This is the day that …Philip Henry died in 1696.

During his 65 years of earthly pilgrimage he was an ordained Church of England clergyman who was ejected from his church (as were some 2000 other clergy), for refusing to obey the king’s “Act of Uniformity” (24 August, 1662).

Two months later his son Matthew was born, and it is due to his father’s preaching (especially a sermon on Psalm 51:17) that Matthew’s soul was awakened “to begin to enquire after Christ”. Matthew Henry went on to become famous for his great commentary on the Bible.

Philip Henry has been described as “a man of great good sense, shrewd as well as pious, and his remarks, expressed in a quaint, proverbial style, have been recorded with filial fidelity by his excellent and celebrated son” (Cyclopaedia of Religious Biography, page 257).

Among the many quotes from Philip are these: All grace grows as Love to the Word of God grows; Prayers not felt by us are seldom heard by God.

Philip Henry’s dying words are recorded for us – “O death, where is thy sting?”

This post is based on the work of my late friend Donald Prout whose love for books and Christian history led him to collate a daily Christian calendar. I continue to work with Don’s wife, Barbara, to share his life work with the world. I have updated some of these historical posts and will hopefully draw from Don’s huge files of clippings to continue this series beyond Don’s original work. More of Don’s work can be found at www.donaldprout.com.