Book Review | 131 Christians Everybody Should Know

Summary

Editors Mark Galli and Ted Olsen have put together 131 biographical sketches from the first centuries after the New Testament period until the twentieth century. The book is subdivided into categories that help the reader understand how each person understood themselves or how they become known since their times in history. Below are the categories.

Theologians
Evangelists and Apologists
Pastors and Preachers
Musicians, Artists, and Writers
Poets
Denomination Founders
Movers and Shakers
Missionaries
Inner Travelers
Activists
Rulers
Scholars and Scientists
Martyrs

Many of the names were familiar to me, but many of their stories were not. There were even some names that I had never heard of who were influential and even instrumental in the shaping of history itself, not just the continuation of the Christian faith. If you are interested in exploring the lives of some of these Christians, this book will serve as a handy introduction. The chapters are short, clear and concise. The reader gets a helpful picture of the historical context as well as the personal dynamics at work socially during the lifetime of the various individuals. This book is accessible to the average reader with an interest in Church History.

My Thoughts

The first thought that comes to mind is, “Wow!” There are many aspects of these individuals lives that I did not know. The reasons for their actions and the consequences of their choices, from the vantage point of the 21st century, has been interesting. I do not think that many of these people would have guessed the effect that they have had on the way that the Church has been shaped and the world has been changed by what they did. Those that make history are never conscious of the effects their efforts may have after they are gone. These anecdotes have opened my eyes to the many different ways that people can live out their faith and become agents of change.

I was inspired, convicted, challenged and even distressed by the accounts in the book. There were highs and lows in the lives of these “famous” Christians. But, what really stood out is that all of the accolades and the all of the praises that could be offered to them, they were merely striving to be obedient to what they believed. In the end that will be my biggest take away. While history will be the judge of the value of our lives, we must be the ones, who in the present time, commit ourselves to obedience and service to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and to our Heavenly Father by the working of the Holy Spirit within us.

In the end, history is not something that is made, it is lived.

Book Review | Jerry Falwell: His Life and Legacy

Sometimes you read a biography because you want to know if what you believed about a person is true or not. This can also be a dangerous endeavor because the author’s perspective will color the light in which that person is seen. And with that reality comes the real possibility that your perception will be changed.

I was still relatively young when Falwell’s public life was winding down. At the same time his presence and influence could be felt in so many different facets of American culture. The evangelical community felt his influence because of the size of Thomas Road Baptist Church and the church’s influence in the trends that it set. The academic arena felt the challenge of a competing university that offered a liberal arts education, while maintaining a strong evangelical point of view. The political realm was forever changed because of the rise of the religious right and the formation of the Moral Majority. Jerry Falwell was very much a larger than life person, but that was not what motivated the man.

Falwell’s widow, Macel, lovingly and honestly provides the reader with an insider’s view of Who shaped the man and what made the man. The conviction of Falwell’s life was that God sent His son into the world to provide salvation to whoever believed. This was what led the young and inexperienced pastor of the newly formed Thomas Road to knock on one hundred doors a day, six days a week. This was what motivated him to start radio and television ministries before the idea of preaching in these mediums became popular. This singular conviction was what drove Falwell to attempt things that the “normal” pastor would have thought foolish or ill-advised. But, that was exactly what appealed to Falwell, dreaming so big that only God could make it happen.

If anyone knew what made Falwell tick it was his wife. And yet in many ways the picture that is shaped by her recollections is not inflated or exaggerated. The difficulties and the heartaches are described and detailed as only she could have done. Seeing into the life of a man that was portrayed according to the most public facets of his life only creates a caricature of the whole man.

One event spoke to the devotion and intensity with which Falwell followed the leading and prompting of God. Liberty University was, and will possibly be, Falwell’s greatest achievement. The lengths to which he went to bolster its success is captured by a difficult time in the school’s history. While enrollment and growth was increasing, the school was carrying too much debt. This caused Liberty’s accreditation to be jeopardized. So what does Falwell do? He fasts for forty days, calling upon God for a financial miracle. While this may sound extreme, Falwell did this twice within a eight month period. A liquid only fast, twice in one year. The miracle came. Falwell’s faith was vindicated and the university was spared.

I found myself moved by the faith of a man that many portrayed as close-minded, bigoted and extreme. I am glad that I read this book and would recommend it to you as a testimony of what God can to in a man and women that become single-minded in their trust and devotion to God. On multiple occasions my heart was touched to tears. Not so much because the man was great, but because God was great in this humble servant. I was convicted and challenged to surrender, not just more of myself, but all of myself to the will and work of God.

Romans Series (Pt. 1) – Who is Paul the Apostle?

Paul provides for us a mini biography of himself in Philippians 3:5-6. Paul says that if there is anyone who has reason to show pride it is him because of his lineage. Most of what Paul describes doesn’t mean much to us today, but Paul was a special individual. He was born at the crossroads of history. God selected Paul because in Paul were all the qualities required to take the message of Jesus Christ from the Jewish outpost of Jerusalem into the metropolis’ of the Roman world. Ravi Zacharias provides a wonderful summary of Paul’s unique place in the fulfillment of God’s purpose. Dr. Zacharias is looking at 2 Corinthians 4:6 as the evidence of Paul’s ability to bridge the gap between the three major groups during his lifetime:

The apostle Paul was born a Hebrew, raised as a Roman citizen in a Greek city. The Romans gave to us our legal ideals. The Greeks gave to us our philosophical ideals. The Hebrews gave to us our moral ideals.

The Hebrew’s pursuit was symbolized by light. “This is the light that lighteth every man that comes into the world.” “The people that sat in the darkness have seen a great light.” “The LORD is my light and my salvation.”

The pursuit of the Greeks was knowledge. “These things are written that we might know that we have eternal life.” The Academy was a Greek invention.

The pursuit of the Romans was glory – the glory of Rome, the glory of the Caesars, the glory of the eternal city, that wasn’t built in a day.

Paul, who was born a Hebrew, a citizen of Rome, in a Greek city, says this in Second Corinthians 4:6: “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV).((Dr. Zacharias has used this example on several occasions. One example is from a message given at the Urbana Conference in 1993.))

It is not mere coincidence that in Christ God seeks to embody all of the pursuits and ideals of man. And it is Paul, because of his unique place in history, who has the insight to demonstrate how Christ is the Redeemer of the world.