Today is St Bartholomew's Day. "Black Bartholomew's Day", our forefathers used to call it. It is the date of two significant events in church history...
On the 24th of Ausgust, 1572, thousands of Hugenots (French Protestants) were massacred in Paris and elsewhere.
Then, on the 24th of August, 1662, over two thousand ministers were kicked out of the Church of England for refusing to conform. The Great Ejection, as it is known, silenced the vast majority of England's evangelical ministers.
It was in commemoration of this latter event that I read Sermons of the Great Ejection over the past week. It's a collection of seven farewell sermons, preached by non-conformist ministers. Most were preached on the last Sunday before Black Batholomew's. Puritans such as Thomas Brooks and Thomas Watson are featured.
It has been fascinating to see the sort of things these guys said - after all, what would you say if you were preaching your last sermon ever? Most concentrated on counselling their parishioners to stand firm in the faith, urging them to pray for England, encouraging them to trust in Christ while facing an uncertain future. A few assert their innoncence of the blood of all men, and stuff like that. All in all, it makes for very edifying reading.
"Neither should he be permitted to speak the oracles of God, who though he is by office an angel, yet by life is a leper." - Thomas Watson
Talking about ejections, last week I got kicked off an electronic bulletin board that will remain nameless. But no matter, I've been getting into Christian Forums over the past few days. It's really big, and there's probably only one thread in a hundred that contains an interesting conversation - but the interaction has been quite enjoyable so far.
Check it out - I'm posting under the name of StAnselm...
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