Monday, December 1, 2025

It is the 1st of December 2025. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

It’s December! Obviously, with the prefix, this would be the 10th month of the year… oh, for a 10-month calendar. And a 10-hour day (it would make reading my watch easier…).

Those dreams aside, I’ve got an email from Jeremiah, who writes in from High Point, North Carolina. High Point, of course, is the Furniture Capital of the World- also home to Luke Appling, old “Aches and Pains,” the Hall of Fame Short Stop for the Pope’s Chicago White Sox. Also, home to John Coltrane…

So, Jeremiah is a college student. He told me a little bit of his own story as to how he got to college and what he has been thinking of in terms of life direction- maybe formal ministry work, maybe teaching. He asked, “What did you plan to do in college (as I’m assuming podcasts didn’t exist yet), and what advice would you give to someone like me who is interested in the same fields?”

Jeremiah, I always figured I’d be either some kind of broadcaster or some kind of teacher. And I knew that the church would be central to my personal life, if not professional in some ways as well.

So- let me answer your question about advice- but let me broaden it out and suggest that my answer might work for a number of listeners- from those generally interested in history and the church (that covers most listeners), those interested in going deeper (that might be many of you) and those that might want to dip their toes into the study of these things for possible future work.

Tip #1- Stay curious! Don’t assume you’ve figured anything out so completely that it can’t surprise you. I’d add as a subtopic to this- don’t be afraid to change your mind. I once ate dinner with an old academic who was asked what he may have regretted or changed his mind about- when he said “nothing” I thought “how lucky to get it all right on the first try… like on the Price is Right game when you just lock it all in on the first guess”.

“Why do they do that?” “Why do they do that and seem to like it so much?” “What do I do that might make other people curious about why we…” and so on and so forth.

Being curious requires observation and learning to ask good questions.

But you’ll be in quite a pickle if you get good at asking questions and don’t also learn how to find answers. And to find answers, you need to know how to locate and evaluate sources. Sometimes I tell people that, really, I’m just a professional reader. You’ll need to learn to read, Jeremiah. Now- I know you already can- but I mean read like a professional. This includes finding good sources and learning how to switch from browsing to skimming to reading to deep reading. Authors like to think you’ll be picking up their book and reading it from cover to cover- and we do that when we are reading strictly for pleasure- but I’ve got to figure out from the title, introduction, chapter titles, reviews… what the questions being asked are and what sources they will be using to answer those questions.  

So: Stay curious, learn to ask questions, and find and evaluate sources.

Next: stay as broad as you can in your field before you have to narrow it- and then, once you do narrow it- always recognize that you are in a one narrow part of the larger field (this is great for church history!) and that you have things to offer but not everything- because you necessarily had to narrow to become an expert of any kind.  

So- these are the kinds of nuts and bolts thing- but Jeremiah, and others, I’d stress a particular understanding of the doctrine of vocation- or “calling”. And to that, a Reformation doctrine of Good Works. Me doing my job well- as with you and everyone else- is a means by which God serves and loves his people. Being a good and fair church historian- and more importantly- a teacher of these things- is part of the whole “good works prepared beforehand” thing. And when I think about being a historian or church historian or podcaster, or teacher… I’m not doing it to puff myself up or become wealthy or to have a good reputation- but it’s God working in and through me, for the benefit of others. I think that mindset in the academy (or in finance, or…) would make for a helpful reset.

Thanks for letting me reflect, Jeremiah, on these things, and hopefully, there is some stuff in there for you and others as well. Send me your questions- broad or specific- to danv@1517.org.

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and some Romans 6 Juiciness:

4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 1st of December 2025, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who wishes he could stab the guy responsible for those two extra months that throw the names off… and have I got news for him- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who knows it wasn’t Julius Caesar- it was Pompilius, Caesar only reformed that calendar but told the joke anyway. I’m Dan van Voorhis. 

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.