Wednesday, November 4, 2026

It is the 4th of November 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

There are so many little hooks with which we could start this show. How many sins does the average Christian commit in their lifetime? How did the question of Britain’s national debt lead to one of the most beloved hymns of all time? The minister converted by a Wesleyan who became Wesley’s greatest enemy? The old fox versus the Chimney sweep? I’ll start with this: this is the story of the man who wrote what is probably my favorite hymn. We’ve told aspects of the story before- today I’ll introduce you to the author- the man born on this, the 4th of November in 1740: he was Augustus Toplady.

 

Augustus was the son of Richard and Catherine Toplady. Richard was a military officer who served in Cartagena in Colombia and was killed in battle when Augustus was just one year old. He and his mother would eventually move to Ireland, where her family lived, and Augustus would attend Trinity College, Dublin. Augustus came to faith, dating his own conversion to a sermon he heard in an Irish barn by the Wesley-influenced Rev. James Morris. Toplady, called to the ministry, would take Holy Orders in the Anglican Church and by 1766 was a priest in Devon. As a young priest, he became increasingly convinced that the Calvinist wing of the church should triumph over those, like Wesley, who didn’t hold to the same doctrine of Predestination. Toplady wrote "The Doctrine of Absolute Predestination Stated and Asserted,” which, for him, was the root of all real assurance. His assurance wasn’t in his own decision, but rather in the unshakeable decree of God. John Wesley was not amused and wrote a work summarizing and condemning it. This led to a fierce battle between the two in print. Toplady wrote one tract to Wesley as “An Old Fox Tarr’d and Feathered”. Wesley responded, comparing arguing with Toplady to fighting with a chimney sweep- even if you win, you get dirty.

 

I’m sure the two have reconciled now. The occasion for the cease-fire in print was the illness of Toplady, who had to leave his position for London. There he helped serve a French Calvinist community and wrote poetry and worked for the Gospel Magazine.

 

It was writing for that magazine in 1776 that he wrote a curious article: “‘A remarkable Calculation: Introduced here, for the sake of the spiritual Improvement subjoined. Questions and Answers, relative to the National Debt’”

 

He calculated that the current national debt was so large it could never be paid off. He then applied that “debt” to the Christian and calculated how many sins a Christian might commit; he wrote: “At ten years old each of us is chargeable with 315 millions and 36 thousand sins. At twenty, with 630 millions, and 720 thousand. At thirty, with 946 millions and 80 thousand…”

 

Toplady went on to ask how great indeed our salvation must be- he quoted from a hymn by Isaac Watts and then wrote his own couplet to describe the grace of God in the work of Christ. He wrote:

 

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee!

Foul I to the fountain fly:

Wash me, Saviour, or I die.

No other verses, no tune- just the language. It could be noted that Charles Wesley had already written a hymn with the line: “Rock of Israel, Cleft For Me”… and I take great pleasure in a hymnal I have that has both this great hymn “Rock of Ages” opposite of “Jesus, Lover of My Soul” by Wesley. Augustus and the two brothers forever linked, despite the hostility.

Augustus, often ill, would succumb to tuberculosis in 1778, after finishing the hymn and many others which he would publish in his Psalms and Hymns for Public and Private Worship. We will hear from the hymn in our final word today. Augustus Toplady, priest, controversialist, magazine editor and hymn writer- author of Rock of Ages- was born on this day in 1740 and died at only 37 years old.

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and Toplady’s hymn:

1 Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

let me hide myself in thee;

let the water and the blood,

from thy wounded side which flowed,

be of sin the double cure;

save from wrath and make me pure.

 

2 Not the labors of my hands

can fulfill thy law's demands;

could my zeal no respite know,

could my tears forever flow,

all for sin could not atone;

thou must save, and thou alone.

 

3 Nothing in my hand I bring,

simply to the cross I cling;

naked, come to thee for dress;

helpless, look to thee for grace;

foul, I to the fountain fly;

wash me, Savior, or I die.

 

4 While I draw this fleeting breath,

when mine eyes shall close in death,

when I soar to worlds unknown,

see thee on thy judgment throne,

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

let me hide myself in thee.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 4th of November 2026 brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced with certainly fewer than 946 million sins… he would know, he counts them all- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man just happy the election ads and texts are done for now… 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.