June 24

Today is the birthday, in 1485, of Johannes Bugenhagen, Martin Luther’s pastor in Wittenberg and fellow reformer. 

Today is also the birthday, in 1846, of Samuel Johnson, Anglican priest and historian of his people, the Yoruba. In addition to being a peacemaker during the Yoruba wars, after establishing relationships with kings and elders, he took notes from their oral histories and wrote The History of the Yorubas from the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the British Protectorate. This manuscript was lost by the publisher (likely due to racism and anti-blackness), but his brother Obadiah Johnson rewrote and published it. 

Today is also the birthday, in 1858, of Hastings Rashdall, Anglican theologian, priest, and ethicist. He argued that God’s power was limited as a way of reconciling the problem of evil. 

Reflection:

I have not read Samuel Johnson’s magnum opus, but this paper says that Johnson believed the Yoruba people came from Coptic Christians from Egypt. 

Prayer: Author of History, we believe you are bending the moral arc of the universe toward justice, using real people to do the bending. Give us strength, courage, and persistence. Amen.