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People in the Bible and figures of church history · Articles: 409 (1,278 in the whole category)

A 36

  • A. W. TozerA. W. Tozer (1897–1963) was an American pastor and author in the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA). He is widely known for books emphasizing a…
  • Aaron ben AsherAaron ben Asher was a Jewish Masorete active in Tiberias in Galilee during the first half of the tenth century. The last representative of the Ben As…
  • AbishaiAbishai was the son of Zeruiah, David's sister, and the brother of Joab and Asahel. One of David's military commanders and mighty men, he took part i…
  • Abraham KuyperAbraham Kuyper (1837–1920) was a Dutch Reformed theologian, journalist, and statesman who founded the Free University of Amsterdam and served as Prim…
  • Ada Cecelia PfautzAda Cecelia Pfautz (1899–1987) was the wife of A. W. Tozer, an American pastor and author in the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA). She marrie…
  • Adad-guppiAdad-guppi (7th–6th centuries BC) was the mother of Nabonidus, the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. She is said to have served the moon god Sî…
  • Adolf von HarnackAdolf von Harnack (1851–1930) was a German Protestant theologian and church historian. The author of the *History of Dogma* and *What Is Christianity…
  • Adoniram JudsonAdoniram Judson (1788–1850) was an American Baptist missionary. Working in Burma (present-day Myanmar) for nearly forty years beginning in 1813, he p…
  • Ahn Byung-muAhn Byung-mu (1922–1996) was a Korean New Testament scholar and a leading founder of Minjung theology. He is known for interpreting the "crowd" (ochl…
  • Ahn ChanghoAhn Changho (安昌浩, 1878–1938), known by his pen name Dosan (島山), was a Korean independence activist and educator during the period of Japanese co…
  • Ahn Ei-sookAhn Ei-sook (1908–1997) was a Korean Protestant who was imprisoned for about six years during the Japanese colonial period for refusing Shinto shrine…
  • Aimee Semple McPhersonAimee Semple McPherson (1890–1944) was a Canadian-born Pentecostal evangelist and early radio preacher who ministered in the United States. She found…
  • Albert SchweitzerAlbert Schweitzer (1875–1965) was an Alsatian theologian, philosopher, organist, and physician. His The Quest of the Historical Jesus left a major ma…
  • Albrecht RitschlAlbrecht Ritschl (1822–1889) was a German Lutheran theologian who taught at Bonn and Göttingen. He built a theological system centered on justificati…
  • Alexander Van AlstyneAlexander Van Alstyne (1831–1902) was a blind American musician and teacher of the nineteenth century. He is known chiefly as the husband of the hymn…
  • Alexander the GreatAlexander the Great (356–323 BC) was a king of ancient Macedonia who overthrew the Persian Empire and built an empire stretching from Greece to the I…
  • Alice Rebecca AppenzellerAlice Rebecca Appenzeller (1885–1950) was an American Methodist missionary and educator. The daughter of Henry Appenzeller, she was born in Seoul and…
  • Alvin PlantingaAlvin Plantinga (born 1932) is an American analytic philosopher. A leading figure in "Reformed epistemology," which defends the rationality of belief…
  • AmbroseAmbrose (c. 339–397) was a fourth-century bishop of Milan and one of the leading Fathers of the Western Church. He defended the Nicene faith against …
  • Amy CarmichaelAmy Carmichael (1867–1951) was an Irish missionary. She served in South India for fifty-five years, founded the Dohnavur Fellowship, and is known for…
  • Anders NygrenAnders Nygren (1890–1978) was a Swedish Lutheran theologian and bishop. In *Agape and Eros* he offered a systematic account of the Christian concept …
  • Andrew Kim TaegonAndrew Kim Taegon (1821–1846) was a Catholic priest of the late Joseon period in Korea. In 1845 he became the first Korean to be ordained a Catholic …
  • Ann Hasseltine JudsonAnn Hasseltine Judson (1789–1826) was an American Baptist missionary. She served alongside her husband, Adoniram Judson, in Burma (present-day Myanma…
  • Anna AdlischwylerAnna Adlischwyler (d. 1564) was a sixteenth-century woman of Zurich, Switzerland. A former nun of the Oetenbach convent, she married the reformer Hei…
  • Anna NitschmannAnna Nitschmann (1715–1760) was an eighteenth-century woman leader of the Moravian Church. Chosen as an eldress of the Herrnhut community before the …
  • Anna ReinhartAnna Reinhart (c. 1484–1538) was a native of Zurich, Switzerland, and the wife of the Reformer Ulrich Zwingli. Her marriage to Zwingli, made public i…
  • Anne (Mother of Mary)Anne is known from the second-century apocryphal Protoevangelium of James as the wife of Joachim and the mother of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. …
  • Annie BairdAnnie Baird (1864–1916) was an American woman missionary of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (Northern Presbyterian), known in Korea as An Ae-ri…
  • Anselm of CanterburyAnselm (c. 1033–1109) was a theologian of the medieval Western Church and Archbishop of Canterbury. He is known for his method of "faith seeking unde…
  • Anthony of EgyptAnthony of Egypt (c. 251–356) was an early church hermit who lived a solitary monastic life in the Egyptian desert. He is often called the "Father of…
  • Antiochus IV EpiphanesAntiochus IV Epiphanes was king of the Seleucid Empire from 175 to 164 BC. He defiled the Jerusalem temple and persecuted Judaism, provoking the Macc…
  • Arthur PiersonArthur Pierson (1837–1911) was an American Presbyterian minister, Bible teacher, and missions advocate. During a 1910 visit to Korea, he promised to …
  • AthanasiusAthanasius (c. 296 or 298–373) was a fourth-century bishop of Alexandria. He defended the full divinity of the Son against Arianism and is known as t…
  • August Hermann FranckeAugust Hermann Francke (1663–1727) was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian, and educator. He led Halle Pietism and founded an orphanage and several …
  • Augustine of HippoAugustine (354–430) was bishop of Hippo Regius in North Africa and one of the foremost Church Fathers of the Western church. His teaching on grace an…
  • AugustusAugustus (63 BC–AD 14) was the first emperor of the Roman Empire. He appears in Luke 2:1 as "Caesar Augustus," who issued the decree for the census, …

B 16

  • B. B. WarfieldB. B. Warfield (1851–1921) was an American Presbyterian theologian. He taught at Princeton Theological Seminary for thirty-four years and is a leadin…
  • Bang Ji-ilBang Ji-il (1911–2014) was a minister of the Presbyterian Church of Korea (Tonghap). Beginning in 1937, he served for twenty-one years as a missionar…
  • BasilidesBasilides was a Christian Gnostic teacher who taught in Alexandria, Egypt, in the first half of the second century. The Church Fathers treated him as…
  • BedeBede (672/673–735) was a monk, priest, and scholar of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria in England. He wrote the *Ecclesiastical History of the …
  • Benedict XVIBenedict XVI (1927–2022), born Joseph Ratzinger, was a German-born prelate who served as the 265th pope of the Roman Catholic Church (2005–2013). Kno…
  • Benedict of NursiaBenedict of Nursia (c. 480 – c. 547) was an Italian monk. He founded the monastery of Monte Cassino and wrote the Rule of Saint Benedict, laying the …
  • Bernard of ClairvauxBernard of Clairvaux (c. 1090–1153) was a twelfth-century French abbot and theologian. He played a central role in the growth of the Cistercian Order…
  • Bill BrightBill Bright (1921–2003) was an American evangelist who founded the student ministry Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC) in 1951. He also wrote the evange…
  • Billy GrahamBilly Graham (1918–2018) was an American Southern Baptist minister and mass evangelist. He is regarded as a leading representative of twentieth-centu…
  • Billy SundayBilly Sunday (1862–1935) was an American revivalist and former professional baseball player. A Presbyterian minister, he is known for holding large-s…
  • Blaise PascalBlaise Pascal (1623–1662) was a French mathematician, scientist, and Catholic religious writer. He sided with the Jansenists and criticized the Jesui…
  • Bob PierceBob Pierce (1914–1978) was an American Baptist minister and evangelist. During the Korean War he founded World Vision (known in Korea as Sunmyunghoe)…
  • BonaventureBonaventure (1217 or c. 1221–1274) was a medieval Italian Scholastic theologian who served as Minister General of the Franciscan Order and as a cardi…
  • BonifaceBoniface (c. 675–754) was an English Benedictine monk and Archbishop of Mainz. A missionary who brought Christianity to the Germanic lands in the eig…
  • Brother AndrewBrother Andrew (1928–2022) was a Dutch lay missionary. Known as "God's Smuggler" for secretly carrying Bibles into Communist countries during the Col…
  • Brother LawrenceBrother Lawrence, born Nicolas Herman, was a seventeenth-century French lay brother of the Discalced Carmelites. He taught that one should remain con…

C 33

  • C. Peter WagnerC. Peter Wagner (1930–2016) was an American missionary and missiologist. He taught church growth at Fuller Theological Seminary and later championed …
  • C. S. LewisC. S. Lewis (1898–1963) was a British scholar of English literature, an author, and a lay member of the Church of England. Widely known for Mere Chri…
  • C. T. StuddC. T. Studd (1860–1931) was a British missionary and former England international cricketer. As one of the Cambridge Seven, he went to China, later s…
  • Calvin Ellis StoweCalvin Ellis Stowe (1802–1886) was an American biblical scholar and seminary professor. He worked to expand public education and was the husband of H…
  • Catherine BoothCatherine Booth (1829–1890) was a nineteenth-century English preacher. With her husband, William Booth, she founded The Salvation Army, and she is kn…
  • Catherine of SienaCatherine of Siena (1347–1380) was a fourteenth-century Italian mystic and Dominican tertiary. Through her letters to popes and her work as a mediato…
  • Chang Kee-ryoChang Kee-ryo (1911–1995) was a Korean surgeon and Christian social worker. He served as the first director of Gospel Hospital in Busan, and in 1968 …
  • CharlemagneCharlemagne (born 742 or c. 747–748; died 814) was king of the Franks. On Christmas Day 800 he was crowned emperor by Pope Leo III, and he is regarde…
  • Charles FinneyCharles Finney (1792–1875) was an American Presbyterian and Congregationalist minister and revivalist. He is regarded as a leading figure of the Seco…
  • Charles HodgeCharles Hodge (1797–1878) was an American Presbyterian theologian. He taught at Princeton Theological Seminary for more than half a century and wrote…
  • Charles ParhamCharles Fox Parham (1873–1929) was an American preacher and itinerant evangelist. As the first to systematize speaking in tongues as the evidence of …
  • Charles SimeonCharles Simeon (1759–1836) was an evangelical priest of the Church of England. He ministered at Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge, for fifty-four years,…
  • Charles SpurgeonCharles Spurgeon (1834–1892) was an English Baptist minister. He pastored the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London for thirty-eight years and is known a…
  • Charles WesleyCharles Wesley (1707–1788) was a priest of the Church of England and a hymn writer. With his elder brother John Wesley, he led the Methodist movement…
  • Cho Man-sikCho Man-sik (曺晩植, 1883–1950), known by the pen name Kodang (古堂), was a Korean independence activist, educator, politician, and Presbyterian chur…
  • Choi Byung-hunChoi Byung-hun (1858–1927) was a Korean Methodist minister and theologian active during the Korean Empire and the Japanese colonial period. His pen n…
  • Choi Heung-jongChoi Heung-jong (崔興宗, 1880–1966) was a Presbyterian minister and independence activist from Gwangju, Korea. He devoted his life to caring for peop…
  • Choi Ja-shilChoi Ja-shil (1915–1989) was a Korean Pentecostal woman minister. In 1958, together with David Yonggi Cho, who later became her son-in-law, she found…
  • Choi Tae-yongChoi Tae-yong (崔泰瑢, 1897–1950) was a Korean Protestant minister during the Japanese colonial period. Beginning in the Non-Church movement, he foun…
  • Choi Young-wookChoi Young-wook (1891–1950) was a Christian physician active in Gwangju, Korea. He worked as a physician at the Gwangju Jejungwon and served as presi…
  • Chung Kyung-okChung Kyung-ok (1903–1945) was a Korean Methodist minister and theologian during the Japanese colonial period. He taught systematic theology at the M…
  • Chŏn Tŏk-kiChŏn Tŏk-ki (1875–1914) was a Methodist minister who led Sangdong Church in Seoul during the Korean Empire period. He was also a nationalist activist…
  • Clement OwenClement Owen (1867–1909) was an ordained minister and medical missionary sent to Korea by the Southern Presbyterian Church in the United States. Know…
  • Clement of AlexandriaClement of Alexandria (c. 150–c. 215) was an early church father and theologian active in Alexandria. He is regarded as a leading figure of the Alexa…
  • Clement of RomeClement of Rome was a leader of the church in Rome in the late first century and an Apostolic Father, known as the author of a letter to the church i…
  • ColumbaColumba (c. 521–597) was an Irish monk and missionary. He founded a monastery on the island of Iona off the west coast of Scotland and, using it as h…
  • Constantin von TischendorfConstantin von Tischendorf (1815–1874) was a nineteenth-century German textual critic of the New Testament. At St. Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sin…
  • Constantine IConstantine I (c. 272–337) was the Roman emperor who legalized Christianity and convened the Council of Nicaea. During his reign the church changed f…
  • Coretta Scott KingCoretta Scott King (1927–2006) was an American civil rights activist and singer and the wife of Martin Luther King Jr. After her husband's assassinat…
  • Cornelius Van TilCornelius Van Til was a Dutch-born American Reformed theologian. He taught apologetics for many years at Westminster Theological Seminary and is know…
  • Corrie ten BoomCorrie ten Boom (1892–1983) was a Dutch Reformed Christian and watchmaker. During World War II she and her family hid Jews, and she was imprisoned in…
  • CyprianCyprian (c. 200–258) was a third-century bishop of Carthage in North Africa and a martyr. His writings on readmitting to the church those who had ren…
  • Cyril of AlexandriaCyril of Alexandria (c. 376–444) was a fifth-century bishop of Alexandria and Church Father who opposed Nestorius at the Council of Ephesus in 431 an…

D 12

  • David BoschDavid Jacobus Bosch (1929–1992) was a South African missiologist. He is best known for Transforming Mission (1991), which traces how missionary thoug…
  • David LivingstoneDavid Livingstone (1813–1873) was a Scottish Congregationalist medical missionary and explorer. Serving with the London Missionary Society, he explor…
  • David WilkersonDavid Wilkerson (1931–2011) was an American Pentecostal minister and evangelist. He founded Teen Challenge, a drug-addiction recovery ministry, and T…
  • David Yonggi ChoDavid Yonggi Cho (1936–2021) was a Pentecostal pastor. He founded Yoido Full Gospel Church, which began in 1958 as a tent church in Daejo-dong, Seoul…
  • Dawson TrotmanDawson Trotman (1906–1956) was an American evangelist. In 1933 he founded The Navigators, and he popularized an approach to discipleship centered on …
  • Desmond TutuDesmond Tutu (1931–2021) was a South African Anglican archbishop. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his opposition to apartheid, the syst…
  • Dietrich BonhoefferDietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945) was a German Lutheran pastor and theologian who took part in the Confessing Church movement in opposition to the Nazi…
  • DominicDominic (c. 1170–1221) was a Catholic priest from Castile who founded the Order of Preachers, known as the Dominican Order, which received papal appr…
  • DomitianDomitian (51–96) was a Roman emperor of the first century. In Christian tradition he is known as the emperor who exiled the apostle John to the islan…
  • Donald McGavranDonald Anderson McGavran (1897–1990) was an American missionary to India and a missiologist. He is known as the founder of church growth studies and …
  • Dorothy L. SayersDorothy L. Sayers (1893–1957) was an English detective novelist, playwright, translator, and Anglican lay Christian writer. She wrote *The Man Born t…
  • Dwight L. MoodyDwight Lyman Moody (1837–1899) was an American lay revival preacher. He led mass evangelistic campaigns in major cities, founded educational institut…

E 16

  • Edith SchaefferEdith Schaeffer (1914–2013) was an American missionary and Christian author. With her husband, Francis Schaeffer, she founded the L'Abri community in…
  • Edward MoteEdward Mote (1797–1874) was an English Baptist minister and hymn writer, best known as the author of the hymn "My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less," whi…
  • Elisabeth ElliotElisabeth Elliot (1926–2015) was an American Protestant missionary and Christian author. After her husband, Jim Elliot, was killed in Ecuador, she we…
  • Elisabeth Johanna SheppingElisabeth Johanna Shepping (1880–1934), known in Korea as Seo Seo-pyeong (徐舒平), was a German-born American nurse missionary of the Southern Presby…
  • Ella Dodge AppenzellerElla Dodge Appenzeller (1854–c. 1915) was the wife of Henry Appenzeller, a missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church (the Northern Methodist churc…
  • Ellen G. WhiteEllen G. White (1827–1915) was an American religious leader and author and a co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Adventists recognize her…
  • Emil BrunnerEmil Brunner (1889–1966) was a Swiss Reformed theologian. With Karl Barth he was a leader of dialectical theology, also known as neo-orthodoxy, and i…
  • Emily ChubbuckEmily Chubbuck (1817–1854) was a nineteenth-century American writer known by the pen name "Fanny Forester." The third wife of Adoniram Judson, she se…
  • Emma RevellEmma Revell (1843–1903) was the wife of the American revivalist Dwight L. Moody. A Sunday school teacher, she is known for supporting her husband's m…
  • ErasmusErasmus (c. 1466–1536) was a Dutch Catholic priest and humanist scholar. In 1516 he produced the first printed Greek New Testament to be published an…
  • Erdmuthe Dorothea von ReussErdmuthe Dorothea von Reuss (1700–1756) was a German countess and hymnwriter of the Pietist era. The first wife of Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, sh…
  • Eric LiddellEric Liddell (1902–1945) was a Scottish athlete and missionary. At the 1924 Paris Olympics he declined to run in the 100 meters heats, which were hel…
  • Eugene BellEugene Bell (1868–1925), known in Korean as Bae Yu-ji, was an American Southern Presbyterian missionary to Korea. He founded mission stations in Mokp…
  • Eugene PetersonEugene Peterson (1932–2018) was an American minister of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and a spiritual theologian. He wrote The Message, a renderin…
  • Eusebius of CaesareaEusebius (c. 260 – c. 339) was bishop of Caesarea in Palestine and a historian of the early church. His *Ecclesiastical History* has earned him the t…
  • EutychesEutyches (c. 380–after 454) was an archimandrite (abbot) in Constantinople. He taught that in Christ the divine and human natures were united into a …

F 11

  • Fanny CrosbyFanny Crosby (1820–1915) was a blind American hymn writer and poet. She wrote more than 8,000 hymn texts, including "Blessed Assurance," which appear…
  • Faye MoonFaye Moon (Moon Hye-rim, 1936–2022) was an American-born social worker and human rights activist and the wife of the Rev. Moon Dong-hwan. She publici…
  • Florence MackenzieFlorence Mackenzie (1911–1984) was a Canadian nurse. In 1934 she married Eric Liddell, the Scottish missionary and Olympic gold medalist, in Tianjin,…
  • Francis CollinsFrancis Collins (born 1950) is an American geneticist and physician. He led the Human Genome Project and the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH)…
  • Francis SchaefferFrancis Schaeffer (1912–1984) was an American Presbyterian minister and Christian apologist (one who explains and defends the rationality of the Chri…
  • Francis of AssisiFrancis of Assisi (1181/1182–1226) was a medieval Italian friar who founded the Order of Friars Minor (the Franciscans), a community devoted to a lif…
  • Frank SchofieldFrank William Schofield (1889–1970) was an English-born Canadian Presbyterian medical missionary and veterinary scientist. He is known in Korea by hi…
  • François FénelonFrançois Fénelon (1651–1715) was a French Catholic theologian, writer, and Archbishop of Cambrai. He is known for spiritual writings that emphasize "…
  • Frederick DouglassFrederick Douglass (1818–1895) was an American abolitionist, orator, and journalist. Born into slavery, he escaped and became a lay preacher in a Bla…
  • Friedrich SchleiermacherFriedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834) was a German Protestant theologian and philosopher. He defined the essence of religion as "the feeling of absolu…
  • Fyodor DostoevskyFyodor Dostoevsky (1821–1881) was a Russian novelist and a member of the Russian Orthodox Church. In works such as Crime and Punishment and The Broth…

G 16

  • G. K. ChestertonG. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) was an English journalist, author, and Christian apologist. He is best known for apologetic works such as Orthodoxy and …
  • Geerhardus VosGeerhardus Vos (1862–1949) was a Dutch-born American Reformed theologian who taught biblical theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. He is regard…
  • Geertruydt JansdochterGeertruydt Jansdochter was a sixteenth-century Dutch woman and the wife of the Anabaptist leader Menno Simons. After their marriage around 1536, she …
  • George FoxGeorge Fox (1624–1691) was an English itinerant preacher who founded the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers. He emphasized t…
  • George MacDonaldGeorge MacDonald (1824–1905) was a Scottish Congregationalist minister and author. His works, including Phantastes and The Princess and the Goblin, h…
  • George MüllerGeorge Müller (1805–1898) was a Prussian-born evangelist who ministered in Bristol, England. He ran his orphanages on the principle of relying on pra…
  • George WhitefieldGeorge Whitefield (1714–1770) was a priest of the Church of England and an itinerant preacher. He is regarded as one of the figures who sparked the e…
  • Gertrude Hobbs ChambersGertrude Hobbs Chambers (1883–1966) was an English Christian and the wife of Oswald Chambers. She took down her husband's lectures in shorthand and, …
  • Girolamo SavonarolaGirolamo Savonarola (1452–1498) was a Dominican friar and preacher active in Florence, Italy. He denounced corruption in the church and in society, w…
  • Gladys AylwardGladys Aylward (1902–1970) was an English-born independent missionary. She evangelized and cared for orphans in Shanxi Province, China, and is known …
  • Gottfried Wilhelm LeibnizGottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) was a German philosopher and mathematician. A Lutheran lay scholar, he wrote the *Theodicy*, a treatment of the…
  • Gregory IGregory I (c. 540–604) was bishop of Rome (pope) from 590 to 604. He is regarded as one of the leading Fathers of the Western Church and is also know…
  • Gregory VIIGregory VII (Hildebrand, d. 1085) was pope from 1073 to 1085. He led reforms prohibiting simony and the appointment of clergy by secular rulers, and …
  • Gregory the IlluminatorGregory the Illuminator converted the king of Armenia in the early fourth century, leading Armenia to adopt Christianity as its state religion. He is…
  • Gustaf AulénGustaf Aulén (1879–1977) was a Swedish Lutheran theologian and bishop. In *Christus Victor* he classified theories of the atonement, which explain th…
  • Gustavo GutiérrezGustavo Gutiérrez (1928–2024) was a Peruvian Catholic priest and theologian whose book A Theology of Liberation (1971) earned him the title "father o…

H 31

  • H. Richard NiebuhrHelmut Richard Niebuhr (1894–1962) was an American Protestant theologian and Christian ethicist. The younger brother of Reinhold Niebuhr, he taught a…
  • Ha Yong-joHa Yong-jo (1946–2011) was a minister of the Presbyterian Church of Korea (Tonghap). He founded Onnuri Church and the Christian publisher Duranno, an…
  • Ham Sok-honHam Sok-hon (1901–1989) was a Korean Christian thinker who belonged to the circle of contributors behind the journal *Seongseo Joseon* (Bible Korea) …
  • Ham Tae-youngHam Tae-young (咸台永, 1873–1964) was a Presbyterian minister who had earlier served as a judicial officer of the Korean Empire. He was one of the fo…
  • Han Kyung-ChikHan Kyung-Chik (1902–2000) was a Presbyterian minister and educator. In 1945 he founded Youngnak Church in Seoul. He later served as moderator of the…
  • Han Sang-dongHan Sang-dong (1901–1976) was a Presbyterian minister who led resistance to compulsory Shinto shrine worship during the Japanese colonial period in K…
  • Hans KüngHans Küng (1928–2021) was a Swiss Catholic priest and theologian. After he criticized the doctrine of papal infallibility, the Holy See revoked his a…
  • Harriet Beecher StoweHarriet Beecher Stowe (1811–1896) was an American author and abolitionist, best known for Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), a novel that indicted slavery. Th…
  • HegesippusHegesippus was a second-century Christian writer who compiled the Memoirs, a collection of early church traditions. The original work is lost and sur…
  • Heinrich BullingerHeinrich Bullinger (1504–1575) was a Swiss Reformer. He succeeded Huldrych Zwingli and led the church of Zurich for more than forty years, and he wro…
  • Helen KimHelen Kim (Kim Hwal-lan, 1899–1970) was a Methodist educator and leader in the women's movement. She was the first Korean principal of Ewha Women's C…
  • Helen Thompson SundayHelen Thompson Sunday (1868–1957) was an American evangelist. As the wife of the revivalist Billy Sunday, she organized his large-scale evangelistic …
  • HelenaHelena (c. 248 – c. 330) was the mother of the Roman emperor Constantine I. In her later years she made a pilgrimage to Palestine and sponsored the c…
  • Henri NouwenHenri Nouwen (1932–1996) was a Dutch Catholic priest and spiritual writer. After teaching at the divinity schools of Yale and Harvard, he served as p…
  • Henry AppenzellerHenry Appenzeller (1858–1902) was an American missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church (North) who arrived in Korea, then the Joseon kingdom, in …
  • Henry Dodge AppenzellerHenry Dodge Appenzeller (1889–1953) was an American Methodist missionary born in Seoul. He served for about twenty years as the fifth principal of Pa…
  • Henry MartynHenry Martyn (1781–1812) was a Church of England priest and a missionary who worked in India and Persia. He translated the New Testament into Urdu, P…
  • Henry VIIIHenry VIII (1491–1547) was King of England (reigned 1509–1547). After breaking with the pope over the annulment of his marriage, he declared the mona…
  • Henry Ward BeecherHenry Ward Beecher (1813–1887) was a nineteenth-century American Congregationalist preacher and abolitionist who served as pastor of Plymouth Church …
  • Herman BavinckHerman Bavinck (1854–1921) was a Dutch Reformed theologian. He taught at the Theological School in Kampen and at the Free University of Amsterdam, an…
  • Hermann GunkelHermann Gunkel (1862–1932) was a German Protestant Old Testament scholar. He is regarded as the founder of form criticism, a method that analyzes bib…
  • HillelHillel was a Jewish teacher of the Law, active from the late first century BC to the early first century AD, and the founder of the School of Hillel.…
  • HippolytusHippolytus (c. 170 – c. 235) was a presbyter and theologian of the church in Rome in the early third century. His *Refutation of All Heresies* is an …
  • HolofernesHolofernes is a character in the apocryphal Book of Judith who serves as commander in chief of King Nebuchadnezzar's army. He besieges Bethulia and i…
  • Homer HulbertHomer Hulbert (1863–1949) was an American Methodist missionary and educator. He came to Joseon in 1886 as an English teacher at the Yugyeong Gongwon …
  • Honorius IHonorius I (d. 638) was bishop of Rome (pope) from 625 to 638. Because of a letter that appeared to affirm a single will in Christ, he was condemned …
  • Horace AllenHorace Newton Allen (1858–1932) was an American medical missionary sent by the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (Northern Presbyterian) who later be…
  • Horace UnderwoodHorace Grant Underwood (1859–1916) was an American Northern Presbyterian missionary who arrived in Korea, then the Joseon kingdom, in 1885. He founde…
  • Hudson TaylorHudson Taylor (1832–1905) was a British Protestant missionary who founded the China Inland Mission (CIM) in 1865 and led missionary work in inland Ch…
  • Huldrych ZwingliHuldrych Zwingli (1484–1531) was a reformer who led the Reformation in Zurich, Switzerland. He is regarded as the starting point of the Reformed trad…
  • Hwang Sa-yeongHwang Sa-yeong (1775–1801) was a Catholic of the late Joseon period. During the Sinyu Persecution of 1801, he wrote the "Silk Letter of Hwang Sa-yeon…

I 6

  • Idelette de BureIdelette de Bure was a sixteenth-century woman from the Low Countries and the wife of the Reformer John Calvin. After the death of her first husband,…
  • Ignatius of AntiochIgnatius of Antioch was bishop of the church in Antioch in the early second century. While being taken to Rome for martyrdom, he wrote seven letters.…
  • Ignatius of LoyolaIgnatius of Loyola (1491–1556) was a Spanish Catholic priest who founded the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) and wrote the *Spiritual Exercises*. His …
  • IrenaeusIrenaeus was a Church Father who served as bishop of Lyon in Gaul in the late second century. In *Against Heresies* he refuted Gnosticism and emphasi…
  • Isaac WattsIsaac Watts (1674–1748) was an English Congregational minister, hymn writer, and theologian. The author of about 750 hymns, he is known as the "Fathe…
  • Isidore (Gnostic)Isidore was a second-century Gnostic teacher active in Alexandria, Egypt, and the son and disciple of Basilides. His writings survive only in passage…

J 57

  • J. Gresham MachenJohn Gresham Machen (1881–1937) was an American Presbyterian New Testament scholar. He criticized liberal theology in *Christianity and Liberalism* a…
  • J. I. PackerJ. I. Packer (1926–2020) was an English-born evangelical Anglican theologian in the Reformed tradition who spent the latter part of his career in Can…
  • J. R. R. TolkienJ. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973) was an English philologist and author best known for *The Hobbit* and *The Lord of the Rings*. A devout Roman Catholic, …
  • Jacobus ArminiusJacobus Arminius (1560–1609) was a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church and a professor of theology at Leiden University. His dissent from the Calvi…
  • James Scarth GaleJames Scarth Gale (1863–1937) was a Canadian Presbyterian missionary to Korea, known in Korea as Gi Il (奇一). He served as the first senior pastor o…
  • James Zhou WenmoJames Zhou Wenmo (周文謨, 1752–1801) was a Chinese priest and the first Catholic priest to enter Joseon Korea. He secretly entered Joseon at the end …
  • Jan HusJan Hus (c. 1369–1415) was a theologian and preacher from Bohemia (the present-day Czech Republic). After advocating church reform, he was condemned …
  • Jeanne GuyonJeanne Guyon (1648–1717) was a French Roman Catholic lay mystic. She taught interior prayer in *A Short and Very Easy Method of Prayer* and spent man…
  • Jennie Evans MooreJennie Evans Moore (1874 or 1883–1936) was an African American Pentecostal leader. She was among the first to speak in tongues in the early days of t…
  • Jeong Yak-jongJeong Yak-jong (1760–1801) was a Catholic lay leader in late Joseon Korea. He wrote the Jugyo yoji (Essentials of the Lord's Teaching), regarded as t…
  • JeromeJerome (c. 347–420) was a biblical scholar and Church Father of the ancient Western church. He translated the Latin Bible known as the Vulgate.
  • Jim ElliotJim Elliot (1927–1956) was an American Protestant missionary. In 1956 he and four fellow missionaries were killed in Ecuador while attempting to brin…
  • JoabJoab was the son of Zeruiah, King David's sister, and served as commander of the army during David's reign. Though an outstanding military leader, he…
  • JoachimJoachim is the figure whom church tradition, including the second-century apocryphal Protoevangelium of James, identifies as the father of Mary, the …
  • Joachim JeremiasJoachim Jeremias (1900–1979) was a German Lutheran New Testament scholar. He studied the parables of Jesus, the words of institution of the Lord's Su…
  • Joel OsteenJoel Osteen (born 1963) is an American television preacher and the senior pastor of Lakewood Church, a megachurch in Houston, Texas. He is the author…
  • Johann Albrecht BengelJohann Albrecht Bengel (1687–1752) was a Lutheran theologian from Württemberg, Germany. His critical edition of the Greek New Testament (1734) and hi…
  • Johannes CocceiusJohannes Cocceius (1603–1669) was a Reformed theologian from Bremen, Germany, who worked in the Netherlands. He systematized covenant theology (also …
  • John Amos ComeniusJohn Amos Comenius (1592–1670) was a Moravian-born Protestant pastor and educator. He was the last bishop of the Unity of the Brethren (Unitas Fratru…
  • John BunyanJohn Bunyan (1628–1688) was an English Puritan preacher and author. He is best known for *The Pilgrim's Progress*, written during his imprisonment. T…
  • John CalvinJohn Calvin (1509–1564) was a French-born Reformer and theologian who ministered in Geneva, Switzerland. His Institutes of the Christian Religion lai…
  • John ChrysostomJohn Chrysostom (c. 347–407) was a Church Father from Antioch who served as Archbishop of Constantinople. His outstanding preaching earned him the ep…
  • John ClimacusJohn Climacus was a sixth- and seventh-century monk of Mount Sinai and abbot of its monastery. He wrote the spiritual classic The Ladder of Divine As…
  • John Duns ScotusJohn Duns Scotus (c. 1265/66–1308) was a Scottish Franciscan friar and medieval scholastic theologian. Known as "the Subtle Doctor," he is famous for…
  • John G. PatonJohn Gibson Paton (1824–1907) was a Scottish Presbyterian missionary. He served on the islands of Tanna and Aniwa in the New Hebrides (present-day Va…
  • John HeronJohn W. Heron (1856–1890) was the first medical missionary formally appointed by the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (Northern Presbyterian Church)…
  • John KnoxJohn Knox (c. 1514–1572) was a Scottish reformer. Drawing on the theology of John Calvin, he led the Scottish Reformation and is regarded as having l…
  • John LennoxJohn Carson Lennox (born 1943) is a Northern Irish mathematician and Christian apologist. He is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University o…
  • John MiltonJohn Milton (1608–1674) was an English poet and polemicist. He wrote Paradise Lost, an epic poem on the fall of Adam and Eve, and served in the repub…
  • John MurrayJohn Murray (1898–1975) was a Scottish Presbyterian theologian. He taught systematic theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in the United State…
  • John NeviusJohn Livingston Nevius (1829–1893) was an American missionary of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (Northern Presbyterian) who served in China fo…
  • John NewtonJohn Newton (1725–1807) was an English Anglican clergyman and hymn writer. A former captain of slave-trading ships, he underwent a conversion, wrote …
  • John OwenJohn Owen (1616–1683) was an English Puritan theologian and pastor. A leading representative of the Congregationalists (Independents), he served as v…
  • John Paul IIJohn Paul II (1920–2005), a native of Poland, was the 264th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1978 to 2005. He was the first pope to v…
  • John PiperJohn Piper (1946– ) is an American Baptist pastor and theologian. He served for thirty-three years at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, advoca…
  • John R. MottJohn R. Mott (1865–1955) was an American Methodist lay leader. He led the Student Volunteer Movement, the YMCA, and the World Student Christian Feder…
  • John RossJohn Ross (1842–1915) was a missionary to Manchuria, China, sent by the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Working with Korean collaborators, he…
  • John StottJohn R. W. Stott (1921–2011) was an English Anglican priest, preacher, and author. A leading figure in the worldwide evangelical movement of the twen…
  • John WesleyJohn Wesley (1703–1791) was a priest of the Church of England. He launched the Methodist movement in eighteenth-century England and is regarded as th…
  • John WimberJohn Wimber (1934–1997) was an American pastor and musician. He is regarded as the founder of the Vineyard Movement and became widely known for "powe…
  • John WycliffeJohn Wycliffe (c. 1330–1384) was an English theologian, philosopher, and church reformer. He led the effort to produce the first translation of the e…
  • John XXIIIJohn XXIII (1881–1963) was the 261st pope of the Roman Catholic Church. During his pontificate he convoked the Second Vatican Council, and he is popu…
  • John of the CrossJohn of the Cross (1542–1591) was a Spanish Carmelite friar, mystic, and poet. With Teresa of Ávila, he founded the Discalced Carmelites, and he wrot…
  • Jonathan EdwardsJonathan Edwards (1703–1758) was a Congregationalist minister and theologian in colonial British North America. A leading figure of the Great Awakeni…
  • JosephusJosephus (c. 37 – c. 100) was a first-century Jewish historian. He wrote The Jewish War and Antiquities of the Jews, and his works are among the extr…
  • Josh McDowellJosh McDowell (born 1939) is an American evangelical Christian apologist and evangelist. He became widely known through his 1972 book Evidence That D…
  • Joy DavidmanJoy Davidman (1915–1960) was an American poet and writer. Raised in a Jewish family, she was an atheist before converting to Christianity. She wrote …
  • Ju Gi-cheolJu Gi-cheol (1897–1944) was a Korean Presbyterian minister during the Japanese colonial period. While serving as senior pastor of Sanjeonghyeon Churc…
  • Ju Nam-seonJu Nam-seon (朱南善, 1888–1951) was a Presbyterian minister who served in Geochang, South Gyeongsang Province, Korea. He took part in the March First…
  • Judas MaccabeusJudas Maccabeus was the leader of the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid king Antiochus IV in the second century BC. He recaptured the Temple in Jeru…
  • Julian (Roman Emperor)Julian (331–363), a nephew of Constantine I, the emperor who legalized Christianity, ruled the Roman Empire from 361 to 363. Although he was raised a…
  • Julius AfricanusJulius Africanus (c. 160 – c. 240) was a Christian scholar of the early church in the third century. He wrote a chronicle that arranged world history…
  • Julius WellhausenJulius Wellhausen (1844–1918) was a German Old Testament scholar and Orientalist. He is widely known for systematizing the Documentary Hypothesis, wh…
  • Jun Taek-buJun Taek-bu (1915–2008) was a Korean YMCA leader and a writer on Christian history. He served as general secretary and later as honorary general secr…
  • Justin MartyrJustin Martyr was a second-century Christian philosopher and apologist in the Roman Empire. He defended the Christian faith in the language of reason…
  • Justinian IJustinian I (c. 482–565) was emperor of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire from 527 to 565. He is known for codifying Roman law and for rebuilding …
  • Jürgen MoltmannJürgen Moltmann (1926–2024) was a German Protestant systematic theologian. Known for *Theology of Hope* and *The Crucified God*, he is regarded as on…

K 18

  • Kang Shin-myungKang Shin-myung (1909–1985) was a minister and educator in the Presbyterian Church of Korea (Tonghap). He served for many years as senior pastor of S…
  • Kang Won-yongKang Won-yong (1917–2006) was a minister of the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea. He co-founded Kyungdong Church and founded the Christia…
  • Karl BarthKarl Barth (1886–1968) was a Swiss Reformed pastor and theologian. Through his Epistle to the Romans, the Barmen Declaration, and the Church Dogmatic…
  • Karl GützlaffKarl Gützlaff (1803–1851) was a Prussian Protestant missionary. In 1832 he sailed aboard a British merchant ship that anchored near Godae Island in C…
  • Karl RahnerKarl Rahner (1904–1984) was a German Catholic theologian and Jesuit priest. He served as a theological expert at the Second Vatican Council and is wi…
  • Katharina von BoraKatharina von Bora (1499–1552) was a sixteenth-century German former nun. In 1525 she married the Reformer Martin Luther, and their household became …
  • Kenneth HaginKenneth Hagin (1917–2003) was an American charismatic preacher. He is regarded as a pioneer of the Word of Faith movement, which emphasizes faith and…
  • Kil Sun-jooKil Sun-joo (吉善宙, 1869–1935) was one of the first seven Korean Presbyterian ministers. He pastored Jangdaehyeon Church in Pyongyang, began the daw…
  • Kim Cha-sukKim Cha-suk was the wife of Han Sang-dong, a Presbyterian minister who led the movement of resistance to Shinto shrine worship during Japanese coloni…
  • Kim Chi-sunKim Chi-sun (1899–1968) was a Korean Presbyterian minister and Old Testament scholar. Shortly after Korea's liberation in 1945, as senior pastor of N…
  • Kim Dae-hyunKim Dae-hyun (金大鉉, 1873 or 1876–1940) was a Korean Presbyterian elder during the period of Japanese colonial rule in Korea. As an elder of Seungdo…
  • Kim Dong-myung (pastor)Kim Dong-myung was a Baptist pastor from Cheolsan, North Pyongan Province. In 1957 he founded the Korean Baptist Church of Los Angeles, laying the fo…
  • Kim Ik-duKim Ik-du (1874–1950) was a Korean Presbyterian minister and revivalist of the Japanese colonial period. He became widely known for revival meetings …
  • Kim Jae-junKim Jae-jun (金在俊, 1901–1987) was a Korean Presbyterian minister and progressive theologian whose pen name was Changgong (長空). He played a centra…
  • Kim Joon-gonKim Joon-gon (1925–2009) was a Korean Presbyterian minister of the Presbyterian Church of Korea. In 1958 he founded Korea Campus Crusade for Christ (…
  • Kim Kyo-shinKim Kyo-shin (金敎臣, 1901–1945) was a Korean Christian thinker and educator during the Japanese colonial period. An adherent of the Non-Church (Muky…
  • Kim Pil-ryeKim Pil-rye (1891–1983) was one of the three founders of the Korean YWCA. A Presbyterian educator, she served as principal of Speer Girls' School and…
  • Kim Yang-seonKim Yang-seon (金良善, 1907–1970) was a Korean Presbyterian minister, church historian, and archaeologist. He was a professor at Soongsil University …

L 13

  • LactantiusLactantius (c. 250 – c. 325) was a Latin rhetorician and Christian writer from North Africa, best known as the author of the *Divine Institutes* and …
  • Lee Chang-woo (pastor)Lee Chang-woo (1931–2002) was a South Korean Presbyterian minister. In 1961 in Gwangju he cofounded the University Bible Fellowship (UBF) with Sarah …
  • Lee Hyun-pilLee Hyun-pil (1913–1964) was a Korean Protestant lay ascetic active during the Japanese colonial period and after Korea's liberation. He founded Dong…
  • Lee StrobelLee Strobel (born 1952) is an American Christian author and pastor. An atheist while working as the legal affairs reporter for the Chicago Tribune, h…
  • Leo TolstoyLeo Tolstoy (1828–1910) was a Russian novelist and religious and moral thinker, the author of *War and Peace*, *Anna Karenina*, and *Resurrection*. H…
  • Leo XIIILeo XIII (1810–1903) was the 256th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903. He is known for promulgating the encyclical Rerum N…
  • Lesslie NewbiginLesslie Newbigin (1909–1998) was a British missionary, theologian, and leader in the ecumenical movement. He served as a missionary in India and as a…
  • Lillias Horton UnderwoodLillias Horton Underwood (1851–1921) was an American medical missionary sent by the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (the Northern Presbyterian Chur…
  • LonginusLonginus is the name that later tradition gave to the soldier who pierced Jesus' side with a spear at the crucifixion, or to the centurion who confes…
  • Lottie MoonLottie Moon (1840–1912) was a Southern Baptist missionary to China. She evangelized in Shandong Province for about forty years, and her appeals led t…
  • Louis BerkhofLouis Berkhof (1873–1957) was a Dutch-born American Reformed theologian. He served as professor and president of Calvin Theological Seminary, and his…
  • Louis SeveranceLouis Henry Severance (1838–1913) was an American businessman and Presbyterian layman. He served as treasurer of Standard Oil and is known as the ben…
  • Lyman BeecherLyman Beecher (1775–1863) was a nineteenth-century American Presbyterian and Congregationalist minister and revivalist. He was a leader of the temper…

M 23

  • MaimonidesMaimonides (c. 1138–1204) was a medieval Jewish rabbi, philosopher, and physician. He wrote the *Mishneh Torah* and *The Guide for the Perplexed*, wo…
  • Malcolm FenwickMalcolm C. Fenwick (1863–1935) was a Canadian independent missionary to Korea. In 1906, at Ganggyeong in South Chungcheong Province, he founded the C…
  • Margaret FellMargaret Fell (1614–1702) was a leading figure in the Quaker movement in seventeenth-century England. She made Swarthmoor Hall a center of the early …
  • Marian Bottomley HallMarian Bottomley Hall was a British-born physician and Methodist medical missionary. During the period of Japanese colonial rule in Korea, she worked…
  • Martin BucerMartin Bucer (1491–1551) was a German reformer who led the Reformation in Strasbourg. He labored throughout his life to reconcile the divided Reforma…
  • Martin LutherMartin Luther (1483–1546) was a German theologian and monk. In 1517 he launched the Reformation with his Ninety-five Theses, a movement that became t…
  • Martin Luther King Jr.Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968) was an American Baptist minister and a leader of the African American civil rights movement. He led a nonviolent m…
  • Mary I of EnglandMary I (1516–1558) was Queen of England and Ireland (reigned 1553–1558). She restored Catholicism in England and executed Protestants, which led Prot…
  • Mary Jane FeatherstoneMary Jane Featherstone was a British Salvation Army evangelist active from the late nineteenth century into the early twentieth century. Known by the…
  • Mary Leyburn JunkinMary Leyburn Junkin (1866–1952) was an American Southern Presbyterian missionary. With her husband, William Junkin (known in Korea as Jeon Wi-ryeom),…
  • Mary ScrantonMary Scranton (1832–1909) was the first woman missionary sent to Korea by the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church (t…
  • MattathiasMattathias was a Jewish priest who lived in Modein in the second century BC. He launched the Maccabean Revolt against the religious persecution of th…
  • Matthew HenryMatthew Henry (1662–1714) was an English Nonconformist Presbyterian minister and biblical commentator. He wrote the *Exposition of the Old and New Te…
  • Mattie Wilcox NobleMattie Wilcox Noble (1872–1956) was an American missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church. From 1892 to 1934 she worked alongside her husband, Wil…
  • Maximus the ConfessorMaximus the Confessor (c. 580–662) was a seventh-century Eastern Roman monk and theologian. He is called "the Confessor" because he suffered torture …
  • Meister EckhartMeister Eckhart (c. 1260–c. 1328) was a medieval German Dominican friar, theologian, and preacher. He is regarded as a leading representative of "Ger…
  • Menno SimonsMenno Simons (1496–1561) was a Roman Catholic priest from Friesland in the Netherlands who became an Anabaptist leader. He united the pacifist Anabap…
  • Mesrop MashtotsMesrop Mashtots (c. 362–440) was a monk and scholar who created the Armenian alphabet in the early fifth century and led the effort to translate the …
  • Moon Dong-hwanMoon Dong-hwan (1921–2019) was a minister of the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea and a theologian of Christian education. He taught at H…
  • Moon Ik-hwanMoon Ik-hwan (1918–1994) was a minister of the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea, an Old Testament scholar, and a poet. His pen name was N…
  • Moon Jae-rinMoon Jae-rin (文在麟, 1896–1985) was a Korean Presbyterian minister. Raised in Myeongdong Village in North Jiandao, he served as senior pastor of Yon…
  • Moon Joon-kyungMoon Joon-kyung (1891–1950) was a woman evangelist of the Holiness Church who ministered in the island region of Sinan, South Jeolla Province, Korea.…
  • Mother TeresaMother Teresa (1910–1997) was a Catholic nun who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata, India, to care for the poor, the sick, and the dying…

N 6

  • N. T. WrightN. T. Wright (Tom Wright, born 1948) is an English Anglican bishop and New Testament scholar. He served as Bishop of Durham and is regarded as a lead…
  • NabonidusNabonidus was the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire (reigned 556–539 BC). Although he is not named in the Bible, he is known as the father of Be…
  • NeroNero (37–68) was the fifth emperor of the Roman Empire, reigning from 54 to 68. He is known as the first Roman emperor to persecute Christians, which…
  • Nicolaus Ludwig von ZinzendorfNicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700–1760) was an eighteenth-century German Pietist count. By receiving Moravian refugees on his estate at Herrnhut, …
  • Nicolaus von ZinzendorfNicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700–1760) was a German count and Pietist leader. He founded the Herrnhut community, revived the Moravian Brethren, a…
  • NovatianNovatian was a third-century presbyter and theologian of the church at Rome. He took a rigorist position on whether to readmit those who had renounce…

O 7

  • Ok Han-heumOk Han-heum (玉漢欽, 1938–2010) was a minister of the Presbyterian Church in Korea (Hapdong). He founded SaRang Community Church, and through his boo…
  • Oliver R. AvisonOliver R. Avison (1860–1956; Korean name Eo Bi-sin) was a Canadian-born medical missionary of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (Northern Presbyt…
  • Oral RobertsOral Roberts (1918–2009) was an American Pentecostal and charismatic healing evangelist. He became widely known through his tent meetings and televis…
  • Oretha RookerOretha Rooker (1918–2007) was the wife of the American charismatic preacher Kenneth Hagin. During roughly sixty-five years of marriage, she is known …
  • OrigenOrigen (c. 185 – c. 253) was an early church theologian and biblical interpreter from Alexandria. He produced the Hexapla, a parallel edition of the …
  • Oscar CullmannOscar Cullmann (1902–1999) was a Lutheran New Testament scholar from Alsace, France. He is widely known for his theology of "salvation history" (Heil…
  • Oswald ChambersOswald Chambers (1874–1917) was a Scottish Baptist evangelist and Bible teacher closely associated with the Holiness movement. He is best known for *…

P 18

  • PachomiusPachomius (c. 292–346) was a fourth-century Egyptian monk. He is known as the first to organize cenobitic monasticism, in which a number of monks liv…
  • Paek Hong-junPaek Hong-jun (1848–1893) was an early Korean Protestant from Uiju, North Pyongan Province. Baptized in Manchuria by a Scottish Presbyterian missiona…
  • Paik Nak-chunPaik Nak-chun (白樂濬, 1895–1985), also known as George Paik, was a Korean church historian, educator, and politician. His English-language doctoral …
  • PapiasPapias was bishop of Hierapolis in Asia Minor in the early second century and an early church writer who left the earliest testimony concerning the o…
  • Park Hyung-ryongPark Hyung-ryong (1897–1978) was a Korean Presbyterian theologian whose pen name was Juksan. Beginning as a professor at the Presbyterian Theological…
  • Park Sin-ilPark Sin-il was the wife of Sohn Jeong-do, a Methodist minister and Korean independence activist during the Japanese colonial period. She is known as…
  • Park Yune-sunPark Yune-sun (1905–1988), whose pen name was Jeongam (正岩), was a Presbyterian minister and theologian. He was the first Korean to complete and pub…
  • Patsy Bolling ReynoldsPatsy Bolling Reynolds (1868–1962) was an American Southern Presbyterian missionary. In 1892 she came to Korea with her husband, William Reynolds (Ko…
  • Paul Chong HasangPaul Chong Hasang (丁夏祥, 1795–1839) was a Catholic lay leader in late Joseon Korea. After the Sinyu Persecution, he worked to rebuild the shattered…
  • Paul TillichPaul Tillich (1886–1965) was a German-born American Lutheran theologian and philosopher. One of the leading systematic theologians of the twentieth c…
  • Peter Yi Seung-hunYi Seung-hun (李承薰, 1756–1801) was a Korean Catholic of the late Joseon period whose baptismal name was Peter. Baptized in Beijing in 1784, he beca…
  • Philip MelanchthonPhilip Melanchthon (1497–1560) was a German Reformer and humanist scholar. The closest colleague of Martin Luther, he wrote the Loci Communes, regard…
  • Philipp Jakob SpenerPhilipp Jakob Spener (1635–1705) was a German Lutheran pastor and theologian. His *Pia Desideria* (1675) launched the German Pietist movement, and fo…
  • Philo of AlexandriaPhilo of Alexandria (c. 20 BC – c. AD 50) was a Jewish philosopher who interpreted the Pentateuch in light of Greek philosophy. Through his allegoric…
  • PolycarpPolycarp (c. 69–c. 155) was a second-century bishop of the church at Smyrna in Asia Minor and a martyr. He was an Apostolic Father, traditionally reg…
  • Pope FrancisFrancis (1936–2025), born in Argentina, was the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church. He reigned from 2013 to 2025 and was the first pope from the…
  • Priscilla StuddPriscilla Studd (1864–1929) was an Irish-born Protestant missionary. While serving in China she married C. T. Studd, and while her husband worked in …
  • Pseudo-Dionysius the AreopagitePseudo-Dionysius was an anonymous Christian writer thought to have been active in the late fifth or early sixth century. He wrote under the name of D…

R 15

  • R. A. TorreyR. A. Torrey (1856–1928) was an American Congregational minister, revivalist, educator, and author. He worked alongside Dwight L. Moody, served as th…
  • Ralph WinterRalph D. Winter (1924–2009) was an American Presbyterian missionary and missiologist. At the 1974 Lausanne Congress he introduced the concept of "hid…
  • Ramesses IIRamesses II was a pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt who reigned for more than sixty years in the thirteenth century BC. Because he s…
  • Reinhold NiebuhrReinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971) was an American Protestant theologian and Christian ethicist. He is known for "Christian realism," an approach that purs…
  • Richard BaxterRichard Baxter (1615–1691) was an English Puritan minister and writer. He is known for his pastoral ministry of household visitation and catechetical…
  • Rick WarrenRick Warren (1954– ) is an American evangelical pastor and author. He founded Saddleback Church in California in 1980 and wrote *The Purpose Driven C…
  • Robert EstienneRobert Estienne (c. 1503–1559) was a French printer and classical scholar. In 1551 he became the first to number the verses of the Greek New Testamen…
  • Robert HardieRobert Alexander Hardie (1865–1949) was a Canadian medical missionary and Methodist minister. Known in Korea as Ha Ri-yeong (河鯉泳), he is remembere…
  • Robert Jermain ThomasRobert Jermain Thomas was a Welsh missionary of the London Missionary Society. In 1866 he sailed up the Taedong River as an interpreter aboard the Am…
  • Robert MorrisonRobert Morrison (1782–1834) was the first Protestant missionary to China, sent by the London Missionary Society in 1807. He devoted himself to transl…
  • Robert Murray M'CheyneRobert Murray M'Cheyne (1813–1843) was a minister of the Church of Scotland. He served St. Peter's Church in Dundee and is widely known as the author…
  • Roberta WinterRoberta Winter (1930–2001) was an American Presbyterian missionary. With her husband, Ralph Winter, she served as a missionary in Guatemala, and in 1…
  • Rosetta Sherwood HallRosetta Sherwood Hall (1865–1951) was an American Methodist medical missionary. She arrived in Korea (Joseon) in 1890 and for more than forty years d…
  • Rudolf BultmannRudolf Bultmann (1884–1976) was a German Lutheran New Testament scholar. His form-critical analysis of the Gospel traditions and his call for the "de…
  • Ruth Bell GrahamRuth Bell Graham (1920–2007) was an American Christian author and poet. The daughter of Presbyterian medical missionaries in China, she was the wife …

S 24

  • Saint PatrickSaint Patrick (Patricius, 5th century) was a missionary and bishop from Roman Britannia who brought Christianity to Ireland. He is the patron saint o…
  • Samuel Austin MoffettSamuel Austin Moffett (1864–1939) was an American Northern Presbyterian missionary to Korea, where he was known by the Korean name Ma Po-sam-yeol. He…
  • Samuel RutherfordSamuel Rutherford (c. 1600–1661) was a seventeenth-century Scottish Presbyterian minister and theologian. He attended the Westminster Assembly as a c…
  • Samuel WesleySamuel Wesley (1662–1735) was a Church of England priest and poet. He served as rector of Epworth for nearly forty years and was the father of John W…
  • Sarah BarrySarah Barry (born 1930) is a missionary of the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS, the Southern Presbyterian Church). In 1961 she co-foun…
  • Sarah Hall BoardmanSarah Hall Boardman (1803–1845) was an American Baptist missionary. In Burma (present-day Myanmar) she helped establish schools and churches among th…
  • Sarah ThistlethwaiteSarah Thistlethwaite (1877–1937) was the wife of Charles Parham, an early leader of the American Pentecostal movement. She joined her husband in itin…
  • Seo Gyeong-joSeo Gyeong-jo (徐景祚, 1852–1938) was an early Korean Protestant convert and Presbyterian minister from Uiju, Pyongan Province. With his older brothe…
  • Seo Sang-ryunSeo Sang-ryun (1848–1926) was an early Korean Protestant from Uiju, Pyeongan Province. In Manchuria he assisted the missionary John Ross in translati…
  • Seti ISeti I was the second pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt, reigning in the thirteenth century BC. He was the father of Ramesses II. Hi…
  • Shalmaneser IIIShalmaneser III was a king of Assyria in the ninth century BC. Because his inscriptions name the Israelite kings Ahab and Jehu, they serve as an impo…
  • ShammaiShammai was a Jewish teacher of the law active from the late first century BC to the early first century AD. Together with his contemporary Hillel, h…
  • Sherwood HallSherwood Hall (1893–1991) was a Canadian Methodist medical missionary born in Seoul. He founded a tuberculosis sanatorium in Haeju, Hwanghae Province…
  • Smith WigglesworthSmith Wigglesworth (1859–1947) was a British evangelist who had a major influence on the early Pentecostal movement. A plumber by trade, he became an…
  • Sojourner TruthSojourner Truth (c. 1797–1883) was an itinerant preacher born into slavery in New York State. She was a leading figure in the abolitionist and women'…
  • Son Jeong-doSon Jeong-do (孫貞道, 1882–1931) was a Methodist minister and Korean independence activist during the Japanese colonial period. He served as speaker …
  • Son Yang-wonSon Yang-won (1902–1950) was a Korean Presbyterian minister. He was imprisoned for refusing the Japanese colonial authorities' compulsory Shinto shri…
  • Song Chang-geunSong Chang-geun (宋昌根, 1898–?), known by the pen name Manu (晩雨), was a Korean Presbyterian minister and theologian. He led the founding of Chosun…
  • Stephen LangtonStephen Langton (c. 1150–1228) was an English theologian and Archbishop of Canterbury who is widely known for establishing the chapter divisions used…
  • Suh Byung-hoSuh Byung-ho (徐丙浩, 1885–1972) was a Korean Presbyterian elder, independence activist, and educator from Sorae in Jangyeon, Hwanghae Province. He i…
  • Suh Nam-dongSuh Nam-dong (1918–1984) was a Korean Protestant theologian and minister who, together with Ahn Byung-mu, is regarded as having laid the foundations …
  • Susanna WesleySusanna Wesley (1669–1742) was an Englishwoman and the mother of John Wesley and Charles Wesley, the leaders of the Methodist movement. Known for the…
  • Susannah SpurgeonSusannah Spurgeon (1832–1903) was a Christian author and the wife of the English Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon. In 1875 she founded the Book Fund…
  • Søren KierkegaardSøren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) was a Danish philosopher and Christian thinker. He regarded faith as a decision the individual makes before God, and he…

T 16

  • T. S. EliotThomas Stearns Eliot (1888–1965) was an American-born British poet and critic. After publishing *The Waste Land*, he was baptized into the Church of …
  • TacitusTacitus (c. AD 56 – c. 120) was an ancient Roman historian and senator. In his Annals he recorded Emperor Nero's persecution of Christians and the ex…
  • Teresa of ÁvilaTeresa of Ávila (1515–1582) was a Spanish Catholic nun and mystic (one who seeks direct union with God). She reformed the Carmelite Order, founding t…
  • TertullianTertullian was a Christian writer and apologist active in Carthage, North Africa, in the second and third centuries. He refined theological terminolo…
  • TheodoraTheodora (c. 500–548) was a sixth-century empress of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. The wife and closest adviser of Justinian I, she protected…
  • Theodore BezaTheodore Beza (1519–1605) was a French-born Reformer. He succeeded John Calvin as leader of the church in Geneva and is known for his editions of the…
  • Theodore of MopsuestiaTheodore of Mopsuestia (c. 350–428) was an early church theologian and biblical commentator and the leading representative of the Antiochene school. …
  • Theodosius ITheodosius I (347–395) was the last emperor to rule both the eastern and western halves of the Roman Empire. He established Nicene Christianity as th…
  • Thomas AquinasThomas Aquinas (c. 1225–1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and the leading theologian of medieval Scholasticism. He wrote the Summa Theologiae and …
  • Thomas CranmerThomas Cranmer (1489–1556) was the Archbishop of Canterbury who led the English Reformation and compiled the Book of Common Prayer, the foundation of…
  • Thomas MertonThomas Merton (1915–1968) was an American Catholic Trappist monk and priest. He was also a poet and spiritual writer and is widely known for his spir…
  • Thomas MüntzerThomas Müntzer (c. 1489–1525) was a radical reformer of the German Reformation. He initially followed Martin Luther but later broke with him, and in …
  • Thomas WatsonThomas Watson (c. 1620–1686) was an English Puritan preacher and author. He is best known for *A Body of Divinity*, a collection of sermons expoundin…
  • Thomas à KempisThomas à Kempis was a German-born monk who lived and worked in the Netherlands in the fifteenth century. He is known as the author of The Imitation o…
  • Tim KellerTim Keller (Timothy Keller, 1950–2023) was an American Presbyterian pastor and author of Christian apologetics. In 1989 he founded Redeemer Presbyter…
  • TitusTitus (39–81) was a Roman emperor (reigned 79–81) who, before his accession, led the Roman army that captured Jerusalem and destroyed the Jerusalem t…

V 4

  • ValentinusValentinus (c. 100 – c. 160) was a second-century Christian teacher active in Rome, known as the founder of the Valentinians, one of the largest move…
  • VeronicaVeronica is a woman known only from church tradition; her name does not appear in the Bible. Tradition holds that she wiped the face of Jesus with a …
  • VespasianVespasian (AD 9–79) was the Roman emperor (reigned 69–79) who founded the Flavian dynasty. Before becoming emperor, he commanded the suppression of t…
  • Vonette BrightVonette Bright (1926–2015) was an American Christian minister and author. With her husband, Bill Bright, she founded Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC) …

W 21

  • Watchman NeeWatchman Nee (Ni Tuosheng, 1903–1972) was a twentieth-century Chinese church leader and author. He founded the local church movement and wrote works …
  • Wiley ForsytheWiley Hamilton Forsythe (1873–1918) was an American medical missionary sent to Korea by the Presbyterian Church in the United States (Southern Presby…
  • William Arthur NobleWilliam Arthur Noble (1866–1945) was a missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the northern branch of American Methodism. He served in Korea fr…
  • William BairdWilliam Martyn Baird (1862–1931) was an American missionary of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (Northern Presbyterian), known in Korea as Bae W…
  • William BoothWilliam Booth (1829–1912) was an English former Methodist minister who, together with his wife Catherine Booth, founded The Salvation Army and served…
  • William CareyWilliam Carey (1761–1834) was an English Baptist minister and missionary to India. Through his writings arguing for the duty of foreign missions and …
  • William D. ReynoldsWilliam Davis Reynolds (1867–1951), known in Korea as Yi Nul-seo, was an American missionary sent by the Presbyterian Church in the United States (So…
  • William J. SeymourWilliam Seymour (1870–1922) was an African American Holiness and Pentecostal preacher. In 1906 he led the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, which …
  • William James HallWilliam James Hall (1860–1894) was a Canadian-born physician and medical missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church (the American Northern Methodis…
  • William JunkinWilliam Junkin (1865–1908; Korean name Jeon Wi-ryeom) was an American Southern Presbyterian missionary who, beginning in the 1890s, founded churches …
  • William Lane CraigWilliam Lane Craig (born 1949) is an American analytic philosopher, theologian, and Christian apologist. He is widely known for reviving the kalam co…
  • William LintonWilliam Alderman Linton (1891–1960) was an American Southern Presbyterian educational missionary to Korea. Known in Korea as In Don (印敦), he devote…
  • William MillerWilliam Miller (1782–1849) was an American Baptist lay preacher who, on the basis of calculations from the prophecies of Daniel, proclaimed that Chri…
  • William PerkinsWilliam Perkins (1558–1602) was an English Puritan theologian and preacher of the Elizabethan era. He taught and preached at Cambridge and is often c…
  • William ScrantonWilliam Scranton (1856–1922) was an American medical missionary and minister sent to Korea by the Methodist Episcopal Church. He founded Sibyeongwon …
  • William TyndaleWilliam Tyndale (c. 1494–1536) was an English reformer and Bible translator. He produced the first printed New Testament translated into English from…
  • William WhittinghamWilliam Whittingham (c. 1524–1579) was an English scholar and clergyman of Puritan sympathies. Exiled to Geneva under Mary I, he led the translation …
  • William WilberforceBritish politician (1759–1833). Drawing on his evangelical faith, he led the parliamentary campaign to abolish the slave trade for nearly twenty year…
  • William WredeWilliam Wrede (1859–1906) was a German Lutheran New Testament scholar. He is known for redirecting Gospel studies through his 1901 study of the "Mess…
  • William of OckhamWilliam of Ockham (c. 1287–1347) was an English Franciscan friar. A leading philosopher and theologian of late medieval Scholasticism, he is widely k…
  • Wolfhart PannenbergWolfhart Pannenberg (1928–2014) was a German Lutheran systematic theologian. He advanced the concept of "revelation as history," holding that God's r…

Y 10

  • Yang Jeon-baekYang Jeon-baek (梁甸伯, 1869–1933) was a Korean Presbyterian minister and one of the seven men who in 1907 became the first Koreans ordained to the P…
  • Yi ByeokYi Byeok (李檗, 1754–1785) was a Korean Catholic of the late Joseon period. He is regarded as one of the lay leaders who, together with Yi Seung-hun,…
  • Yi Gi-pungYi Gi-pung (李基豊, 1865–1942) was a Korean Presbyterian minister. In 1907 he was one of the first seven Koreans ordained to the ministry, and as the…
  • Yi Ja-ikYi Ja-ik was a Korean Presbyterian minister active during the Japanese colonial period and the years immediately following liberation. Once a hired f…
  • Yi Sang-jaeYi Sang-jae (李商在, 1850–1927) was a reform-minded official of the Korean Empire and an independence activist. His pen name was Wollam (月南). He em…
  • Yi Se-jongYi Se-jong (李世鍾) was a Korean lay Christian who, during the Japanese colonial period in Hwasun, South Jeolla Province, read the Bible, gave away h…
  • Yi Su-jeong (Evangelist)Yi Su-jeong (李樹廷, 1842–1886) was a yangban scholar of the late Joseon period. He was baptized in Tokyo, Japan, in 1883, appealed to American churc…
  • Yi Yong-doYi Yong-do (1901–1933) was a Methodist minister and revivalist active in Korea during the Japanese colonial period and is officially recognized for h…
  • Yu Gwan-sunYu Gwan-sun (1902–1920) was a Korean independence activist raised in a Methodist family. She was at the forefront of the independence demonstration a…
  • Yun Dong-juYun Dong-ju (1917–1945) was a poet active during the Japanese colonial period in Korea. He left behind the posthumous poetry collection *Sky, Wind, S…