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May 25
The Venerable Bede, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Mott, George Floyd, and the Diet of Worms.
David Barnhart
May 25, 2025
Thatched roof, Yeovil, England, 2011. Own photo.
Today is the feast day of the Venerable Bede, who died on May 26 in 735. He was a monk, linguist, and historian. Much of what is known about the earliest history of Christianity in England is due to his writing.
Today in 1521, the Diet of Worms ended. Emperor Charles V issued the Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther a heretic and signaling the official split between Protestants and Roman Catholics.
Today is also the birthday, in 1803, of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who I mentioned last month.
Today is also the birthday, in 1865, of evangelist John Mott, a Methodist layperson who became a major organizer of ecumenical relations and helped found the World Council of Churches. He was an advocate for the centrality of prayer in the life of the church and in evangelization.
Today marks the murder of George Floyd, in 2020, which led to nationwide protests against police brutality and entrenched white supremacy in our legal system.
Reflection:
Bede wrote this parable about mortality:
So, O king, does the present life of man on earth seem to me, in comparison with the time which is unknown to us, as though a sparrow flew swiftly through the hall, coming in by one door and going out by the other, and you, the while, sat at meat with your captains and liegemen, in wintry weather, with a fire burning in your midst and heating the room, the storm raging out of doors and driving snow and rain before it. For the time for which he is within, the bird is sheltered from the storm, but after this short while of calm he flies out again into the cold and is seen no more. Thus the life of man is visible for a moment, but we know not what comes before it or follows after it.
On the topic of evangelism, John Mott said,
We fail to prevail with unconverted men because of our more fundamental failure to prevail with God in prayer.
Mott did not believe evangelism should be left to clergy only. He said
It is possible for the most obscure person in a church, with a heart right toward God, to exercise as much power for the evangelization of the world, as it is for those who stand in the most prominent positions.
“Evangelical” has become synonymous, in our culture, with right-wing white supremacist ideology. But the word “evangel” means “Good News,” and the original evangelical movement of 1700’s, and renewed evangelical movements in the 1800’s and early 1900’s were a progressive view of God’s work in the world. Mott and others believed that God was not locked into any particular denomination, but was active and working in the world not only to convert souls, but to build hospitals, eradicate poverty, and inspire love across social divides. Early evangelicals scandalized traditionalists because young women would defy their families to follow where they felt God was calling them, and interracial groups would gather to worship.
Prayer: God, because of the perversion of religion in our age, so many of your followers have lost the sense that anything about their faith is “good news” to the world. Enliven our hearts to hear and believe that amidst all the doom and gloom, the bad news that we hear daily, there is still good news aching to be heard. Amen.