Basil of Caesarea
His defense of the deity of the Holy Spirit and the Trinity was instrumental for the expansion of the Nicene Creed at the Council of Constantinople (381).
Augustine of Hippo
We are all Augustinians in the West! His work has been of untold blessing for the church.
Jonathan Edwards
The greatest American theologian ever — bar none.
Andrew Fuller
The Baptist theologian par excellence and a key figure in the globalization of the gospel.
Augustine of Hippo
Outside of the Bible, I suggest The City of God has shaped the West more than any other text. I read it annually and there is no writer that has shaped my mind more than Augustine.
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas has helped me think carefully about the relationship between philosophy and theology, and the potential dangers of the former without diminishing its necessity for theological analysis.
Herman Bavinck
I can remember exactly where I was when I read the first chapter of volume one of Reformed Dogmatics on the contours of dogmatic theology.
Oliver O’Donovan
My views on the nature of rights, justice, the shape of Christian ethics, and political theology have been significantly influenced by O’Donovan’s writings. He does not waste a single word, which makes his analysis dense, but he’s worth understanding.
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine’s understanding of humanity in his Confessions and of the Kingdom of God in City of God shaped Christianity, to be sure, but also affected me personally. When I first read Confessions as a teenager I could not put it down and read it all in one sitting.
John Calvin
In all candor, I am influenced far more by Calvin as a preacher and a pastor than as a theologian, but I recognize the indelible impact of his Institutes. If Jesus does not return for another 1000 years, Christians will still be reading and learning from Calvin.
Martin Luther
I first fell in love with Luther as a freshman in college when I was assigned to read John Osborne’s play Luther. Stirred to learn more about him, I fell in love with the earthiness of his brilliance and the clarity of his understanding of grace.
B. B. Warfield
Though my father had me read Hodge at 8 years old, Warfield later became my favorite of the Princeton theologians. I don’t believe you would have had a conservative resurgence in the SBC, certainly not in the form it took, if Warfield had not articulated a clear doctrine of inspiration so precisely 100 years earlier.
Augustine of Hippo
His anti-Pelagian writings firmly fixed the trajectory of the church’s commitment to salvation as a result of divine grace rather than the mere achievement of human nature.
Thomas Aquinas
The greatest thinkers from the period of Reformed orthodoxy found in Aquinas a well of faithful instruction concerning the divine essence and attributes as well as the particulars of Trinitarian theology.
John Owen
Owen represents the very best of Reformed theology in full maturity. In him, the dogmatic precision of the most learned theologians of the past meets the exegetical mastery of the finest of biblical scholars of the modern disciplinary divisions.
Andrew Fuller
What Mt. Rushmore would be complete without a faithful Baptist witness? I love the legacy of Fuller’s articulation of a warmly evangelistic Calvinism.
Athanasius of Alexandria and Augustine of Hippo
Athanasius and Augustine are profound theological geniuses who continue to shape my own thinking about the Trinity, creation, and the divine economy.
Thomas Aquinas
It’s difficult to think of a more gifted and measured theologian. Aquinas constantly reminds me that prayer and metaphysical depth are inescapable for the theologian.
John Owen
If Owen wrote about the issue or commented on the text, I’m always interested to know what was going on in his mind. He’s not always as disciplined and organized as I’d prefer, but his instincts — learned from the fathers and scholastics — are impeccable.
Augustine of Hippo
He wrote insightfully about total depravity, God’s grace for salvation and sanctification, and delighting in God.
John Calvin
Read his magnum opus, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, for a high view of God and true knowledge of human hearts.
Charles Spurgeon
His expressions of God’s truth are heartfelt and Christ-centered, reflecting an intimate knowledge of God through his studies and sufferings.
J. Gresham Machen
He defended God’s truth with intellectual rigor, bold persistence, and biblical wisdom.
Anselm of canterbury
Not only was he an intellectual genius, he also exemplified Christian scholarship in a beautifully worshipful way.
Charles Hodge
Though I never came to agree with Hodge on everything theologically, I became fascinated with arguably the most important American seminary professor of the nineteenth century. I especially was moved by his dedication not only to faithful theology, but also to understanding the times philosophically and scientifically.
Carl F.H. Henry
Having read everything he wrote when I was a seminary student, I originally sought to emulate his way of thinking. Having read his autobiography, then spending time with him in person several times, I came to want to emulate his way of following Christ.
The Unspoken Hero in Another Country
Well, this person might live in the United States, but this Christian labors faithfully in obscurity, difficulty, and even under persecution for Christ. Theology applied in the fires of a sacrificial Christian life leads to impressing the Lord himself.
