Could you spare five minutes per day to get acquainted with some truly fascinating people and events? If so, you’ll love The Christian History Devotional , where each day you’ll learn more about your “spiritual family,” people who are as much a part of the rich Christian heritage as the people of the Bible. In these 365 vignettes you’ll meet some names that will be familiar: Billy Graham, Martin Luther, C. S. Lewis, John Wesley, Mother Teresa, Francis of Assisi, Augustine, Corrie ten Boom. You’ll also meet Christian athletes (Olympic runner Eric Liddell), scientists (George Washington Carver, Johannes Kepler), authors (G. K. Chesterton, John Milton, Anne Bradstreet), statesmen (William Gladstone, William Jennings Bryan), missionaries (Gladys Aylward, William Carey, Francis Xavier), evangelists (Billy Sunday, Dwight L. Moody, “Gypsy” Smith), artists (Rembrandt, Michelangelo), social reformers (William Wilberforce, Josephine Butler), soldiers (“Stonewall” Jackson, Oliver Cromwell), and many others, from the first century to the present, a diverse cast of truly amazing people. Turn to August 12, the day in 1973 when political “hatchet man” Chuck Colson gave his life to Christ. March 21, read about devout composer Johann Sebastian Bach, born on that date in 1685. April 1, learn about Communist-spy-turned-Christian Whittaker Chambers, born in 1901. October 15, meet evangelist Sam Jones, for whom the Ryman Auditorium (Grand Ole Opry) was built. October 31, discover what led Martin Luther to launch the Reformation in 1517. Whether you’re a history buff or someone who always thought history was boring, here’s a book to enlarge your spiritual family and teach you valuable lessons about life and faith. Here is history with a heart. J. Stephen Lang is the author of the bestseller The Complete Book of Bible Trivia and sixteen other books, including 1,001 Things You Always Wanted to Know About the Bible and 1,001 Things You Always Wanted to Know About the Holy Spirit . The Christian History DEVOTIONAL 365 Readings and Prayers to Deepen and Inspire Your Faith By J. STEPHEN LANG Thomas Nelson Copyright © 2012 J. Stephen Lang All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4002-0433-5 Chapter One JANUARY January 1 · Battle for Life Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21 404 : Blood flowed, men died, crowds cheered—such was the "entertainment" enjoyed by the ancient Romans, which is familiar to us thanks to movies such as Gladiator and Spartacus . In the gladiatorial contests, combatants greeted the emperors by shouting, "We who are about to die salute you!" The loser in each contest was usually stabbed through the throat, while the crowds roared. The bloody sand was raked over, and a new contest would begin. Such bloodbaths were not just for the dregs of society but for everyone, including the emperors. Constantine, the first Christian emperor, ended the gladiator spectacles in 313—but apparently the ban was not enforced for long, for the games were revived later. The emperors, even though they were Christians, feared to take away something that gave the masses such pleasure. The early Christians lamented the evil of Roman public amusements. One Christian author called the games "cannibal banquets for the soul." Other Christians claimed that the public shedding of blood for sport encouraged crime and a general disdain for human life. Even though many gladiators were convicted criminals under a death sentence, sensitive souls grieved that citizens enjoyed watching the butchery. Churches refused baptism to a gladiator unless he changed professions. Pastors taught their flocks that Christ's people had no business attending such spectacles, and some congregations refused holy communion to Christians who did. One Christian tried a more drastic approach. In the year 400, Telemachus leapt into the arena to stop a gladiatorial contest. The mob (composed mostly of citizens who were nominally Christian) stoned him to death. The emperor eventually ordered the contests stopped permanently. The last gladiator contests were held January 1, 404. They did not end solely because of Telemachus's martyrdom. They ended because enough Christians, and people influenced by Christians, saw the games as the vulgar, inhumane outrages that they were. Faith in the Prince of Peace had triumphed over the spirit of cruelty. Prayer: Lord of life, make us beacons of light in a dark world. Amen. January 2 · That Heart-Thumping Hymn The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. 2 Corinthians 10:4 1924 : How did a man with fifteen children ever find time to write hymns—or write anything, for that matter? An ordinary man could not, but Sabine Baring-Gould was no ordinary man, for his mind ranged over so many things—Christianity, folk songs, ghosts and werewolves, and archaeology. Born in 1834, he studied at Cambridge and was ordained in the Church of England. In forty-eight years of