Kindred Survivors: Thousands Commemorate Armenian Genocide at the US Holocaust Museum

News Staff  : PR Newswire

"We, Armenians, Jews, sons and daughters of other nations that have survived genocides shall continue working together to fight for recognition, condemnation of all genocides and other crimes against humanity, as that is the most efficient way of preventing them in the future." –Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.
(Washington, DC)—On May 6, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan visited the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum as part of his three-day trip to Washington, D.C. (Photo: via U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum)
 

The President's visit took place on the eve of the U.S. commemoration activities marking the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. FromMay 7-9 in Washington, DC, the National Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide Centennial is hosting a series of events commemorating the anniversary. Thousands will gather from across the country, and internationally, to join in remembering and honoring those lost in the genocide 100 years ago.

"It was an honor to have the opportunity to visit this memorial and museum. We, Armenians, Jews, sons and daughters of other nations that have survived genocides shall continue working together to fight for recognition, condemnation of all genocides and other crimes against humanity, as that is the most efficient way of preventing them in the future," said President Sargsyan.

Read more at -  http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=15925

Exposing the silence and inaction of the UN & the world towards Christian Holocaust

Sorry, I took a brief sabbatical, but I'm back because there is just too much to not put out for others to read and share.  I hope with videos and articles that you will share these with friends and anyone you think will listen.  We live in a time of birth pangs, and it's time we awaken, turn off the tv and immerse ourselves in scripture.  These are days of preparation, and we are all responsible if we fail in this undertaking.

Jonathan Cahn roaring like a lion at the UN. One messianic Jew speak out about Christian persecution. What are the nominal Christians doing? Sleeping, looking the other side, fighting each other or busy building their own kingdom? If they do not prepare and beware, they will be the next victims.

Columbine Killers Targeted Christians, Too

Sadly, true justice was not done as over 100 witnesses identified a third shooter that day, but only the two boys were officially labeled as suspects by the end of the days events.  Nevertheless, some acts of heroism will never be forgotten...

Christian martyrs in 20th century America? It happened on this day, April 20, 1999. When Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold began shooting up their school, they did not fire randomly. In their twisted minds, Athletes, minorities and Christians were the enemy.

"Do you believe in God?" they asked Cassie Bernall. They knew full well she did. The girl who had once indulged in the occult (as the killers now did) had moved into a realm of peace when she learned to center her heart on Christ. She became a church-goer and a worker among those who needed Christ. Often she brought her Bible to school.

She was reading it in the library when the killer pointed his gun at her. Did she believe in God? "Yes, I believe in God," she replied.

"Why?" asked the boy in the dark trench coat. Without waiting for an answer, he pulled the trigger.
"My God, my granddaughter was a martyr," said Cassie's grandma when she heard the report.

And not the only one, either. Rachel Scott, a spiritually-minded seventeen-year-old whose ambition was to become a missionary to Africa, died, too. So did John Tomlin, a sixteen-year-old who had recently gone to Mexico to help with a church project for the poor.

The Sunday before her death, Cassie wrote these words after church:

Now I have given up on everything else I have found it to be the only way
To really know Christ and to experience
The mighty power that brought Him back to life again, and to find
Out what it means to suffer and to
Die with him.
So, whatever it takes I will be one who lives in the fresh
Newness of life of those who are
Alive from the dead.

Bibliography:

1. Colson, Charles W. "Littleton's Martyrs." BreakPoint Commentary - April 26, 1999. (www.stormloader.com/omegakids/Casiemail.html). [Casie's poem is quoted from this source].
Nimmo, Beth and Darrell Scott with Steve Rabey. Rachel's Tears. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 2000.
2. Rosenberg, Jennifer. "The Columbine Massacre." 20th Century History. http://history1900s.about.com/library/weekly/aa041303a.htm
3. Numerous other internet articles, including articles originally printed in the Boston Globe and Washington Post.                                                                                                                       Read this article at -  http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1901-2000/columbine-killers-targeted-christians-too-11630857.html

Dominicans Became Dreaded Inquisitors

Two of the darkest blots on Christian history are the witch hunts of Medieval Europe and the Inquisition--and the former employed the apparatus of the latter. No one knows for sure how many people suffered at the hands of the Inquisition. Thousands did. To most churchmen and governments it seemed self-evident that orthodoxy must be preserved, whatever the price.

Although Alexander III, Lucius III and Innocent III each made moves toward Inquisition, it was Gregory IX who instituted the machinery in 1227. In that year, he appointed a board of inquisitors to sit against heresy in Florence. Shortly afterward, he expanded the operation. This was inevitable, given the authoritarian nature of the Medieval church and the ferment of the times. Heresy was rife in Italy, France and the Balkans.

By 1231 Gregory had issued formal rules. As he envisioned the Inquisition, it would be for the salvation, coercion and punishment of erring Catholics only. Jews, Muslims and other non-Christians were not to be touched. The Inquisition would inquire into the spread of heresy, summon suspected heretics before tribunals, and punish infidelity so as to convert and save souls. It was aimed primarily at the growing numbers of Waldenses and Albigensians. Torture would be allowed, as it had been under Roman law. As his inquisitor in France, Gregory appointed the brutal Robert le Bougre, former heretic. He once had 180 individuals burned at the stake in one day and performed so many other atrocities that he was finally recalled and imprisoned.

On this date, April 20, 1233*, by papal bull, Gregory placed the operation of the Inquisition into the hands of the Dominicans. The Dominicans were the obvious choice for the role. Recognized by the church in 1220, the order's mission was to teach and preach: to employ the power of reason in support of faith. It is no coincidence that scholars like Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas, saintly and learned, were Dominicans. Dominic had made a point of winning heretics by the force of his holy life and persuasive preaching.

The methods employed by his order were not so gentle. They included torture and execution, usually by burning. Although the instructions for interrogation limited the use of torture, the tendency was to exceed them. Many Dominicans never participated in the Inquisition. Others were mild in their measures. Some resigned rather than continue the brutal work. Nonetheless the good name of the Dominicans was forever stained by their participation in this cruel activity. Before long the order became popularly known as Domini canes, Latin for "God's dogs."
*Some historians say 1232.

Bibliography:

1. "Dominic, St." and "Dominican Order." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
2. Durant, Will. The Age of Faith. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1950.
3. Hendrickson, Ford. Martyrs and Witnesses. Detroit: Protestant Missionary Pub. Co., 1917.
4. Mandonnet, P. "Dominicans." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
5. Nigg, Walter. Warriors of God; the great religious orders and their founders. New York, Knopf, 1959.
6. O'Connor, John B. "Dominic, St." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.

Read this article at -  http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1201-1500/dominicans-became-dreaded-inquisitors-11629829.html

The Armenian Genocide - Turkey Guilty With Crimes Of Genocide

While this may close a period of time remembering a century of denial by Turkey of the massacre of what's often called the first Christian nation, Armenia, I believe those who suffered and died did not do so in vain, they will be remembered, and one day, when a more perfect Judge has come, justice will be done...

This is the most complete explanation of the how and why of the genocide that I have been able to find.  Excellent background and insight into what occurred beginning in 1915.

http://tigrantour.com/indexc1a.php?cat=3
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tigran...
http://tigrantour.com
https://www.facebook.com/Tigran.Tour
http://tigrantour.com/index.php?cat=420

Armenian Genocide ABC World news tonight with Peter Jennings

What might be just as shocking as the genocide is the ability of a nation (Turkey) to still deny it occurred a century later...

 for more information about the Armenian Genocide go to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian...

The Untold Holocaust (Assyrian Genocide)

Well made historical background on what happened 100 years ago when Ottoman Turk Muslims decided to eradicate a country, a people, and a church.  The atrocities described herein are quite horrific, but the truth of what our brothers and sisters in Christ suffered during those dark days....

 This genocide was committed against the Assyrian population of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the First World War by the Young Turks. The Assyrian population of northern Mesopotamia was forcibly relocated and massacred by Ottoman (Turkish and Kurdish) forces between 1914 and 1920. This genocide is part of the same policy of extermination aimed against Armenians and Pontic Greeks.

Edict of Nantes Relieved Huguenots

Is it possible for a nation to remain peaceful and united with more than one variation of Christianity in the country? To many in the sixteenth century the answer was a resounding NO. There had been one church throughout the middle ages, and the toleration of any other religion seemed unthinkable. Both before and after the Reformation, war had followed the rise of sects. As the ideas of the Protestant Reformation spread throughout Europe, governments as well as the church were affected as each adopted one form or another of faith. Most government leaders believed that allowing more than one sect would threaten the unity of a country.

This was the situation in sixteenth century France. For over sixty years the country had tried to find a political solution to the country's religious divisions. Persecutions, wars, and massacres disrupted the country as Catholics tried to maintain their majority faith while the Huguenots (as French Protestants were called) attempted to worship freely and even to seize power.

In 1572, backed by the king, Catholic forces used the royal wedding of the Huguenot Henry of Navarre--in line for the throne--as a pretext to rid the city of the Protestants that they detested. During the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre that resulted, 10,000 or more Protestants were butchered in Paris and similar massacres followed throughout the provinces. The pope had a medal stamped to honor the atrocity.

France's internal wars intensified after the Massacre; kings were assassinated; and finally Henry of Navarre himself succeeded to the throne. The Catholics of France, who were in the majority, absolutely refused to be ruled by a Huguenot. In order to bring peace to France, Henry adopted the Catholic faith. "Paris is worth a mass," he is reported to have said.

He did not forget his Huguenot roots, however. On this date, April 13 1598, Henry issued the Edict of Nantes, legally recognizing the Protestants. Huguenots were allowed to worship privately anywhere in France and were allowed public worship in specific places. In many ways the edict was unworkable, for it allowed the Huguenots political and military control of parts of the country, making them almost a nation within a nation. The Huguenots also gained complete civil liberties. Under the Edict of Nantes, the Protestants enjoyed religious freedom and prospered in France for a time. However, piece by piece the Catholic majority chipped away at the agreement's promises until finally, over eighty years later, King Louis XIV revoked the Edict altogether, again trying to establish one religion for his country.

Even after it was revoked, the Edict of Nantes remained an important memorial to freedom of conscience and religious liberty.

Bibliography:

1. Adapted from an earlier Christian History Institute story.

Read this article at -  http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/edict-of-nantes-relieved-huguenots-11630045.html

The Armenian Journey - A Story Of An Armenian Genocide 1915 GenocidalTurks

This finally hit mainstream news today after the Pope declared the Armenian Genocide the first of the 20th century.  This was largely due to the fact that Armenia was a Christian nation living in the confines of a dying Ottoman (Turkish) empire.  These days between the 12th and 15th of April are generally recognized as the beginning of the slaughter, and I shall do my best to remember our brothers and sisters in Christ who perished at the hands of the Turks while the world watched and did nothing 100 years ago.

Perhaps what is more shocking is that Turkey still denies it to this day, and because the U.S. needs Turkey to continue to supply ISIS and their attempted overthrow of Syria in the Middle East, the U.S.also refuses to acknowledge what an entire nation of Christians suffered.  

The Armenian Journey - A Story Of an Armenian Genocide /Documentary Film /"The Armenian Journey: From Despair to Hope in Rhode Island," a film by The Genocide Education Project (GenEd), tells the story of Armenian Genocide survivor Margaret Garabedian Der Manuelian, told through the narrative voice of her great-granddaughter, 21 year old Dalita Getzoyan. The film was funded by a grant from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities and designed to support educators in the region and beyond.

For teaching resources on the Armenian Genocide: www.TeachGenocide.com

For More Information About The Armenian Genocide

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamidian...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian...

20th Prison Anniversary for Watchman Nee

A personal historical hero for me, I never ceased to be amazed at the amazing things the Lord did through this faithful servant in pre-Communist China, then his incredible patience and grace in the many years of his unjust imprisonment.  One of the great Bible teachers of the 20th century.

Among China's millions of Christians, none has been as well known to the West as Watchman Nee. Many of his books, such as The Normal Christian Life and Sit, Walk, Stand, reached Western shores and were printed in English where they were well-received.

Communist China has been hostile to Christian believers. Efforts are made to herd all Christians into a few state-controlled churches. Watchman Nee's fearless witness angered the party, which denounced him and his church. He was accused of exercising "a dark, mysterious control" over 470 supposedly independent churches. Nee could see the writing on the wall.

Rather than bemoan the fate he saw approaching, he worked night and day to dictate to assistants all that Christ had taught him. For days on end, he went with only two hours of sleep. The words they wrote down described the glory of God, the power of Christ's resurrection, the proofs of God's existence, and Christ's righteousness for believers.

He was arrested in 1952. With fierce brainwashing and honeyed promises, the Communists tried to break his fidelity to Christ. His captors promised him that if he would lead the faithful into the Three Self Patriotic Movement (the Communist-controlled church) he would be freed. Nee refused.
For four years believers did not know where he was. Then in 1956 he was given a hearing in Shanghai and accused of numerous severe crimes. To each charge he was allowed to answer only Yes or No. He stood silent for all but two: sabotage and spying. Those he denied. The Court of Public Security recommended severity. A few days later he was publicly accused and "proofs" presented. Among the allegations was that, at a time when Mao was bringing in a bright new socialist future, Nee had demoralized people by preaching that mankind is in the last days.

At the end of the hearing, Nee was sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment with reform by labor. He was placed in the First Municipal Prison, where he had to labor in a factory eight hours a day, attend re-education another eight, and was allowed to rest the final eight. Loud speakers blared continuous propaganda. The prisoners were fed so little, their ribs protruded. He was permitted to send only one heavily-censored letter a month. Later he was employed translating English articles into Chinese for the government. Released convicts reported that he refused to buckle to the Communists, but instead sang hymns in his cell. Apparently he also refused an opportunity to be ransomed to the West.

On this day, April 12, 1972 Nee completed twenty years in prison, five years more than his maximum sentence. Ten days later he wrote in good spirits to his sister, possibly from a country prison. Within weeks he was dead.

Bibliography:

1. Kinnear, Angus I. Against the Tide; the story of Watchman Nee. Fort Washington, Pennsylvania: Christian Literature Crusade, 1973.
2. Lyall, Leslie T. Three of China's Mighty Men. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1980, 1973.
3. Nee, Watchman. A Better Covenant.
4. -----------------. The Normal Christian Life. Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale, 1956.
5. -----------------. Sit, Walk, Stand. (Fort Washington, Pennsylvania: Christian Literature Crusade, 1974, 1962).
6. "Nee, To-Sheng." Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals. Edited by Timothy Larsen. Downers-Grove, Illinois: Intevarsity Press, 2003.

Read this article at -  http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1901-2000/20th-prison-anniversary-for-watchman-nee-11630830.html

Fear of Conscience in the USSR

Tyrants fear faith. Their greatest hatred is reserved for those forms of Christianity which teach people to obey conscience. With reason. Few world systems can stand the scrutiny of Biblical faith. Wherever scripture liberates minds, laws are transformed and governments forced to yield or fall. For example, in early centuries Christian tenacity compelled Galerius to issue his edict of tolerance ending the Diocletian persecutions. Quaker determination moved England to allow individuals to practice conscientious objection to war. Baptist die-hards are largely responsible for the adding of the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution.

Of all world systems, perhaps Communism has most reason to fear Christianity. Its atheism is diametrically opposed to faith, and Marxist tenets are in large measure nothing but pale imitations of Christian doctrine and eschatology.

In Russia on the 23rd of January, 1918 the Bolsheviks issued a decree separating church and state. This was welcomed by evangelical Christians, who had suffered terribly under Orthodox persecution. Under Lenin, a certain amount of freedom was allotted to Christians. That changed after his death.
Teaching of religion in schools, private or public, was prohibited. The Soviet constitution favored atheism. "Freedom of religious worship and freedom of anti-religious propaganda are recognized for all citizens." Church buildings were confiscated by the state and rented back for sums beyond the ability of congregations to pay. House churches were outlawed. Bible printing became illegal. Preachers were denied ration cards. "You are nonproductive citizens," they were told. If congregations wished to support their pastors, they first had to pay an exorbitant tax, greater than the minister's salary. Poor people could not do this. Christians who refused to obey these laws were sent to labor camps where many died. Every impediment to worship which could be contrived was introduced. In spite of this, pockets of faith survived. "Suffering is testimony to Jesus," said Christians. And rather than pray that their sufferings be relieved, they prayed for strength to bear up under them.

On this day, April 8, 1929, a terrible new regulation came into force. It was aimed directly at activities and beliefs which give evangelicals their edge: love and outreach. The new regulation stated: "Religious associations may not (a) create mutual credit societies, cooperative or commercial undertakings, or in general, use property at their disposal for other than religious purposes; (b) give material help to their members; (c) organize for children, young people and women special prayer or other meetings, circles, groups, departments for biblical or literary study, sewing, working or the teaching of religion, etc., excursions, children's playgrounds, libraries, reading rooms, sanatoria, or medical care. Only books necessary for the cult may be kept in the prayer buildings and premises." So much did the Communists fear Christianity that they tried to strip them of the common expressions of humanity.

Bibliography:

1. Brandenburg, Hans. The Meek and the Mighty; the emergence of the evangelical movement in Russia. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977.
2. Bryant, Louise. Mirror of Moscow. New York: Thomas Seltzer, 1923. source of the image.
3. Hutten, Kurt. Iron Curtain Christians. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Augsburg Publishing, 1967.

Read this article at -  http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1901-2000/fear-of-conscience-in-the-ussr-11630747.html

Thomas of Tolentino Martyred by Muslims

Words Deemed Blasphemous

Introduction

On this day, April 7, 1321 Brother Thomas of Tolentino and three other Franciscans witnessed for Christ. On either the 8^th or 9^th of April, after torture, they were beheaded. Traveling toward China the party had been detained near Bombay. A local Cadi summoned them to discuss religion. Thomas and his associates upheld the divinity of Christ. The Cadi then demanded to know what they thought of Mohammed. Thomas replied that since Mohammed’s claims did not square with Christ’s, the Cadi, if he were wise, should be able to determine what to think of him. The Cadi and his attendants would not accept this evasive reply but demanded a direct response. The answer below, when it came, caused the Muslims to shout that Thomas had blasphemed the prophet and to call for his death.

Quote

“Since ye can only repeat What do I say of him, I should blush to refuse the reply ye seek. I reply then, and tell you that Muhammad is the son of perdition and has his place in hell with the devil his father, and not he only but all such as follow and keep his law, false as it is, and pestilent and accursed, hostile to God and the salvation of souls.”

Source

The quote is from Cathay and the Way Thither: Being a Collection of Medieval Notices of China. The date is from Internet encyclopedias and saints’ sites.

Cranmer Got the Top Job but Didn't Want it

When Thomas Cranmer learned he had been named Archbishop of Canterbury by King Henry VIII, he balked. Visiting Germany at the time to promote the King's interest in a divorce, he dawdled seven weeks getting back to England. Although the King's word was law, Cranmer hesitated to accept the position.

The English church was in a turmoil over the question of Henry's desired divorce from Catherine. Having presented him with no male heir, the queen, once so charming to Henry, was now repugnant. Yet he could not get the Pope to agree to an annulment.

Cranmer had come to the King's attention when, in conversation with two of Henry's men, he had suggested that the universities could just as well settle the question as the Pope. Henry swore Cranmer had "the right sow by the ear." He earmarked the priest to become Archbishop of Canterbury, England's highest religious post. Cranmer was consecrated on this date, March 30, 1533.
Believing himself subject to the King, Cranmer promptly granted Henry the annulment. Throughout his tenure as archbishop, he would do pretty much whatever the King commanded. Henry's continual shifts of policy often made Cranmer appear wishy-washy. For example, he ruled Henry's marriage to Anne of Cleve lawful and six months later annulled it as unlawful.

Already leaning toward Protestantism, Cranmer became the chief architect of the English Reformation. He urged the King to place Bibles in England's churches and it was done. He wrote the first Book of Common Prayer. In only a few things did he resist Henry. At some jeopardy to himself, he pleaded for the lives of Thomas More and Bishop Fisher and testified for three days against Henry's Six Articles which went back to Roman Catholic forms. However, he sat with the persecutors of John Frith and Joan of Kent, both of whom were executed by fire.

By his twisting and turning, Cranmer escaped execution under Henry. Henry trusted him above all his other prelates and on his deathbed clung to Cranmer's hand. Under Edward, Cranmer advanced Protestantism, helping draft doctrines which became the basis for the Church of England's Thirty Nine Articles.

Under pressure, Cranmer supported Lady Jane Gray to succeed Edward. It was not to be. Mary took the throne and charged him with treason and heresy. In face of death he recanted his Protestant opinions. When he learned he was to die anyway, he publicly renounced his recantation. "As for the pope, I refuse him, as Christ's enemy and Antichrist, with all his false doctrine." When the fire was lit, he held the hand that had signed the recantation into the flame, burning it off before the fire touched his body, saying, "This unworthy right hand." As death approached he repeated several times, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

Bibliography:

1. "Cranmer, Thomas." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
2. Foxe, John. Book of Martyrs.
3. Hook, Walter Farquhar, 1798-1875. Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury. London, R. Bentley, 1865-1884.
4. McKilliam, Annie E. A Chronicle of the Archbishops of Canterbury. London: J. Clarke, 1913.
5. Pollard, Albert Frederick. Thomas Cranmer and the English Reformation. London: Putnam's, 1905.
6. "Thomas Cranmer and the English Reformation." Christian History & Biography # 48.

Read the rest of this article at -  http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/cranmer-got-the-top-job-but-didnt-want-it-11629953.html

Elizabeth Dirks Drowned as Anabaptist

Elizabeth Dirks was a trailblazer and a woman of great courage. Raised in a nunnery in East Friesland, she learned to read Latin and read the Bible through and through. She became certain that monasticism was not the way taught in Scripture. With the help of milkmaids she escaped and became a follower of peaceful Menno Simons. She was one of the first Reformation women ministers, probably a deaconness.

In 1549, Catholic authorities arrested her. When they found her Bible they knew they had the person they were looking for. Mistakenly, they thought she was the wife of Menno Simons. When they tried to get her to take an oath at her interrogation, she refused, saying Christ had taught that our yes should mean yes and our no mean no.

The record of her inquisition shows that the examiners asked her to inform on those whom she had taught. Knowing that this would lead to their arrest, she refused.

"No, my Lords, do not press me on this point. Ask me about my faith and I will answer you gladly."
"We will make it so tough that you will tell us," they threatened.

When she would not reveal who had baptized her or whom she had taught, they questioned her beliefs. She insisted that church buildings were not the house of God, for our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. She denied that the New Testament spoke of the bread and wine as a sacrament but rather as the Lord's Supper. Asked if she were saved by baptism, she replied, "No, my Lords. All the water in the sea cannot save me. All my salvation is in Christ, who has commanded me love the Lord, my God, and my neighbor as myself." She denied that priests have authority to forgive sins--only Christ.

Still refusing to reveal who had baptized her, she was taken to the torture chamber and said, "So far we have treated you gently. Since you won't confess, we will put you to the torture."

A man named Mr. Hans applied screws to a thumb and fingers until blood spurted from under her fingernails. Still she wouldn't give away her friends, but her agony was so great that she cried aloud to Christ and received relief. So they lifted her skirt to apply torture to her shins. She pleaded that she had never allowed anyone to touch her body and they promised to respect her.

Then they crushed her leg bones with screws until she fainted. The men thought she was dead, but she came to and assured them she was not. Realizing that they could get nothing out of her, the authorities condemned her to die. Rather than burn her, as was customary, they tied her in a bag and drowned her on this day, March 27, 1549.

Bibliography:

1. Bainton, Roland H. Women of the Reformation in Germany and Italy. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Augsburg, 1971.
2. Williams, George Huntston. The Radical Reformation. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Westminster Press, 1962.

Read this article at -  http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/elizabeth-dirks-drowned-as-anabaptist-11629978.html

Remembering the Armenian Genocide Conducted by the Ottoman Empire (Turkey)

While the assault on the Khazar Jews and gypsys of WWII is never far from the mainstream conversation, no one talks about the greatest Christian persecution of modern history, one that has been avoided by mainstream news and denied or ignored by the Turkish government who executed it. That is known as the Armenian genocide, and we are now honoring the 100th anniversary of this hidden mass murder by the Ottoman (Turkish) empire.

In April of 1915 tens of thousands of Armenian men were rounded up and shot. Hundreds of thousands of women, old men and children were deported south across the mountains to Cilicia and Syria. On April 15 the Armenians appealed to the German Ambassador in Constantinople for formal German protection. This was rejected by Berlin on the grounds that it would offend the Turkish Government. By April 19 more than 50,000 Armenians had been murdered in the Van province.

Within nine months, more than 600,000 Armenians were massacred. Of the deported during that same period, more than 400,000 perished of the brutalities and privations of the southward march into Mesopotamia. By September more than a million Armenians were the victims of what later became known as the Armenian Genocide! A further 200,000 were forcibly converted to Islam to give Armenia a new Turkish sense of identity and strip the Armenian people of their past as the first Christian state in the world.

To read more about the devastation of the Armenians, Assyrians and Persians in the first great pogrom of the 20th century which laid the groundwork for later genocides and see some of the horrifying photos please go to  - http://www.genocide1915.info/

 

Beaton Burned George Wishart as Heretic

On this day, March 1, 1546, soldiers from St. Andrews Castle ushered George Wishart to his place of death. Some beggars at the roadside pleaded with him for alms as he passed, but he replied that with his hands tied, he could give them nothing. He might have added that he had already given away all his money the day he was taken to trial.

The executioner lit the fire and hung sacks of gunpowder around the victim. Wishart knelt to ask God for mercy on himself and forgiveness for his persecutors. Touched, the executioner pleaded for pardon and Wishart gave it. Turning to the crowd, he urged them not to be offended with the gospel because of the end that had overtaken him.

"Had I taught men's doctrine, I had gotten great thanks by men; but for the word's sake and the true gospel, which was given to me by the grace of God, I suffer this day by men, not sorrowfully, but with a glad heart and mind," he said. He was fixed to the stake and burned alive.

Wishart was a reformer.  Acting on ordination given to him in England, he preached in Scotland. When church doors were closed to him, he spoke in the fields. Calling all men to repentance, he also preached that only those practices taught by the Bible were binding on them.

Opposed to Wishart was Cardinal Beaton, a cruel and proud man who lived openly with a mistress and was despised by the people. He once disgraced himself at a cathedral door vying for precedence with another churchman. As the two quarreled, their followers shoved each other and tore off one another's vestments. By contrast, when Beaton sent a priest to assassinate Wishart, Wishart subdued the man and saved him from the fury of the crowd.

After his arrest, Wishart's accusers charged him with teaching heresy. He replied, "Since the time I came into this realm, I taught nothing but the ten commandments of God, the twelve articles of the faith, and the prayer of the Lord in the mother tongue. Moreover, in Dundee, I taught the epistle of St. Paul to the Romans." Other charges were that he denied we should pray to the saints and that confession to a priest does not absolve us. In reply to each charge, he showed from scripture the example and teaching of Jesus and the apostles.

Wishart's execution set in motion a train of events that changed Scotland. It was just one more incident aggravating popular resentment against the Roman Church. The people knew Wishart to be a godly man. Hotheads assassinated Beaton. John Knox, an associate of Wishart, became their chaplain and eventually led the Scottish reformation. The Roman Church was overthrown and the Presbyterian brought in.

Bibliography:

1. "Cardinal David Beaton." Significant Scots. http://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/beaton_david.htm
2. Cook, George. History of the Reformation in Scotland. Edinburgh, 1811.
3. Glimpses # 142. Worcester, Pennsylvania: Christian History Institute.
4. Knox, John. History of the Reformation in Scotland. Edited by William Croft Dickinson. New York: Nelson,1949.
5. "John Knox" and "David Beaton" in The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
6. "Wishart, George." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997

Read this article at - http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/beaton-burned-george-wishart-as-heretic-11629971.html

The Gentle Hutters Viciously Killed

What was the surest way to make yourself unpopular in 1530? Join the Anabaptists.

Protestant and Catholic alike reviled these usually peaceable, Bible-loving souls and massacred large numbers of them. One group of Anabaptists (the name, given by their enemies, means "re-baptizers") came into being Jan 21, 1525 in Zurich when city authorities ordered two bible teachers, Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz to stop teaching interpretations of scripture that contradicted the city's officially approved doctrines. Believing that governments have no right to dictate religious beliefs, the stalwart pair persisted in teaching and in baptizing adult converts, even if they had been baptized as a child. Manz was soon drowned for his faith. Persecuted in Zurich, these Anabaptists fled to Moravia where they were kindly received.

In Moravia the Anabaptists found leadership from an unlikely source. Jakob Hutter, a hatter with little education, became head of a band of Anabaptists and taught them to share in common what they owned. Sharing was especially important at the time because many families had lost their providers in the trouble. Some were in prison for preaching without licenses. Others had been burnt at the stake and others drowned. Jakob Hutter brought stability to the group.

The Anabaptist position, already injured by the Peasants' War, worsened when a rebel group under the sway of Jan Matthijs tried to establish Christ's thousand year reign at Munster, Germany. Breaking with pacifist principles, the Munster Anabaptists fought government troops. Authorities besieged Munster, where a radical visionary named Jan of Leiden took control. Styling himself King David, he began to practice polygamy. The name Anabaptist took on new overtones of fanaticism because of this, although the majority remained the same peaceable people they had always been. King Ferdinand made no distinction, but ordered all Anabaptists rooted out. The peaceful folk fled into forests and hid in caves to save their lives.

Jakob Hutter and his wife Katherine Purst became hunted fugitives. Tracked down in the Tyrol, they were captured on this day, February 25, 1536. Their captors showed them no mercy, torturing them, whipping them, and immersing them in freezing water. Perhaps the water torture was designed to mock baptism.

Although local officials protested, persecutors, acting on Ferdinand's orders, doused Jacob with brandy and burned him. It appears Katherine was executed later.)

Years later, still oppressed, surviving Hutterites emigrated to the United States. Here they practiced a pacifist and communal lifestyle. Today thousands live in Canada, the United States, and Paraguay. Most still speak German.

Bibliography:

1. "Anabaptists." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
2. Littell, Franklin H. The Origins of Sectarian Protestantism. New York: Macmillan Co., 1964.
3. Braght, Thielman J. Martyrs' Mirror, especially the chapter of George Blaurock and Hans Van der Reve. Translated by Joseph F. Sohm. Amsterdam, 1660.
4. Wegner, John Christian. "The Heroic Witness of the Sixteenth Century Anabaptists." (www.bibleviews.com/evenuntodeath.html)
5. Various encyclopedia and internet articles.

Read this article at - http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/the-gentle-hutters-viciously-killed-11629959.html

Yield or Suffer Said Diocletian

Barbarians menaced the Roman empire. Emperor Diocletian instituted a number of reforms aimed at saving the sprawling political entity. He reorganized the provinces and made the army more mobile while increasing its size. To battle inflation, he issued a new coinage, established a uniform system of taxation and implemented wage-price controls.

Recognizing that the empire was too large for a single man to rule, he divided it into four administrative units. In doing this he raised to power a man who did Christians much harm. This man, Galerius, instigated by his mother (a die-hard pagan) prodded the Emperor to persecute the Christians. With their new customs, Christians were a threat to imperial unity, he said; and their vast, well-knit organization was the largest non-governmental body ever seen. Surely they could not be trusted: their loyalty was to King Jesus rather than to Caesar. Diocletian, who for eighteen years had never lifted a finger against the faith, followed this wicked advice. The crackdown began on this day, February 23, 303.

The persecutors dragged off church leaders and tortured them to death, employing the rack, the scourge, slow fires, crucifixion, and many other barbarities against them. They burned Christian books and scriptures. Many Christians died deaths of great courage. Theodotus, for example, after terrible tortures said as he was being led back to prison, "It is but just that Christians should suffer for Him who suffered for us all."

Timothy, a deacon in Mauritania, allowed his eyes to be put out with red hot irons rather than reveal the hiding place of scriptures. His wife of just three weeks was then brought in and she attempted to persuade him to recant for love of her. He refused. Growing stouthearted, she joined him. After horrendous torture, both were crucified.

In the end, it was the church which won the showdown. All the powers of Rome could not crush its allegiance to Christ. Even Galerius eventually left off the persecution. In 311, the dying emperor issued an edict of toleration. Christians had outlasted the might of the empire. Their resistance to arbitrary power was instrumental in winning the right to follow their Christian faith
.

Bibliography:

1. Aland, Kurt. Saints and Sinners; men and ideas in the early church. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1970.
2. "Diocletian." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
3. Foxe, John. Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Various editions.
4. Ridpath. Encylopedia of Universal History. 1890. Source of the image.
5. Scannel, T. B. "Diocletian." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
6. Various encyclopedia and internet articles such as www.roman-emperors.org/dioclet.htm.

Read this article at - http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/301-600/yield-or-suffer-said-diocletian-11629633.html

#FreeKent Hovind

More on the absurd arrest and imprisonment of Christian teacher and witness Kent Hovind, often referred to as "Dr. Dino", for his lectures on Genesis, dinosaurs and Creation.  It's remarkable the number of evil people who were involved with this travesty of justice.

I can't help but feel a duty to spread the word and just do something to help a brother in need (I wish i could say the same about many so-called believers in Jesus i have asked, but to no avail, like EMPTY WELLS), if people would just spread the word or just sign the petition and read the story!. They are trying to get Kent Hovind (Who is innocent) re-convicted by the same judge! that is an anti-christian, and Kent Hovind is facing between 20 years to LIFE!, please read the full story!. Kent Hovind was married a virgin, he has never smoked, he has never even tasted alcohol and he is a dedicated true servant of God on the front lines living a selfless life and i just can't stand by and watch an innocent man be persecuted like this!. "It will be measured to you as you have measured"-Jesus Christ God in the Flesh.

This video was made by a youtube user named "tigerdan925" kudos where due thanks!.

 This is an update on the latest Kent Hovind support....

 

Kent Hovind responds to latest motion filed by Jezebel prosecutor Pamela C. Marsh

For those who aren't up to date on Dr. Dino (Kent Hovind) and his legal status, he is currently serving a 10 year sentence for not paying taxes.  There's a lot more to it than that, but I will let you watch the video to find out more. 
For some reason, the U.S. Government wants to put Pastor Hovind away even though he and his followers have agreed to pay back-taxes and fines.  Kent has already served 20 months when 14 months is the average sentence for those who fail to pay their taxes.  Obviously, Dr. Hovind has been targeted for some specific reason for this most extreme punishment, and the only thing I can think of is that he's being punished for being an outspoken and educated Christian.  Fascinating and fascist stuff....

http://www.2peter3.com
http://www.freekenthovind.com
http://freekenthovind.com/2015/02/18/...