On This Date
On This Date
Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia,
April 9, 1865
Lieut. Gen. U.S. Grant, Commanding U.S.A.:
General: I have received your letter of this date, containing the terms of surrender of the army of northern Virginia, as proposed by you; As they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter of the 8th inst., they are accepted. I will proceed to designate the proper officers to carry stipulations late effect.
Very Respectfully, Your Obedient Servant, R. E. Lee, General.
April 9, 1865
Lieut. Gen. U.S. Grant, Commanding U.S.A.:
General: I have received your letter of this date, containing the terms of surrender of the army of northern Virginia, as proposed by you; As they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter of the 8th inst., they are accepted. I will proceed to designate the proper officers to carry stipulations late effect.
Very Respectfully, Your Obedient Servant, R. E. Lee, General.
On This Date BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
| 1939 | Black singer Marian Anderson performed at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., after she was denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution because of her race. |
| 1940 | Germany invaded Denmark and Norway during World War II. |
| 1942 | American and Philippine defenders on Bataan capitulated to Japanese forces during World War II. |
| 1959 | NASA announced the selection of America's first seven astronauts: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Donald Slayton. |
| 1969 | The album "Nashville Skyline" by Bob Dylan was released. |
| 1992 | Former Panamanian ruler Manuel Noriega was convicted in Miami of eight drug and racketeering charges. |
| 2001 | American Airlines' parent company acquired bankrupt Trans World Airlines. |
| 2003 | Jubilant Iraqis celebrated the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, beheading a toppled statue of their longtime ruler in downtown Baghdad. |
| 2005 | Britain's Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles, who took the title Duchess of Cornwall. |
The final two days exchange of correspondence between General Grant and General Lee is captivating today and would have been far more so, life and death news, for a resident of Atlanta, Montgomery, Manhattan, Apalachicola, Philadelphia, New Orleans or Washington in April 1865. The Jerusalem Journal on this date --what? 1,979 years ago? -- might have carried a front page headline, or more likely a third or fourth page article, about followers of an executed insurrectionist claiming their leader had been raised from the dead and was seen about the city.
Anglican Communion News Service headline for yesterday reports, “The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams says that the ultimate test of the Christian religion is not whether it is useful, beneficial or helpful to the human race but whether or not its central claim – the resurrection of Jesus Christ – actually happened.” http://www.aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2012/4/8/ACNS5085
Did it actually happen, or did it become more true with the passing days, years, centuries? My theology professor at seminary said, “It is not tritely true for us it’s either objectively true or it’s a lie.” So, it isn’t “true for Christians,” it’s either true or not. And if it isn’t true we are, as Paul says, pitiable fools.
It is said that objective “truth” has no place in postmodernity, that in our pluralistic world everything is relative, depends on how one was raised; on one’s perspective, point of view, interpretation and understanding. But if the Bible is true, truth is not something to decide for yourself. Truth is something either to see as a first hand witness, or to hear witnesses testify about and believe or disbelieve depending on how credible the testimony is. If that’s how juries work, it’s also how faith works.
Did God raise Jesus from death, or not?
TW+