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Famous Theologians Today: 13 Sturdy Lovers of the Truth
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. -Jesus in John 1837
The 13 Lovers of the Truth here were chosen from Wikipedia’s list of theologians of the 20th century.
It is a short but fascinating list of brilliant and committed Believers who it would be great to get together but would result in much debate!
Famous theologians of the 1920s
1. Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, (Pope Benedict XVI) was born in Bavaria in 1927. He escaped Naziism and liberal theology’s “tyranny of relativism” and came to see the necessity of standing up for absolute truth.
“Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed. Each of us is loved. Each of us is necessary.”
He stood against the liberals in the Catholic church and upheld the sanctity of life and marriage. He was hated by the left and stood firm for the standards of the Bible and the historic faith.
Were it not for him, the liberals would have had their way in relativizing the truth and the Bible.
How wonderful God is to save this soldier for truth from the snares of Naziism and liberalism. Praise God!
Famous theologians of the 1930s
2. Gordon Fee (born 1934) is a Pentecostal theologian and professor. A respected and well-known Bible scholar, he worked on the translation of the NIV and later its commentary. An ordained minister in the Assemblies of God, he teaches that
“The Pentecostal experience itself can be defended on exegetical grounds as a thoroughly biblical phenomenon”.
Fee has produced such a defense affirming we need the power of the Holy Ghost to live the Christian life.
3. John F. MacArthur (born 1939) is one of the most influential preachers of our day. He thrives on debate and is an outspoken and forceful believer in the authority of Scripture, often appearing on the air and news debating “controversial” topics.
To mishandle the Word of God is to misrepresent the One who wrote it. To reject its claims is to call Him a liar. To ignore its message is to snub that which the Holy Spirit inspired.
He is a “Young Earth” creationist and enemy of evolution, which he calls a lie:
Christians “ought to expose such lies for what they are and oppose them vigorously.”
He argues that “the battle for the beginning is ultimately a battle between two mutually exclusive faiths – faith in Scripture versus faith in anti-theistic hypotheses.
It is not really a battle between science and the Bible.”
Famous theologians of the 1940s
4. John Piper (born 1946) is a New Testament scholar, reformed theologian, and former Baptist pastor. On his website, He deals thoughtfully with questions about evolution and the age of the earth but stands firmly as a young earth Believer in the Creation as written in Genesis.
A solid Calvinist, he spends a great deal of time defending the five points of TULIP, but also believes in speaking in tongues and the continuing manifestation of the Gifts of the Spirit.
He has also been a mentor for some of the new Calvinist ministers and church planters.
5. Sinclair Ferguson (born 1948) is a professor of systematic theology, a minister in the Church of Scotland, and author of many books, including The Whole Christ, In Christ Alone, Devoted to God, Some Pastors and Teachers, In the Year of Our Lord, and Maturity.
Active in both Scotland and America, Ferguson has a gift for putting deep theology into readable prose. I recommend Faithful God: An Exposition of the Book of Ruth.
6. Wayne Grudem (born 1948) is a New Testament scholar turned theologian, seminary professor, and author. His Systematic Theology has become the standard for 21st-century evangelical Christians.
Although a Calvinist himself, Grudem holds charismatic beliefs and once supported the Vineyard Movement. He is an advocate for reuniting charismatic, Calvinist, and evangelical churches.
7. N.T. Wright (born 1948) is an English New Testament Scholar, Pauline theologian, and Anglican bishop. Wright writes about theology and Christian life and the relationship between them.
The author of over seventy books, Wright is highly regarded in academic and theological circles for his “Christian Origins and the Question of God” series.
The third volume, The Resurrection of the Son of God, is the best book ever on the Resurrection of Jesus.
A difficult reading task at eight hundred pages (with lots of footnotes), but unforgettable and affirming.
8. Ray Comfort (born 1949)) is a New Zealand-born Christian minister and evangelist who lives in the United States.
He thrives on debate and street preaching, using every opportunity he can to confront unbelievers with the Gospel, emphasizing the Bad News of sin, death, and Hell followed by the Good News of the blood of Jesus and availably of salvation for all and eternal life.
Ray Comfort has authored more than eighty books and tracts. Many of these are humorous but all are powerful and provocative. We have used them in our family.
Famous theologians of the 1950s
9. Tim Keller (born 1950) is an American pastor, theologian, and Christian apologist. He came to fame by founding Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City and now trains pastors to serve around the world.
He preaches cultural engagement, focuses on a young urban population, and has ignited a stream of church plantings in New York City and the surrounding areas.
10. Ken Ham (born 1951) is an Australian evangelist known for his radio broadcast “Answers in Genesis” and his Creation Museum and Ark Encounter theme parks in Kentucky. What a welcome enterprise and testimony to the truth of the Genesis account and the Gospel!
Despite the constant pumping of evolution into our culture by schools, media, academia, and the entertainment industry, a 2019 Gallup poll shows efforts by the faithful to uphold the Genesis account are of value:
40% of respondents selected: “God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so.”
11. Robert Jeffress (born 1955) is an American Southern Baptist pastor, author, radio host, and televangelist known for his conservative views and active encouragement of Christians to support political candidates who support Christianity.
Famous theologians of the 1960s
12. Paul Washer (born 1961) is a Baptist evangelist and missionary with a passion for the lost. He is best known for a “shocking youth message” suggesting that most of his “Christian” audience could end up in Hell. You can view it here.
13. R.C. Sproul Jr. (born 1965) is an American Calvinist writer, theologian, pastor, and son of the late R.C. Sproul, perhaps the most powerful and authoritative theologian of the 20th century.
He knew some of those lovers of truth on our list and looked like he would continue the Truth to the next generation of the 21st century. But he fell into sin and was dismissed from Ligonier Ministries and his denomination.
He was written off, but he repented and made his way back to the place God has for him.
He is here as a reminder that we too can fall, and there will be many to denounce and oust us. But Jesus will come after us and restore us as He did the prodigal son.
Famous theologians of the 21st century?
Will we need them? Jesus knows, and will provide!
Soldiers of Christ, in truth arrayed,
A world in ruins needs your aid:
A world by sin destroyed and dead;
A world for which the Savior bled.
His Gospel to the lost proclaim,
Good news for all in Jesus’ name;
Let light upon the darkness break
That sinners from their death may wake.
Morning and evening sow the seed,
God’s grace the effort shall succeed.
Seedtimes of tears have oft been found
With sheaves of joy and plenty crowned.
We meet to part, but part to meet,
When earthly labors are complete,
To join in yet more blest employ,
In an eternal world of joy.
Basil Manly, Jr., 1860. This hymn was written for the first graduation ceremony of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Greenville, South Carolina.
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