The Most Influential People Across History
Find the most influential people in 24 academic disciplines and numerous subdisciplines
Find famous and important people related to your research. This is an excellent tool for research papers, topic papers, and building a bibliography. Using our influence-based algorithm, our rankings synthesize data from Wikipedia, Wikidata, Semantic Scholar, and CrossRef.
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List of the most influential people in Theology,
#4751
Dimitrije Najdanović
1897 - 1986 (89 years)
Dimitrije Najdanović was a Serbian theologian, writer, and Serbian Orthodox priest. Biography Dimitrije Najdanović was born in Kragujevac in Serbia, on 7 June 1897, into comfortable middle-class circumstances. He was the son of a devoutly Serbian Orthodox mother and a strict but personable schoolteacher-father.
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Al-Hasan ibn 'Ali al-Barbahari
867 - 940 (73 years)
Al-Ḥasan ibn ʻAlī al-Barbahārī was a Muslim theologian and populist religious leader from Iraq. He was a scholar and jurist who is famous for his role in suppressing S̲h̲īʿa missionaries and Mu'tazilism in the Abbasid Caliphate during his lifetime. His books include creedal and methodological refutations against certain sects including the Shias, Qadaris, and the Mu'tazilites.
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Paul Egede
1708 - 1789 (81 years)
Paul or Poul Hansen Egede was a Dano-Norwegian theologian, missionary, and scholar who was principally concerned with the Lutheran mission among the Kalaallit people in Greenland that had been established by his father, Hans, in 1721.
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Peter Aloys Gratz
1769 - 1849 (80 years)
Peter Aloys Gratz was a German schoolmaster and widely published Biblical scholar, who contributed to debates within Catholicism in the early nineteenth century. He was born in Mittelberg, Allgäu, Bavaria, and received his elementary training in the monastic school in Füssen. He studied classics in Augsburg, and in 1788 entered the clerical seminary in Dillingen, to take up the study of philosophy and theology. After his ordination to the priesthood, in 1792, he held the office of private tutor, and in 1796 was placed in charge of the parish church of Unterthalheim, near Horb, on the Neckar.
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Taito Kantonen
1900 - 1993 (93 years)
Taito A. Kantonen was an American academic and theologian. Early life and education Kantonen was born in Karstula, Finland, the son of David and Elli Kantonen. At the age of three, he moved to the United States, where he later attended Harvard University and received a degree in theology.
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Abu Hafs Umar al-Nasafi
1067 - 1142 (75 years)
Najm ad-Dīn Abū Ḥafṣ 'Umar ibn Muḥammad an-Nasafī was a Muslim jurist, theologian, mufassir, muhaddith and historian. A Persian scholar born in present-day Uzbekistan, he wrote mostly in Arabic.
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Athanase Josué Coquerel
1820 - 1875 (55 years)
Athanase Josué Coquerel was a French Protestant theologian. Life The son of Athanase Laurent Charles Coquerel, he was born in Amsterdam and studied theology at Geneva and at Strasbourg, and at an early age succeeded his uncle, C. A. Coquerel, as editor of Le Lien, a post which he held till 1870. In 1852 he took part in establishing the Nouvelle Revue de théologie, the first periodical of scientific theology published in France, and in the same year helped to found the Société de l'histoire du protestantisme français .
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Johann Wilhelm Baum
1809 - 1878 (69 years)
Johann Wilhelm Baum, sometimes known as Jean Guillaume Baum was a German Protestant theologian, known for his studies involving the Protestant Reformation. From 1828 to 1833 he studied philology and theology at the Protestant seminary and at the theological faculty in Strasbourg. From 1847 onward, he served as a pastor at St. Thomas Church in Strasbourg. In 1860 he became a professor of ancient languages and literature at the Protestant seminary, where in 1864 he was named a professor of homiletics. In 1872 he was appointed professor of practical theology at the university.
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William Chillingworth
1602 - 1644 (42 years)
William Chillingworth was a controversial English churchman. Early life He was born in Oxford, where his father served as mayor; William Laud was his godfather. In June 1618 he became a scholar of Trinity College, Oxford, of which he was made a fellow in June 1628. He gained a reputation as a skilful debater, excelled in mathematics, and also became known as a poet. He associated with Sir Lucius Cary, John Hales, and Gilbert Sheldon.
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Johann Friedrich Röhr
1777 - 1848 (71 years)
Johann Friedrich Röhr was a German theologian; regarded as a main representative of theological rationalism. From 1796 he studied theology at the University of Leipzig, and following completion of studies, served as a vespers preacher at the University Church in Leipzig. In 1802 he became an assistant pastor in Pforta, then from 1804 to 1820 was a pastor in Ostrau bei Zeitz. Afterwards, he served as head pastor and general superintendent in Weimar. On 26 March 1832, he delivered the eulogy at the funeral of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
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Carl Mirbt
1860 - 1929 (69 years)
Carl Theodor Mirbt was a German Protestant church historian. He was a member of the history of religions school. Biography Mirbt studied theology from 1880 to 1885 in Halle, Erlangen and Göttingen. During his studies in Göttingen, he was a member of the Thuringia Academic Theological Society. In 1888, he became a member of the Theological Faculty of the University of Göttingen with a doctoral dissertation on "The Position of Augustine in the Gregorian Church Dispute". In 1888, he qualified as a Göttingen professor in church history.
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Libert Froidmont
1587 - 1653 (66 years)
Libert Froidmont a son of Gerard Libert de Froidmont and Marguerite Radoux, was a Liégeois theologian and scientist. He was a close companion to Cornelius Jansen and corresponded with René Descartes.
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August Wilhelm Dieckhoff
1823 - 1894 (71 years)
August Wilhelm Dieckhoff was a German Lutheran theologian known for his studies on the history of evangelical doctrine during the Reformation. In 1850 he obtained his habilitation from the University of Göttingen, and several years later became an associate professor of systematic and historical theology . In 1860 he was appointed professor of historical theology at the University of Rostock. In 1887 he was named rector of the university. From 1860 to 1864, with Theodor Kliefoth, he edited the Theologische Zeitschrift.
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Johann Georg Abicht
1672 - 1740 (68 years)
Johann Georg Abicht was a German Lutheran theologian, born at Königsee, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. After finishing his studies at the universities of Jena and Leipzig, Abicht became teacher of oriental languages at the latter in 1702. In 1707 he was appointed rector of the college of Danzig and pastor at the Holy Trinity Church. In 1729 he was appointed general superintendent, professor of theology and pastor at the town church of Wittenberg.
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Gregory Akindynos
1300 - 1348 (48 years)
Gregory Akindynos was a Byzantine theologian of Bulgarian origin. A native of Prilep, he moved from Pelagonia to Thessaloniki and studied under Thomas Magistros and Gregory Bryennios. He became an admirer of Nikephoros Gregoras after he was shown an astronomical treatise of that scholar by his friend Balsamon in 1332, writing him a letter in which he calls him a "sea of wisdom". From Thessaloniki, he intended to move on to Mount Athos, but for reasons unknown, he was refused.
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Julius Micrander
1640 - 1702 (62 years)
Julius Erici Micrander Uplandiensis was a Swedish professor, member of the Swedish Parliament, and vicar with the Church of Sweden. Biography Micrander was born in the rectory of Bro Church in Uppland, Sweden. His father was Ericus Georgi Micranderan, vicar in Tierp parish and his mother was Benedicta Eriksdotter. By age 10, Micrander was a student at Uppsala University. At age 28, he was studying for a master's degree with the De educatione liberorum.
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Johann Jakob Stähelin
1797 - 1875 (78 years)
Johann Jakob Stähelin was a Swiss theologian, who specialized in Old Testament studies. From 1817 to 1821 he studied theology at the University of Tübingen. In 1823 he received his PhD and subsequently worked as a lecturer at the University of Basel. In 1829 he became an associate professor at Basel, where in 1835 he was named a full professor of Old Testament studies. In 1842 he obtained his doctorate of divinity, and in 1846 was appointed university rector.
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Gustav Leopold Plitt
1836 - 1880 (44 years)
Gustav Leopold Plitt was a German Protestant theologian. From 1854 to 1858, he studied theology at the Universities of Erlangen and Berlin. At Erlangen he was influenced by the work of Johann Christian Konrad von Hofmann. In January 1862, he became a privat-docent of theology at Erlangen, where he later became an associate professor and a full professor of theology .
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Patrick Benedict Zimmer
1752 - 1820 (68 years)
Patrick Benedict Zimmer was a Catholic philosopher and theologian. Life Zimmer studied the Humanities and philosophy at Ellwangen, theology and jurisprudence at Dillingen and was ordained a priest on 1 April 1775. In 1777, he became repetitor of Canon law at the College of St. Jerome at Dillingen, and professor of dogmatic theology at the University of Dillingen in 1783. He was also appointed pastor of Steinheim in 1791. In 1795 he was dismissed from the faculty of the university, ostensibly because as pastor of Steinheim he should reside at that place, but in reality, because of his extreme idealism.
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Nathaniel Holmes
1599 - 1678 (79 years)
Nathaniel Holmes or Homes was an English Independent theologian and preacher. He has been described as a “Puritan writer of great ability". Life He graduated with a B.A. from Exeter College, Oxford in 1620; and with an M.A. from Magdalen Hall, Oxford in 1623. He later founded an Independent church, with Henry Burton; he was rector of St Mary Staining, Oat Lane, Aldersgate, in London to 1662. In 1644 his Gospell-Musick defended and promoted psalm-singing, and reprinted the preface to the Bay Psalm Book.
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Amandus Polanus
1561 - 1610 (49 years)
Amandus Polanus von Polansdorf was a German theologian of early Reformed orthodoxy. After his education in Opava, Wrocław, Tübingen, Basel, and Geneva , he served as a tutor to the family of Zierotin in Heidelberg and Basel , and later taught at the Bohemian Brethren school in Ivančice. Between 1591 and 1595 he again tutored for the Zierotins, traveling from Moravia to Strasbourg and Basel. Polanus spent the last part of his life in Basel, where he became professor of Old Testament in April 1596, and later that year married the daughter of the professor of ancient languages, Johann Jakob Grynaeus .
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Christoph Birkmann
1703 - 1771 (68 years)
Christoph Birkmann was a German theologian and minister. A pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach, he has been identified as the author of the texts of several Bach cantatas. Career Born in Nuremberg, Birkmann received some musical training. He spent a year at the University of Altdorf before studying theology and mathematics at the University of Leipzig from 1724 to 1727.
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Giovanni Miegge
1900 - 1961 (61 years)
Giovanni Miegge was an Italian Protestant theologian and author on religious issues. He was professor of theology at the Waldensian school of theology in Rome, Italy. Miegge supported neo-orthodoxy, and promoted the ideas of Karl Barth in Italy, and translated Barth's work on the Epistle to the Romans. Miegge wrote many books, including a biography of Martin Luther published in 1946.
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Benjamin Keach
1640 - 1704 (64 years)
Benjamin Keach was an English Reformed Baptist preacher and author whose name was given to Keach's Catechism. Biography Keach was born on 29 February 1640 to John and Fedora Keeche at Stoke Hammond, Buckinghamshire. His parents were poor. Keach worked as a tailor during his early years. He was baptized at the age of 15 by John Russell, the minister of an Arminian Baptist church at Chesham, Buckinghamshire. In 1659, at the age of 18, Keach began preaching, and was the minister of the congregation at Winslow. The next year, the Stuart Restoration returned Charles II to the throne of England, and in the years that followed, the penal laws proscribed Protestant nonconformity.
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Johann Michael Raich
1832 - 1907 (75 years)
Johann Michael Raich was a Catholic theologian. Biography Raich pursued his gymnasial studies under the Benedictines at St. Stephen's at Augsburg, and studied philosophy and theology at the Collegium Germanicum at Rome . On 29 May 1858, he was ordained priest at the same place. In the autumn of 1859 he left Rome and went to Mainz as secretary of Bishop von Ketteler. He accompanied the bishop on journeys and thus was at Rome during the Vatican Council. He was also a cathedral prebend from 4 May 1867. After the death of Bishop von Ketteler, during the years of the Kulturkampf, Raich had a position in the episcopal Chancery.
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John Norris
1657 - 1711 (54 years)
John Norris, sometimes called John Norris of Bemerton , was an English theologian, philosopher and poet associated with the Cambridge Platonists. Life John Norris was born at Collingbourne Kingston, Wiltshire. He was educated at Winchester School, and Exeter College, Oxford, gaining a B.A. in 1680. He was later appointed a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford . He lived a quiet life as a country parson and thinker at Fugglestone St Peter with Bemerton, Wiltshire, from 1692 until his death early in 1712.
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Simon Bruté
1779 - 1839 (60 years)
Simon William Gabriel Bruté de Rémur was a French missionary in the United States and the first bishop of the Diocese of Vincennes, Indiana. President John Quincy Adams called Bruté "the most learned man of his day in America."
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Svend Borchmann Hersleb
1784 - 1836 (52 years)
Svend Borchmann Hersleb was a Norwegian professor of theology who also served one term in the Norwegian Parliament. Personal life He was born in Alstahaug as the youngest son of Jørgen Sverdrup Hersleb and his wife Anna Svendsdatter Borchmann. He had several brothers and sisters. His sister Else married local businessman Jonas Greger Walnum.
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Dirk Philips
1504 - 1568 (64 years)
Dirk Philips was an early Anabaptist writer and theologian. He was one of the peaceful disciples of Melchior Hoffman and later joined Menno Simons in laying out practical doctrines for what would become the Mennonite church.
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Giovanni Battista Riccioli
1598 - 1671 (73 years)
Giovanni Battista Riccioli, SJ was an Italian astronomer and a Catholic priest in the Jesuit order. He is known, among other things, for his experiments with pendulums and with falling bodies, for his discussion of 126 arguments concerning the motion of the Earth, and for introducing the current scheme of lunar nomenclature. He is also widely known for discovering the first double star. He argued that the rotation of the Earth should reveal itself because on a rotating Earth, the ground moves at different speeds at different times.
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Heinrich Hansen
1861 - 1940 (79 years)
Heinrich Hansen was a German Lutheran theologian and the father of the Lutheran High Church movement in Germany. Hansen was born in Klockries near Lindholm as a son of a teacher. In Kiel and Erlangen he studied theology, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and in particular the Old Testament under August Klostermann. He worked since 1887 as a pastor in Schleswig-Holstein: in Reinfeld, Lindholm, on the island Pellworm, in Kropp and in Olderup near Husum.
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Antonius Walaeus
1573 - 1639 (66 years)
Antonius Walaeus was a Dutch Calvinist minister, theologian, and academic. Early life He was born at Ghent, where his father Jacques de Waele had moved from Brussels, after the execution of Lamoral, Count of Egmont in 1568. Jacques de Waele being a supporter of William I, Prince of Orange, the family left for Zeeland in 1585.
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Francis Crawford Burkitt
1864 - 1935 (71 years)
Francis Crawford Burkitt was an English theologian. As Norris Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge from 1905 until shortly before his death, Burkitt was a sturdy critic of the notion of a distinct "Caesarean Text" of the New Testament put forward by B. H. Streeter and others.
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Andrew Constantinides Zenos
1855 - 1942 (87 years)
Andrew Constantinides Zenos was a Presbyterian minister, author, translator, professor, and lecturer. He spoke eleven languages including Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. He wrote a large number of books about theology. He spent most of his career at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. He was dean of the institution from 1920 to 1934. He is one of three notable Greek-American ministers in the United States during the 19th century. The other two were abolitionists John Celivergos Zachos and Photius Fisk. He frequently lectured across the United States.
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Charles Ellicott
1819 - 1905 (86 years)
Charles John Ellicott was a distinguished English Christian theologian, academic and churchman. He briefly served as Dean of Exeter, then Bishop of the united see of Gloucester and Bristol. Early life and family Ellicott was born in Whitwell, Rutland on 25 April 1819. He was educated at Stamford School and St John's College, Cambridge.
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Hasan ibn Hasan
650 - 716 (66 years)
Abu Muhammad Hasan ibn Hasan ibn Ali al-Hashimi was an Islamic scholar and theologian. He was a son of Hasan ibn Ali and Khawla bint Manzur. He was a grandson of the fourth caliph Ali and a great-grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
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Robert Spearman
1703 - 1761 (58 years)
Robert Spearman was an English theologian, known as a Hutchinsonian. Life He was the eldest son of Robert Spearman, attorney of Durham, by his wife Hannah, only daughter of William Webster, merchant, of Stockton-on-Tees. He studied at Durham School and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, but left without taking a degree. He then lived at Old Acres, Sedgefield.
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Johann Martin Miller
1750 - 1814 (64 years)
Johann Martin Miller was a German theologian and writer. He is best known for his novel Siegwart, which became one of the most successful books at the time. Life Miller, the son of the Evangelical pastor Johann Michael Miller , was born in Jungingen, nowadays part of the city of Ulm. From 15 October 1770, he studied theology at the University of Göttingen, where he helped to establish the Göttinger Hainbund. Through this literary group, founded in 1772, Miller became acquainted with Matthias Claudius, Gottfried August Bürger, Ludwig Christoph Heinrich Hölty, Johann Heinrich Voss, and Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock.
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Bartholomew of Braga
1514 - 1590 (76 years)
Bartholomew of Braga , born Bartolomeu Fernandes and in religious Bartolomeu dos Mártires, was a Portuguese Catholic and a professed member from the Order of Preachers as well as the Archbishop Emeritus of Braga. Fernandes participated in the Council of Trent and also collaborated with Charles Borromeo at the council while also establishing a series of hospitals and hospices in Braga while publishing a range of works from catechism to other topics.
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John of Nepomuk
1340 - 1393 (53 years)
John of Nepomuk was the saint of Bohemia who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia. Later accounts state that he was the confessor of the queen of Bohemia and refused to divulge the secrets of the confessional. On the basis of this account, John of Nepomuk is considered the first martyr of the Seal of the Confessional, a patron against calumnies and, because of the manner of his death, a protector from floods and drowning.
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Denis Pétau
1583 - 1652 (69 years)
Denis Pétau , also known as Dionysius Petavius, was a French Jesuit theologian. Life Pétau was born at Orléans, where he had his initial education; he then attended the University of Paris, where he successfully defended his theses for the degree of Master of Arts, not in Latin, but in Greek. After this he followed the theological lectures at the Sorbonne, and, on the advice of Nicolas Ysambert, successfully applied for the chair of philosophy at Bourges. At Paris he formed a friendship with Isaac Casaubon, then librarian at the royal library, where he spent all his spare time studying the ancient Greek manuscripts.
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William Vorilong
1390 - 1463 (73 years)
William Vorilong, also known as Guillermus Vorrilong, Willem of Verolon, William of Vaurouillon, Guilelmus de Valle Rouillonis, etc. was a French philosopher and theologian. He wrote a biography of Duns Scotus. From 1457 onwards he was a regent master in Lyon, becoming licentiate and master of theology at Lyon in 1458.
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David Hollatz
1648 - 1713 (65 years)
David Hollatz was a German Lutheran theologian. He studied at Erfurt and Wittenberg, and became preacher at Pützerlin near Stargard in 1670, at Stargard in 1681 , rector in Colberg in 1684, and pastor in Jakobshagen in 1692.
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T. C. Hammond
1877 - 1961 (84 years)
Thomas Chatterton Hammond was an Irish Anglican cleric whose work on reformed theology and Protestant apologetics has been influential among evangelicals, especially in Ireland, Australia and South Africa. He was also Grand Master of the Grand Orange Lodge of New South Wales.
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Abraham Dirk Loman
1823 - 1897 (74 years)
Abraham Dirk Loman was a Dutch theologian. He was a professor from 1856 to 1893. In his later period he belonged to the Dutch radical critics. Life Loman was the son of a minister in the Dutch Lutheran church. He started studying theology in 1840 and became a minister in 1846. In 1856 he became a professor at the Lutheran seminary in Amsterdam. Loman gradually lost his eyesight in the beginning of the 1870s, but continued working. From 1877 he also was a theology professor at the University of Amsterdam until his retirement in 1893. His son Rudolf Loman was Dutch Chess Champion.
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William Robinson Clark
1829 - 1912 (83 years)
William Robinson Clark was a Scottish-Canadian theologian. Biography Clark was born in Daviot, Aberdeenshire, son of Rev. James Clark. Originally educated for the Congregationalist ministry at New College London, he later conformed to the Church of England. After graduating from King's College, Aberdeen MA with honours, he went to Hertford College, Oxford. Foster's 'Alumni Oxonienses' indicates that his BA was conferred by Oxford in 1864 and his MA in 1865.
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Ebenezer Porter
1772 - 1834 (62 years)
Ebenezer Porter , D.D., was an American minister and writer. Early life and career The son of Vermont politician and judge Thomas Porter, Ebenezer was born in Cornwall, Connecticut on May 5, 1772. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1792, studied theology in Bethlehem, Connecticut, and in 1796 became pastor of the Congregational church in Washington, Connecticut.
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Alexander Whyte
1836 - 1921 (85 years)
For the British colonial administrator, see Alexander Frederick Whyte Rev Alexander Whyte D.D.,LL.D. was a Scottish divine. He was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland in 1898.
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Karl August Auberlen
1824 - 1864 (40 years)
Karl August Auberlen was a German Lutheran theologian. Life He was born at Fellbach, near Stuttgart, 19 November 1824. He studied in the seminary of Blaubeuren 1837-41, and theology at Tübingen 1841-45. He became repentant in theology at Tübingen 1849, and professor at Basel 1851. As a young man he was attracted by the views of Goethe and Hegel and enthusiastic for the criticism of Ferdinand Christian Baur; but he later became an adherent of the old Württemberg circle of theologians, of Johann Albrecht Bengel, Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, Lothar Roos, and others. He died at Basel on 2 May 1...
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S. U. Zuidema
1906 - 1975 (69 years)
Sytse Ulbe Zuidema was one of the second generation of reformational philosophers arising from the Free University of Amsterdam, after the first generation of Herman Dooyeweerd and D. H. Th. Vollenhoven. Other second generationers were: Hendrik Van Riessen, K. J. Popma and J. P. A. Mekkes.
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