December 4, 749: Greek Orthodox theologian and poet John of Damascus dies near Jerusalem. The last great doctor of the Greek church, he wrote comprehensively on the theology of Eastern Christianity and fought against those who wanted to rid the church of icons.

December 4, 1093: Anselm, called "the founder of Scholasticism" and the greatest scholar between Augustine and Aquinas, is consecrated archbishop of Canterbury.

December 4, 1674: French Jesuit missionary Jacques Marquette erects a mission on Lake Michigan-the first building in what would become the city of Chicago.

December 5, 220 (traditional date): Clement of Alexandria, the first early church theologian to show an extensive knowledge of pagan and Christian writings (in his refutations of pagan criticisms), dies.

December 5, 1484: Innocent VIII issues a papal bull giving two German inquisitors jurisdiction over witchcraft. He probably didn't mean for it to be a major change of policy, but the Germans used it to promote their book, Hammer of Witches. Its publication led to the (often-exaggerated) witch-hunting from the 1500s onward.

December 5, 1862: C.T. Studd, pioneer missionary, is born in England. Originally famous as a cricket star, he converted at age 21 under the preaching of D.L. Moody, and he dedicated his life and considerable inherited wealth to Christ. In 1885 he and six others, the "Cambridge Seven," sailed to Asia to serve with the China Inland Mission. He later ministered in India and Africa as well.

December 6, 345 (traditional date): Nicholas, bishop of Myra, one of the most popular saints in the Greek and Latin churches-and Santa Claus's namesake-dies.

December 6, 1273: Following a tremendous mystical experience while conducting Mass, Thomas Aquinas suspends work on his Summa Theologica. "I can do no more," he told his servant. "Such things have been revealed to me that all that I have written seems to me as so much straw. Now I await the end of my life."

December 7, 374: Ambrose is consecrated bishop of Milan, Italy. The first bishop to stand up to the emperor and win (thus creating a church-state precedent that would influence the West for a millennium), he was also an influential theologian, especially regarding the Holy Spirit. His preaching led to the conversion of Augustine.

December 7, 1598: Sculptor and architect Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, best known for "The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa," is born in Naples.

December 7, 1965: Pope Paul VI and Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras I simultaneously lift mutual excommunications in place since the Great Schism of 1054.

December 8, 1934: American missionaries John and Betty Stam are beheaded by Chinese communists. The couple had met while attending Moody Bible Institute and married just the year before their death. Publication of their biography prompted hundreds to volunteer for missionary service.

December 9, 1843: The first Christmas cards-actually more like postcards-are created and sold for a shilling.