Charles Colson (above), Richard Nixon’s notorious ‘hatchet man’ who was later jailed for his part in America’s Watergate scandal, was born again while sitting in a car in Boston, tonight in 1973. He later told the story of his conversion in his book, Born Again, which popularized the term. His conversion brought fame, 15 honorary doctorates, a career in public speaking, millions of book sales and a $1 million religious prize, in the American evangelical version of Christianity.
‘With my face cupped in my hands, head leaning forward against the wheel, I forgot about machismo, about pretenses, about fears of being weak. And as I did, I began to experience a wonderful feeling of being released. Then came the strange sensation that water was not only running down my cheeks, but surging through my whole body as well, cleansing and cooling as it went. They weren’t tears of sadness and remorse, nor of joy – but somehow, tears of relief.’ Charles Colson, Born Again
Abraham Zacuto, the Spanish rabbi, astronomer and mathematician, was born today in 1452. He developed the navigation instruments and tables which made possible the voyages of exploration of Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama. His Almanach Perpetuum, which had a section on solar and lunar eclipses, proved especially useful to Columbus when his crew was stranded in Jamaica and the local people stopped supplying them with food. Columbus, spotting an imminent lunar eclipse in the Almanach, told the people God was angry with them and would turn the moon to blood. The eclipse happened as detailed by Zacuto, the local people were terrified, and the food supply was restored. Zacuto was expelled from Portugal in 1497, along with all other Jewish people, and went to live in Jerusalem.
William Blake, the English artist, poet and visionary, died in his house by the Thames in London this evening in 1827. In his last hours, he sketched a portrait of Catherine, his wife, told her he would always be with her, sang hymns with a glad voice, and finally expired ‘like the sighing of a gentle breeze’. He had previously said how he was looking forward to death, and how it was like passing into another room.
‘He said He was going to that Country He had all His life wished to see and expressed Himself Happy, hoping for Salvation through Jesus Christ – Just before he died His Countenance became fair. His eyes Brighten’d and He burst out into Singing of the things He saw in Heaven.’ George Richmond, friend of William Blake
Pope Pius XII issued the encyclical Humani generis (‘The human race’) today in 1950. It allowed Catholic scientists and theologians for the first time to ‘research and discuss the doctrine of evolution’, but only as long as ‘all are prepared to submit to the judgment of the Church’.
Image: Wikimedia Commons