I recently did a Twitter poll on influential Christians of the past. It was an eclectic list ranging from theologians to musicians. I tried hard to include some women, but since women have not traditionally had the same opportunities, they were underrepresented.
There were some surprises. Some people like John Calvin and C.S. Lewis were eliminated much earlier than expected. In fact I would put Lewis in the top four if it had been up to me. But it wasn’t.
Here were the top four:
- Augustine of Hippo (354-430)
- Martin Luther (1483-1546)
- John Wesley (1703-1791)
- Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
I was not surprised by Augustine and Luther, but I was surprised by the Wesley brothers, especially Charles. Having said that, they are two Christians that I have a tremendous amount of respect for.
So who ended up getting the top spot?
It is no surprise that it was Augustine of Hippo. Love him or hate him, his influence on the Christian church cannot be denied. He has shaped both Roman Catholic and Reformed theology.
It could be argued that if philosophy is a series of footnotes to Plato, then theology is a series of footnotes to Augustine.
Since Augustine won, I thought I would point you to a book that a friend of mine wrote on Augustine. Please note this is an Amazon affiliate link.
Actually, the most influential person on Christianity was Jesus – although he wasn’t a Christian. So were you trying to look at just Christians with this list?