Today in Christian History   1619 In Holland, the six month long Synod of Dort ended. Confirming the authority of the "Heidelberg Catechism," the decisions of the Synod led to some 200 Arminian clergy being afterward deprived of their offices. 1828 Birth of Andrew Murray, South African Dutch Reformed clergyman and devotional writer. His most famous writing was "Abide in Christ" (1864). 1905 Birth of Merrill Dunlop, American sacred chorister and hymnwriter. He directed the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle for many years, and is author of the hymn, "My Sins Are Blotted Out, I Know." 1961 English apologist C.S. Lewis, offering an evaluation of English Bible translations, wrote in a letter: 'A modern translation is for most purposes far more useful than the Authorized [i.e., King James] Version.' 1983 John Paul II announced the reversal of the Catholic Church's 1633 condemnation of Galileo Galilei, the scientist who first espoused the Copernican (i.e., heliocentric) view of our solar system. © 1987-2001, William D. Blake. Used by permission of the author, from Almanac of the Christian Church