242 – August 30 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

 

 

Fox founded the Sunday school

William Fox called a meeting on August 30, 1785, for the purpose of organizing a “Sunday School Society.” He must be considered the architect behind the Bible-centeredSunday school of modern times. It was resolved unanimously “that it is the opinion of this meeting that great benefit would accrue to the community at large from the adoption of such a measure, and that a Society be formed for carrying the same into immediate effect.” Fox was a Baptist layman, “who was a godly member of the Baptist church in Prescott street, where he enjoyed the able and spiritual ministry of the eminent Abraham Booth,“ However, the concept of having Sunday school just for children has added to the lack of emphasis on adult training in the Sunday school hour in Great Britain and Canada. Historians commonly agree that prior to Fox and his Bible hour on Sunday, it was the Anglican, Robert Raikes of Glouchester, England, that actually started the “Sunday school” in 1780. However it had no special spiritual significance, it had social benefits for underprivileged boys who were working during the week in the sweat shops. Raikes hired teachers to instruct the lads in reading and writing. There were no child labor laws in England and these children were not privileged to receive an education. What Raikes did surely was of great benefit, but as Mary, what Fox chose was surely “that good part which shall not be taken away from him.” When we think of the impact of the Sunday school historically on America, we cannot help but pause and thank God for the vision of William Fox. Missionaries are serving around the world and pastors here in our own land.

Dr. Greg J. Dixon: From: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins/Thompson, pp. 358-59.

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121 — April 30 – This Day in Baptist History Past

IRA M. Allen
Sunday school: “the most successful opponent of the Prince of darkness”
In 1824 the “Latter Day Luminary,” a Baptist magazine for promoting missions, reported, “The Sunday School properly conducted is the greatest and most successful opponent of the Prince of darkness….Let these schools be cherished, let them be increased; soon the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the wilderness shall blossom as the rose.”
In time, Sunday school associations appeared, but these did not meet the need of Baptist churches, for literature had to be supplied that taught the Baptist distinctives. One of the first to see this need was Ira M. Allen, agent of the Baptist General Tract Society. In 1832 Allen wrote, “As it is, a part of the truth of God is excluded from all the Sunday School books published by the American Union, which furnish the principal reading for hundreds of thousands of youth throughout the land. And we, as a denomination, have not a single book for Sunday Schools, containing our distinguishing sentiments.”
“This was finally accomplished on April 30, 1840, in New York City when representations from fifteen states, from New Hampshire to Louisiana, voted to change the complexion and name of the tract society to ‘The American Baptist Publication and Sunday School Society.’”For the first time, it was possible for Baptist Sunday schools to secure biographical, doctrinal, and historical material written from a Baptist perspective.
Dr. Dale R. Hart: Adapted from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins Thompson /, pp. 175-176
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http://the-trumpet-online.com For those interested, here is the place I get Baptist History. I am sure there would be a book available if interested. One would need to question by email to find availability. I do believe the title of the book would be – “This Day in Baptist History”  Authored by Cummins Thompson.

Soul and Spirit

Bob Hess has done some in depth research on Man’s Soul and Spirit. With consideration of the girl on life support because of a common operation, maybe this will give some people a little insight into a dilemma.

 

 

I had an individual who wanted me to do a lesson on “The Difference Between The Soul And The Spirit”.  I taught a Sunday School lesson on this over the weekend and will pass it on to you.  I hope this will answer questions that MANY Christians have had down through the years.

 

The secret to understanding this topic is the Biblical Terms that were used in talking about the Soul and Spirit.  I attempted to show this in my class.  My Sunday School class seemed to understand it, so I’ll give you a try.  Here it is.

 

 

1.  The Greek word Psuche is translated into the word SOUL and LIFE.

 

 

    a.  In the New Testament this term is used to speak of the immaterial part of man.  It is invisible and is contained inside of the flesh covering.

 

    b.  Man’s soul speaks of the INTERNAL LIFE ELEMENT of the man.

 

    c.  I know that this may set many back on their heals, but animals have a soul.  In Revelation 8:9 we read “And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died and the third part of the ships were destroyed”.  The word “life” is the Greek word Psuche or in the English, soul.

 

    d.  The difference between the animal and man is that the man was created with a soul that was made up with three elements.  Man’s soul consists of two additional elements that animals do not.  Man has a SPIRIT and a MIND that are part of the makeup of the human SOUL or PSUCHE.  Animal souls do NOT contain these two elements.  We will get into these two elements later.

 

    e.  In 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Paul speaks of this.  He says that when the Lord comes back, we will go to be with him as a whole person, body, spirit and soul.

 

    f.  In Genesis 2:7 we are told that God breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life.  the word soul in this verse the Hebrew word, nephesh.  This word means breaths.  Here it states that man became a living soul or a living, physical, breathing being.  The term corresponds with the Greek word Psuche which is translated as “life” in Revelation 8:9 and soul in other references that are too numerous to mention.  See also 1 Corinthians 15:45 where the term is translated as soul and in Acts 20:10 where it is translated as life.

 

 

2.  The word Greek word Pneuma is translated as SPIRIT.

 

 

    a.  As was stated in our look at Psuche, the human has an element within the soul that is called the spirit.  That is one element that is NOT found in animals or other created beings.

 

    b.  It is very important to realize that this is NOT the word that is used for a GHOST.  The KJV translates Pneuma as Ghost in speaking of the Holy Spirit.  “Ghost” is a completely different term in the Greek, which we will see later.  The third person of the Godhead is the HOLY SPIRIT and NOT the HOLY GHOST.

 

    c.  The SPIRIT of man is not a material element, but is, as the soul, immaterial.

 

    d.  This part of man makes the man aware of his body and his natural, physical environment.

 

    e.  It is the part of man that makes him like God in the respect that it (the spirit) is eternal (will NEVER go out of existence) and it can share that characteristic of God.

 

    f.  It is the part of man that can be given a new birth from God (John 3:3-7).  NOTE:  It is the SPIRIT (Pneuma) that is born again (from above by the Spirit of God) and not the soul (Psuche).  This new birth is made possible through placing one’s trust in Jesus as his

 

333 – Nov. 29 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

First ordained Asian-American

 

1874 – A Sunday school convened in Portland, Oregon with twenty-two students, led by a Chinese national by the name of Dong Gong. Before the end of 1874 the school had grown to over one hundred, and the effort had led to the baptisms of Chinese converts, and Gong was enlisted as the preacher. On June 22, 1875, Gong was ordained, and it is believed he became the first ordained Asian-American among the Baptists. This ministry grew out of a burden from the First Baptist Church of Portland, Oregon. Rev. D.J. Pierce came to First Baptist on July 22, 1874, and shortly afterwards wrote to Rev. E.Z. Simmons, A Baptist Missionary on furlough from China who was residing in San Francisco, and presented the need. That effort brought Rev. Simmons, and Dong Gong, a Chinese national convert, to Portland to undertake the task. Gong had emigrated to America with his parents and had become a worker in the Chinese community of San Francisco. The First Baptist Church of San Francisco had established a mission to the Chinese, and young Dong Gong was an early convert. He was then trained by Rev. John Francis in San Francisco. Gong had been licensed by First Baptist to preach in 1869. In Portland it was decided to begin a school which would include English during the weeknights to the Chinese, and then on Thursday evenings Gong would head up a preaching/teaching ministry. Dr. William Dean, famed Baptist missionary on furlough from China, was appointed director of the school. Gong was also active in opposing the opium trade and Chinese gangs, who were in control of the Chinese social structure. [C.H. Mattoon, Mattoon, Baptist Annals of Oregon (McMinnville, Oreg.: Telephone Register Publishing Co., 1905), 1: 202. This Day in Baptist History II: Cummins and Thompson, BJU Press: Greenville, S.C. 2000 A.D. pp. 653-54.]
Prepared by Dr. Greg J. Dixon

 

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312 – Nov. 08 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

One of the first Sunday Schools

 

1828 – The treasury book of the Cloughfold Baptist Church of England revealed that £45 was borrowed of John Heap for the purpose of building a Sunday school annex. It also records that the loan was repaid by 1833 with interest. The first effort to begin the Sunday school was in 1810 but it really took root about 1822. Cloughfold Baptist began as a dissenters church in 1675 and was led by two cousins: David Crossley and William Mitchel. Both had received most of their training from Mr. Kippax, minister of the nonconforming congregation in Rossendale, England. David had been raised by a godly aunt, and had received Christ before he was twelve. David led William to Christ during a time of bereavement over the death of his brother. William was arrested and imprisoned for preaching without a license. Upon his release the young men organized the Dissenter’s congregation. David’s study of God’s Word and his intimacy with John Bunyan led him to embrace the Baptist position of believer’s immersion and was immersed on Aug. 16, 1692. His cousin soon followed, and by 1700, both Crossley and Mitchel were Baptists by conviction. In that most of the Dissenters congregation had been led to Christ by the two men, the whole church became a Baptist church in name as well as practice. The church had a powerful history all through the eighteenth and on into the nineteenth century. [Abel Jones Parry, History of the Cloughfold Baptist Church (Manchester: John Heywood, 1876), pp. 65-66. This Day in Baptist History II: Cummins and Thompson, BJU Press: Greenville, S.C. 2000 A.D. pp. 609-11.]
Prepared by Dr. Greg J. Dixon

 

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363 – Dec. 29 – THIS DAY IN BAPTIST HISTORY PAST

His powerful singing voice came to the attention of D.L. Moody
 December 29, 1876 – Philip P. Bliss (P.P.) perished along with his wife in a train crash near Ashtabula, Ohio. A bridge collapsed and the Pacific Express on which they were riding plunged 60 feet into a ravine and burst into flames. Bliss survived the fall and escaped through a window but returned to rescue his wife but neither of them made it out. He was only 38 years old. He had been born in Rome, PA on July 9, 1838, in the home of praying and singing parents. He spent his youth on a farm and was limited in a formal education. At 12 years old he was saved and joined the Tioga, Pennsylvania Baptist church by baptism. He was most familiar with the camp meetings and revival meetings of his times and taught school while he studied music. In 1859 he married a young woman who was a musician-poet in her own right. He and his wife moved to Chicago where he became involved in the music publishing business. He also composed music for Sunday schools. His powerful singing voice came to the attention of D.L. Moody who related that the ‘power of solo singing of Gospel songs at evangelistic meetings dated from that time.’ Bliss then united with Evangelist D.W. Whittle and served as soloist, song leader, and children’s worker. Bliss wrote the following songs: “Man of Sorrows! What a Savior,” “Almost Persuaded,” “Hold The Fort,” “The Light of the World is Jesus,” “Wonderful Words of Life,” “Jesus Loves Even Me,” and “Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall, Christ hath redeemed us, once for all!”
Dr. Greg J. Dixon from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins Thompson /, pp. 545-47.