131 Christians Everyone Should Know

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Timeline

Theologians

	Athanasius
	Five-time exile for fighting “orthodoxy”

	Augustine of Hippo
	Architect of the Middle Ages

	John of Damascus
	Image-conscious Arab

	Anselm
	Reluctant bishop with a remarkable mind

	Thomas Aquinas
	The brilliant “dumb ox”

	Martin Luther
	Passionate reformer

	John Calvin
	Father of the Reformed faith

	Jacob Arminius
	Irenic anti-Calvinist

	Jonathan Edwards
	America\'s greatest theologian

	Karl Barth
	Courageous theologian

Evangelists and Apologists

	Justin Martyr
	Defender of the “true philosophy”

	Clement of Alexandria
	Theologian for the intelligentsia

	Gregory Thaumaturgus
	“The Wonder Worker”

	Antony of Padua
	“The hammer of heretics”

	Blaise Pascal
	Scientific and spiritual prodigy

	George Whitefield
	Sensational evangelist of Britain and America

	Charles Finney
	Father of American revivalism

	Dwight L. Moody
	Revivalist with a common touch

	Billy Sunday
	Salty evangelist

	Billy Graham
	Evangelist to millions

Pastors and Preachers

	Ambrose of Milan
	Most talented bishop of the early church

	John Chrysostom
	Early church\'s greatest preacher

	Richard Baxter
	Moderate in an age of extremes

	John Newton
	Reformed slave trader

	Charles Simeon
	Evangelical mentor and model

	Lyman Beecher
	Revivalist who moved with the times

	Thomas Chalmers
	Unrelenting advocate for the poor

	John Nelson Darby
	Father of dispensationalism

	Charles Spurgeon
	Finest nineteenth-century preacher

	Harry Emerson Fosdick
	Liberalism\'s popularizer

Musicians, Artists, and Writers
	Rembrandt Harmensz Van Rijn
	Dutch painter of the soul

	Johann Sebastian Bach
	“The Fifth Evangelist”

	George Frideric Handel
	Composer of Messiah

	John Bunyan
	Pilgrim who made progress in prison

	Harriet Beecher Stowe
	Author of Uncle Tom\'s Cabin

	Fyodor Dostoyevsky
	Russian novelist of spiritual depth

	George MacDonald
	Fabled Victorian writer

	G.K. Chesterton
	“Enormous” essayist, poet, writer

	Dorothy Sayers
	Mystery writer and apologist

	C.S. Lewis
	Scholar, author, and apologist

Poets

	Dante Alighieri
	Worldly creator of divine verse

	Geoffrey Chaucer
	Medieval England\'s greatest storyteller

	John Donne
	Poet of God\'s love

	George Herbert
	England\'s greatest religious poet

	John Milton
	Puritan author of Paradise Lost

	Anne Bradstreet
	America\'s first poet

	Isaac Watts
	Father of English hymnody

	Charles Wesley
	Greatest hymn writer of all time

	Fanny Crosby
	Prolific and blind hymn writer

	T.S. Eliot
	Modernist poet

Denominational Founders

	Menno Simons
	Anabaptist peacemaker

	John Knox
	Presbyterian with a sword

	John Smyth
	The “Se-Baptist”

	George Fox
	First Friend

	Nikolaus von Zinzendorf
	Christ-centered Moravian “brother”

	John Wesley
	Methodical pietist

	Francis Asbury
	Methodist on horseback

	Richard Allen
	Father of the American Methodist Episcopal Church

	William Miller
	Mistaken founder of Adventism

	Alexander Campbell
	Christian

	Aimee Semple McPherson
	Foursquare phenomenon

Movers and Shakers

	Benedict of Nursia
	Father of western monasticism

	Bernard of Clairvaux
	Medieval reformer and mystic

	Dominic
	Founder of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans)

	Francis of Assisi
	Mystical founder of the Franciscans

	John Wycliffe
	Medieval “protestant”

	Joan of Arc
	Teenage war hero with visions

	Ulrich Zwingli
	Militant Swiss reformer

	Ignatius of Loyola
	Founder of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits)

	Phoebe Palmer
	Mother of the holiness movement

	Søren Kierkegaard
	Christian existentialist

Missionaries

	Patrick
	Patron saint of Ireland

	Columbanus
	Irish missionary to Europe

	Cyril and Methodius
	Apostles to the Slavs

	Francis Xavier
	First missionary to Japan

	Matthew Ricci
	Controversial evangelist to China

	John Eliot
	Apostle to Native Americans

	William Carey
	Father of modern Protestant missions

	David Livingstone
	Missionary-explorer of Africa

	Hudson Taylor
	Faith missionary to China

Inner Travelers

	Antony of Egypt
	Greatest Desert Father

	Hildegard of Bingen
	Benedictine abbess, visionary, and writer

	Catherine of Siena
	Mystic and political activist

	Thomas à Kempis
	Author of the most popular devotional classic

	Teresa of Avila
	Carmelite mystic and feisty administrator

	John of the Cross
	Spanish mystic of the soul\'s dark night

	Brother Lawrence
	Practitioner of God\'s presence

	William Law
	Champion of the serious, devout, and holy life

	Andrew Murray
	Leading student in Christ\'s school of prayer

	Oswald Chambers
	Preacher who gave his utmost

Activists

	John Woolman
	Quaker mystic and abolitionist

	William Wilberforce
	Antislavery politician

	Elizabeth Fry
	Prison reformer

	Sojourner Truth
	Abolitionist and women\'s rights advocate

	Lord Shaftesbury (Antony Ashley Cooper)
	Godly English statesman

	William Gladstone
	Prime Minister of impeccable morals

	Harriet Tubman
	The “Moses” of her people

	Catherine Booth
	Compelling preacher and co-founder of the Salvation Army

	William Booth
	First General of the Salvation Army

	Walter Rauschenbusch
	Champion of the social gospel

Rulers

	Constantine
	First Christian emperor

	Theodosius I
	Emperor who made Christianity “the” Roman religion

	Justinian I and Theodora I
	Greatest Byzantine rulers

	Leo I
	Pope and international diplomat

	Gregory the Great
	“Servant of the Servants of God”

	Charlemagne
	Christian ruler of a “holy” empire

	Innocent III
	Warring “Vicar of Christ”

	Louis IX
	Saintly king of France

	Henry VIII
	Defender of the faith

Scholars and Scientists

	Origen
	Biblical scholar and philosopher

	Eusebius of Caesarea
	Father—and maker—of church history

	Jerome
	Bible translator whose version lasted a millennium

	The Venerable Bede
	Father of English history

	Erasmus
	Pious humanist who sparked the Reformation

	Nicholas Copernicus
	Revolutionary astronomer

	William Tyndale
	Translator of the first English New Testament

	John Foxe
	Martyrologist

	Francis Bacon
	Philosopher of science

	Galileo Galilei
	Misjudged astronomer

Martyrs

	Ignatius of Antioch
	Earliest post-New Testament martyr

	Polycarp
	Aged bishop of Smyrna

	Perpetua
	High society believer

	Boniface
	Apostle to Germany

	Thomas Becket
	Murdered archbishop of Canterbury

	John Huss
	Pre-Reformation reformer

	Thomas Cranmer
	Genius behind Anglicanism

	Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer
	English reformers who died together

	Dietrich Bonhoeffer
	German theologian and resister

Subject Index