© 2013 by Daryl Aaron Published by Bethany House Publishers 11400 Hampshire Avenue South Bloomington, Minnesota 55438 www.bethanyhouse.com Bethany House Publishers is a division of Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan www.bakerpublishinggroup.com Ebook edition created 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC. ISBN 978-1-4412-6156-4 Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com Cover design by Eric Walljasper A highly readable, factually accurate, and attractively presented synopsis of the life and contribution of the major shapers of the Christian faith. The 40 Most Influential Christians Who Shaped What We Believe Today is a wonderful introduction to the history of the Christian church; it engages its readers, carrying them beyond the basics into an understanding of the progress and contours of Christian intellectual life. It is simply an informative, beneficial, and delightful read. —John D. Hannah, Dallas Theological Seminary, Distinguished Professor of Historical Theology, Research Professor of Theological Studies This book is dedicated to my past and present colleagues in the Biblical and Theological Studies Department of Northwestern College. It has been my immense privilege to serve with you for sixteen years and counting. You too have been and are very influential Christians—in the lives of thousands of students as well as my own. C ONTENTS Cover 1 Title Page 2 Copyright Page 3 Endorsement 4 Dedication 5 Acknowledgments 9 A Chronology of These Influential Christians 10 Introduction 11 1. Clement of Rome 17 2. Ignatius of Antioch 23 3. Justin Martyr 29 4. Irenaeus 35 5. Tertullian 43 6. Clement of Alexandria 51 7. Origen 57 8. Cyprian of Carthage 65 9. Athanasius 71 10. Basil, Gregory, and Gregory (The Cappadocian Fathers) 77 11. Theodore of Mopsuestia 83 12. Cyril of Alexandria 89 13. Leo the Great 95 14. Augustine 101 15. Gregory the Great 111 16. John of Damascus 117 17. Anselm of Canterbury 123 18. Peter Abelard 129 19. Thomas Aquinas 135 20. Julian of Norwich 143 21. Martin Luther 149 22. Ulrich Zwingli 157 23. John Calvin 163 24. Menno Simons 171 Brief Interlude 177 25. Richard Hooker 183 26. James Arminius 189 27. Philipp Spener 195 28. Jonathan Edwards 201 29. John Wesley 209 30. Friedrich Schleiermacher 215 31. Albrecht Ritschl 221 32. J. Gresham Machen 227 33. Karl Barth 233 34. Paul Tillich 243 35. Dietrich Bonhoeffer 251 36. Jürgen Moltmann 257 37. Karl Rahner 263 38. Gustavo Gutiérrez 271 39. Rosemary Radford Ruether 279 40. Carl F. H. Henry 285 Conclusion 293 Appendix 296 The Creed of Nicea 297 The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed 299 Resources 301 About the Author 303 Endnotes 304 Back Ad 305 Back Cover 306 A CKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. John Hannah for his gracious willingness to read this manuscript and offer a generous endorsement. This is especially meaningful to me because Dr. Hannah is the one who sparked my interest in the whole area of historical theology, the subject matter of the book. I took the first History of Doctrine course that he offered at Dallas Theological Seminary (in the fall of 1977!). That in turn prompted me to undertake an additional graduate program in the History of Ideas at the University of Texas at Dallas. Dr. Hannah was also my favorite teacher. He was indeed a very influential Christian who shaped what I believe and how I teach today. I would also like to thank Andy McGuire, my editor at Bethany House. He has guided and encouraged me now through three books. I greatly appreciate all that he has done, as well as the rest of the very capable staff at Bethany House.