Podcast Episode 30
Handel's Messiah Completed
with Dr. Michael Marrisen & host Nick Walters
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This episode of This Week in Christian History features another conversation with Nick Walters, founder of the Center for Christian History at Mississippi College. Each week, Nick highlights how the story of the Church has shaped not only the world around us but also the cultural, theological, and artistic legacy Christians continue to build.
The Deep Dive for this episode focuses on the completion of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah, one of the most influential works in Church and music history. Our guest is Dr. Michael Marissen, an internationally respected scholar of Baroque sacred music and Emeritus Professor of Music at Swarthmore College. While we do not summarize the content of the interview, this segment centers on the historical significance and Christian heritage surrounding Handel’s masterpiece, the theological environment in which it emerged, and the enduring impact of sacred music on Christian devotion and worship.
Alongside the Deep Dive, the episode continues our practice of highlighting two major events from this same week in Christian history. These events broaden our understanding of how Christian institutions, reform movements, and educational traditions developed across the centuries.
Historical Highlight 1: September 8, 1636 – The Founding of Harvard College
The Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony understood the importance of training ministers capable of teaching Scripture and defending the Gospel in their new world. On September 8, 1636, they established Harvard College, named for John Harvard, an English minister who immigrated to the colony and left his library and half his estate to support the school. The founders selected John 17:3 as the institution’s guiding verse: “And this is life eternal, that they know Thee to be the only very God and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent” (Geneva Bible). For decades, Harvard served primarily as a ministerial training center, shaping generations of clergy who influenced New England’s religious and civic culture.
Historical Highlight 2: September 10, 1718 – The Collegiate School Becomes Yale
Only two days after remembering the founding of Harvard, this week also marks the anniversary of an important milestone for another Christian educational institution. Concerned that Harvard was drifting from its Calvinist roots, a group of Congregationalists founded The Collegiate School at New Haven in 1701. Its purpose was to preserve a more explicitly Reformed theological identity in ministerial education. On September 10, 1718, the institution received a substantial gift from merchant and philanthropist Elihu Yale, and the school was renamed Yale College. The change strengthened its commitment to rigorous instruction in classical studies, theology, and pastoral preparation. Both Harvard and Yale would go on to shape American religious and intellectual life for centuries.
These events, combined with our Deep Dive on Handel’s Messiah, reflect how Christian convictions have shaped music, theology, education, and culture across the centuries. Each week, This Week in Christian History highlights how believers pursued truth, built institutions, and contributed to the Christian heritage we inherit today.
Image Credit:
Balthasar Denner, Portrait of George Frideric Handel. Public domain image via Wikimedia Commons.
