#9 Menno Simons (1496-1561) Brief Biography Little is known about Menno’s early life until his ordination as a priest at age 28. Though educated in a monastic school and trained for ministry, he had never even touched the Scriptures. “I feared if I should read them they would mislead me,” he later wrote. “Behold! Such … Continue reading
#10 Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) Thomas Cranmer was born in 1489 at Aslacton, Nottinghamshire, where his father was a poor village squire. He received his basic education at home, then entered Jesus College, Cambridge, in 1503. He became a fellow of the college in 1510, but was forced to abdicate that post after he married his … Continue reading
Good questions are the forgotten weapons in the journey of discipleship. Too often our approach is cramming theological data down the baby Christian’s mouth, even if they seem to gag or can only stomach a small meal. Yet a good question provokes thought, discourse, meditation and even….more questions. John Flavel (1628-1691) was a Puritan pastor who was committed … Continue reading
#11 Martin Bucer (1491-1551) Brief Biography Martin Bucer was born in 1491. He received his early education at the Latin School of his native place, where at the age of fifteen (1506) he also entered the Order of St. Dominic. Later he was sent to the University of Heidelberg (1517) to study and be brought … Continue reading
#12 Peter Martyr Vermingli (1499-1562) Brief Biography Vermigli was born in the city of Florence on September 8, 1499. He was born of parents who were part of the royalty of the city, moderately wealthy, capable of enjoying the pleasures of what was the largest and most influential city in all Italy. The family name … Continue reading
#13 Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1526) Brief Biography Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus was the illegitimate son of a priest and was born in Rotterdam, in 1466. Orphaned at an early age, Erasmus, under the advice of his legal guardians, entered a monastery of Augustinian orientation. Being a student of great promise, Erasmus was ordained a priest before the … Continue reading
#14 William Perkins (1558-1602) Brief Biography Born in 1558 (the year Queen Elizabeth took the throne) at the village of Marston Jabbett, Warwickshire, to Thomas and Hanna Perkins. Perkins showed promise with his academic abilities, but while at Christ’s College, Cambridge, he showed a talent for drunkenness that was quite notorious. 1577 Perkins entered Christ’s … Continue reading
From the beginning the reader must know that this list is not comprehensive, it is subjective and I am NOT an expert on church history (though I love studying it). Furthermore, the criteria of judgment is also subjective and therefore, I will likely be criticized by those who are actual scholars of church history. The other important … Continue reading
The annals of church history state without reservation that John Knox was bold. Please enjoy a few snapshots of this boldness. Knox’s biographer gushes, “In his lifetime, Knox was denounced by regents, queens and councils, and his effigy was hoisted high and burned at the Mercat Cross in Edinburgh. Ridiculed as “Knox the knave” and … Continue reading
In my previous post about John Knox, I wrote that he had two mentors. I stated that “one mentor is unknown to the history of the Church and the other is a legend with a theological system attached to him. This blog post will interact with Knox’s “legendary” mentor. John Calvin The name of Calvin … Continue reading
Past and Present 