For about a decade, I made my living in architecture, drawing plans ranging from small room additions to mid-rise, steel-frame office buildings. Every building starts with the foundation, then comes the framing, plumbing, electrical, and interior and exterior coverings. Christianity has a lot in common with buildings. The church, as we see it today, did not spring forth fully formed. Doctrines that we take for granted were debated, researched, and fought over before they were accepted. Even then, not all denominations agree. We, as a church, are still in the process of becoming.
In school, I learned there were two ways to teach history. There are those who teach it as a string of events from the days of the ancients to the present. That’s fine, but I better enjoyed those classes that taught me about the people behind the events. I found it far more interesting to know about how Ben Franklin lived than about what he achieved as ambassador to France. Most people I know are the same. History intimidates us; historical characters intrigue us.
One of my favorite television programs is History Detectives on PBS. In the show, a team with wide-ranging backgrounds track down the history of arcane objects and the people who owned them. The objects can be anything from a flag used at a women’s suffrage campaign to a business card used by a gambler with ties to the mob. People, not historical dates, remain the center of the program.
I have undertaken a similar approach in what you’re about to read. I wanted to focus on the people who shaped the church. Of course, by doing so, we will see the events that molded the contemporary church, but we will study the flesh-and-blood folk.
Is this important? I think so. Church historian Bruce L. Shelley said, “Many Christians today suffer from historical amnesia.”1 He goes on to note that the time immediately after the apostles up to the present day is a blank in the modern Christian mind. This is a shame. The churches we attend today exist and have been shaped by remarkable and fascinating people. Some sacrificed dearly, like the Anabaptist minister who was executed for baptizing his children, and the misunderstood scientists who not only changed science but changed the way we look at ourselves. And some of these people who shaped the church weren’t even Christians.
This book is a collection of sixty people who shaped the church: sinners, saints, rogues, and heroes. I began with a much longer list and agonized over each personality I crossed off. I felt as if I should apologize to each one. Still, a book must have parameters.
In these pages you’ll discover the intriguing lives of people you may or may not have heard of, and in each case see how their lives changed the way we live our Christianity in the twenty-first century. This book is not a dusty tome of historical facts but rather a book about ordinary Christians who made extraordinary contributions to the church—your church.
So sit back, and let me introduce you to some remarkable people.
Alton Gansky, Litt.D.