Image | Name(s) | Birth | Death | Cause of Death | Education |
Vocation(s)
|
Associated Tradition |
Works
|
Overview
|
James Arminius; Jacobus Arminius; Jacob Hermansz |
1560 Oudewater, Netherlands |
1609 Leiden, Netherlands |
Natural causes | Leiden, Basel, Geneva | professor at Leiden, theologian | Reformed | Orations; Declaration of Sentiments; Apology; Disputations | Rejected Calvinist predestination; laid theological foundation for John Wesley. |
|
Theodore Beza | 1519 | 1605 | Natural causes | Orleans | professor of Greek at Geneva, minister, theologian | Reformed | Confession of the Christian Faith; On the Rights of Magistrates | Succeeded Calvin as religious leader of Geneva. Hardened Calvin’s doctrine of predestination. Discovered Codex Bezae. | |
Martin Bucer; Martin Butzer | 1491 | Feb. 28, 1551 Cambridge, England |
Natural causes; body exhumed and burnt in 1557. | Heidelberg | former Dominican monk, professor of Divinity at Cambridge | Lutheran | Known as the Peacemaker of the Reformation. Humanist. Led Reformation in Strasbourg. Tried to reconcile Lutherans, Reformed and Catholics. | ||
Heinrich Bullinger | Jul. 18, 1504 Bremgarten, Switzerland |
Sept. 17, 1575 Zurich, Switzerland |
Natural causes | Cologne | theologian | Reformed | first and second Helvetic Confessions | Influenced by Erasmus, Luther, Melanchthon. Succeeded Zwingli at Zurich. Opposed presbyterianism. | |
John Calvin; Jean Cauvin | 1509 Noyon, France |
1564 Geneva, Switzerland |
Natural causes | Paris and Orleans | professor, minister | Reformed | Institutes of the Christian Religion |
Led Geneva; developed doctrine of sovereignty of God |
|
Thomas Cranmer | 1489 Nottinghamshire, England |
Mar. 21, 1556 Oxford, England |
Burned at the stake | Cambridge | Archbishop of Canterbury | Anglican | first and second Book of Common Prayer; Thirty-Nine Articles |
Played large role in English Reformation. Involved in Henry VIII’s divorce; was burned at the stake under Queen Mary after recanting his recantation. |
|
Thomas Cromwell | c. 1485 | July 28, 1540 | Beheaded for treason | unknown | Member of Parliament, vicar-general | Anglican | none | Supervised dissolution of monasteries. Attempted marriage alliance between Henry VIII and German Lutherans. | |
Desiderius Erasmus; Erasmus of Rotterdam; Erasmus Roterodamus | c. 1469 Rotterdam, Netherlands |
1536 Basel, Switzerland |
Natural causes | Gouda and Deventer | humanist scholar | Catholic | Praise of Folly; Handbook of the Christian Soldier; Complaint of Peace; On Free Will |
Moderate reformer; witty satirist; translated Latin Bible into Greek. |
|
George Fox | 1624 Fenny Drayton, Leicestershire, England |
Jan. 13, 1691 | Natural causes | none | shoemaker | Quaker | Journal | Founder of the Society of Friends (Quakers). Emphasized the Inner Light of Christ. Frequent missionary journeys. | |
Jan Hus; John Huss | 1373 Husinec, Czech Republic |
July 6, 1415 Constance, Germany |
Burned at the stake | Prague | priest, professor of philosophy at Prague | Catholic (pre-Reformation) | Influenced by Wycliffe. Emphasized right living over sacraments. Opposed veneration of images and indulgences. Became national hero. | ||
John Knox | c. 1514 Haddington, Scotland |
1572 | Natural causes | Glasgow and St. Andrews | priest, notary, private tutor, preacher | Reformed | The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women; History of the Reformation of Religion in Scotland | Went to Geneva in 1553, influenced by Calvin. Returned to Scotland in 1559 and led Scottish Reformation. | |
Hugh Latimer | c. 1485 | Oct. 16, 1555 Oxford, England |
Burned at the stake | Cambridge | Bishop of Worcester | Anglican | Many sermons; most famous is “Of the Plough” | Twice imprisoned by Henry VIII. Leading preacher under Edward VI. Burned at the stake under Mary Tudor. | |
Martin Luther; Martin Luder | 1483 Eisleben, Germany |
1546 Eisleben, Germany |
Natural causes | Leipzig | professor, priest | Lutheran | 95 Theses; Freedom of a Christian; Bondage of the Will; Smaller and Larger Catechisms | Sparked the Reformation by protesting against indulgences. Taught justification by faith alone, authority of scripture alone. Married former nun. |
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Philip Melanchthon; Philip Schwartzerdt (“Black earth”) | 1497 | 1560 | Natural causes | Heidelberg and Tubingen | professor of Greek at Wittenberg | Lutheran | Loci Communes | Luther’s colleague at Wittenburg. Attempted reconciliation with Reformed and Catholics. Systematized Luther’s theology. | |
Nicholas Ridley | c. 1500 | 1555 | Burned at the stake | Cambridge | chaplain to Cranmer and Henry VIII, Bishop of London | Helped produce Book of Common Prayer | Burned at the stake with Latimer. | ||
Menno Simons | 1496 | 1561 | Natural causes | parish priest | Anabaptist (Mennonite) | Taught believers’ baptism, non-resistance, symbolic Eucharist. Founder of Mennonites. | |||
Philip Jakob Spener | 1635 Alsace |
1705 | Natural causes | Strasbourg | preacher | Lutheran, Pietist | Pia Desideria | Founder of Pietism. | |
William Tyndale; William Tindale; William Huchyns | c. 1494 | Oct. 6, 1536 Brussels, Belgium |
Strangled and burned at the stake | Oxford and Cambridge | translator | Anglican | English translation of NT; Obedience of a Christian Man; Parable of the Wicked Mammon | Lived in exile on the Continent, where he published English NT. Executed. | |
John Wesley | June 17, 1703 Epworth, Lincolnshire, England |
Mar. 2, 1791 London, England |
Natural causes | Oxford | Anglican minister, founder of Methodism | Anglican, Methodist | A Plain Account of Christian Perfection; Advice to a People Called Methodist | Founded Methodism; adopted Arminian doctrine of free will; emphasized sanctification. |
|
John Wycliffe; John Wyclif | c. 1330 Yorkshire, England |
Dec. 31, 1384 Oxford, England |
Natural causes; body exhumed and burnt in 1415 | Oxford | professor, theologian, philosopher at Oxford | Catholic (pre-Reformation) | On the Church; On the Truth of Sacred Scripture | Translated Bible into English; rejected many Catholic practices; sent out preachers called Lollards. Posthumously declared heretic . |
|
Ulrich Zwingli; Huldrych Zwingli | Jan. 1, 1484 Wildhaus, Switzerland |
Oct. 11, 1531 Kappel (near Zurich), Switzerland |
Killed in battle against Catholic cantons. | Bern, Vienna and Basel | priest, military chaplain, People’s Preacher at Zurich’s Old Minster | Reformed | On True and False Religion; 67 Conclusions; Concerning Freedom and Choice of Food; The Clarity and Certainty of the Word of God | Introduced reformation ideas to Zurich and throughout Switzerland. Said nothing should be believed or practiced that is not in the Bible. Argued with Luther over the Eucharist. Persecuted Anabaptists. |