The Voices

An early Latin theologian of Carthage, sharp-witted and uncompromising in defence of the faith.

The father of Christian monasticism, who heard the gospel read in church, sold everything, and walked into the Egyptian desert.

Bishop of Alexandria and defender of Nicene orthodoxy, whose On the Incarnation shaped the Church's understanding of Christ.

Deacon, poet and hymn-writer of Nisibis and Edessa, who taught the faith of the Syriac church almost entirely in verse.

One of the Cappadocian Fathers, called 'the Theologian' for the five orations on the Trinity that shaped how the Church has spoken of God ever since.

Archbishop of Constantinople, called "golden-mouthed" for his preaching and remembered for his care of the poor.

Abbot of the White Monastery and the greatest writer of the Coptic language, who governed thousands of monks by a rule of formidable severity.

Bishop of Hippo and among the most influential theologians of the early Church, whose Confessions remains a landmark of Christian devotion.

Patriarch of Alexandria and the decisive voice at Ephesus, who insisted that the one born of Mary is God himself and not a man joined to God.

Patriarch of Antioch and the principal theologian of the non-Chalcedonian churches, who spent his last twenty years in exile in Egypt.

Byzantine monk and theologian who held, against an empire, that Christ has a human will as well as a divine one — and was mutilated for saying so.

Archbishop of Canterbury and philosopher, who described the life of faith as faith seeking understanding.

A French abbot and reformer of the Cistercian order, known for his contemplative writings on the love of God.

Dominican friar and the pre-eminent theologian of the medieval West, whose Summa Theologiae set out to show that faith and reason answer to the same God.

An English anchoress and mystic whose Revelations of Divine Love is the earliest surviving book in English known to be written by a woman.

A German-Dutch monk whose devotional classic The Imitation of Christ has shaped Christian piety for six centuries.

A German monk whose Ninety-Five Theses sparked the Reformation, and whose translation of the Bible shaped the German language.

Archbishop of Canterbury and principal architect of the Book of Common Prayer.

A Spanish soldier turned priest, founder of the Society of Jesus and author of the Spiritual Exercises.

Luther's closest colleague and the systematiser of the Reformation, who wrote the Augsburg Confession and spent his life trying to hold its peace.

A French reformer and theologian whose Institutes of the Christian Religion systematized Reformed theology.

A Spanish Carmelite nun, mystic, and reformer whose writings on prayer, including The Interior Castle, remain spiritual classics.

A Spanish Carmelite mystic and poet, companion of Teresa of Ávila in the reform of their order.

The theologian who gave the English Church its characteristic argument, holding Scripture, tradition and reason together rather than setting them against each other.

Bishop, preacher and translator, who led the company that produced much of the King James Bible and left a book of private prayers still in use.

A French bishop and spiritual director whose Introduction to the Devout Life brought devotion within reach of ordinary Christians.

An English poet and priest, Dean of St Paul's, whose sermons and devotions probe mortality and grace.

An English priest and metaphysical poet whose collection The Temple is a treasury of devotion.

A Scottish pastor and theologian whose Letters, written from exile, are a classic of Christian consolation.

A Carmelite lay brother whose collected letters and conversations, The Practice of the Presence of God, teach a life of constant communion with God.

An English Puritan pastor and writer, known for The Saints' Everlasting Rest.

An English Puritan theologian, among the most penetrating writers of the Reformed tradition.

A French mathematician and philosopher whose Pensées defends the Christian faith with rare intellectual honesty.

An English preacher imprisoned for his faith, author of the allegory The Pilgrim's Progress.

The mother of John and Charles Wesley, whose disciplined home life shaped the Methodist revival.

An English cleric and the founder of Methodism, whose tireless preaching and care for the poor shaped modern evangelicalism.

An American theologian and preacher of the Great Awakening.

An English Methodist leader and the most prolific hymn-writer in the English language.

A former slave-ship captain turned Anglican clergyman and hymn-writer, author of "Amazing Grace."

The circuit rider who carried Methodism across the American frontier, riding a quarter of a million miles in forty-five years.

The Baptist pastor whose theology made modern missions possible, and who held the rope while William Carey went down into the well.

Russian hermit and starets who lived a thousand days on a rock in prayer, and greeted everyone who came to him afterwards as 'my joy'.

A Prussian-born evangelist in England who cared for thousands of orphans, trusting God for every provision.

A Danish philosopher and theologian whose writings probe the inwardness and risk of faith.

A blind American hymn-writer who composed thousands of hymns, including "Blessed Assurance."

A Russian novelist whose fiction wrestles with the deepest questions of faith, suffering, and grace.

A Scottish author and minister whose imaginative writing deeply influenced C.S. Lewis.

Co-founder of The Salvation Army, called its "Mother," and a forceful preacher on behalf of the poor.

An American author and speaker in the Holiness movement, best known for The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life.

An English missionary to China and founder of the China Inland Mission.

An English Baptist preacher known as the "Prince of Preachers," whose sermons reached vast Victorian audiences.

An American Episcopal bishop and preacher, author of the carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem."

An American evangelist whose revival campaigns reached millions on both sides of the Atlantic.

Canadian preacher who left a comfortable pulpit for the immigrant poor of New York and founded the Christian and Missionary Alliance.

Princeton theologian and the most formidable defender of biblical inspiration in the English-speaking world of his day.

Yorkshire plumber turned evangelist, barely literate, who read nothing but the Bible and drew crowds across four continents.

An Irish missionary who served fifty-five years in India, rescuing children and writing many devotional books.

A French Carmelite nun whose "little way" of small acts of love is recorded in Story of a Soul.

An English writer and apologist whose paradox-loving prose, especially Orthodoxy, has delighted and persuaded readers for a century.

A Scottish minister whose devotional My Utmost for His Highest, compiled by his wife from his teaching, has never gone out of print.

A Dutch watchmaker who sheltered Jews during the Holocaust and later wrote The Hiding Place, a testimony of forgiveness.

An American pastor and author whose The Pursuit of God and The Knowledge of the Holy call readers to a deeper hunger for God.

An American journalist and social activist, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement.

An Oxford and Cambridge scholar and author of Mere Christianity and The Chronicles of Narnia, among the most widely read Christian writers of the modern age.

An American theologian and mystic whose Jesus and the Disinherited shaped the conscience of a generation.

A Chinese church leader and author of The Normal Christian Life, imprisoned for two decades for his faith.

A German pastor and theologian executed by the Nazi regime, whose The Cost of Discipleship confronts cheap grace.

An American Trappist monk and writer whose The Seven Storey Mountain drew many toward a contemplative faith.

An American missionary and author who, after her husband's martyrdom in Ecuador, wrote widely on faith and obedience.

An American writer and Presbyterian minister whose memoirs and essays explore grace in ordinary life.

An American Baptist minister and leader of the civil-rights movement, whose preaching joined the gospel to justice.

A Dutch priest and writer whose books on the spiritual life, including The Return of the Prodigal Son, are widely loved.

An American pastor and author, founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City.