Figures in church history

The fathers

Before any of the divisions that would let one tradition claim them.

• Ignatius of Antioch c. 35–c. 108

  Seven letters written on the road to his execution

• Polycarp of Smyrna c. 69–c. 155

  The link between the apostles and the second century

• Justin Martyr c. 100–c. 165

  Arguing for Christianity in the terms of philosophy

• Irenaeus of Lyon c. 130–c. 202

  Against Heresies, and the case for a single scripture

• Tertullian c. 155–c. 220

  The first great Christian writer in Latin

• Perpetua and Felicity c. 182–203

  A martyr's prison diary, in her own hand

• Origen of Alexandria c. 185–c. 253

  The first systematic theologian, and the first great biblical scholar

• Cyprian of Carthage c. 210–258

  What to do with those who failed under persecution

• Antony of Egypt c. 251–356

  The desert as a way of life

• Athanasius of Alexandria c. 296–373

  Holding the Nicene faith through five exiles

• Gregory of Nazianzus c. 329–390

  The five orations that settled the doctrine of the Trinity

• Basil of Caesarea c. 330–379

  Monastic rule, and a hospital city outside Caesarea

• Macrina the Younger c. 330–379

  The household that produced the Cappadocian theology

• Gregory of Nyssa c. 335–c. 395

  Mystical theology, and an outright attack on slavery

• Ambrose of Milan c. 339–397

  A bishop who made an emperor do penance

• Jerome c. 342–420

  The Vulgate

• John Chrysostom c. 347–407

  Preaching that got him exiled twice

• Augustine of Hippo 354–430

  Confessions, The City of God, and the shape of western theology

• Cyril of Alexandria c. 376–444

  The christology behind Ephesus, and the methods behind it

• Patrick c. 385–c. 461

  The mission to Ireland, described by the missionary

• Leo the Great c. 400–461

  The Tome that Chalcedon adopted, and a meeting with Attila

Medieval

East and west, increasingly apart.

• Benedict of Nursia c. 480–c. 547

  The Rule that organised western monasticism

• Gregory the Great c. 540–604

  Administering a city, and sending a mission to England

• Maximus the Confessor c. 580–662

  Two wills in Christ, argued at the cost of his hand and tongue

• Bede c. 673–735

  The Ecclesiastical History of the English People

• John of Damascus c. 675–c. 749

  The defence of icons, written from outside the empire

• Cyril and Methodius c. 826–885

  An alphabet made so the Slavs could have scripture

• Anselm of Canterbury 1033–1109

  Faith seeking understanding

• Bernard of Clairvaux 1090–1153

  The Cistercian reform, and the Second Crusade

• Hildegard of Bingen 1098–1179

  Visions, medicine, and music unlike anyone else's

• Dominic de Guzmán c. 1170–1221

  Preachers trained to argue

• Francis of Assisi c. 1181–1226

  Poverty taken literally

• Thomas Aquinas 1225–1274

  The Summa Theologiae

• Gregory Palamas 1296–1359

  The distinction between God's essence and his energies

• John Wycliffe c. 1328–1384

  Scripture in English, a century early

• Julian of Norwich c. 1343–c. 1416

  Revelations of Divine Love

• Catherine of Siena 1347–1380

  Telling the pope to go back to Rome

• Jan Hus c. 1372–1415

  Burned at Constance under a safe-conduct

Reformation

And the Catholic reform that answered it.

• Martin Luther 1483–1546

  The ninety-five theses, and the German Bible

• Bartolomé de las Casas 1484–1566

  Arguing that the peoples of the Americas were being destroyed

• Huldrych Zwingli 1484–1531

  The Reformation in Zurich, and the split over the supper

• Thomas Cranmer 1489–1556

  The Book of Common Prayer

• Ignatius of Loyola 1491–1556

  The Jesuits, and the Spiritual Exercises

• William Tyndale c. 1494–1536

  The English New Testament, and death for making it

• Menno Simons 1496–1561

  Giving the Anabaptists a non-violent shape

• Philipp Melanchthon 1497–1560

  The Augsburg Confession

• Conrad Grebel c. 1498–1526

  The first believers' baptism, in January 1525

• Jakob Hutter c. 1500–1536

  Community of goods, and death for organising it

• John Calvin 1509–1564

  The Institutes, and the Geneva experiment

• John Knox c. 1514–1572

  The Scottish Reformation

• Teresa of Ávila 1515–1582

  The Interior Castle, and a reformed Carmelite order

• John of the Cross 1542–1591

  The dark night of the soul

Modern

Revival, mission, abolition, and the arguments those raised.

• George Fox 1624–1691

  The inward light, and the founding of the Quakers

• John Bunyan 1628–1688

  The Pilgrim's Progress, written in gaol

• Nikolaus von Zinzendorf 1700–1760

  Sheltering the Moravians, and sending them everywhere

• John Wesley 1703–1791

  Methodism, and 250,000 miles on horseback

• Jonathan Edwards 1703–1758

  The theology of the Great Awakening

• Charles Wesley 1707–1788

  Something over six thousand hymns

• George Whitefield 1714–1770

  Preaching to crowds no building could hold

• John Newton 1725–1807

  Amazing Grace, written by a former slave trader

• Seraphim of Sarov 1754–1833

  A thousand nights on a rock, and then an open door

• William Wilberforce 1759–1833

  Twenty years of bills against the slave trade

• Richard Allen 1760–1831

  The first independent Black denomination in the United States

• William Carey 1761–1834

  The society that began the modern missionary movement

• Sojourner Truth c. 1797–1883

  Preaching abolition and women's rights on the same platform

• David Livingstone 1813–1873

  Exploration, and a campaign against the slave trade

• Søren Kierkegaard 1813–1855

  Attacking Christendom in the name of Christianity

• Hudson Taylor 1832–1905

  A mission that dressed and lived Chinese

• Charles Spurgeon 1834–1892

  The largest congregation in the world, before amplification

• Thérèse of Lisieux 1873–1897

  The little way

Twentieth century and after

Everyone here is dead; a living person is a different kind of page.

• William J. Seymour 1870–1922

  The Azusa Street revival

• Karl Barth 1886–1968

  The Church Dogmatics, and the Barmen Declaration

• Corrie ten Boom 1892–1983

  Hiding Jews above a watch shop

• Dorothy Day 1897–1980

  The Catholic Worker

• C. S. Lewis 1898–1963

  Mere Christianity, and Narnia

• Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1906–1945

  The cost of discipleship, and a plot against Hitler

• Mother Teresa 1910–1997

  The Missionaries of Charity

• Óscar Romero 1917–1980

  Shot at the altar for naming what was happening

• John Paul II 1920–2005

  The first non-Italian pope in 455 years

• Martin Luther King Jr. 1929–1968

  The civil rights movement, argued from a pulpit

• Desmond Tutu 1931–2021

  Truth and Reconciliation