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List of the most influential people in Theology,

#3051

Diogo de Paiva de Andrade

1528 - 1575 (47 years)

Diogo de Payva de Andrada was a celebrated Portuguese theologian of the sixteenth century. Biography He was born at Coimbra, the son of the grand treasurer of João III. His original bent was towards foreign mission. After finishing his course at the University of Coimbra, he was ordained to the priesthood, and remained as professor of theology.

#3052

Donal Herlihy

1908 - 1983 (75 years)

Donal Herlihy was an Irish Roman Catholic clergyman who served as the bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Ferns from 1964 to 1983. He was born in Knocknagree, Co. Cork in 1908 and studied at St. Brendan's College, Killarney. He studied for the priesthood in Rome was ordained priest there in 1931. Further studies in scripture led to him being appointed Professor of Sacred Scripture in All Hallows College Dublin.

#3053

Henry Watkins

1844 - 1922 (78 years)

Henry William Watkins was an Anglican priest, academic and author. Born in Abergavenny on 19 January 1844, he was educated at King's College London and Balliol College, Oxford. Ordained in 1870 his first post was as a curate at St Nicholas, Pluckley after which he was Vicar of Holy Trinity, Much Wenlock. He was a censor, tutor and lecturer in Greek Testament at King's College London from 1875 and Professor of Logic and Moral Philosophy from 1877. He became Warden of St Augustine's College, Canterbury in 1879; then held the three archdeaconries of the Diocese of Durham in quick succession: A...

#3054

James Robertson

1803 - 1860 (57 years)

James Robertson FRSE was a Scottish minister who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. He was also a noted chemist. Life He was born on 2 January 1803 at Ardlaw Farm near Old Pitsligo in Aberdeenshire, the son of Barbara Anderson and her husband, William Robertson, farmer. He was educated at Pitsligo and Tyrie parish schools. He then studied mathematics at the University of Aberdeen, graduating with an MA in 1820. In 1821 he began studying divinity and graduated a second time in 1825. Ordained to preach by the Church of Scotland he began preaching at Deer, Aberdeenshire in July 1825.

#3055

Richard Brinkley

1330 - 1379 (49 years)

Richard Brinkley was an English Franciscan scholastic philosopher and theologian. He was at the University of Oxford in the mid-fourteenth century; he produced a Summa Logicae in a nominalist vein in the 1360s or early 1370s, and other works.

#3056

George D'Oyly

1778 - 1846 (68 years)

George D'Oyly was an English cleric and academic, theologian and biographer. Life The fourth son of Matthias D'Oyly, archdeacon of Lewes and rector of Buxted, Sussex, he was born 31 October 1778; of his brothers the eldest was Thomas D'Oyly, serjeant-at-law; the second, Sir John D'Oyly; the third, Sir Francis D'Oyly, killed at Waterloo; and the youngest, Major-general Henry D'Oyly. He went to schools at Dorking, Putney, and Kensington, and in 1796 he entered Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. In 1800 he graduated BA as second wrangler and second Smith's prizeman, and in 1801 gained the member's prize for the Latin essay.

#3057

William F. Anderson

1860 - 1944 (84 years)

William Franklin Anderson was an American Methodist pastor, writer, and educator who served as Bishop of Chattanooga, Cincinnati, and Boston and was Acting President of Boston University from January 1, 1925, to May 15, 1926.

#3058

Ahmad al-Wansharisi

1430 - 1508 (78 years)

Ahmad ibn Yahya al-Wansharisi was an Algerian Berber Muslim theologian and jurist of the Maliki school around the time of the fall of Granada. He was one of the leading authorities on the issues of Iberian Muslims living under Christian rule.

#3059

Marutha of Tikrit

565 - 649 (84 years)

Marutha of Tikrit was the Grand Metropolitan of the East and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church of the East from 628 or 629 until his death in 649. He is commemorated as a saint by the Syriac Orthodox Church.

#3060

Henry of Gorkum

1378 - 1431 (53 years)

Henry of Gorkum was a Dutch theologian known for his commentaries on St. Thomas Aquinas and his defense of Thomism. Life and career Henry was born in Gorkum in the Netherlands. He was a colleague of John Capreolus at the University of Paris, holding positions there between about 1395 and 1419. He taught philosophy at University of Cologne, and from 1420 he was director of a self-funded bursar there. He became University of Cologne Vice-Chancellor in 1424.

#3061

Thomas Lushington

1590 - 1661 (71 years)

Thomas Lushington was a British author and theologian, born in 1590 Sandwich, Kent and baptised in Hawkinge, near Folkestone on 2 September 1590. He was the son of Ingram and Agnes Lushington, and was one of four children. He is best known for being the tutor to Sir Thomas Browne, author of Religio Medici. However, he is also known for being a controversial preacher, having been later accused of heresy.

#3062

Abu Ishaq al-Saffar al-Bukhari

1067 - 1139 (72 years)

Abu Ishaq al-Saffar al-Bukhari , was an important representative of the Sunni theological school of Abu Mansur al-Maturidi and the author of Talkhis al-Adilla li-Qawa'id al-Tawhid which is a voluminous kalam work.

#3063

Edward Michael Wigglesworth

1693 - 1765 (72 years)

Edward Michael Wigglesworth was a clergyman, teacher and theologian in Colonial America. His father was clergyman and author Michael Wigglesworth . Life Edward Wigglesworth was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He graduated Harvard College in 1710, and in 1722 he was appointed to the newly created Hollis Chair, thereby becoming the first divinity professor commissioned in the American colonies. He was made a Doctor of Divinity in 1730; he died in Cambridge on January 16, 1765, at age 73 after holding the chair for more than 42 years. From 1733 to 1756, Wigglesworth was recorded as owning a sl...

#3064

John Wedderburn

1505 - 1556 (51 years)

John Wedderburn was a Scottish poet and theologian. Life The second son of James Wedderburn and Janet Barry, he was born in Dundee about 1500. He studied at the pædagogium , St Andrews, graduated B.A. in 1526 and M.A. in 1528. While at college he came under the teaching of John Mair and Patrick Hamilton the martyr, and, like his elder brother, became an ardent reformer. Returning to Dundee, he was placed under the tuition of Friar Hewat of the Dominican monastery there, and he took orders as a priest. He was chaplain of St Matthew's Chapel, Dundee, in 1532.

#3065

Konrad Cordatus

1480 - 1546 (66 years)

Konrad Cordatus or Conrad Cordatus was a preacher and Protestant reformer in Niemegk who severely attacked Philipp Melanchthon, German reformer and collaborator with Martin Luther, during his sojourn in Tübingen in 1536.

#3066

Cornelis Reineri

1525 - 1609 (84 years)

Cornelis Reineri or Reyneri, Latinized Cornelius Goudanus was a Dutch Catholic theologian who spent his entire adult life at the University of Leuven. Life Reineri was born in Gouda in 1525. He matriculated at Pig College, Leuven, and graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1549, the first of the 163 students in his year. From 1550 to 1554 he was professor of philosophy. On 1 June 1568 he graduated Doctor of Sacred Theology, and was appointed to a professorship in theology and a canonry in St. Peter's Church, Leuven. Together with Joannes Molanus and Augustinus Hunnaeus he was a member of the committee of theologians who oversaw Franciscus Lucas Brugensis's revision of the Leuven Vulgate .

#3067

Michael Gresford Jones

1901 - 1982 (81 years)

Edward Michael Gresford Jones was a Church of England bishop. He was the son of Herbert Gresford Jones who was also a bishop. He was educated at Rugby School and Trinity College, Cambridge and ordained in 1927, his first post being as a Curate at St Chrysostom's, Victoria Park, Manchester. He was Chaplain at his old college and after this held incumbencies at Fylde and Hunslet. From 1942 to 1950 he was Bishop of Willesden and Rector of St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate — he was consecrated a bishop on Lady Day at St Paul's Cathedral, though he remained at Leeds until he was instituted to St Botolph's on 30 April.

#3068

Henry James

1864 - 1949 (85 years)

Henry Lewis James was Dean of Bangor from 1934 to 1940 and an author of theological works in Welsh. Life James was born on 18 March 1864 and educated at Ystrad Meurig School, Christ College, Brecon and Jesus College, Oxford where he obtained a second-class degree in Literae Humaniores. He was ordained in 1887 and served as a curate in Llandudno, later becoming warden of Bangor Church Hostel and, in 1901, rector of Llangefni. He was rector of Tredington, Worcestershire before becoming rector of Aberffraw and, between 1926 and 1930, rector of Dolgellau. Having been made an honorary canon of...

#3069

Georg Rörer

1492 - 1557 (65 years)

Georg Rörer was a German Lutheran theologian, clergyman and Protestant reformer. Georg Rörer began his studies at Leipzig University in 1511. He was awarded his Magister in 1520. From 1522, he continued his studies at the University of Wittenberg, where he met Martin Luther, Philipp Melanchthon and Johannes Bugenhagen. He was one of the first clergymen ordained to the office of deacon by Martin Luther in 1525.

#3070

Abd Allah al-Qaysi

Abu Muhammad Abd Allah bin Muhammad bin Qasim bin Hilal bin Yazid bin 'Imran al-'Absi al-Qaysi was an early Muslim jurist and theologian. Life Born in Islamic Spain, Ibn Qasim moved to Iraq for a time, and studied under Dawud al-Zahiri. He left the Malikite school of Muslim jurisprudence for the Zahirite branch, and was considered by Christopher Melchert to be the first Zahirite in the region. Ibn Qasim copied his teacher's books by hand and was responsible for spreading them throughout Al-Andalus.

#3071

Simon of Tournai

1130 - 1201 (71 years)

Simon of Tournai was a professor at the University of Paris in the late twelfth century. His date of birth is uncertain, but he was teaching before 1184, as he signed a document at the same time as Gerard de Pucelle, the Bishop of Coventry, who died that year.

#3072

Pietro Colonna Galatino

1460 - 1540 (80 years)

Pietro Colonna Galatino , also known as Petrus Galatinus, was an Italian Friar Minor, philosopher, theologian and Orientalist. Biography Galatino was born at Galatina, in Apulia. He received the habit as early as 1480, studied Oriental languages in Rome and was appointed lector at the convent of Ara Coeli; he also held the office of provincial in the province of Bari, and that of penitentiary under Leo X.

#3073

Bardo

980 - 1051 (71 years)

Bardo was the Archbishop of Mainz from 1031 until 1051, the Abbot of Werden from 1030 until 1031, and the Abbot of Hersfeld in 1031. Bardo was born in Oppershofen in the Wetterau. He was educated and trained at the Abbey of Fulda, where he was selected to be the deacon and provost of Neuenberg in 1018. Towards the end of March in 1029 the Emperor Conrad visited Fulda, who appointed him in the following year the Abbot of Werden. He was said to have taken special attention to the obedience of the monks and quality of their service, and he established a hospitality and care service for those injured in war.

#3074

Alexander Arbuthnot

1538 - 1583 (45 years)

Alexander Arbuthnot was a Scottish ecclesiastic poet, "an eminent divine, and zealous promoter of the Protestant Reformation in Scotland". He was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in both 1573 and 1577.

#3075

Euthymius the Athonite

Euthymius the Athonite

955 - 1028 (73 years)

Euthymius the Athonite was a Georgian monk, philosopher and scholar, who is venerated as a saint. His feast day in the Orthodox Church is May 13. Euthymius was a Georgian, the ethnonym used by the Byzantines as Iberian, that came from the Kingdom of the Iberians. The son of John the Iberian and nephew of the Tornike Eristavi, Euthymius was taken as a political hostage to Constantinople but was later released and became a monk joining the Great Lavra of Athanasios on Mount Athos. He subsequently became the leader of the Georgian Iviron monastery, which had been founded by his father, and emerged as one of the finest Eastern Christian theologians and scholars of his age.

#3076

Jean de Gagny

1401 - 1549 (148 years)

Jean de Gagny was a French theologian. He was at the Collège de Navarre in 1524. He became Rector of the University of Paris, in 1531, and Almoner Royal, in 1536. In 1546 he became Chancellor of the University of Paris.

#3077

Timoléon Cheminais de Montaigu

1652 - 1689 (37 years)

Timoléon Cheminais de Montaigu was a French Jesuit pulpit orator. Biography He was born in Paris on 3 January 1652; he entered the Society of Jesus at fifteen. After teaching rhetoric and the humanities at Orléans, Cheminais was assigned to the work of preaching. Bayle declares that "many regarded him as the equal of Bourdaloue", though others consider this exaggerated.

#3078

Guerric of Saint-Quentin

Guerric of Saint-Quentin was a Dominican friar, theologian and teacher at the University of Paris from 1233/5 until 1242. He wrote several works on biblical exegesis and theology. Along with Alexander of Hales, he is often credited with inventing the genre of the quodlibeta.

#3079

Bartholomäus Bernhardi of Feldkirchen

Bartholomäus Bernhardi of Feldkirchen

1487 - 1551 (64 years)

Bartholomäus Bernardi was the rector and a professor of physics and philosophy at the University of Wittenberg during the time of Martin Luther. He became a Protestant reformer. He was also pastor of the congregation in Kemberg, Saxony—15.2 kilometers south of Wittenberg— and the third Lutheran priest to marry.

#3080

Benedicto Sánchez de Herrera

1598 - 1674 (76 years)

Benedicto Sánchez de Herrera or Benito Sánchez de Herrera was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Pozzuoli , and Bishop of Monopoli . Biography Benedicto Sánchez de Herrera was born in Navas de Jorquera, Spain in 1598. On 17 October 1653, he was selected by the King as Bishop of Monopoli and confirmed by Pope Innocent X on 12 January 1654. On 18 January 1654, he was consecrated bishop by Giovanni Battista Maria Pallotta, Cardinal-Priest of San Pietro in Vincoli, with Patrizio Donati, Bishop Emeritus of Minori, and Giuseppe Ciantes, Bishop of Marsico Nuovo, serving as co-consecrators.

#3081

Clement of Llanthony

1100 - 1170 (70 years)

Clement of Llanthony was an Anglo-Norman clergyman and theologian who became prior of Llanthony Priory. Clement became a canon at Llanthony at a young age, and was educated there. Having held the office of sub-prior, he became prior around 1150, and died sometime after 1167, although the year is not known.

#3082

Wazo of Liège

985 - 1048 (63 years)

Wazo of Liège was bishop of Liège from 1041 to 1048, and a significant educator and theologian. His life was chronicled by his contemporary Anselm of Liège. During this period Liège became known as an educational center. Wazo, who had himself studied under Heriger of Lobbes, served as scholaster under Notker of Liège before succeeding Notker as bishop.

#3083

Otto Ritschl

1860 - 1944 (84 years)

Otto Karl Albrecht Ritschl was a German theologian, the son of Albrecht Ritschl. After studying at Göttingen, Bonn and Giessen, he became professor at Kiel in 1889 and afterwards at Bonn . He published, among other works, Schleiermachers Stellung zum Christentum in seinen Reden über die Religion , and a Life of his father .

#3084

Paul Tillich

1886 - 1965 (79 years)

Paul Johannes Tillich was a German-American Christian existentialist philosopher, religious socialist, and Lutheran theologian who was one of the most influential theologians of the twentieth century. Tillich taught at German universities before immigrating to the United States in 1933, where he taught at Union Theological Seminary, Harvard University, and the University of Chicago.

#3085

Bernard Lonergan

Bernard Lonergan

1904 - 1984 (80 years)

Bernard Joseph Francis Lonergan was a Canadian Jesuit priest, philosopher, and theologian, regarded by many as one of the most important thinkers of the 20th century. Lonergan's works include Insight: A Study of Human Understanding and Method in Theology , as well as two studies of Thomas Aquinas, several theological textbooks, and numerous essays, including two posthumously published essays on macroeconomics. The projected 25-volume Collected Works with the University of Toronto Press is now complete. Lonergan held appointments at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome; Regis College, T...

#3086

Geoffrey Hugo Lampe

1912 - 1980 (68 years)

Geoffrey William Hugo Lampe was a British theologian and Anglican priest who dedicated his life to theological teaching and research. He was Edward Cadbury Professor of Theology at the University of Birmingham from 1953 to 1960. He then moved to the University of Cambridge where he was Ely Professor of Divinity from 1960 to 1970 and Regius Professor of Divinity from 1970 until his retirement in 1979. He was also a member of the General Synod of the Church of England.

#3087

Carl Hermann Kraeling

1897 - 1966 (69 years)

Carl Hermann Kraeling , an American theologian, historian, and archaeologist; born in Brooklyn on March 10, 1897, and died in New Haven on November 14, 1966; he is known for his publications on the synagogue and the Christian chapel of Dura-Europos.

#3088

Oswald Thompson Allis

Oswald Thompson Allis

1880 - 1973 (93 years)

Oswald Thompson Allis was an American Presbyterian theologian and Bible scholar. Biography He was born in 1880 and studied at the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton Theological Seminary. He received a master's degree from Princeton University and a doctorate from the University of Berlin. Later, Allis received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Hampden Sydney College in 1927.

#3089

Herbert Henry Gowen

1864 - 1960 (96 years)

Herbert Henry Gowen was an Anglican missionary and orientalist who wrote on the history of China and Japan and was long associated with the University of Washington. Early life and education Herbert Gowen was born in Yarmouth, England and earned a B.A. degree from St. Augustine's College in 1886. He was ordained a deacon in the Church of England the same year.

#3090

Steven Schwarzschild

Steven Schwarzschild

1924 - 1989 (65 years)

Steven S. Schwarzschild was a rabbi, philosopher, theologian, and editor. Biography Schwarzschild was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany and grew up in Berlin. He escaped to the United States with his family in 1939.

#3091

L. Harold DeWolf

1905 - 1986 (81 years)

Lotan Harold DeWolf , usually cited as L. Harold Dewolf, was an American Methodist minister and professor of systematic theology at Boston University where he was Martin Luther King Jr.'s "primary teacher and mentor".

#3092

Joachim Begrich

1900 - 1945 (45 years)

Joachim Begrich was a German biblical scholar and theologian born in Predel, a hamlet now belonging to Elsteraue in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. He was the son of a pastor and the son-in-law of Old Testament scholar Hermann Gunkel .

#3093

Herbert Brook Workman

1862 - 1951 (89 years)

Herbert Brook Workman was a leading Methodist and secretary of the Wesleyan Methodist Secondary Schools Trust when they took over Elmfield College in 1928. Workman was born in London and educated at Kingswood School and Owens College, Manchester. He entered the Wesleyan ministry in 1885 and served as a circuit minister in England and Scotland until 1903 when he was appointed principal of Westminster College. In 1930 he was elected president of the Wesleyan Conference.

#3094

N. P. Williams

1883 - 1943 (60 years)

Norman Powell Williams , known as N. P. Williams, was an Anglican theologian and priest. Educated at Durham School and at Christ Church, Oxford, he enjoyed a succession of appointments at that university: Fellow of Magdalen , Chaplain of Exeter , Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity and Canon of Christ Church . In 1924 he was Bampton lecturer.

#3095

Irving Francis Wood

1861 - 1934 (73 years)

Irving Francis Wood was an American biblical scholar. Professor Wood was born at Walton, New York. He graduated from Hamilton College in 1885 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and taught at Jaffna College, Ceylon, until 1889. Wood then studied for his Bachelor of Divinity degree at Yale and completed it in 1892, the same year he met and married his wife, Katherine Hastings. Katherine bore him two children, Constance and Edna, who both went to get collegiate degrees. He taught for a short time at the University of Chicago before taking a job as a professor of Biblical literature and comparative religion at Smith College in 1893.

#3096

Johan Herman Bavinck

1895 - 1964 (69 years)

Johan Herman Bavinck was a Dutch pastor, missionary and theologian. Family Bavinck was born in Rotterdam as the second son of Reverend Coenraad Bernardus Bavinck. He attended the Marnix Gymnasium there. Both his father and his grandfather Jan Bavinck were pastors. His uncle was Herman Bavinck, pastor and Professor of Dogmatics at the theological school in Kampen and at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. In 1922 Bavinck married Tine Robers. Their children were Koert, Ben and Ineke.

#3097

Albert C. Knudson

1873 - 1953 (80 years)

Albert Cornelius Knudson was a Christian theologian in the Methodist tradition, associated with Boston University and the school of liberal theology known as Boston personalism. Biography Albert Cornelius Knudson was born on January 23, 1873, in Grand Meadow, Minnesota. He was the son of Asle Knudson and Synnove Knudsen , both of whom were immigrants from Norway. The family subsequently moved to Saint Paul, Minnesota. Asle Knudson regularly traveled by train to Grand Meadow to minister at the Danish-Norwegian Methodist Church until shortly before his death in 1939.

#3098

Donald Macpherson Baillie

1887 - 1954 (67 years)

Donald Macpherson Baillie was a Scottish theologian, ecumenist, and parish minister. Life Raised in the Calvinist tradition, Baillie studied at University of Edinburgh and then at the University of Marburg, where he was influenced by the theologian Wilhelm Herrmann. After some time as a Church of Scotland parish minister, he wrote Faith in God and its Christian Consummation . This led to his appointment as a professor of divinity at St Mary's College, University of St Andrews, where he spent the remainder of his life.

#3099

Martin Dibelius

1883 - 1947 (64 years)

Martin Franz Dibelius was a German Protestant theologian and New Testament professor at the University of Heidelberg. Dibelius was born in Dresden, Germany, on September 14, 1883. Along with Rudolf Bultmann he helped define a period in research about the historical Jesus characterized by skepticism toward the possibility of describing Jesus with historical certainty. In this capacity he is often regarded as an early pioneer of New Testament form criticism, a highly analytical review of literary forms within the New Testament. After studying at multiple universities, he eventually ended up as a teacher of New Testament exegesis and criticism at Heidelberg University.

#3100

Jakob Jocz

1906 - 1983 (77 years)

Jakób Jocz was born in Vilnius, Lithuania, and studied in Germany, England, and Scotland. He received his Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Letters degrees from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He contributed to many professional journals and wrote four other books of Old Testament study and systematic theology. Jocz was ordained in the Anglican Church, and served for many years as Professor of Systematic Theology at Wycliffe Seminary, Toronto.

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