Tuesday, August 11, 2026

It is the 11th of August 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

 

The 16th century, a favorite here at 1517, was a time of reform- theological, philosophical- the church, the calendar, the cosmos… almost nothing was left untouched as we attempted to understand better the world we live in.

 

Of course, it didn’t come out of nowhere. In fact, there are many volumes and articles that stress the groundwork laid in previous centuries. And I don’t think there are many characters as central to this groundwork as Nicholas of Cusa- one of the most interesting men of the 15th century.

 

Nicholas was born at Kues- in the western German lands near the border of Belgium in 1401. We don’t know much about his early life; his father was well off enough to send him to school- he studied at the University of Heidelberg and the University of Padua, where he received his doctorate in 1423.

 

One of the first events to put him on the map was his early recognition of the Donation of Constantine as a fake. The Donation of Constantine was a document that purported to be written by the emperor Constantine in the 300s that established the Bishop of Rome as the church’s primary head. Nicholas, using the new methods of textual criticism, was able to place the document in the 9th century. This was obviously a blow to the claim for Roman supremacy.

 

Nicholas would furthermore be present at the Council of Basel, where he was a proponent of conciliarism- that is, that the councils of the church hold authority over any one person or title. This would be another crack in the facade of Papal primacy. Nicholas would, however, change his mind on this and later become a supporter of the Pope, being named a Papal legate and eventually a cardinal.

 

Nicholas was then sent to Constantinople to help reunite the Eastern and Western churches- this council of Florence was actually successful for a season- before being rejected.

 

Nicholas, often a bridge between parties, was then called on to arbitrate between Rome and the Hussites- those early Bohemian Reformers. Once again, the unification didn’t stick- but Nicholas was once again seen as the man to help unify the church.

 

He would also write two significant works for the history of Christian and Muslim dialogue. The first was his dialogue “on the Peace of Faith” written in reaction to the fall of Constantinople in 1453 to the Muslim Turks. He later wrote “Sifting the Quran”- a work of apologetics for Muslims by pointing out where their view of Jesus is on the right track, but falls just short.

 

Of course, there are many who know the name Nicholas of Cusa and have only engaged him as a mathematician and philosopher. He was an early philosopher to break from the Ptolemaic model and suggested calendar reforms that would ultimately be adopted a century later.

 

If there is one work for which he is best known, it is his De Docta Ignorantia- or “on learned ignorance”. The main thesis of this work is that no knowledge of God is possible until we first learn to make the distinction between the infinite God and our finite selves. The highest level of knowledge then, is the understanding that we are incapable- as finite humans- of fully understanding the infinite God.

 

Finally, there is this creeping footnote about Nicholas of Cusa- found often repeated in older books that he was a member of the Brethren of the Common Life. That was the reforming order in the late Middle Ages, which was a precursor in some ways to the Reformation. This does not have any historical data to support it, but it makes sense why the rumor would live for so long. Nicholas of Cusa was looking ahead to the century to come- he would have likely fit with that group- and his association with them in the common imagination can cement just what a man-in-the-gaps and reform-minded Cardinal he was.

 

Nicholas of Cusa would die in Todi on church business on this, the 11th of August in 1464- his birthplace of Kues would house his library, which was also used as a hospital. Born in 1401, he was 63 years old.

 

 

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and Psalm 18:

I love you, Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
 my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
 my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
 and I have been saved from my enemies.

The cords of death entangled me;
 the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

The cords of the grave coiled around me;
 the snares of death confronted me.

He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
 he drew me out of deep waters.

He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
 from my foes, who were too strong for me.

They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
 but the Lord was my support.

He brought me out into a spacious place;
 he rescued me because he delighted in me.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 11th of August 2026 brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who wondered if Operation Ivy was quoting Nicholas with their line “all I know is that I don’t know nothing”- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who forgot to note that yesterday- which is today for me- marks 25 years of marriage to Beth Anne Harrah- happy anniversary! 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.