) die from their torture wounds and dehydration adter two days in military confinement.  The two believers were arrested on Sunday, October 15 while attending a private worship service in the home of Teklezgi Asgerdom.

Prayer: “Grant that we, who now remember these before thee, may likewise so bear witness unto thee in this world, that we may receive with them the crown of glory that fadeth not away; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” – taken from The Book of Common Prayer, Canada (1962)