It all happened so quickly.

The elderly congressman of Massachusetts, two years removed from a debilitating stroke that left him partially paralyzed, rose slowly to his feet to answer a question from the Speaker. Crowded inside the United States Capitol’s House chamber, the representative suddenly convulsed and then stumbled, eliciting a loud gasp from those gathered. The octogenarian then fell back into the arms of his colleague, Ohio Rep. David Fisher. A reporter who was there that day wrote, “His face [was] covered with a deathlike pallor, [and] water streamed from his eyes and nose.”

Another unfortunate incident in a recent string of health emergencies related to aging Washington leadership?

Not quite.

It was on February 21, 1848, that John Quincy Adams, 80, suffered a major and ultimately fatal stroke on the House floor. As you’ll remember from your history classes, the former president happily served in the House of Representatives for nearly 17 years after he lost his bid for reelection as president in 1829.

At the time, the life expectancy of a male in the United States hovered just above 38 years of age. When Rep. Adams returned to the House following his first stroke in 1846, fellow members stood and cheered. That the former president was still alive at all at 78, let alone actively serving in elected office with a disability, was something of an absolute marvel.

The Florida Board of Education released revised standards for the state’s K-12 African American History curriculum, prompting outrage across the nation. But critics don’t seem to have a problem with the whole 21-page document — just a select few lines. Here is an in-depth look at passages causing the controversy, what people are saying and what you won’t hear from the media:

(SS.68.AA.2.3) “Examine the various duties and trades performed by slaves (e.g., agricultural work, painting, carpentry, tailoring, domestic service, blacksmithing, transportation).”
Benchmark Clarification 1: “Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”

(SS.912.AA.2.8) “Examine the range and variety of specialized roles performed by slaves.”

Benchmark Clarification 1: “Instruction includes the trades of slaves (e.g., musicians, healers, blacksmiths, carpenters, shoemakers, weavers, tailors, sawyers, hostlers, silversmiths, wheelwrights, wigmakers, milliners, painters, coopers).”

Most of the criticism leveled at the standards reference Benchmark Clarification 1 of SS.68.AA.2.3. Some critics argue this amounts to, “teaching middle schoolers that enslaved people benefited from slavery.” In a recent opinion piece, Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson expounds on this point, arguing slaves couldn’t benefit from their skills because their labor belonged to their oppressors.

The writer of Ecclesiastes states that “there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9, ESV).

Bon Jovi expressed this idea lyrically, “The more things change the more they stay the same.”

Modern Christians can easily feel the anxiety and turbulence of our modern times is unprecedented and unique. A quick read through early Christian history shows this just isn’t the case.

Consider the Epistle to Diognetus, for example.

This early apologetic work is believed to have been written perhaps as early as 130 AD, just a generation or two removed from apostolic times.

It may be one of the earliest known noncanonical Christian writings.

Although the letter was most likely written early in the history of the church, the earliest existing copy was found in a manuscript from the 13th or 14th century and published in 1592. That copy was subsequently destroyed in a fire.

In fact, some historians originally attributed the letter to one “Apollos,” the acquaintance of the Apostle Paul mentioned in Acts. This attribution has since been called into question, and it remains officially anonymous.

As its title suggests, the letter was written to “Diognetus,” whom some historians identify as the tutor of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who the author says deeply desires to learn how Christians worship God.