Heroes of the Faith
Polycarp (69-155)
A disciple of John the apostle. Polycarp was arrested by the Romans and burned to death when he refused to renounce Christianity. Martyred, he said, “I have served Christ eighty-six years and He has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King? I am a Christian.”
Polycarp (Ligonier Ministries)
Athanasius (293-373)
This single-minded love for Jesus Christ expressed itself in a lifelong battle to explain and defend Christ’s deity and to worship Christ as Lord and God. This is what Athanasius is best known for. There were times when it seemed the whole world had abandoned orthodoxy. That is why the phrase “Athanasius contra Mundum” (against the world) arose. He stood steadfast against overwhelming defection from orthodoxy, and only at the end of his life could he see the dawn of triumph. (From the sermon Contending For Our All by John Piper)
Athanasius (The Development of the Canon of the New Testament)
Contending For Our All – The Life & Ministry of Athanasius (Desiring God)
Athanasius (Ligonier Ministries)
Augustine (354-430)
Accepted by most scholars to be the most important figure in the ancient Western church. Although tempted in the direction of Christianity upon his arrival at Milan in 383, he turned first to neoplatonism, During this time, Augustine fathered a child by a mistress. This period of exploration, including its youthful excesses (perhaps somewhat exaggerated) are recorded in Augustine’s most widely read work, the Confessions. (Source: Calvin College)
Confessions of Saint Augustine
For Men: What the Life of Augustine Teaches Us (John Piper)
Saint Augustine s Battle Against Lust & Fight For Joy (John Piper)
Augustine (Monergism)
Augustine (Ligonier Ministries)
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible. (Thomas Aquinas)
Thomas Aquinas: Part 1 (Ligonier Ministries)
Thomas Aquinas: Part 2 (Ligonier Ministries)
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
The first and most prominent leader of a reform movement in sixteenth century Christianity, subsequently known as the Protestant Reformation. Essentially, Luther sought to recover core New Testament teachings that he claimed had been obscured by corruption and worldly traditions of medieval Catholicism. In particular, Luther opposed the idea, popularized by certain indulgence-sellers of his day, that one could buy salvation through monetary donations to the Church. Ever against this, Luther held that human beings could be saved by faith alone (sola fides). He came to this understanding over the course of a long and tortuous personal struggle. Having resolved his inner conflicts by means of an “evangelical breakthrough,” Luther began a public ministry that altered the course of Christianity and European history. (Source: New World Encyclopedia)
Martin Luther’s Sermons & Writings
Selected Works of Martin Luther
Martin Luther: Part 1 (Ligonier Ministries)
Martin Luther: Part 2 (Ligonier Ministries)
John Calvin (1509-1564)
A prominent French theologian during the Protestant Reformation and the father of the theological system known as Calvinism. Martin Luther and Calvin are arguably the most significant architects of the Reformation. “If Luther sounded the trumpet for reform, Calvin orchestrated the score by which the Reformation became a part of Western civilization.” (Source: Theopedia)
John Calvin (Ligonier Ministries)
John Knox (1514-1572)
John Knox is considered to be the greatest Reformer in the history of Scotland. In response to Knox’s imprecatory prayers, Mary Queen of Scots is reputed to have said: “I fear the prayers of John Knox more than all the assembled armies of Europe.”
John Knox Articles (Monergism)
Lessons from John Knox (David Murray)
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
Christian preacher and theologian. Edwards “is widely acknowledged to be America’s most important and original philosophical theologian,”and one of America’s greatest intellectuals. Edwards played a critical role in shaping the First Great Awakening, and oversaw some of the first revivals in 1733–35 at his church in Northampton, Massachusetts. He was the grandfather of Aaron Burr,3rd Vice President of the United States. (Source: Wikipedia)
Revival Sermons of Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards on the Great Awakening
Jonathan Edwards (Ligonier Ministries)
Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
“The Prince of Preachers” England’s best-known preacher for most of the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1854, just four years after his conversion, Spurgeon, then only 20, became pastor of London’s famed New Park Street Church (formerly pastored by the famous Baptist theologian John Gill). The congregation quickly outgrew their building, moved to Exeter Hall, then to Surrey Music Hall. In these venues Spurgeon frequently preached to audiences numbering more than 10,000—all in the days before electronic amplification. In 1861 the congregation moved permanently to the newly constructed Metropolitan Tabernacle. (Source: The Spurgeon Archive)
Charles Spurgeon: Preaching Through Adversity (John Piper)