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ON THIS DAY: JUNE
This month we remember, among others, an Anglo-Saxon
Benedictine monk, a brave woman who toured the world
and a Scottish minister who was also an international
historian.
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1 June: Helen Keller
| Helen Keller, an American who died
in 1968, was stricken with blindness and deafness
as an infant. With the great help of her teacher
Anne Sullivan she overcame her disability and went
on to graduate cum laude
at the prestigious Radcliffe College. She toured
the world to promote the education of those similarly
afflicted. Regarded by many as a brilliant woman,
she was a devout Christian and she remains an example
of the biblical affirmation: "my grace is sufficient
for you." Her The
Story of my Life, Helen
Keller’s Journal and other writings
have inspired many. |
Helen Keller (right) meets John F. Kennedy
|
Photograph courtesy of the American Foundation for the
Blind, Helen Keller Archives. 2
June: Ebenezer Erskine
Ebenezer Erskine was an able and popular preacher at Portmoak
and later at Stirling. He, with his brother Ralph and
others, was the founder of the Secession Church - an evangelical
reaction to the system of patronage (where the principal
landowner of a parish could appoint the minister). Formed
at Gairney Bridge, near Kinross in 1733 as 'The Associate
Presbytery', the secession movement, despite several later
fractions (burgher and anti-burgher, auld lichts and new
lichts) expanded considerably, especially among weavers
and artisans in the towns. 1847 brought re-union with
the Relief Church to form the United Presbyterian Church
which eventually united with the Free Church to form the
United Free in 1900. The two strands came together in
1929. The dove, which was often used as their symbol,
had returned to the ark. There are still several churches
named after Erskine in Scotland. He died in 1754.
3 June:
Hudson Taylor
Hudson Taylor
|
Hudson Taylor, born in 1832, was
a devout medical man of indomitable faith and
great fervour. He laboured as a missionary in
China, travelling extensively and working hard
despite indifferent health. He was the founder
of the interdenominational China Inland Mission,
and by the time of his death more than 200 mission
stations had been established, with some 800 missionaries,
and well over 100,000 Chinese converts associated
with it. Besides translation work, he wrote with
a great passion for China, in such works as China:
its Spiritual Need and Claims. He died
in 1905.
|
To find out more about Charles Wesley visit Wholesome
Words Christian Biography Resources website here.
Please note this link will take you out of the Church
of Scotland website and open a new browser window.
5 June: Boniface
Boniface (originally
Wynfrid/Wynfrith) is generally regarded as: "the
apostle to Germany". An Anglo-Saxon Benedictine monk
born in 680, he declined an abbacy in favour of missionary
endeavour (and the imposition of Roman as opposed to Celtic
order) in the whole Frankish kingdom. He was to prove
so successful that Pope Gregory II created him bishop,
then archbishop, then primate of all Germany. He was however
martyred by Frisian pagans. He died in 754.
6
June: Carl Gustav Jung
Carl Gustav Jung was the son of a Swiss minister,
is known after Freud with whom for a time he worked,
possibly as the most renowned psychologist and psychiatrist.
He is notable for proposing the concept of 'extrovert'
and 'introvert' personalities, and for advocating
the idea of 'the collective unconscious'. Jung wrote
extensively, for example
On Psychic Energy, Psychology
and Religion, and The
Undiscovered Self. His autobiography Memories,
Dreams, Reflections is revealing. Jung, regarded
by many as a religious leader and as a founder of
a new humanism, when once asked how he believed
in the existence of God replied simply: "I
know." He died in 1961. |
Carl Gustav Jung
|
9 June: Columba
Columba is for ever associated with Iona where in 563
he established a Celtic monastery that came to be a light
in the Dark Ages. Of princely Scots-Irish background and
notable for earlier establishing Christian centres in
Ireland, he is thought to have left Ireland, with 12 followers,
as a result either of political pressure or simply as
some kind of penance. Iona became famous as a sanctuary,
as a school for scholars, as a centre for the production
of illuminated manuscripts, and above all for its missionary
outreach – the formidable Columba himself penetrating
to the heartland of the Northern Picts in what is Inverness.
Many monks of Iona were to travel to England and across
to the continent, e.g. St. Gall in Switzerland and Bobbio
in Italy, spreading the Gospel. Though his fame is in
part due to Adomnan’s biography, there is little
doubt that Columba is the most recognisable and notable
figure in early Christianity in the land. Two hymns, Christ
is the world’s redeemer and O
God, Thou art the Father, attributed to him, express
the distinctive Christ-centred theology, with its quality
of universalism and its resonance with nature, that is
characteristic of Celtic monasticism and that still has
much appeal today. He died in 597 in the midst of copying
Psalm 34.
11 June: William Robertson
Painting of William Robertson
|
William Robertson is regarded by some
as one of the greatest figures in 18th century Scotland.
A minister who was an internationally renowned historian
(History of the Reign of
Charles V; The History of America), he was
a leader in the Scottish Enlightenment - the flourishing
of learning and much else that made Edinburgh: "a
hotbed of genius". A man of great erudition
and ability, as principal of Edinburgh University
and with a virtually permanent seat in the General
Assembly, he and the influential moderate party
which he led dominated much of the Church of Scotland’s
ethos and practice for many years. Though the moderates
were reacting to the crude Calvinism of a previous
|
generation, their perceived lack of zeal for the Gospel
helped create the evangelical revival that lead to the
Disruption of 1843. He died on this day in 1793.
Also on this day: James
Denney was a New Testament professor and principal
of the Free (later United Free) College, Glasgow. His
strong Calvinistic background was mitigated by wide
reading, especially in the works of C.H. Spurgeon. He
became not only a considerable Pauline scholar but a
theologian of the atonement. Denney dismissed speculative
theology and emphasised the historicity and the absolute
centrality of Christ and the Cross and its propitiation
for humanity. Denney’s works by their style, their
phraseology, and their power reached many who would
otherwise have been unaffected by matters of theology.
Toward the end of his life Denney, more involved in
church affairs, became one of Scotland’s ecclesiastical
leaders. He died in 1917.
12 June: Ternan
Ternan (Terrenanus or Tigh-Earnan) has been described
as a: "high bishop of the Picts". Said to have
been baptised by Palladius and to have founded a monastery
at Culross in Fife, this Irish-Scot is associated with
the North East of Scotland. Banchory Ternan bears his
name and there are other church dedications at Slains,
Arbuthnott and elsewhere, including the Pictish capital
at Abernethy where he died, about 431.
16 June: Cyrus
Cyrus was a Roman child martyr of the early fourth century,
whose mother Julitta was tortured and beheaded. Cyrus’
brains were dashed out and cult grew up around him which
saw him as an intercessor for children in trouble. That
the cult spread to Scotland is evidenced in several place
names and he is referred to also in the Pictish Chronicle.
He may be patron saint of the town of Ceres in Fife.
17 June: John Morrison
John Morrison was born in 1750 and was educated first
in his native Aberdeenshire and then in Edinburgh where
he began the work on which his fame rests – that
of contributing to the writing of the verses based on
Scripture that are known as the Scottish Paraphrases.
He became a member of the General Assembly’s committee
which produced the collection, first published in 1781.
Come, let us to the Lord our
God and The race that
long in darkness pined, among others, are directly
attributed to him. As parish minister of Canisbay in Caithness
he contributed the parish entry for Sir John Sinclair’s
Statistical Account. He died in 1798.
20
June: Fillan of Lochearn
Fillan of Lochearn was one of some four reputed
saints of the same name, said to have lived in the
sixth century. Several traditions associate him
with a speech defect, or a hare lip. He is said
to have been one of 22 missionaries sent from Munster
by St Ailbe to missionise Scotland. Several place
name derivations seem to be associated with him
in the area round Loch Earn. |
St Fillans and Loch Earn
|
22 June: The Battle of Bothwell Brig
The Battle of Bothwell Brig fought near Hamilton in 1679,
was a victory for the then government in its attempt to
quell resistance to the royal policies of forcing bishops
and a state religion on the people. Successfully defeating
a force at Drumclog led by Graham of Claverhouse in his
attempt to disperse a conventicle (an open air Presbyterian
service), the Covenanters (Presbyterians who adhered to
the National Covenant and the Solemn League and Covenant)
were forced into open rebellion. They were defeated by
Duke of Monmouth with some 10,000 troops and were harshly
dealt with, some being transported and others drowned
in the process. Such was the zealous faith of many that
resistance was continued by a 'righteous remnant' led
by Richard Cameron and others who in 1680 on the anniversary
of Bothwell Brig rode armed into a small Dumfriess-shire
town and made the 'Sanquhar Declaration' which renounced
allegiance to Charles II. Scotland and its presbyterian
establishment owes no small debt to such Covenanters,
pejoratively termed 'fanatics' but in reality devout and
brave men (and women) who suffered much, even to martyrdom
under insensitive governments and cruel laws.
24 June: The Battle of Bannockburn
Dunfermline Abbey where Robert the Bruce is buried
|
The Battle of Bannockburn was fought
on St John’s Day (i.e. John the Baptist, the
last of the old prophets and forerunner of Christ
who called people to prepare for him) in 1314 between
a Scots army under Robert the Bruce and an English
one under Edward II. Despite being greatly outnumbered
(approx 10,000 against approx 20,000), the Scots,
who carried the 'Brecbannoch' before them (the Monymusk
Reliquary, containing the supposed bones of Columba),
inflicted a great defeat on the invaders. Bannockburn
was a decisive event in the struggle for national
freedom which |
was formally asserted in the Declaration of Arbroath of
1320. The victory remains something of an emotional and
inspiring patriotic symbol.
25 June: Robert Leighton
Robert Leighton is one who could well be described
as a 'presbyterian bishop'. He was a saintly and scholarly
man, a parish minister of Newbattle and later for a
time principal of Edinburgh University, where he advised
his students to follow charity and to eschew: "the
itch for polemical and controversial theology which
is so prevalent and infectious." At the Restoration,
he was induced to become a bishop, choosing Dunblane
as the poorest diocese, and later, when made archbishop
of Glasgow, he accepted only a fifth of the emoluments.
Of irenic and kindly disposition, he was an early ecumenist
and a man of moderate views at a time of extremism who
sought to combine in his (failed)
Plan of Accommodation the best of both presbyterianism
and episcopacy. He advocated regular scripture reading
in church and expository preaching, and when so many
preached: "up the times" he sought to preach:
"up the eternities". He abhorred the persecution
of the Covenanters, describing it as: "scaling
heaven with ladders fetched from hell" and, tired
of all the disputation, he resigned in 1674 to die 10
years later in a London inn (according to an old wish).
Also on this day: Moulag
ministered about the same time as Columba, indeed quite
close by, based on the island of Lismore, off Appin
on the west of Scotland.
Window featuring Moulag, Lismore Church |
Both Irish, there is a rather unsavoury
legend of their alleged squabble over Lismore
as a head quarters. Moluag got there first by
allegedly slicing off his thumb and pitching it
ashore from the racing coracles. Firmer history
is the connection with this vigorous and well-travelled
saint with places ranging far across Scotland
(from the west Highlands to Banff and Rosemarkie
on the east of Scotland - where he is said to
have died in 592). In the 13th century, Lismore
was made the cathedral of the isles, and part
of this building is incorporated in the present-day
parish church. Moluag's crook has been preserved,
and an ancient Celtic bell believed to be from
Lismore is now in the National Museum of Scotland.
Image courtesy of Lismore Church and Isle of
Lismore community website, to visit the website
click
here. |
30
June: King James Version of the Bible 'approved' by
James in 1611
| The result of the Hampton
Court Conference (1604), it was the work of English
scholars who used the Bishops’
Bible and other earlier English versions
as a basis. Often called the 'authorised version',
no formal authorisation was given to it, neither
in England nor Scotland. However, with its degree
of accuracy and felicity of language, it fairly
soon came to be the accepted translation among English
speaking people – replacing The
Genevan Bible generally and previously used
in Scotland. The 'AV', many of whose words and phrases
owe much to William Tyndale’s translation
(made about 1526), has woven its way into the lives
of countless millions and has done much to shape
the English language. It is still in considerable
use, and its inherent dignity of language is preserved
in some modern translations, including the New Revised
Standard Version. |
Title page of 1611 King James Bible
|
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