This Day in Christian History: May 30 May 30, 1431: Joan of Arc Burned at the Stake Born into a peasant family in north-east France, Joan was spiritual from a very young age. Joan testified that she saw her first vision at about age 13. She said she saw the Archangel Michael, who told her to drive out the English and aid Charles VII. She began to fulfill this commision around age 16. Being so young, it took some time to get the officials to take her seriously, but she succeeded and ended up joining the army on the battlefront. The extent of her involvement is debated, but the commanders believed that her advice was divinely inspired, and therefore would listen to her. Historians have to agree that the army experienced remarkable success during the brief time she accompanied it. Joan was captured and put on trial by the Catholic church as a heretic. One of the many charges brought against her was that of 'cross dressing' because she had disguised herself as a male s...

This Day in Christian History May 25, 1521: Martin Luther Proclaimed a Heretic Luther's Room at Wartburg Castle After Martin Luther's bold stand at the Diet of Worms in the previous month, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V pronounced Martin Luther an outlaw and heretic for refusing to recant his teachings and his rebellion against the Catholic church. The emperor decreed, "We want him to be apprehended and punished as a notorious heretic." This decree made it legal for anyone to kill Luther without consequence, and also made it dangerous for anyone to give him food or shelter. It was after this decree that Luther went into hiding at Wartburg Castle.

This Day in Christian History: March 17 March 17, 461: Death of Maewyn (more commonly known as Saint Patrick)  Did you know that Saint Patrick was not Irish? His was born in Roman Britain, however, at the age of 16, his town was attacked by Irish raiders. Maewyn was kidnapped and brought to Ireland where he was enslaved. It was during his six years of captivity, as he served as a shepherd, that Maewyn found a relationship with the Lord.  According to the Confessio of Patrick, the Lord told him to flee to the coast, where there would be a ship waiting to take him home. The port was two hundred miles away, but Maewyn did flee, and was able to convince the captain to let him on board. By the time he returned to his family, Maewyn was in his twenties. After some time, Maewyn had a vision of a man begging him to return to Ireland and minister to the very people that had enslaved him. He did return to Ireland and became known as Patrick. He faced great opposition from ...