What criteria is used to determine if a celebrity is a Christian? Basically, if a celebrity says they are a Christian, whether in published interviews or biographical sketches, we take them at their word. We haven't tried to measure how frequently they attend church or in what way God has touched their hearts or what kind of role model they are or what their beliefs are on any one issue. But as far as we know these are all people for whom their faith is important enough that they have identified it publicly, not just as as something they were raised in, but something significant to them as adults.
Note that this page has not usually been the focus of our continuing research and collection of information. Because the category of "Famous Christians" is so expansive, and could easily include thousands of names, we have focused on adding information to denomination-specific pages, such as "Famous Methodists", "Famous Catholics", "Famous Presbyterians", "Famous Nazarenes", etc. Links to over 100 "famous adherent" pages of this sort can be found here: Famous Adherents.
Actors
Willie Aames - former actor ("Eight is Enough") turned "Bibleman"
Corbin Allred - actor, "Robin Hood: Men in Tights"; "Teen Angel"
Billy Barty - actor, famed "Little People" activist, "Willow"
Jusine Bateman - actress
Gary Burghoff - actor ("Radar O'Reilly" on M.A.S.H.)
Gary Busey - actor
Kirk Cameron - actor, "Growing Pains"
Carl Clarfalio - actor ("The Thing" in Corman's FF film)
Lacey Chabert - Actress from "Party of Five"
Anna Chlumsky - Actress
Deezer D - Actor on "E.R.", Christian rapper
Anne B. Davis - "Alice" on the Brady Bunch
Clifton Davis - movie star
Hazel Dawn - movie star
Laraine Day - movie star
Mark Deakins - actor ("Star Trek: Insurrection", Axum on "Star Trek: Voyager")
Donna Douglas - actress ("Ellie May Clampett" on "Beverly Hillbillies")
Roma Downey - actress on "Touched by an Angel"
Robert Duvall - actor
Aaron Eckhart - movie star ("The Pledge", "Erin Brockovich", "Possession", etc.)
Dale Evans (1912-2001) - actress
Kim Fields - actor, "Facts of Life"
Rhonda Fleming - movie star
Mel Gibson - movie star
Ryan Gosling - actor ("The Believer", Hercules on "Young Hercules")
Andy Griffith - actor, "Andy Griffith Show"
Charlton Heston - actor, "The Ten Commandments"
Tom Hanks - movie star
Dean Jagger - movie star (Academy Award for "Twelve O'Clock High", etc.)
Dean Jones - movie star
Danny Kamekona - actor (popular Hawaiian actor; "Hawaii 5-O"; Miyagi's rival "Sato" in "Karate Kid II")
Richard Kiel - actor; Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me; Moonraker
Carol Lawrence - singer/dancer/actress, once married to Robert Goulet
Olivia Newton-John - popular Australian-born singer, actress
Bruce Marchiano - actor, Jesus in The Gospel According to Matthew
Gavin McLeod - actor, Captain Stubing on The Love Boat
Terry Moore - Academy Award-nominated actress (Come Back, Little Sheba, etc.)
Tia and Tamer Mowry - Actresses on Sister Sister
Robert Newman - actor
Chuck Norris - actor, "Walker Texas Ranger"
Austen O'Brian - actor on Promised Land
Merlin Olsen - football player, actor (Little House on the Prairie; Aaron's Way)
Jennifer O'Neill - actor
Donny Osmond and Marie Osmond - popular singers, TV show hosts
Kelly Packard - Wonder Years; Blossom; Step By Step; Baywatch; Boy Meets World
Austin Peck - Soap Opera actor
Pat Priest - actress ("Marilyn Munster" on The Munsters TV show; Easy Come, Easy Go w/Elvis Presley)
Della Reese - actress, "Touched by an Angel"
Judge Reinhold - actor
Fred Rogers - "Mr. Rogers Neighborhood"
Roy Rogers (1911-1998) - TV star
Mickey Rooney - actor
Jane Russell - movie star
John Schneider - actor, "The Dukes of Hazzard", founder, FaithWorks!
Connie Seleca - actress
Nancy Stafford - actress, Matlock; MacGyver
David Suchet - actor ("Hercule Poirot" on the PBS series Mystery)
Mr T. - Actor
Russ Tamblyn - actor (Peyton Place, West Side Story, etc.)
Ben Vereen - Actor
Paul Walker - movie star (Varsity Blues, Meet the Deedles, The Fast and the Furious, etc.)
Robert Walker - actor (Strangers on a Train, etc.)
Lisa Whelchel - actress, The Facts of Life
Johnny Whitaker - actor, Family Affair
Demond Wilson - actor, Lamont Sanford
Marie Windsor - movie star
Elijah Wood - actor
Heather Young - TV star, Land of Giants
Loretta Young - movie star (Best Actress Academy Award for The Farmer's Daughter)
Radio
Warren Duffy - radio talk show host, KKLA
Bob Larson - radio talk show host
Dawson McAlister - radio talk show host
Janet Parshall - radio talk show host, "Janet Parshall's America"
Michael Reagan - national radio talk show host
Don Imus - prominent talk radio host
James Dobson - author and host of religion/ethics/values radio show "Focus on the Family"
TV/Movie Producers and Directors
Martha Williamson - executive producer "Touched by an Angel"
John Woo - director, "Mission Impossible II", "Broken Arrow"
Don Bluth - animation director/producer (Land Before Time; Titan A.E.; The Secret of NIMH; etc.)
Richard Dutcher - director/screenwriter/actor (Girl Crazy; God's Army)
Kieth Merrill (Academy award-winning IMAX director; "The Great American Cowboy; "Amazon", etc.)
Jerry Molen - movie producer (Schindler's List; Jurassic Park, Twister; Hook; Rain Man; etc.)
Richard Rich - animation director (The King and I; The Black Cauldron)
Ken Wales - producer, "Christy"
Michael Warren - producer, "Family Matters"
Arts and Entertainment - Other
Kim Alexis - professional model
Al Kasha - film composer, two-time Academy Award winner
Jane Clayson - co-anchor, "The Early Show" with Bryant Gumbel
Howard Finster - former preacher turned artist
Jeff Foxworthy - comedian
Kathie Lee Gifford - television talk show host
Johnny Hart - cartoonist, "B.C." comic strip
Michael Klausman - president, CBS Studio Center Hollywood
Mark Lowry - comedian
Deborah Norvill - "Inside Edition" anchor
Heather Whitestone-McCallum - first deaf Miss America
Athletics - Football
Bobby Bowden - college football coach
Dennis Byrd - former profession football player
Vince Carter - professional football player
Bob Christian - professional football player
Randall Cunningham - professional football player
Joe Gibbs - former professional football coach
Rosie Grier - former professional football player
Tom Landry - former professional football coach
Dan Reeves - professional football coach
Frank Reich - professional football player
Eugene Robinson - professional football player
Deion Sanders - professional football player
Mike Singletary - former professional football player
Gene Stallings - former college football coach
Emmitt Smith - professional football player
Kurt Warner - professional football player
Reggie White - former professional football player
Lenny Wilkens - professional basketball coach
Athletics - Basketball
A.C. Green - former professional basketball player
Hersey Hawkins - professional basketball player
Meadowlark Lemon - basketball player, Harlem Globetrotters
Pete Maravich (1947-1988) - professional basketball player
Dikembe Mutombo - professional basketball player
Mark Price - former professional basketball player
David Robinson - professional basketball player
Athletics - Baseball
Brett Butler - former baseball player
Joe Carter - baseball player
Gary Carter - former baseball player
Darren Daulton - baseball
Dave Dravecky - baseball
Orel Herschiser - professional baseball player
Paul Molitor - professional baseball player
Terry Pendleton - professional baseball player
Andy Pettitte - professional baseball player
John Smoltz - professional baseball player
Walt Weiss - professional baseball player
Athletics - Golf
Paul Azinger - professional golfer
Bernard Langer - professional golfer
Tom Lehman - professional golfer
Larry Mize - professional golfer
Payne Stewart - professional golfer
Scott Simpson - professional golfer
Larry Nelson - professional golfer
Athletics - Skating
Janet Lynn - Olympic figure skater
Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz - Olympic winning Figure skating dance team
Rosalyn Sumners - Figure Skater
Paul Wyle - Olympic figure skater
Athletics - Track and Field
Gail Devers - professional track athlete
Jackie Joyner-Kersee - professional track athlete
Eric Liddell (1902-1945) - Olympic Gold Medalist, depicted in film Chariots of Fire
Jesse Owens (1913-1980) - professional track athlete
Athletics - other
Davey Allison (1961-1993) - professional race car driver
George Foreman - famed professional heavyweight boxer
Mary Joe Fernandez - professional tennis player
Jeff Gordon - professional car racer
Evander Holyfield - profession boxer
Todd Huston - mountain climber, motivational speaker, amputee
Mary Lou Retton - former gymnastics athlete, Olympic Gold Medalist
Jesse Romero - world chamption kick boxer
Sheila Taormina - Olympic medalist, swimming
Petty family - NASCAR professional race car drivers
Business
Truett Cathy - founder Chick-Fil-A
Cecil Day - founder Day's Inn
Arthur DeMoss - businessman and author, founder, DeMoss Foundation
H.G. Heinz - founder, Heinz ketchup
Leonard Lesord - founder "Guidepost Magezine"
Norm Miller- Chairman of the Board, Interstate Batteries
Lowell "Bud" Paxxon - founder PAX-TV
James Cash Penney (1875-1971) - founder, J.C. Penney department stores
Charlie Plumb - motivational speaker, former Vietnam P.O.W.
Tom Pryor - ICMS; ABM
Dave Thomas - founder, Wendy's
Sam Walton - founder, Wal-Mart
Zig Ziggler - motivational speaker
Literature
G. K. Chesterton - science fiction, mystery, non-fiction, Orthodoxy
Tim LaHaye - author, Left Behind series
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) - author, My Utmost for His Highest
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) - author of fantasy, science fiction, and non-fiction religious books such as Mere Christianity
Catherine Marshall (1915-1983) - author of the popular novel Christy
Norman Vincent Peale - (1898-1993) author, Power of Positive Thinking
Frank Peretti - author, This Present Darkness
Charles Sheldon (1857-1946) - author, In His Steps
Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) - author
Danielle Steele - best-selling author
J.R.R. Tolkien - author, The Hobbit
Joni Eareckson Tada - author, artist, speaker, quadriplegic
Country Music
Johnny Cash (1932-2003) - country musician
Charlie Daniels - country music artist
Barbara Fairchild - country singer
Ernie Ford (1919-1991) - country musician
Larry Gatlin - country music singer
Barbara Mandrell - country musician
Dolly Parton - country musician
Kevin Sharp - country music star
Alan Jackson - country singer
Toby Keith - country singer
Randy Travis - country singer
Music
Steve Amerson - musician, "To the Ends of the Earth"
Randy Bachman - member of Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive; "Takin' Care of Business"
Backstreet Boys - singing group
Philip Bailey - musician, formerly with the band Earth Wind & Fire
Margaret Becker - contemporary Christian musician
Jody Benson - Broadway star; voice of "The Little Mermaid"
Ray Boltz - contemporary Christian musician
Pat Boone - actor and musician
Boyz II Men - singing group
James Brown - singer
Jeremy Castle - Oklahoma country singer/songwriter
Alice Cooper - rock singer
Rick Cua - formerly with the band "The Outlaws", contemporary Christian musician
Carman - contemporary Christian musician/evangelist
Steven Curtis Chapman - contemporary Christian musician
Bob Carlisle - contemporary Christian musician
Dino - contemporary Christian musician
John Elefante - formerly with the band "Kansas", contemporary Christian musician
Michael English - contemporary Christian musician
Mark Farmer - formerly with the band "Grand Funk", contemporary Christian musician
Don Francisco - contemporary Christian musician
Bill Gaither - traditional Gospel singer
Gloria Gaither - traditional Gospel singer
Keith Green (1953-1982) - contemporary Christian musician
Steve Green - contemporary Christian musician
MC Hammer - rap musician
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) - classical composer
Christian Jacobs - lead singer of the Aquabats
Kim Hill - contemporary Christian musician
Whitney Houston - singer, actress
Francis Scott Key (1779-1843) - composer
R. Kelley - singer
Gladys Knight - of "Gladys Knight and the Pips"; pop; R&B
Patti Labell - Singer
Mylon Lefevre - contemporary Christian musician
Glen Leonard - of the Temptations
Willie Lewis - singer, "The Platters"
Kerry Livgren - formerly with the band "Kansas", contemporary Christian musician
Babbie Mason - contemporary Christian musician
Denise Matthews - formerly "Vanity" with Prince
Rich Mullins (1955-1997) - contemporary Christian musician
Larry Norman - first Christian rock performer
Stanford Olsen - opera tenor
Twila Paris - contemporary Christian musician
Leon Patillo - contemporary Christian musician. Formerly with the band "Santana"
Christopher Parkening - classical guitarist
Charlie Peacock - contemporary Christian musician
Elvis Presley - singer
Smokey Robinson - singer
Run DMC - rap group
SHeDAISY - contemporary group
Ryan Shupe and the RubberBand - contemporary fusion/ethnic
Michael W. Smith - contemporary Christian musician
Noel Paul Stookey - singer with "Peter, Paul, and Mary"
John Tesh - musician
Vanity - Former singer for Prince
CeCe Winans - contemporary Christian musician
BeBe Winans - contemporary Christian musician
P.O.D - rock band (all members)
Chevelle - rock band (all members)
Blindside - rock band (all members)
Political
George H.W. Bush - U.S. President
George W. Bush - U.S. President
Ronald Reagan - U.S. President
Jimmy Carter - U.S. President
Abigail Adams - first lady, wife of U.S. President John Adams
John Ashcroft - Missouri Gov. & Senator; U.S. Attorney General
Christopher Darden - Lawyer, prosecutor in O. J. Simpson case
Elizabeth Dole - director of American Red Cross; U.S. Senator from North Carolina
Stonewall Jackson - (1824-1863) Confederate general in Civil War
Alan Keyes - U.S. Presidential candidate, politician, radio host
Steve Largent - U.S. House of Representative from Oklahoma, former professional football player
Robert E. Lee - Confederate General
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) - U.S. President
Don Nickles - U.S. Senator, Oklahoma
J.C. Watts - U.S. House of Representative, former college football player
Dan Quayle - U.S. Vice President
Clarence Thomas - U.S. Supreme Court justice
George Washington - U.S. President
Science, Technology and Exploration
Robert Boyle (1627-1691) - important chemist and physicist
George Washington Carver (1864-1943)
Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) - European explorer who reached Americas in 1492
Kenneth H. Cooper - "father of aerobics"
Michael Faraday (1791-1867)
Jim Irwin (1930-1991) - astronaut, Ark Hunter
James Clerk Maxwell - influential mathematician and physicist
Samuel Morse (1791-1872)
Isaac Newton (1642-1727) - inventor, scientist
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)
Hugh Ross - physicist
Francis Schaeffer - theologian and thinker (1912-1984)
Carol Swain - political scientist, author of Black Faces, Black Interests and The New White Nationalism in America: Its Challenge to Integration (a convert to Evangelical Christianity)
Wright Brothers - invented airplane
Additional Famous Christians: Christian Entertainers
Source: Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_entertainers; viewed 5 July 2005)
Clay Aiken; Air Supply; Damon Allen; Henry Armstrong; Alan Autry; Paulie Ayala; Carlos Baerga; Stephen Baldwin; Billy Blanks; Fred Berry; Hugh Beaumont; Dan Biggers; Bono; Steve Borden; Josephine Brawley Hughes; Moya Brennan; Frederick Buechner; Chris Byrd; Candace Cameron; Kirk Cameron; Jim Carrey; Vince Carter; Johnny Cash; James Caviezel; Iris Chacon; Liliana Chacon; G. K. Chesterton; Jaileen Cintron; Jerry Colangelo; William Colgate; Miguel Cotto; Elvis Crespo; Charlie Daniels; dc Talk; Delirious?; Esteban De Jesus; Trent Dilfer; Thomas A. Dorsey; Kevin Duckworth; Bob Dylan; The Edge; Joe English; Dale Evans; Chad Everett; Mark Farner; Kim Fields; Bob Fitzsimmons; Tiger Flowers; Jane Fonda; George Foreman; Randall Franks; Richie Furay; Gerardo; Mel Gibson; Clarence Gilyard; Jeff Gordon; Amy Grant; A.C. Green; Keith Green; Norman Greenbaum; Andy Griffith; M.C. Hammer; David Hart; Darren Hayes; Evander Holyfield; Mahalia Jackson; LeBron James; Marty Jannetty; Jars of Clay; Avery Johnson; Dean Jones; Richard Kiel; Gladys Knight; Michael Landon Jr.; Meadowlark Lemon; Tom Lester; C. S. Lewis; Hal Lindsey; Tom Lister Jr.; Brian Littrell; Angel Manfredy; Brennan Manning; Pete Maravich; Kelly Martin; Jerry Mathers; Shawn Michaels; Gavin McCloud; Steve McQueen; Moby; Andy Montanez; Alvy Moore; Mandy Moore; Tia and Tamera Mowry; Rich Mullins; Lila Murillo; Chelsea Noble; Larry Norman; Chuck Norris; Flannery O'Connor; Carroll O'Connor; Jennifer O'Neill; Ken Osmond; Peret; Robert Picardo; Petra; Robert Picardo; Jorge Porcel; Mark Price; Aaron Pryor; Michael Redd; Della Reese; Judge Reinhold; Cliff Richard; David Ruprecht; David Robinson; Jose Luis Rodriguez Gonzolez; Roy Rogers actor; Vince Russo; Alex Sonchez; Deion Sanders; Colonel Sanders; Dorothy L. Sayers; Martin Sheen; Arnold Schwarzenegger; John Schneider; Earnie Shavers; Sonny Shroyer; Jessica Simpson; Michael W. Smith; Sons of the San Joaquin; Gwen Stefani; James Stewart; Tonea Stewart; Darryl Strawberry; Stryper; A.J. Styles; Billy Sunday; Mr. T; Johnny Tapia; Thomas of Celino; P.J. Thomas; J. R. R. Tolkien; Randy Travis; Christian Ubber; Yolanda Vadiz; Dick Van Dyke; Jaci Velazquez; Ken Wales; Susan Wales; Andre Ward; Kurt Warner; Lisa Whelchel; Reggie White; Buck Williams; Michelle Williams; Marcos Witt; John Woo; Yuri; Charlie Zaa; Steven F. Zambo; Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
Great Christians listed on In Touch Ministries' "Spiritual Journeys of Great Christians" page (http://www.intouch.org:80/myintouch/mighty/portraits/index_77957.html):
Corrie Ten Boom; Abraham Lincoln; David Livingstone; Henrietta Mears; Martin Luther; R.G. LeTourneau; A.W. Tozer; Oswald Chambers; George Frideric Handel; Hudson Taylor; Jim Elliot; Andrew Murray; Eric Liddell; Peter Marshall; Susanna Wesley; Charles Spurgeon; Fanny Crosby; Francis Schaeffer; George Washington Carver; Amy Carmichael; Dwight Moody; C. S. Lewis; Charles Finney; Catherine Marshall; Dawson Trotman
Profiles of Famous Christians, by David W. Kuykendall, First Baptist Church of Searles Valley (http://www.kjvuser.com/profilesoffamouschristians.htm):
A. B. Simpson; Adoniram Judson; Billy Sunday; C. T. Studd; Charles Finney; Charles Haddon Spurgeon; Charles Simeon; Christmas Evans; Cornelius Smith; Dwight L. Moody; Fanny Crosby; Francis Ridley Havergal; George Mueller; George Whitfield; Girolamo Savonarola; Harry Ironside; Hudson Taylor; Jack Hyles; Jeremiah Mcauley; John Newton; John R. Rice; John Vassar; John Wesley; Jonathan Edwards; Martin Luther; Mel Trotter; Menno Simmons; Peter Cartwright; Robert M. Mccheyne; Sam Jones; Solomon Ginsburg; Ulrich Zwingli; Wesley Clark; William Borden; William Carey
James Kiefer's Christian Biographies (http://elvis.rowan.edu/~kilroy/JEK/home.html):
Bridget of Kildare; Catherine Winkworth; David P. Oakerhater; Dewi of Wales; Frederick Denison Maurice; Justin Martyr; Nicholas Ferrar; Peter's Deliverance; Philip and James; Remigius of Orleans; Alexander Crummell; Dietrich Bonhoeffer; Ephrem of Edessa; Forty Martyrs of Sebaste; Laurence; Leo the Great; Paulinus of York; Scholastica; Thomas Merton; William Laud; Barnabas; Benedict of Nursia; Clare of Assisi; George A Selwyn; Lars Olsen Skrefsrud; Martin of Tours; Philip the Evangelist; Aelred of Rievaulx; Charles Simeon; G.K. Chesterton; Gregory the Great; Hippolytus; John Henry Hobart; Mikael Agricola; Nathan Soderblom; Samuel Johnson; Simon of Cyrene; Wilfred of York; Absalom Jones; Agatha and Lucy; Antony of Padua; Cyprian of Carthage; Edward the Confessor; Gregory Palamas; Hilary of Poitiers; Jeremy Taylor; Silas; Basil the Great; Cyril; Methodius; John of the Cross; Maximilian Kolbe; Pachomius; S.I.J. Schereschewsky; Samuel Seabury; Albert the Great; Damien; Dante Alighieri; Evelyn Underhill; Olga and Vladimir; Teresa of Avila; The Virgin Mary; Thomas Bray; Bernadette of Lourdes; Janani Luwum; Joseph Butler; Margaret, Queen of Scotland; Ninian of Galloway; Antony of Egypt; Bartolome de Casas; Dorothy L Sayers; Erik of Sweden; Hildegard of Bingen; Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln; Ignatius of Antioch; Onesimus; Patrick; Bernard Mizeki; Confession of Peter; Cyril of Jerusalem; Dag Hammarskjold; Florence Nightingale; Hilda of Whitby; Luke the Evangelist; Martin of Erfurt; William Porcher DuBose; Alphege of Canterbury; Dunstan of Canterbury; Elizabeth, Princess of Hungary; Helena; Jesuit Martyrs of North America; Joseph; Macrina the Younger; Theodore of Tarsus; Wulfstan of Worcester; All Souls; Athanasius; Chad of Lichfield; Channing Moore Williams; James Lloyd Breck; Martyrs of Lyons; Martyrs of New Guinea; Alcuin; Bernard of Clairvaux; Cuthbert of Lindisfarne; Edmund, King of East Anglia; Fabian, Bishop and Martyr; John C Patteson; Rasmus Jensen; Sojourner Truth; Agnes of Rome; Anselm of Canterbury; Blaise Pascal; Dionysius of Alexandria; John Eliot; Matthew; Onesimos Nesib; Peter Damian; Thomas Ken; Thomas the Apostle; Alban; C. S. Lewis; Edward King; James De Koven; Mary Magdalene; Vincent of Saragossa; Birgitta of Sweden; Clement of Rome; Gregory the Illuminator; James of Jerusalem; Ludwig Nommensen; Phillips Brooks; Polycarp; Toyohiko Kagawa; Bartholomew; Francis de Sales; Jonathan Edwards; Martyrs of Armenia; Matthias; Nicolaus Copernicus; Thomas a Kempis; Bede the Venerable; Catherine of Alexandria; Conversion of St. Paul; Ethelbert of Kent; Geoffrey Chaucer; James the Apostle; Louis IX of France; Mark the Evangelist; Philip Melanchthon; Sergius of Radonezh; Alfred the Great; Augustine of Canterbury; Elizabeth Fedd; Lancelot Andrewes; Protomartyr; Timothy; Titus; Silas; Charles Henry Brent; Cyril of Alexandria; George Herbert; John Calvin; John Chrysostom; Thomas Gallaudet; Vincent de Paul; William Reed Huntington; William Temple; Augustine of Hippo; Irenaeus; J. S. Bach; Kamehameha and Emma; Simon; Jude; Thomas Aquinas; Catherine of Siena; James Hannington; John Keble; Juraj Tranovsky; Lydia; Dorcas; Phoebe; Mary; Martha; Lazarus of Bethany; Michael and all Angels; Peter and Paul; Thomas a Becket; Anskar; Francis Xavier et al; Gladys Aylward; John; Charles Wesley; Martyrs of Uganda; Nicodemus; Nikolai Grundtvig; Richard Hooker; Richard of Chichester; Andrew; Charles I of England; Scotland; Early Abbots of Cluny; Early Martyrs of Rome; Hans Neilsen Hauge; Jerome; Joan of Arc; John Bunyan; Josephine Butler; William Wilberforce; Aidan of Lindisfarne; John Donne; Joseph of Arimathaea; Sylvester of Rome; Cornelius; Francis of Assisi; Jean-Baptist Vianney; John of Damascus; Monnica; Paul Jones; Pope John XXIII; Albert Schweitzer; Boniface; Clement of Alexandria; Martyrs of Japan; Oswald of Northumbria; Theodor Fliedner; Albrecht Duerer; Michelangelo Buonarroti; Jan Hus; Nicholas of Myra; William Tyndale; Ambrose of Milan; Chief Seattle; Henry Muhlenberg; John Mason Neale; Perpetua and her Companions; Willibrord of Utrecht; Aquila and Priscilla; Dominic; Edward King; John Milton; Julian of Norwich; Martyrs of Ecuador; William A. Muhlenberg; Columba of Iona; Constance and her Companions; Franz Jagerstatter; Gregory of Nazianzus; Gregory of Nyssa; Julia Chester Emery; Robert Grosseteste; William Law; Blaise of Sebaste; Charles de Foucauld; Prayer for Church Unity; Clotilda, Queen of the Franks; Henry Martyn; Isaac Watts; James Otis Sargent Huntington; John Fisher; John Heyer; Soren Kierkegaard; Thomas More; William Passavant; Amelia Jenks Bloomer; Apolo Kivebulaya; Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg; Edward B. Pusey; Elizabeth Cady Stanton; First Book of Common Prayer; Forty Martyrs of England and Wales; George Frederick Handel; Harriet Ross Tubman; Heinrich Schuetz; Henry Winter Syle; Ignatius of Loyola; Jackson Kemper; Johan Olaf Wallin; John Wyclif; Jonathan Myrick Daniels; Olavus; Laurentius Petri; Peter Abelard; Richard Baxter; Vitus, Martyr; William Shakespeare; William White; Charles Gore; Louis XVI of France
People who are well known because of their efforts or careers in ministry include:
Kay Arthur, Jim Bakker, Gary Bauer, David Berkowitz, Bill Bright, Larry Burkett, Ryne Hart Bonke, Corrie Ten Boom, Michael Brown, Tony Campollo, David (Paul) Yonggi Cho, Chuck Colson, Kenneth Copeland, James Dobson, Elisabeth Elliot, Jim Elliot, Tony Evans, Charles Finney, Jerry Fallwell, Franklin Graham, Billy Graham, John Haggee, Hank Hannigraf, Marilyn Hickey, Steve Hill, Benny Hinn, Rees Howells, Bill Hybels, Calvin Johnson Jr., Grant Jeffries, Ben Kinshlo, Paul Krouch, Nicky Cruz, Hubert Lindsey, Hal Lindsey, David Livingstone, Crawford Loritz, Max Lucado, Peter Marshall, Bill McCartney, Josh McDowell, Walter Martin, Dwight Moody, George Mueller, Larry Poland, Oral Roberts, Pat Robertson, Dave Roever, Robert Schuller, Demias Shekarian, Robert Slairden, Charles Stanley, Chuck Swindoll, Hudson Taylor, A.W. Tozer, Kevin Turner, John Wesley, Susana Wesley, David Wilkerson, Ravi Zacharius
See also:
Religious Affiliation of U.S. Presidents (all have been Christian)
Religious Affiliation of U.S. Vice-Presidents (all have been Christian)
| Theologians | ||
| Athanasius | Five-time exile for fighting "orthodoxy" | early Christian |
| Augustine of Hippo | Architect of the Middle Ages | Greek state paganism; Manichaeanism; Catholic |
| John of Damascus | Image-conscious Arab | Catholic |
| Anselm | Reluctant bishop with a remarkable mind | Catholic (Benedictine monk) |
| Thomas Aquinas | The brilliant "dumb ox" | Catholic |
| Martin Luther | Passionate reformer | Catholic; Lutheran |
| John Calvin | Father of the Reformed faith | Reformed Church; Calvinism |
| Jacob Arminius | Irenic anti-Calvinist | Dutch Reformed |
| Jonathan Edwards | America's greatest theologian | Congregationalist; Presbyterian |
| Karl Barth | Courageous theologian | Lutheran; Swiss Reformed |
| Evangelists and Apologists | ||
| Justin Martyr | Defender of the "true philosophy" | Catholic |
| Clement of Alexandria | Theologian for the intelligentsia | |
| Gregory Thaumaturgus | "The Wonder Worker" | |
| Antony of Padua | "The hammer of heretics" | |
| Blaise Pascal | Scientific and spiritual prodigy | Jansenism |
| George Whitefield | Sensational evangelist of Britain and America | |
| Charles Finney | Father of American revivalism | |
| Dwight L. Moody | Revivalist with a common touch | |
| Billy Sunday | Salty evangelist | |
| Billy Graham | Evangelist to millions | Presbyterian; Baptist |
| Pastors and Preachers | ||
| Ambrose of Milan | Most talented bishop of the early church | |
| John Chrysostom | Early church's greatest preacher | Catholic |
| Richard Baxter | Moderate in an age of extremes | |
| John Newton | Reformed slave trader | Anglican |
| Charles Simeon | Evangelical mentor and model | Anglican |
| Lyman Beecher | Revivalist who moved with the times | Presbyterian |
| Thomas Chalmers | Unrelenting advocate for the poor | |
| John Nelson Darby | Father of dispensationalism | |
| Charles Spurgeon | Finest nineteenth-century preacher | Baptist |
| Harry Emerson Fosdick | Liberalism's popularizer | |
| Musicians, Artists, and Writers | ||
| Rembrandt Harmensz Van Rijn | Dutch painter of the soul | Dutch Reformed |
| Johann Sebastian Bach | "The Fifth Evangelist" | Lutheran |
| George Frideric Handel | Composer of Messiah | Lutheran |
| John Bunyan | Pilgrim who made progress in prison | Baptist |
| Harriet Beecher Stowe | Author of Uncle Tom's Cabin | Congregationalist |
| Fyodor Dostoyevsky | Russian novelist of spiritual depth | Russian Orthodox |
| George MacDonald | Fabled Victorian writer | |
| G.K. Chesterton | "Enormous" essayist, poet, writer | Anglican; Catholic |
| Dorothy Sayers | Mystery writer and apologist | Anglican |
| C.S. Lewis | Scholar, author, and apologist | Anglican |
| Poets | ||
| Dante Alighieri | Worldly creator of divine verse | Catholic |
| Geoffrey Chaucer | Medieval England's greatest storyteller | Geoffrey Chaucer |
| John Donne | Poet of God's love | Anglican |
| George Herbert | England's greatest religious poet | Anglican |
| John Milton | Puritan author of Paradise Lost | Anglican; Congregationalist |
| Anne Bradstreet | America's first poet | Unitarian |
| Isaac Watts | Father of English hymnody | Anglican; Congregationalist |
| Charles Wesley | Greatest hymn writer of all time | Methodist |
| Fanny Crosby | Prolific and blind hymn writer | Methodist |
| T.S. Eliot | Modernist poet | Anglican |
| Denominational Founders | ||
| Menno Simons | Anabaptist peacemaker | Anabaptist; Mennonite |
| John Knox | Presbyterian with a sword | Presbyterian |
| John Smyth | The "Se-Baptist" | Baptist |
| George Fox | First Friend | Quaker |
| Nikolaus von Zinzendorf | Christ-centered Moravian "brother" | Moravian Church |
| John Wesley | Methodical pietist | Methodist |
| Francis Asbury | Methodist on horseback | Methodist |
| Richard Allen | Father of the American Methodist Episcopal Church | Methodist Episcopal Church |
| William Miller | Mistaken founder of Adventism | Seventh-day Adventist |
| Alexander Campbell | Christian | Church of Christ |
| Aimee Semple McPherson | Foursquare phenomenon | International Church of the Foursquare Gospel |
| Movers and Shakers | ||
| Benedict of Nursia | Father of western monasticism | |
| Bernard of Clairvaux | Medieval reformer and mystic | |
| Dominic | Founder of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) | Catholic |
| Francis of Assisi | Mystical founder of the Franciscans | Catholic |
| John Wycliffe | Medieval "protestant" | Catholic |
| Joan of Arc | Teenage war hero with visions | Catholic |
| Ulrich Zwingli | Militant Swiss reformer | |
| Ignatius of Loyola | Founder of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) | Catholic |
| Phoebe Palmer | Mother of the holiness movement | Methodist |
| Soren Kierkegaard | Christian existentialist | Lutheran |
| Missionaries | ||
| Columbanus | Irish missionary to Europe | |
| Cyril and Methodius | Apostles to the Slavs | |
| Francis Xavier | First missionary to Japan | |
| Matthew Ricci | Controversial evangelist to China | |
| John Eliot | Apostle to Native Americans | |
| William Carey | Father of modern Protestant missions | Baptist |
| David Livingstone | Missionary-explorer of Africa | Calvinist |
| Hudson Taylor | Faith missionary to China | Methodist |
| Inner Travelers | ||
| Antony of Egypt | Greatest Desert Father | |
| Hildegard of Bingen | Benedictine abbess, visionary, and writer | |
| Catherine of Siena | Mystic and political activist | |
| Thomas A Kempis | Author of the most popular devotional classic | |
| Teresa of Avila | Carmelite mystic and feisty administrator | Catholic |
| John of the Cross | Spanish mystic of the soul's dark night | |
| Brother Lawrence | Practitioner of God's presence | |
| William Law | Champion of the serious, devout, and holy life | Anglican |
| Andrew Murray | Leading student in Christ's school of prayer | |
| Oswald Chambers | Preacher who gave his utmost | Baptist |
| Activists | ||
| John Woolman | Quaker mystic and abolitionist | Quaker |
| William Wilberforce | Antislavery politician | |
| Elizabeth Fry | Prison reformer | Quaker |
| Sojourner Truth | Abolitionist and women's rights advocate | Methodist; Seventh-day Adventist |
| Lord Shaftesbury (Antony Ashley Cooper) | Godly English statesman | |
| William Gladstone | Prime Minister of impeccable morals | |
| Harriet Tubman | The "Moses" of her people | Methodist |
| Catherine Booth | Compelling preacher and co-founder of the Salvation Army | Salvation Army |
| William Booth | First General of the Salvation Army | Salvation Army |
| Walter Rauschenbusch | Champion of the social gospel | |
| Rulers | ||
| Constantine | First Christian emperor | |
| Theodosius I | Emperor who made Christianity "the" Roman religion | Catholic |
| Justinian I and Theodora I | Greatest Byzantine rulers | Catholic |
| Leo I | Pope and international diplomat | Catholic |
| Gregory the Great | "Servant of the Servants of God" | |
| Charlemagne | Christian ruler of a "holy" empire | Catholic |
| Innocent III | Warring "Vicar of Christ" | Catholic |
| Louis IX | Saintly king of France | Catholic |
| Henry VIII | Defender of the faith | Anglican |
| Scholars and Scientists | ||
| Origen | Biblical scholar and philosopher | |
| Eusebius of Caesarea | Father - and maker - of church history | |
| Jerome | Bible translator whose version lasted a millennium | |
| The Venerable Bede | Father of English history | |
| Erasmus | Pious humanist who sparked the Reformation | |
| Nicholas Copernicus | Revolutionary astronomer | Catholic |
| William Tyndale | Translator of the first English New Testament | Lutheran |
| John Foxe | Martyrologist | |
| Francis Bacon | Philosopher of science | Anglican |
| Galileo Galilei | Misjudged astronomer | Catholic |
| Martyrs | ||
| Ignatius of Antioch | Earliest post-New Testament martyr | |
| Polycarp | Aged bishop of Smyrna | |
| Perpetua | High society believer | |
| Boniface | Apostle to Germany | |
| Thomas Becket | Murdered archbishop of Canterbury | |
| John Huss | Pre-Reformation reformer | |
| Thomas Cranmer | Genius behind Anglicanism | Anglican |
| Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer | English reformers who died together | |
| Dietrich Bonhoeffer | German theologian and resister | Lutheran |