I had Google generate a random number and it served up 198. Turning to page 198 landed me on the subject of today's episode, Alexander Duff. Duff was unknown to me so I'm willing to bet he is to many of you, as well. That, along with his impressive life story, makes him exactly the kind of person this show is intended to highlight. I hope you will enjoy getting to know Duff a little bit.

I mentioned in the first Arminius episode that we might cover the Eighty Years' War at some point in a bonus episode. That point is today. I hope you enjoy this brief diversion from our typical subjects.

 Today, in episode 86, we are continuing our trek through the Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals by Intervarsity Press. Today we are spending time with a figure who does not always get the attention he deserves, yet his influence on the church in Scotland and on the broader Reformed world is profound. He can be found on page 422 of the Biographical Dictionary. We are talking about Andrew Melville, a man whose courage, scholarship, and unwavering commitment to the authority of Scripture helped shape the identity of Presbyterianism for generations.

This Christmas 2025 episode will focus on the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It is this year's Christmas episode, of course, because Longfellow wrote the memorable poem Christmas Bells - which later became the Christmas hymn I Heard the Bells.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is one of America's most cherished poets, a writer whose moral vision, gentle piety, and lyrical craft helped shape the cultural and spiritual imagination of a nation. His life, marked by both literary achievement and deep personal sorrow, gave birth to works that continue to resonate strongly with Christians and lovers of Christmas traditions around the world. Among these, his poem Christmas Bells is the most enduring, reflecting Psalm 23's truth that faith can persist even through the darkest valleys of suffering.

This episode concludes our three part look at Jacobus Arminius as part of the larger series of episodes taken from Inter-Varsity Press' Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals. In this episode we're discussing Arminianism today. If you haven't listened to the preceding two episodes you should go do that now. 

Today we're continuing our look at Arminius and the storms that followed his death. He died of tuberculosis in 1609 but, of course, his impact continued, and continues, long after his death. Specifically, we're going to focus on the Synod of Dort, one of the most important, and perhaps least understood, events in the history of Christian doctrine. We'll look at what Dort was, why it happened, and why Christians today — often unknowingly — are still living in the shadow of its decisions.

Today we are continuing our random march through Inter-Varsity Press' Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals. My son pulled random number 18, which lead us to page 18 in the book. Page 18 takes us to Jacobus Arminius - the founder of the Remonstrant Movement and the arch-enemy of Calvinists everywhere. That's a bit of a joke but he is the founder of one of the two primary (sorry Molinists) views on the Doctrines of Grace. He was also a pastor, a scholar, a peacemaker, and ultimately, a man who sought to defend the goodness and justice of God at all costs — even when it cost him dearly.

This is Episode 81 and the second in out series of episodes based on the Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals from Inter-Varsity Press. If you remember from the last episode I'm using a random number generator to choose a number from three to 763 and that determines what page to check to find the subject of the episode. It's kind of like a modern casting of the lots. My son Zach chose random number 42 and that has led today's episode to focus on someone wholly unknown to me - early American Evangelical Lyman Beecher. 

This season we're doing something a little different. This season will consist of mostly shorter episodes with inspiration drawn from the Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals by Mark Noll and published by Intervarsity Press. BDE features brief biographies, ordered chronologically, of over 400 evangelicals from John Wycliff to the modern day spread across 816 pages. My plan for each episode is to use a random number generator to select a page and then deliver a brief biography of whomever was randomly selected. This is something of an experiment and we'll have to see how it goes.

This is a special Christmas bonus episode featuring Charles Dickens. Dickens is in many ways responsible for the modern celebration of Christmas - for good or ill. I hope you enjoy this look at this life.

Today's show is about one of the titans of medieval thought - John Duns Scotus. Scotus was one of the most influential scholastics - right behind Thomas Aquinas. In this episode I'm going to go off into the weeds a bit to explain some of the details of the medieval school of thought known as Scholasticism and other topics. Hopefully you find the side-trips helpful.

https://whytheology.wordpress.com/2012/10/24/church-history-minute-john-duns-scotus/

https://iep.utm.edu/john-duns-scotus/

https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05194a.htm

https://www.jstor.org/stable/23801483

Cornelius Van Til is one of the foremost apologists of the 20th Century. He developed the strand of apologetics known as presuppositional apologetics. His influence on modern Christianity is undeniable.

RESOURCES

New Netherlands Institute: https://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/history-and-heritage/dutch_americans/cornelius-van-til

Banner of Truth: https://banneroftruth.org/us/resources/articles/2001/cornelius-van-til/

Got Questions? https://www.gotquestions.org/presuppositional-apologetics.html

Table Talk Magazine: https://tabletalkmagazine.com/posts/christianity-and-van-tillianism-2019-08/

Hello and welcome to episode 77 of the Giants of the Faith podcast. My name is Robert Daniels and I am the host of this show where we look back at Christians from the past that have made an impact for the kingdom of God. Today we're looking at the life of Scottish missionary John Paton.

RESOURCES

Ligonier: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/missionary-john-paton

All Nations Interational: https://allnations.international/blog/the-story-of-john-paton-whose-god-made-rain-come-from-the-earth

Wholesome Words: https://www.wholesomewords.org/missions/biopaton2.html

In today's episode we're looking at influential modern theologian Karl Barth. This is my third try at writing this episode because I've struggled to be able to present Barth in a way that both appreciates his impact on the 20th century church while dealing with the problems in his personal life. So, to avoid rubber-stamping Barth's status as a Giant of the Faith but to also cover such an influential figure, I'm bumping him to bonus episode status. This might limit the reach of this episode but it will at least assuage my conscience.

RESOURCES

The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/theologians-karl-barth-adultery/

Rod Lampard: https://rodlampard.com/2018/09/06/three-criticisms-of-karl-barth/

The Torrey Gazette: https://torreygazette.com/blog/2017/6/27/all-the-barth-questions

Evangelical Orphan: https://evangelicalorphan.wordpress.com/2015/09/05/meet-karl-barth/

Athanasian Reformed: https://growrag.wordpress.com/2016/04/08/some-of-what-i-know-of-karl-barth-off-the-top-a-self-promoted-test-of-sorts/

Princeton Theological Seminary: https://barth.ptsem.edu/charlotte-von-kirschbaum-and-karl-barth/

Hello, and welcome to episode 76 of the Giants of the Faith podcast. This is the podcast where we look at the lives of Christians from history and examine the impact that they have had for the Kingdom of Christ. I'm your host, Robert Daniels, and in today's episode we're focused on one of the Church Fathers, John Chrysostom.


RESOURCES

Orthodox Christianity: https://orthochristian.com/43102.html

Got Questions: https://www.gotquestions.org/John-Chrysostom.html

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/john-chrysostom-did-you-know

 This is the podcast where we profile Christians from throughout the age of the church and look at their impact on the world and our shared faith. In this episode we're profiling the Anglican Bishop J.C. Ryle, who's commentaries and works are still in print and in wide use today.

Dionysius Exiguus, whose name would be translated today as "Dennis the Humble," was a 6th-century monk, scholar, and mathematician. While he may not be as well-known as some other figures from antiquity, his contributions to the world are profound and enduring. 

Welcome to Giants of the Faith, a podcast where we explore some of the great figures in Christian history. I'm your host, Robert Daniels, and today we're going to talk about Mark Buntain, a Canadian evangelist and missionary who founded a hospital and a feeding program in Calcutta, India. This episode is for Tim Svoboda, who won the graphic novel contest from a few months ago by suggesting Buntain. 

 Today, we will focus on the life and work of John Mason Neale, an Anglican priest, scholar, and hymnwriter who translated and adapted many ancient and medieval hymns into English. My initial thought was to relegate Neale to a bonus episode hitched to Episode 71 and Wenceslaus. But when I saw that he was also responsible for the popular English translations of "Good Christian Men, Rejoice" and "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" I had to give him the full episode treatment. Those two songs, along with "Good King Wenceslas" are some of my favorite classic Christmas songs so I really enjoyed learning about Neale.

RESOURCES

Hymnology Archive. https://www.hymnologyarchive.com/john-mason-neale.

The Feast Days: https://thefeastdays.com/0807

Merry Christmas! I'm recording this episode in December 2023 and Christmas is fast approaching. So, in honor of this festive season, today's episode will focus on the history and stories surrounding two men that have become part of our Christmas traditions in the West. One, Boniface, is most famous as the bringer of the Christmas tree. The other, Wenceslaus, for his noble act of kindness.

RESOURCES

BONIFACE SOURCES

Franciscan Media: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-boniface/

Fordham University: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/willibald-boniface.asp

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/martyrs/boniface.html

Christianapostles.com: https://christianapostles.com/st-boniface/

Catholic Answers: https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/st-boniface-and-the-christmas-tree

WENCESLAUS SOURCES

Franciscan Media: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-wenceslaus/

Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wenceslas-I-prince-of-Bohemia

St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church: https://stwenc-ic.com/about-us/history-of-the-saint/3-history-of-st-wenceslaus

St. Wenceslaus Parish: http://www.stwenc.org/St_Wenceslaus/St-wencelsaus-story.html

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQVUMG6LZGM

This is part two of two of a look at the life of famed evangelist Billy Graham. In part one we looked at Graham's early life through his first major evangelistic campaign in Los Angeles. Today we'll look at the rest of his life. I feel like I should say that I'm not covering everything that Graham did in his life. He was a busy guy. There are plenty of biographies out there if you are interested in learning more about him.


RESOURCES

The Billy Graham Library: https://billygrahamlibrary.org/blog-billy-graham-and-the-florida-bible-institute/

iDisciple: https://www.idisciple.org/post/the-impact-of-one

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/billy-graham

Billygraham.org: https://billygraham.org/about/biographies/billy-graham/

The Billy Graham Library: https://billygrahamlibrary.org/billy-graham/

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/evangelistsandapologists/billy-graham.html

My Hero: https://myhero.com/billy-graham

The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/interview-billy-grahams-best-biographer/

Inspirational Christians: https://www.inspirationalchristians.org/evangelists/reverend-billy-graham-ordinary-man-extraordinary-call/

Christianity.com: https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/mordecai-ham-outspoken-evangelist-11630588.html

Aunty Faith: https://auntyfaith.com/2020/09/01/the-biography-of-mordecai-ham-the-southern-revivalist/

Florida Backroads Travel: https://www.florida-backroads-travel.com/temple-terrace-florida.html

WUSF: https://www.wusf.org/news/2018-02-21/rev-billy-graham-found-evangelical-voice-in-temple-terrace-tampa

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/the-modesto-manifesto

We've been following the chain of faith from Edward Kimball to DL Moody, then from Moody to Wilbur Chapman and on through Billy Sunday and Mordecai Ham until we've finally reach the man himself, William Franklin Graham. Graham needs little introduction so we'll just jump right into the story.

RESOURCES

The Billy Graham Library: https://billygrahamlibrary.org/blog-billy-graham-and-the-florida-bible-institute/

iDisciple: https://www.idisciple.org/post/the-impact-of-one

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/billy-graham

Billygraham.org: https://billygraham.org/about/biographies/billy-graham/

The Billy Graham Library: https://billygrahamlibrary.org/billy-graham/

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/evangelistsandapologists/billy-graham.html

My Hero: https://myhero.com/billy-graham

The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/interview-billy-grahams-best-biographer/

Inspirational Christians: https://www.inspirationalchristians.org/evangelists/reverend-billy-graham-ordinary-man-extraordinary-call/

Christianity.com: https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/mordecai-ham-outspoken-evangelist-11630588.html

Aunty Faith: https://auntyfaith.com/2020/09/01/the-biography-of-mordecai-ham-the-southern-revivalist/

Florida Backroads Travel: https://www.florida-backroads-travel.com/temple-terrace-florida.html

WUSF: https://www.wusf.org/news/2018-02-21/rev-billy-graham-found-evangelical-voice-in-temple-terrace-tampa

This is a bit of a bonus because I didn't intend to give today's subject the full episode treatment. But after a last-minute change of mind here we are with a short episode focusing on Mordecai Ham, the Kentuckian evangelist who will be the penultimate link in our chain of faith leading up to Billy Graham. Ham was a fundamentalist Baptist - not the kind of guy I would normally want to feature. He was, perhaps, anti-Semitic, certainly racist, anti-Catholic, and prone to all of the worst leanings you can imagine of an IFB leader. But he played a part in this chain of faith so here we are. I present to you this biography of Ham not because of who he was but more because of the impact he had.

RESOURCES

Christianity.com: https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/mordecai-ham-outspoken-evangelist-11630588.html

SBC Evangelist: https://www.sbcevangelist.org/mordecai-ham/

Garland Landmark Society: https://www.garlandhistorical.org/online-resources/46-articles/satellite-business/100-revivalist-s-fiery-preaching-recalled

Truth in History (these guys are nuts): http://truthinhistory.org/the-need-of-the-anglo-israel-truth.html

Sword of the Lord (nuts, as well): https://web.archive.org/web/20160429094255/http://www.swordofthelord.com/biographies/HamMordecai.htm

Over the last few episodes we've been building up the chain of faith that leads to Billy Graham. We've seen how the devotion and life of Sunday school teacher Edward Kimball led to the conversion of a young DL Moody. Then how Moody inspired Wilbur Chapman to go into full-time evangelism which led to Chapman giving Billy Sunday his start as an evangelist. And that's where we pick up the chain today as we take a deeper dive into the life of Billy Sunday.

RESOURCES

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/evangelistsandapologists/billy-sunday.html

Got Questions?: https://www.gotquestions.org/Billy-Sunday.html

Romans1015: https://romans1015.com/billysunday/

Wholesome Words: https://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/bsunday3.html

Travis Agnew: https://www.travisagnew.org/2013/07/22/the-chain-of-events-for-billy-grahams-conversion/

In today's episode we're continuing the faith march toward Billy Graham. We started this journey by profiling the travelling salesman Edward Kimball, then the world renowned evangelist DL Moody. Today it's the lesser-known John Wilbur Chapman, a Presbyterian evangelist and pastor who was one of the most influential leaders of the revival movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

RESOURCES

Wholesome Words: https://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/bchapman4.html

Canton Baptist Temple: https://christianhof.org/chapman/

Leben: https://leben.us/j-wilbur-chapman-hymnwriter-and-evangelist/

American Profile: https://americanprofile.com/articles/wilbur-chapman-evangelist/

Ancient-Modern Study Bible: https://www.christianbook.com/nkjv-comfort-ancient-modern-cloth-board/9780785215974/pd/215977?event=ESRCG

In today's episode we're continuing the faith march toward Billy Graham. In the last episode we looked at Edward Kimball, the humble Sunday School teacher who led DL Moody to the Lord, and today we're focused on Moody himself. Moody was an American evangelist and publisher who founded the Moody Bible Institute, the Moody Church, and several other ministries that still impact millions of people today. 

RESOURCES

Inspirational Christians: https://www.inspirationalchristians.org/evangelists/dwight-l-moody-biography/

Wholesome Words: https://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/biomoody4.html

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/life-and-times-of-moody

Moody Bible Institute: https://www.moody.edu/about/our-bold-legacy/d-l-moody/

Curiosmith: https://curiosmith.com/pages/bible-institute-colportage-association

Over the next five episodes we're going to be tracing the chain of faith from a little-known Sunday school teacher, Edward Kimball, to the most impactful Christian evangelist of the 20th century, Billy Graham. I hope you enjoy.


RESOURCES

New Life Christian Fellowship: https://www.newlife-ct.org/the-newlife-blog/post/who-is-edward-kimball

Travis Agnew: https://www.travisagnew.org/2013/07/22/the-chain-of-events-for-billy-grahams-conversion/

Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Kimball_(teacher)

Newspapers.com: https://www.newspapers.com/article/121082799/noted-helper-of-churches-is-dead-edward/

Newspapers.com: https://www.newspapers.com/article/120476386/a-modern-moses-edward-kimball-detailed/

Google Books: https://books.google.com/books?id=NCpWAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22edward+kimball%22+moody&pg=PA284#v=onepage&q=%22edward%20kimball%22%20moody&f=false

Today we're going to the Dark Continent to talk about Jove Ejovi Aganbi, a Nigerian pastor, evangelist and educator who played a key role in the growth of Christianity in his country. As is sometimes the case with this podcast I have to warn you that I will struggle with some pronunciations here. I did reach out to an Urhobo group on Facebook for help with pronunciations but as of recording time I have not heard back from them. So if I mangle words badly, forgive me.

RESOURCES

Dictionary of African Christian Biography: https://dacb.org/stories/nigeria/aganbi-jove/

Dictionary of African Christian Biography: https://dacb.org/stories/nigeria/ejovi-oboberhie/

Walking in Love Ministries of MKP, Inc..: https://walkinginloveministries.org/8-early-eku-history/

SIM International: https://www.sim.org/

Pew Research: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/04/19/sub-saharan-africa-will-be-home-to-growing-shares-of-the-worlds-christians-and-muslims/

Hello and welcome to Giants of the Faith, the podcast where we explore some of the great figures in Christian history. This is episode 62. I'm your host, Robert Daniels, and today we're going way back to look at the life of Clement of Alexandria, one of the first Christian philosophers and teachers of the church. As with many early fathers, details of Clement's life are scarce but I will do the best I can with what we have.

RESOURCES

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/evangelistsandapologists/clement-of-alexandria.html

Dictionary of African Christian Biography: https://dacb.org/stories/egypt/clement-of-alex/

Got Questions: https://www.gotquestions.org/Clement-of-Alexandria.html

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/clement-of-alexandria-rich-person

Early Christian Writings: https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/

Today we're going to talk about Watchman Nee, a Chinese church leader and Christian teacher who worked in China during the 20th century and whose impact is still being felt there today in the rapidly expanding Christian church. Nee was a Chinese Christian who wrote about the normal Christian life, which he believed involved four steps: knowledge of the cross of Christ, reckoning, presenting to God, and walking after the Spirit.


RESOURCES

Thirdmill: https://thirdmill.org/magazine/article.asp/link/hue_mountfort%5ECH.Mountfort.watchman.nee.bio.html/at/Watchman%20Nee%20%281903-1972%29:%20A%20Biographical%20Study

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1975/may-9/footnotes-sharper-focus-on-watchman-nee.html

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/297301999_The_Theological_Anthropology_of_Watchman_Nee_In_the_Context_of_Taoist_Tradition

Reformed Perspectives: http://reformedperspectives.org/articles/hue_mountfort/CH.Mountfort.watchman.nee.bio.html.

Dwell Community Church: https://dwellcc.org/learning/essays/watchman-nee-and-house-church-movement-china

We've finished our 10 episode series on hymn writers and today we are going to talk about Matthew Henry, a British Nonconformist minister and author who wrote one of the most famous and influential biblical commentaries of all time. If you don't know him from his commentaries, you might know him from this famous quote: The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved. That's a beautiful sentiment and does much to demonstrate the character of this godly man.


RESOURCES

Banner of Truth: https://banneroftruth.org/us/about/banner-authors/matthew-henry/#:~:text=He%20began%20work%20on%20his,Henry's%20own%20notes%20and%20writings.

Bible Study Tools: https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-complete/

Bible Portal: https://bibleportal.com/commentary/mhc

MatthewHenry.org https://www.matthewhenry.org/about/who-is-matthew-henry/

Quaker.org: https://quaker.org/the-inner-light/

Challies: https://www.challies.com/articles/the-puritans-matthew-henry/

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slater

This is episode 59, the final episode of our focus on  the hymnists. Today we’re going to talk about Charlotte Elliott, a hymn writer who wrote one of the most beloved hymns of all time: Just As I Am.



RESOURCES

Christian Study Library: https://www.christianstudylibrary.org/article/just-i-am-%E2%80%A6-life-charlotte-elliott

Conservapedia: https://www.conservapedia.com/Charlotte_Elliott

Women of Christianity: https://womenofchristianity.com/biographical-sketch-of-charlotte-elliot/

Spurgeon.org: https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/blog-entries/strength-amidst-suffering-lessons-from-the-life-of-charlotte-elliott/

The Bright Forever: http://thebrightforever.com

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slater

Today we’re going to talk about Horatio Spafford, the author of the famous hymn “It Is Well With My Soul”. As we'll see, Spafford went off the rails in his later life and, so, he's relegated to a Bonus Episode as we wind down are focus on the great hymn writers. This is probably going to stand as the longest episode in season 4 and I had to trim a lot of crazy stuff from it just to keep the episode to a reasonable length. So if you are interested go check out the source articles, particularly Leben, that I've linked in the show notes.

RESOURCES

Bethel Church Ripon: https://www.bethelripon.com/life-stories/horatio-gates-spafford

Covenant Protestant Reformed Church: https://cprc.co.uk/articles/spafford/

Isabellaalden.com: https://isabellaalden.com/2017/08/28/horatio-spaffords-second-chapter/

Leben: https://leben.us/shipwreck-american-colony/

Today we are going to talk about Augustus Toplady, an Anglican clergyman and hymn writer who is best known for his classic hymn "Rock of Ages".

RESOURCES

Hymnary: https://hymnary.org/person/Toplady_Augustus

Leben: https://leben.us/augustus-toplady/

Challies.com: https://www.challies.com/articles/hymn-stories-rock-of-ages/

Evangelical Movement of Wales: https://www.emw.org.uk/2020/05/rock-of-ages/

This is episode 57 and we're continuing our look at some of the great hymn writers and writers of some of the great hymns of all time. The subject of today's episode is Thomas Obadiah Chisholm, author of the beautiful hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness.


RESOURCES

Hymnology Archive: https://www.hymnologyarchive.com/thomas-chisholm

Blue Letter Bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/hymns/bios/bio_c_h_chisholm_to.cfm

Wordwise Hymns: https://wordwisehymns.com/2010/07/29/today-in-1866-thomas-obediah-chisholm-born/

Wikitree: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Chisholm-1772

Evangelical Movement of Wales: https://www.emw.org.uk/2020/06/great-is-thy-faithfulness/

This is episode 56 and we're continuing our look at some of the great hymn writers of all time. Today we're looking at the man who wrote one of the most popular hymns of the early 20th century and what is also my mother in-law's third favorite hymn - James Milton Black. Black is best remembered as the man behind When the Roll is Called Up Yonder. There's not a ton of biographical information on him so this will be a little on the shorter side but the song is very famous and the story behind it is a good one that I think it merits inclusion. 

RESOURCES

Lycoming College: https://www.lycoming.edu/umarch/image/black/black.pdf

Wordwise Hymns: https://wordwisehymns.com/2010/08/19/today-in-1856-james-milton-black-born/

Christianity.com: https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/james-milton-black-wanted-his-name-on-gods-roll-11630502.html

Hello and welcome to another short bonus episode of the Giants of the Faith podcast. Today we're taking at look at that preeminent Christmas hymn from Isaac Watts - the one that you and I have sung hundreds of times during the season of Advent - that is in fact not a Christmas hymn at all. It is, in fact, a song looking at the second advent - the second coming of Christ. I'm speaking, of course, of Joy to the World.

RESOURCES

The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/joy-to-the-world-a-classic-christmas-hymn-reconsidered/

Prince on Preaching: https://www.davidprince.com/2015/12/23/joy-to-the-world-christmas-and-the-second-coming/

Ligonier Ministries: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/joy-to-the-world-all-year-long

Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/PUBLICDOMAINJoytotheWorld

You’ve surely heard or read something about the coming AI revolution spurred on by OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google. I thought it’d be interesting to incorporate AI into an experimental podcast episode. I asked Microsoft’s Bing AI to write a biography of Isaac Watts that’s suitable for a podcast and then asked it a follow-up question about Congregationalism. What you’re about to hear is the result. And just for fun it’s read by Microsoft's Immersive Reader. 

Today's episode is focused on, as my good friend Pastor Dave Ungar would say, the big mamma jamma. He's the Father of English Hymnody, the genius of logic and theology, the Master of Metre, the Puritan Poet, the Prince of Praise, the dissenting unrelenting Southampton Singer, Isaac "Wondrous" Watts. Well, silly introductions aside, Isaac Watts was a remarkable man.

RESOURCES

Wholesome Words: https://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/bwatts7.html

Banner of Truth: https://banneroftruth.org/us/about/banner-authors/isaac-watts/

Christian Classics Ethereal Library: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/watts

The Reformed Reader: https://www.reformedreader.org/watts.htm

Evangelical Movement of Wales: https://www.emw.org.uk/2020/05/when-i-survey/

In our regular episodes we're progressing through a season featuring hymnists that have produced some of the greatest hymns in the history of the Church. But it kind of begs the question - what is a hymn? To be honest, that's not something that occurred to me to ask until I was five episodes through profiling hymn writers. To me, hymns just are what they are and you know one when you hear one. But there has to be more to it than that. And while I'm certainly no musical theorist or even a garden-variety musician I'm going to try and answer that question today.

RESOURCES

My Song in the Night: https://mysonginthenight.com/2012/10/01/what-makes-a-worship-song-a-hymn/

DifferenceBetween: http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/entertainment-miscellaneous/difference-between-song-and-hymn/

Reformed Worship: https://www.reformedworship.org/article/june-1987/what-hymn

Hymnicity: http://hymni.city/what-is-a-hymn

Evangelical Movement of Wales: https://www.emw.org.uk/2020/06/blessed-assurance/

We're in the midst of a series profiling hymnists and in this episode I'm bringing you the life of Reginald Heber. Now, that's not a name that jumps off the page as a well known Christian – at least it didn't to me – but he wrote one of the greatest hymns, maybe even THE greatest, of all time – Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty. 

RESOURCES

Hymns and Carols of Christmas: https://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Biographies/reginald_heber.htm

Hymnology Archive: https://www.hymnologyarchive.com/reginald-heber

Virginia Lucas Poetry Scrapbook: https://scalar.usc.edu/works/lucas-collection-poetry-scrapbook/biography-of-bishop-reginald-heber

Hello and welcome to episode 53 of the Giants of the Faith podcast. I'm Robert Daniels and I'm the host of this show. This is the podcast where we look at men and women from the age of the Church whose lives have had an impact for the Kingdom of God. Today we're continuing our series of episodes focused on hymn writers by looking at the Queen of Gospel Song Writers, Fanny Crosby.

RESOURCES

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/poets/fanny-crosby.html

Wholesome Words: https://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/bcrosby8.html

Revive Our Hearts: https://www.reviveourhearts.com/blog/fanny-crosby-her-story-her-song/

Foundation for Economic Education: https://fee.org/articles/blind-but-not-disabled/

Enjoying the Journey: https://enjoyingthejourney.org/hymn-history-safe-in-the-arms-of-jesus/

Evangelical Movement of Wales: https://www.emw.org.uk/2020/06/blessed-assurance/

We're continuing our series of episodes on hymn writers  And since it's almost Christmas at the time I'm publishing this episode we're going to take a look at the life of the writer of that most popular Christmas song, Silent Night  Silent Night was written by Joseph Mohr, an obscure Austrian priest who nearly went unrecognized but who's work has been enjoyed by generations of Christians. 

RESOURCES

Stille Nacht Museum: https://stillenacht-wagrain.com/e_stm_mohr.php

Salzburgerland: https://www.salzburgerland.com/en/joseph-mohr-1792-1848/

In Mozart's Footsteps: http://inmozartsfootsteps.com/836/the-story-of-silent-night-joseph-mohr-and-franz-gruber/

The Silent Night Association: https://www.stillenacht.at/en/history/joseph-mohr

The First Silent Night: https://play.google.com/store/tv/show/The_First_Silent_Night?id=2LGzbFpSGc8

This is the podcast where we look at men and women from the age of the Church whose lives have had an impact for the Kingdom of God with the ultimate goal of finding inspiration and strengthening our faith. This is the second episode in season four of this podcast where we're exclusively focusing on hymn writers.

The subject of today's episode wrote what is widely considered the most popular English-language hymn of all time - Amazing Grace. I'm speaking, of course, of John Newton. 

RESOURCES

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/amazingly-graced-john-newton

Ligonier Ministries: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts/5-minutes-in-church-history-with-stephen-nichols/the-life-of-john-newton

Christianity.com: https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1701-1800/john-newton-discovered-amazing-grace-11630253.html

Banner of Truth: https://banneroftruth.org/us/about/banner-authors/john-newton/

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/pastorsandpreachers/john-newton.html

Challies: https://www.challies.com/articles/christian-men-and-their-godly-moms-physical-weakness-spiritual-strength/

Evangelical Movement of Wales: https://www.emw.org.uk/2020/06/amazing-grace-traditional/

t's been a while since I've been able to record an episode so I thought we'd jump right into what I'm calling season four and for the duration of season four the episodes will focus exclusively on folks who have written some of the greatest hymns this side of heaven. We're going to kick off this season by looking at the life and times of Robert Robinson. Robinson wrote the excellent hymn Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, which is sung by churchgoers every Sunday in churches all around the world and every night by me when I'm putting my eldest grandson to bed. I love this song, and since it happens to be my wife's favorite hymn, I could not help but kick the season off with Robinson.

RESOURCES

Baptist Bible Tribune: https://www.tribune.org/the-strange-case-of-robert-robinson/

Blue Letter Bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/hymns/bios/bio_r_o_robinson_r.cfm

Desiring God: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/was-he-too-prone-to-wander

Christianity.com: https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1701-1800/did-robert-robinson-wander-as-he-feared-11630313.html

St. Augustine Record: https://www.staugustine.com/story/lifestyle/faith/2016/04/29/story-behind-song-come-thou-fount/16310394007/

In this episode we're taking a look at the life of Jinsey Young - a woman who's dedication to Christ and Christian service transcended her era and circumstances. She is known as a light in a place that was darker than a thousand midnights. And, though you might not have ever heard her name, she is certainly qualified to be called a Giant of the Faith.

RESOURCES

Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne: http://www.ctsfw.net/media/pdfs/GrayFormedforServiceTheWorkofRosaJinseyYoung.pdf

Our Redeemer's Lutheran Church: https://ourredeemers.net/rosa-jinsey-young-mother-of-black-lutheranism/

Encyclopedia of Alabama: http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1373

The Federalist: https://thefederalist.com/2021/02/10/how-one-black-teacher-in-rural-alabama-inspired-education-and-faith-spanning-generations/

Place for Truth: https://www.placefortruth.org/blog/rosa-young-committed-to-serve

The First Rosa Movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PFC68Zcpgs

When I started this podcast I had a list of people I might be interested in featuring but Rembrandt was nowhere on the list. I knew who he was, of course, and seen his work in school Humanities and Art classes but I didn't understand or appreciate his work from the perspective of a Christian artist. It was Francis Schaeffer's How Should We Then Live? That put him on my radar and I'm glad he did. Like Roy Rogers and Handel that I've profiled before, Rembrandt serves as a reminder that Christians can serve God in whatever their profession or calling and that glorifying Him and advancing His Kingdom are not limited to theologians, pastors, and missionaries.

RESOURCES

Christian Today: https://www.christiantoday.com/article/rembrandt.and.the.bible/136244.htm

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/musiciansartistsandwriters/rembrandt-harmensz-van-rijn.html

Mercer University Press: https://merceruniversitypress.wordpress.com/2014/07/15/rembrandt-as-christian-artist/

Rembrandtpainting.net: http://www.rembrandtpainting.net/rembrandt_life_and_work.htm

National Gallery of Art: https://www.nga.gov/press/exh/0168.html

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_paintings_by_Rembrandt

In this episode we're looking at a woman who, in the face of great personal tragedy rose above her circumstances and experienced God doing a great work through her and her ministry. Today I'm joined by my favorite guest host - my wife Jennifer. It was her suggestion to profile Elisabeth Elliot next and she's going to take the lead on presenting Elisabeth's story.


RESOURCES

Inspirationalchristians.org: https://www.inspirationalchristians.org/evangelists/elisabeth-elliot-biography/

Elisabethelliot.org: https://elisabethelliot.org/about/

The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/9-things-you-should-know-about-elisabeth-elliot/

Haven Today: https://haventoday.org/blog/life-legacy-elisabeth-elliot/

New Life Publishing: https://www.newlifepublishing.co.uk/articles/faith/elisabeth-elliot-the-missionary-who-lived-with-the-tribe-that-killed-her-husband/

IMB: https://www.imb.org/2019/07/23/missionaries-you-should-know-elisabeth-elliot/

For this episode I'm going to read most of a letter written by a man named Cuthbert - who was Abbot at the Jarrow monastery - to a man named Cuthwin, who was a Deacon in the church. Cuthbert wrote this letter to explain the circumstances surrounding the death of Bede, whose life we covered in Episode 46. I'm bringing this letter to your attention because I think it paints the picture of the life of a man, well-lived. It really demonstrates the love that Bede had for the Lord and for those around him and I think it can serve as an inspiration for each of us. We should all want to be remembered just as Cuthbert remembered Bede - in service to the Lord until the very end. Full of grace and love for God and in service to our fellow man.

RESOURCES

St. Peter's of Wearmouth: https://www.stpeters-wearmouth.org.uk/cuthberts-letter/

This is episode 46 where we're looking at the Father of English History - a man who was a monk, scholar and historian and later a Doctor of the Church. I'm speaking, of course, of the Venerable Bede.

RESOURCES

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/a-monk-who-made-history

ThoughtCo: https://www.thoughtco.com/the-venerable-bede-1222001

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/scholarsandscientists/venerable-bede.html

St. Peter's of Wearmouth: https://www.stpeters-wearmouth.org.uk/about-bede/

Dickinson College: https://dcc.dickinson.edu/bede-historia-ecclesiastica/intro/life-and-work

In this episode we're going to look at the 18th century religious reformer and great proponent of missionary work, Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, Count of the Holy Roman Empire. Zinzendorf helped pioneer modern missions and worked tirelessly to unite Christians of all stripes in a common brotherhood.

RESOURCES

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/zinzendorf-and-the-moravians

The Order of the Mustard Seed: https://www.orderofthemustardseed.com/about/history/

Mitchell Lewis: https://milewis.wordpress.com/credo/moravian-brotherly-agreement/

Behold The Man: http://zinzendorf.com/pages/data/uploads/domenico-lg.jpg

Today we're taking a look at the winding journey of Nicholas of Myra from 3rd and 4th century church bishop to 9th century saint to the modern day Santa Claus.

RESOURCES

The National Geographic Society: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/131219-santa-claus-origin-history-christmas-facts-st-nicholas

What's In the Bible with Buck Denver: https://whatsinthebible.com/about/series-overview/volume-why-do-we-call-it-christmas-overview/

Angelus News: https://angelusnews.com/faith/tracing-the-path-from-st-nicholas-of-myra-to-santa-claus/

Ligonier.org: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/saint-nicholas-origins-santa-claus

Biblical Archaeology: https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/jesus-historical-jesus/how-december-25-became-christmas/

Oceanwide Expeditions: https://oceanwide-expeditions.com/blog/st-nick-and-the-arctic-the-north-pole-christmas-connection

History.com: https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/santa-claus

In this episode of the podcast we're focusing on Bishop Nicholas of Myra, better know as Saint Nicholas and the real man behind the legend of Santa Claus. This will be a relatively short episode and some of the stories will be apocryphal but I'll do my best to make it informative and interesting.

RESOURCES

St. Nicholas Center: https://www.stnicholascenter.org/who-is-st-nicholas/bishop-of-myra

Why Christmas?: https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/fatherchristmas.shtml

The National Geographic Society: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/131219-santa-claus-origin-history-christmas-facts-st-nicholas

What's In the Bible with Buck Denver: https://whatsinthebible.com/about/series-overview/volume-why-do-we-call-it-christmas-overview/

Angelus News: https://angelusnews.com/faith/tracing-the-path-from-st-nicholas-of-myra-to-santa-claus/

St. Nicholas Center (facial reconstruction): https://www.stnicholascenter.org/who-is-st-nicholas/real-face

In this episode we're looking at James Strong, of Strong's Concordance fame. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance is an index of Hebrew and Greek words that are used in the Old and New Testaments in the King James Version of the Bible. It's been a very useful study aid for over 100 years and Strong's work continues to bear fruit today.



RESOURCES

Google Books: https://books.google.com/books?id=G7UEEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA5&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false

5 Minutes in Church History: https://www.5minutesinchurchhistory.com/who-is-strong/

Bible Tools 123: https://www.bibletools123.com/Who-Was-James-Strong

Drew University: https://uknow.drew.edu/confluence/display/DrewHistory/James+Strong

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strong%27s_Concordance

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Strong_(theologian)

Today's episode features someone you probably haven't heard of who ministered in a region of the world you might not be familiar with and faithfully gave the Gospel to a group of people that are not particularly welcoming to Christianity. I'm referring to N.M. Nisar, who was a minister of the Gospel in the Jammu and Kashmir region in India. Now, before we get into N.M.'s life I have to issue the disclaimer that I will definitely mispronounce some names of people and places and for that I apologize in advance. I also need to say that politics of the area are largely alien to me but I will do my best to present them, where relevant, in as clear and accurate a way possible. 

RESOURCES

Inspirational Christians: https://www.inspirationalchristians.org/local-heroes/bishop-n-m-nisar/

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jammu_and_Kashmir_(union_territory)

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmir

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jammu

When doing my research for Episode 41 on William Booth I came across an audio recording of Booth giving a speech. This eipsode is basically a republishing of that audio so if you want to skip it I won't blame you. I just found it interesting to hear the man himself as so many of the subjects that we've covered and will cover lived long before recording technology was available. 

RESOURCES

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t-KTLBwTg4

Today's episode is focused on William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army isn't just a charitable or relief organization. It's a church that has existed for over 150 years. And while they may not perform baptisms or celebrate the Lord's Supper they are focused on the expansion of the Kingdom - and have been since the very start.

RESOURCES

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/activists/william-booth.html

Inspirational Christians: http://www.inspirationalchristians.org/biography/william-booth/

UK Salvation Army: http://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/history-william-booth

US Salvation Army: https://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/history-of-the-salvation-army/

Central US Salvation Army: https://centralusa.salvationarmy.org/northern/speech-recording-of-founder-william-booth/

New Frontier Chronicle: https://www.newfrontierchronicle.org/how-william-and-catherine-booth-started-the-salvation-army/

I'm very excited about this episode because it's subject, RC Sproul, is my favorite modern theologian and teacher and I've learned so much from him through the years. And I continue to learn from him today through his recorded lectures and writings. RC Sproul served the Kingdom in many ways through his life - professor, pastor, leader, father, husband, administrator, hymnist, defender, and many more. But perhaps his most lasting and wide-spread impact is his commitment to teaching the laity. Sproul was without doubt one of the  Giants of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.


RESOURCES

Ligonier.org: https://www.ligonier.org/blog/ligonier-valley-study-center-early-years/

Ligonier.org: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/r-c-sproul-man-called-god/

Ligonier.org: https://www.ligonier.org/blog/remembering-rc-sproul/

The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/rc-sproul-life-stephen-nichols/

Challies: https://www.challies.com/book-reviews/rc-sproul-a-life/

The Gospel Herald: https://www.gospelherald.com/articles/71727/20171214/dr-r-c-sproul-death-john-piper-russell-moore-reflect.htm

Calvin is known as a leader of the Reformation and as a hard-nosed stickler for the rules. He's not really known as a ladies man. In this short episode we're going to delve deep into the love life of John Calvin. Well, not too deep because Calvin was a bookworm nerd that had little time for the intrigues of love and marriage. 

RESOURCES

 Christianity.com: https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/odd-romance-of-john-and-idelette-calvin-11629964.html

We're returning to our look at John Calvin in this final episode of Giants of the Faith, season two. When we left off last time Calvin had stopped over in Geneva in August of 1536 on his way to Strasbourg and had been convinced by the local pastor, William Farel, to stay on and help organize the church there.



RESOURCES

Ligonier.org: https://www.ligonier.org/blog/theologian-ages-john-calvin/

Ligonier.org: https://www.ligonier.org/blog/institutes-christian-religion/

The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/9-things-you-should-know-about-john-calvin/

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/john-calvin-reformer-pastor-theologian

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/john-calvin-timeline

Calvin University: https://calvin.edu/about/history/john-calvin.html

Christianity.com: https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/odd-romance-of-john-and-idelette-calvin-11629964.html

With the next two episodes we're finishing up our focus on the Reformers by looking at John Calvin. Calvin remains one of the most influential people in Christian history. He got his start as a pastor almost by accident. In this episode we will look at Calvin's early life and the continue in Part 2 with his ministry and impact.

RESOURCES

 Ligonier.org: https://www.ligonier.org/blog/theologian-ages-john-calvin/

 Ligonier.org: https://www.ligonier.org/blog/institutes-christian-religion/

 The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/9-things-you-should-know-about-john-calvin/

 Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/john-calvin-reformer-pastor-theologian

 Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/john-calvin-timeline

Calvin University: https://calvin.edu/about/history/john-calvin.html

Today we're examining the life of Heinrich Bullinger, the successor to Zwingli in Zurich who is sometimes referred to as the forgotten reformer. With this episode we're nearing the end of our emphasis on the Reformers. After Bullinger will come Calvin and then we'll return to looking at a broader spectrum of folks. Of course, there are tons of influential and important Reformers still on my list so we may return to a narrow focus on the Reformation at some point in the future. I'm planning out future seasons now and I'm pretty excited about, with God's grace, the direction of this podcast. 


RESOURCES

Christian Study Library: https://www.christianstudylibrary.org/article/heinrich-bullinger-christian-confessor

Ligonier.org: https://www.ligonier.org/blog/covenant-theologian-heinrich-bullinger/

Musee Protestant: https://museeprotestant.org/en/notice/heinrich-bullinger-1504-1575/

Got Questions?: https://www.gotquestions.org/Heinrich-Bullinger.html

Reformation Society of America: https://www.reformationsa.org/index.php/history/454-heinrich-bullinger-consolidating-the-reformation

In this episode we are going back to Scotland to discuss John Knox. Knox made a brief appearance in the George Wishart episode and now we will look at him in more detail. Knox is a polarizing figure but there is no doubt that in his role as one of the founders of the Presbyterian Church movement he is one of the leading lights of the Protestant Reformation.

RESOURCES

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/john-knox-and-the-scottish-reformation

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/study/module/knox

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/denominationalfounders/john-knox.html

Reformation History: https://reformationhistory.org/johnknox.html

Banner of Truth: https://banneroftruth.org/us/about/banner-authors/john-knox/

1582 Geneva Bible Leaf https://www.ebay.com/itm/263992062154

In this bonus episode we're going to look at one of the men most responsible for the 16th century Reformation - Erasmus. Erasmus is known as the man that laid the egg that Luther hatched. Though he was not a reformer in the common usage of the word he did want Christendom to return to a reliance on the writing of the church fathers and, even more, on the scriptures themselves.

RESOURCES

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/scholarsandscientists/erasmus.html

Erasmus.org: https://www.erasmus.org/index.cfm?itm_name=life-EN

The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/battle-will-part-2-luther-erasmus/

Ligonier Ministries: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/handout-church-history/forerunners-of-luther-lyra-valla-erasmus/

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/erasmus-to-calvin

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/the-man-who-yielded-to-no-one

Insight of the King: https://www.insightoftheking.com/erasmus-greek-new-testament.html

In this episode we're looking at the life of George Wishart, the early Scottish Reformer and predecessor to John Knox. Wishart is less well known than Knox but his tale is an important one. He was a figurehead of the early Reformation in Scotland.

RESOURCES

Christian Study Library: https://www.christianstudylibrary.org/article/george-wishart-his-life-and-influence-reformation

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/it-happened-today/3/1

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/murder-comes-to-the-archbishop

Electric Scotland: https://electricscotland.com/bible/reformation/chap2section1.htm

UK Wells: https://ukwells.org/revivalists/george-wishart

Christianity.com: https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/cardinal-beaton-murdered-11629972.html

Wishart.org: https://wishart.org/index.php/notablewisharts/george-wishart/

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

Welcome to this bonus episode of Giants of the Faith. We're well into season 2 now with a narrow focus on the Reformation. In this bonus episode we'll take a look at what the Catholic Church did in response to the movement spearheaded by Luther, Zwingli, Calvin and others. That response is called the Counter Reformation or sometimes the Catholic Reformation and it is encapsulated in the decisions and decrees made during the Council of Trent. Trent served to reject the Protestant distinctives and also to clarify and support Catholic ones. There is a lot of information that came out of Trent and we're not going to be able to cover all 28 years effectively here but I've picked out some of the major points of interest. If you want to know more there are volumes and volumes of documentation that you can read.


RESOURCES

Catholic Answers: https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/anathema

Traditional Catholic: http://traditionalcatholic.net/Tradition/Council/Trent/

Musee Protestant: https://museeprotestant.org/en/notice/the-catholic-reformation-or-counter-reformation/

The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/9-things-you-should-know-about-the-council-of-trent/

Simply Cahtolic: https://www.simplycatholic.com/myths-and-facts-about-the-council-of-trent/

Ask Ligonier Podcast: https://ask.ligonier.org/podcast-episodes/why-do-roman-catholic-bibles-have-more-books-in-them-than-protestant-bibles

Bible Baptist Church Ballincollig: https://www.biblebc.com/Roman%20Catholicism/summary_of_trent.htm

The Soul Anchor Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/soul-anchor-podcast/id1480173781

In this eipsode we are going to look at one of the often overlooked reformers, George Spalatin, also known as George Burkhardt. Spalatin was confidant to Luther and was instrumental in providing the Reformation the security it needed to grow and thrive. He was not a great theologian but he did have an important part to play in allowing the Gospel to take root and spread. When I set out to begin this podcast one of my goals was to highlight some of the men and women with a lower profile who nonetheless are important to remember. Spalatin sort of fits that category. He's a well known figure but is often given only a passing mention in  histories of the Reformation. While this episode will be short I will do my best to do justice to Spalatin's impact and legacy.


RESOURCES

Reformation 500: https://reformation500.csl.edu/bio/georg-spalatin/

Reformation 2017: https://lutheranreformation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/ref500-Spalatin_Handout.pdf

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/luthers-political-allies

Altenburg: https://www.altenburg.eu/sixcms/detail.php?id=82209&_nav_id1=82189&_lang=en

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slater

In episode 32 we're going to survey the life and impact of English Reformer William Tyndale. Tyndale is another one of those guys that has had an outsized impact on the course of English, and therefore Western, history. I'd always known Tyndale as the man that first translated the Bible into English. But it's much more than that. Tyndale's story is one full of intrigue, secrecy, bounty hunters, daring escapes, and above all a ferocious devotion to the Kingdom of God. I hope that this recounting of his commitment encourages you as it did me.




RESOURCES

Ligonier Ministries: https://www.ligonier.org/blog/prince-translators-william-tyndale/

Challies: https://www.challies.com/book-reviews/william-tyndale-a-biography/

Banner of Truth: https://banneroftruth.org/us/about/banner-authors/william-tyndale/

5 Minutes in Church History: https://www.5minutesinchurchhistory.com/tyndales-only-surviving-letter/

White Horse Inn Podcast: https://whitehorseinn.org/resource-library/articles/why-we-call-our-radio-program-white-horse-inn/

The Tudor Society: https://www.tudorsociety.com/william-tyndale/

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slater

In this episode we will conclude our survey of Huldrych Zwingli the Swiss Reformer. When we left off last episode Zwingli had begun to question church doctrine, participated in the famous Sausage Supper, secretly married a woman while still a priest, and resigned his position as priest and taken up the charge as the evangelical pastor in Zurich's largest church. We'll pick up the story there as Zwingli continued to work to tear down extra-Biblical traditions.


RESOURCES

5 Minutes in Church History: https://www.5minutesinchurchhistory.com/sausage-supper/

Underdog Theology: http://underdogtheology.blogspot.com/2012/09/swingin-zwingli.html

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/zwingli-father-of-the-swiss-reformation

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/zwingli-and-luther

The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/9-things-know-ulrich-zwingli/

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slater

In the next two episodes we're continuing our look at the reformers. We've already looked at the ultimate reformer, Martin Luther, and the Reformation martyress Lady Jane Grey. Now we're moving the lens to the Swiss Confederation and pastor/reformer/soldier Huldrych Zwingli. Zwingli was the original leader of the Swiss Reformation and sometimes rival to Martin Luther. His Reformation arose almost simultaneous to Luther's - fitting as they were only born seven weeks apart - and in some ways his story parallels Luther's but there were irreconcilable differences that continue to linger today.


RESOURCES

5 Minutes in Church History: https://www.5minutesinchurchhistory.com/sausage-supper/

Underdog Theology: http://underdogtheology.blogspot.com/2012/09/swingin-zwingli.html

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/zwingli-father-of-the-swiss-reformation

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/zwingli-and-luther

The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/9-things-know-ulrich-zwingli/

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slater

In this episode we are looking at the "Nine Days Queen", Reformation martyr hero Lady Jane Grey. She's of interest to us not for her development of theology or even her great historical impact but for her commitment to the faith and her refusal to let go of the ideas of the reformation even in the face of death. Today I'm joined by my lovely wife Jennifer. Jennifer has been very supportive of this podcast and I'm pleased to once again share the microphone with her.

RESOURCES

The Gospel Coalitions: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/the-execution-of-lady-jane-grey-460-years-ago-today/

The Gospel Coalitions: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/how-a-16-year-old-girl-explained-the-sacraments-to-a-catholic-interrogator-in-1554/

Biblical Woman: https://biblicalwoman.com/saving-janes-soul/

Desiring God: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-teenage-martyr

Credomag: https://credomag.com/2019/10/women-of-the-reformation-jane-grey/

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slater

Hello and welcome to this bonus episode of Giants of the Faith, the podcast where we look at influential Christians. My name is Robert Daniels and I'm the host of this show. Today we're finishing our five part Luther marathon with a bonus episode - Luther's Dirty Laundry. This episode will be brief but I think it is important to talk about some of the seedier aspects of the man that so many, including myself, hold in high regard. The Bible tells us that none is perfect and that's certainly true of Martin Luther.

In this bonus episode of Giants of the Faith we'll take a brief look at Martin Luther and his impact on the publishing industry, the way beer is made, and the role that the humble toilet played in the Reformation. I'm adding a content warning to this episode. When we get to the last segment of it it will get pretty gross. If you don't want to hear about poop and some bleeped words you might just want to skip it. I'll give you another heads up when we get to the offending segment.

This is episode 28 where we'll conclude our three-episode look at the life of Martin Luther. I've used a lot of sources for these episodes but one of the most useful has been Reformation 500. It's an excellent resource from the folks at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. If you are interested in additional material on Luther it's a great place to start. You can find tons of articles and videos on their website which is reformation500.csl.edu. Check it out.

At the conclusion of the last episode Luther had just been excommunicated by Pope Leo X at the beginning of 1521 for refusing to recant and repent of his heretical claims and ideas. Despite the immense pressure from the church Luther kept writing and publishing books and pamphlets. 

RESOURCES

Reformation 500: https://reformation500.csl.edu/timeline/luther-meets-with-cajetan-at-augsburg/

Ligonier Ministries: https://www.ligonier.org/blog/luther-and-thunderstorm/

Ligonier Ministries: https://www.ligonier.org/blog/fortress-truth-martin-luther/

Touchstone: https://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=26-05-034-f

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/martin-luther-the-reformers-early-years

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/luther-and-the-reformation

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/martin-luther-the-later-years

History Network: https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/8510

NPR: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/10/31/561117731/the-other-reformation-how-martin-luther-changed-our-beer-too

Reasonable Theology: https://reasonabletheology.org/the-life-of-martin-luther-a-brief-biography-of-the-reformer/

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

Welcome to episode 27 where we're continuing our look at the life of Martin Luther. As we left off in the last episode Luther had just taken a position as professor of theology at the University at Wittenberg and as a result had begun to study the scriptures in earnest.

RESOURCES

Reformation 500: https://reformation500.csl.edu/timeline/luther-meets-with-cajetan-at-augsburg/

Ligonier Ministries: https://www.ligonier.org/blog/luther-and-thunderstorm/

Ligonier Ministries: https://www.ligonier.org/blog/fortress-truth-martin-luther/

Touchstone: https://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=26-05-034-f

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/martin-luther-the-reformers-early-years

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/luther-and-the-reformation

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/martin-luther-the-later-years

History Network: https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/8510

NPR: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/10/31/561117731/the-other-reformation-how-martin-luther-changed-our-beer-too

Reasonable Theology: https://reasonabletheology.org/the-life-of-martin-luther-a-brief-biography-of-the-reformer/

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

With episode 26 we're embarking on what I'll call season 2 of this podcast. For the next several episodes we'll be focused on the reformers - men and women, but mostly men, who broke from the Catholic church and contributed to the wildfire of religious reformation that swept Europe in the 16th century. We've already dipped our toes into deep waters of this period but now we're going to dive in headlong. And who better to kick off this season with than the ultimate reformer Martin Luther? 

There's a lot to cover with Luther and it's difficult to condense it into a meaningful narrative so I'm going to break up his life into three parts and then throw in a couple of bonus episodes as well. Even at that I will only scratch the surface of all there is to talk about. If you are interested in knowing more about Luther I highly recommend the book Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World by Eric Metaxas. I have the book and the audiobook, which is actually narrated by the author. It's a fascinating look into the life of one of the most influential men in world history.

RESOURCES

Ligonier Ministries: https://www.ligonier.org/blog/luther-and-thunderstorm/

Ligonier Ministries: https://www.ligonier.org/blog/fortress-truth-martin-luther/

Touchstone: https://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=26-05-034-f

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/martin-luther-the-reformers-early-years

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/luther-and-the-reformation

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/martin-luther-the-later-years

History Network: https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/8510

NPR: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/10/31/561117731/the-other-reformation-how-martin-luther-changed-our-beer-too

Reasonable Theology: https://reasonabletheology.org/the-life-of-martin-luther-a-brief-biography-of-the-reformer/

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

On today's show we're featuring four men who might not individually merit an entire episode but are interesting nonetheless. I did the same thing back in episode 18 and it seemed to work out pretty well. I have a catalog of people to feature on this show that I call the Big List and sometimes when I go digging for the next podcast subject some of these folks with not as much information or that made a smaller impact surface. So rather than ignoring or discarding them I think it's worthwhile to bundle them so that's what we have here.

RESOURCES

Johannes Honterus

Cultural Opposition: http://cultural-opposition.eu/registry/?uri=http://courage.btk.mta.hu/courage/individual/n25057

Mondly: https://www.mondly.com/blog/2020/06/04/personalities-johannes-honterus/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Honter

5 Minutes in Church History: https://www.5minutesinchurchhistory.com/brasov-transylvania/

Yuri Gagarin 

Beliefnet: https://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars/2011/04/yuri-gagarin-first-human-in-space-was-a-devout-christian-says-his-close-friend.html

King James I

Time: https://time.com/4821911/king-james-bible-history/

Harald I of Denmark

ThoughtCo: https://www.thoughtco.com/harald-bluetooth-profile-1788985

National Museum of Denmark: https://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/denmark/prehistoric-period-until-1050-ad/the-viking-age/religion-magic-death-and-rituals/christianity-comes-to-denmark/

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

In this episode we're going to look at the life of influential 20th century apologist and evangelical leader, Francis Schaeffer. I'm pretty late to learning about Schaeffer, first being introduced to him through his excellent video series How Should We Then Live near the end of 2020. Through that series and reading about his life I've come to appreciate Schaeffer and his impact on Christianity in the modern age. 

Schaeffer was a pretty cool guy with his awesome goatee and knickerbockers who happened to do an amazing job communicating the gospel and inspiring a generation. He's sometimes called a modern prophet and while I'm not sure about that he did have a knack for understanding the forces at play in the world and helping explain them through a Biblical worldview.


RESOURCES

Walking Together: https://www.walkingtogetherministries.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ImJustMakingAPoint.pdf

Covenant Seminary: https://www.covenantseminary.edu/francis-schaeffer-the-man-and-his-message/

The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/know-your-evangelicals-francis-schaeffer/

Churchleadership.org: http://www.churchleadership.org/apps/articles/default.asp?articleid=42392&

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/modern-community-movement

Westminster Theological Seminary: https://faculty.wts.edu/posts/10-things-you-should-know-about-francis-schaeffer/

Christianity 9 to 5: http://www.christianity9to5.org/francis-schaeffer/

Credo Magazine: https://credomag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Francis-Schaeffer-at-100.pdf

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

______________________________________________________

Luther in Real Time Podcast: https://lutherinrealtime.ligonier.org/rss

Today's episode is focused on one of the most prominent black American ministers of the post-civil war era, Francis Grimke. Grimke was born a slave but rose to be a well respected champion of integrity and Christian ideals even in the face of racial discrimination and prejudice.

RESOURCES

 The Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/it-happened-today/7/7

 The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/francis-grimke/

 The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/20-quotes-francis-grimke-preaching/

 The Works of Francis Grimke, Vol 1: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/590be125ff7c502a07752a5b/t/5953221ff7e0ab471416461b/1498620486248/Grimke%2C+Francis+-+Works%2C+Volume+1.pdf

 Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

Today's episode focuses on the man that is considered the Father of the Congregationalist Church as well as the Father of the Pilgrims and the Grandfather of the United States, Robert Browne also known as Trouble Church Browne. Browne is famous for being the first to set up a separatist church in England after the establishment of the Church of England. Browne may have been, ultimately, a coward who caved to the religious and civil authorities of his day but he started a movement that has had enormous impact on the world we live in today.


RESOURCES

Andrew Fuller Center: http://andrewfullercenter.org/articles/blog/2006/09/troublechurch-browne

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/study/module/browne

Lilford Hall: http://www.lilfordhall.com/ElmesFamily/Robert-Browne.asp

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

Today we're turning our attention to the man who composed perhaps the greatest work of Christian art known to man. I'm referring, of course, to George Frideric Handel and his Messiah. He was no theologian, nor was he even particularly religious for much of his life, but his ultimate work, Messiah, has something of the Divine in it. And for that, he is a Giant of the Faith.



RESOURCES

MIT Concert Choir: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Handel_-_messiah_-_44_hallelujah.ogg

CBN: https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2011/december/handels-messiah-inspires-listeners-transcends-time

Christianity.com: https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1701-1800/messiah-and-george-frideric-handel-11630237.html

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/musiciansartistsandwriters/george-frideric-handel.html

The Handel Institute: http://gfhandel.org/handel/messiah.html

The New Statesman: https://www.newstatesman.com/2014/01/handel-messiah-matter-life-and-death

The Tabernacle Choir: https://www.thetabernaclechoir.org/messiah/george-frideric-handel-a-brief-history.html

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

This short episode will be most interesting to my American listeners as we are zeroing in on the Godmother of Thanksgiving, Sarah Hale. And we're talking about the American version of Thanksgiving. 

I'm pretty excited that this show has reached 20 episodes and to celebrate this milestone we're going to look at the life of one of the giants among the giants, Augustine of Hippo. Augustine is recognized by churches of all stripes - Protestant, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox (well, sort of) as an important church father. His impact is summarized by historian Diarmid MacCullough in his book Christianity: The First 3000 Years "Augustine's impact on Western Christian thought can hardly be overstated; only his beloved example Paul of Tarsus, has been more influential, and Westerners have generally seen Paul through Augustine's eyes."

RESOURCES

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/st-augustine-of-hippo

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/theologians/augustine-of-hippo.html

Early Christian History: http://www.earlychristianhistory.info/mani.html

Branemrys.blogspot.com: http://branemrys.blogspot.com/2010/08/vision-at-ostia.html

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

One of my favorite things about doing this podcast is how much I learn each episode. Whether I'm familiar with the subject or not I always learn something new about each one. And I'm always inspired in some way. Today's featured subject, Netherlander Corrie ten Boom, was virtually unknown to me but she is one of the great Christian heroes of the 20th century. She, along with her family, resisted the Nazis during World War 2, sheltered Jews from the Gestapo, and worked to spread her faith across the globe. I hope you will enjoy this episode as much as I enjoyed learning about Corrie.

RESOURCES

Inspirational Christians: https://www.inspirationalchristians.org/influencers/corrie-ten-boom/

Corrietenboom.com: https://www.corrietenboom.com/en/information/the-history-of-the-museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/corrie-ten-boom

Friends of Zion Museum: https://www.fozmuseum.com/explore-foz/betsie-ten-boom-fighting-until-the-end-for-g-ds-chosen-people/

Guideposts: https://www.guideposts.org/better-living/positive-living/guideposts-classics-corrie-ten-boom-on-forgiveness

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

Today's episode is a bit of a change from the norm. Rather than focusing on one subject for the entire show I'm going to be covering several different people in one episode. These are people that are interesting and noteworthy but perhaps don't have enough material available about their lives to compose an entire episode around them. But I still helewant to bring them to your attention as exemplars of what we're going for here on Giants of the Faith.

RESOURCES

James Japanma “Jibanyama”
Evangelical History Association: https://sites.google.com/view/australian-dictionary-of-evang/i-j/japanma-james-1885-1962

Langton / Estienne
Christianity Today: https://www.christiantoday.com/article/who.divided.the.bible.into.chapters.and.verses/103616.htm

Helena Augusta
ThoughtCo: https://www.thoughtco.com/helena-mother-of-constantine-3530253

Albert the Great
Saints Resource: http://saintsresource.com/albert-the-great

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

Today's episode features perhaps the greatest American intellectual and theologian, the man who is sometimes called the last Puritan, Jonathan Edwards.

RESOURCES

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/theologians/jonathan-edwards.html

Crossway: https://www.crossway.org/articles/10-things-you-should-know-about-jonathan-edwards/

Inspirational Christians: https://www.inspirationalchristians.org/reformers/jonathan-edwards-biography/

Christian History Magazine: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/jonathan-edwards-puritan-pastor-and-theologian

White Mountain Independent: https://www.wmicentral.com/community_beat/religion/the-descendants-of-jonathan-edwards/article_9e54e16d-59c5-5cf2-a99f-dea187da978a.html

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

When I started this podcast one of my goals was to include people other than just the biggest and most recognizable names in Christian history - the Luthers, Pascals, and Calvins will all have their day but I also want to dive deeper into the vast ocean of Christians that have advanced the Kingdom. Today's subject is one of these "deep dive" Christians, journalist and author Malcolm Muggeridge.

RESOURCES

The Words: http://www.thewords.com/articles/mugger1.htm

Crisis Magazine: https://www.crisismagazine.com/1984/conversion-of-a-cynic

Christian Classics Ethereal Library: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/muggeridge

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

In this episode we're zeroing in on W.A. Criswell. There's a good chance you aren't familiar with W.A. but he was a very important American evangelical leader in the 20th century who played a key role in defending the largest protestant denomination in the United States, the Southern Baptist Convention, from succumbing to an encroaching liberal theology.

RESOURCES

Lifeway: https://factsandtrends.net/2016/05/23/why-should-we-care-about-w-a-criswell/

Wacriswell.com: https://wacriswell.com/about-dr-criswell/

Preaching.com: https://www.preaching.com/articles/past-masters/with-a-bible-in-my-hand-the-preaching-legacy-of-w-a-criswell/

Challies: https://www.challies.com/vlog/the-message-that-moved-the-sbc/

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

Today's episode focuses on the proto-reformer Jan Hus. Hus lived about a century before the reformation and was influenced by the writings of another proto-reformer, John Wycliffe, who we'll get to on a future episode. Obviously, the reformers are going to play a large part in this podcast at some point but I've been putting them off as I think abut how to give them appropriate focus. So with Hus we'll sort of dip our toes into the shallow end of the Reformation waters knowing that Luther, Melanchthon, Zwingli, and others are waiting for us in deeper waters.

RESOURCES

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/jan-hus-incendiary-preacher-of-prague

Reformation 500: https://reformation500.csl.edu/bio/jan-hus/

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/martyrs/john-huss.html

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

In episode 13 we covered Blaise Pascal and mentioned his Memorial. The Memorial was an outpouring of faith, hope, and love that accompanied Pascal's surrender to Christ and his commitment to live for Him. I wanted to read the entire Memorial in episode 13 but felt like it would distract from the narrative and so I've decided to break it out into a small bonus episode. I'll be reading the English translation of the French and Latin original that I got from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library.

RESOURCES

Christian Classics Ethereal Library: https://ccel.org/ccel/pascal/memorial/memorial

In this episode we will take a look at one of the giants of the giants, Blaise Pascal. Pascal was a great intellect, inventor, apologist, theologian, and the rare man who is a hero of both the religious and the scientific. He was a true Renaissance Man and worthy of inclusion in this series.

RESOURCES

Christianity.com: https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1601-1700/blaise-pascals-conversion-11630126.html

The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/pascals-method-for-presenting-the-christian-faith/

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/evangelistsandapologists/blaise-pascal.html

Reasons to Believe: https://reasons.org/explore/blogs/reflections/read/reflections/2016/04/19/christian-thinkers-101-a-crash-course-on-blaise-pascal

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://iep.utm.edu/pascal-b/

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

In this episode we are focusing in on Richard Wurmbrand - the Romanian minister who suffered under the Nazis and communists and went on the found The Voice of the Martyrs. His is a tale of strength and faith in the face of great persecution and points to the ultimate victory of Christ.


RESOURCES

Richard Wurmbrand Foundation: https://www.richardwurmbrandfoundation.com/pdfs/richard-and-sabina-wurmbrand-biographies.pdf

The Voice of the Martyrs: https://www.persecution.com/founders/

Israel My Glory: https://israelmyglory.org/article/the-story-of-richard-wurmbrand/

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

This episode focuses on the 18th and 19th century statesman, William Wilberforce. Wilberforce was the public face of the abolitionist movement in Britain and his convictions came from his faith. He persevered in the face of great opposition and is remembered and revered today by both Christian and secular audiences alike.


RESOURCES

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/william-wilberforce-fighting-the-slave-trade

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wilberforce

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

This brief bonus episode looks at the Nicene Creed and it's importance to orthodoxy. It is a wonderfully concise declaration of theology that all Christian churches should be able to affirm. While not scripture, it's an important tool for Christians when evaluating churches and denominations.

Athanasius is one of the great defenders of Christian Orthodoxy. He helped protect the church from falling into the Arian heresy and was instrumental in canonizing the Bible. He's one of the most important churchmen of the last 2000+ years.

Also in today's episode there's a sneak peak at the excellent Christian history podcast - The Soul Anchor Podcast by Vidal Moreno. Give it a listen. You can subscribe on Apple (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/soul-anchor-podcast/id1480173781), Android (https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3ByZWFrZXIuY29tL3Nob3cvNDAzNjY4MC9lcGlzb2Rlcy9mZWVk) or any of your favorite podcast platforms.


RESOURCES

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/theologians/athanasius.html

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/athanasius-defines-new-testament

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/athanasius-pugnacious-defender-of-orthodoxy

The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/who-was-athanasius-and-why-was-he-important/

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

This bonus episode takes a brief look at the history and importance of everyone's favorite VeggieTales host - Bob the Tomato. 

This episode we are looking at the life and ministry of the great Catholic servant of the poor, Vincent de Paul. He was a man who moved the Catholic Church in France to a more positive force for the poor and needy and he greatly improved the effectiveness and godliness of the priesthood in France.

RESOURCES

Pierced Hearts: https://www.piercedhearts.org/theology_heart/life_saints/vincent_de_paul.htm

Vincentians.com: http://vincentians.com/en/saint-vincent-paul-biography-01-childhood-spent-in-the-country/

Franciscan Media: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-vincent-de-paul/

Saint Resource: http://saintsresource.com/vincent-de-paul

Catholic.org: https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=326

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

Today's episode's focus is the famous diminutive Southern Baptist missionary Charlotte 'Lottie' Moon. I say famous because if you've attended a traditional Southern Baptist church for any length of time you've probably heard of the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. But that doesn't mean you really know anything about Lottie Moon. And, if you aren't or haven't been part of a traditional Southern Baptist church then there's a good chance you've never even heard of Lottie Moon. Either way, I hope you'll find this episode informative and enlightening.

RESOURCES

International Mission Board: https://www.imb.org/2018/11/27/missionaries-you-should-know-lottie-moon/

International Mission Board: https://www.imb.org/2016/11/29/lottie-moon-the-rebel-i-want-to-be/

Patheos: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/faithchelsen/2016/12/7-things-really-know-lottie-moon/

Baylor University: http://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/l-m/moon-charlotte-lottie-diggs-1840-1912/

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

This episode marks our first step into antiquity as we review the life, at least what we know of it, and impact of early church father Polycarp. Polycarp's legacy is multi-faceted. He serves as a critical link between the early church and the Apostles He held firm to the emerging orthodoxy and was a rock in Asia, the center of late first-century Christianity. He's also the first recorded martyr of the post-Biblical era.


RESOURCES

Vision.org: https://www.vision.org/biography-polycarp-apostolic-legacy-457

Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/martyrs/polycarp.html

Christianity.com: https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1-300/polycarp-11629601.html

Christianity.com: https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1-300/old-bishop-polycarp-11629599.html

Polycarp.net (allaboutreligion.org): https://www.polycarp.net/

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

In this episode we're looking at someone you may consider a surprising entry into this sort of hall of fame, Roy Rogers. This podcast lends itself to be evergreen but I'm going to inject just a tiny bit of currency into today's episode. As I'm recording this episode we are approaching Father's Day 2020 so I'm going to dedicate this episode to my dad. My dad grew up watching Roy Rogers on the silver screen in small town South Carolina in the 1950s dreaming, I'm sure, of being a wild west cowboy himself. My dad has helped me and my family a lot though the years and it's with that in mind that I'm dedicating this special episode of Giants of the Faith to you, Dad. I hope you enjoy it.

RESOURCES

Guideposts: https://www.guideposts.org/inspiration/miracles/gods-grace/guideposts-classics-roy-rogers-on-how-he-found-faith

Happy Trails: http://www.happytrails.org/roy-rogers.htm

Bible News: http://www.biblenews1.com/astrology/acharts/rogers_roy.html

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_EszBc3Jjo

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

Adonriam and Ann Judson are America's first foreign missionaries and so definitely qualify as Giants of the Faith. They lived a life wholly committed to God and His kingdom and gave themselves fully to spreading his Word to new people.


RESOURCES

 Boston University: http://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/i-k/judson-adoniram-1788-1850/

International Mission Board: https://www.imb.org/2018/03/27/missionaries-you-should-know-adoniram-judson/

Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/adoniram-and-ann-judson-american-mission-pioneers

The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/a-peculiar-proposal/

Wholesome Words: https://www.wholesomewords.org/missions/bjudson5.html

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

If you are of a certain age you will almost certainly be familiar with Eric Liddell even though you may not recognize the name. Liddell, along with Harold Abrahams, was the subject of the fantastic 1981 film 'Chariots of Fire'. And if you haven't seen the film then you at least know the theme song from it. If you haven't seen 'Chariots of Fire' you definitely should check it out but there is a lot more to Liddell than the two or three years of athletic focus featured in the film. We'll cover the totality of his life on this podcast episode.

Note: Some of the names of people or places in this episode are completely foreign to me. Please excuse any horribly misspoken pronunciations that may appear.

RESOURCES

Eric Liddell Centre: https://www.ericliddell.org/about-us/eric-liddell/biography/

The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/for-the-glory/

Missions Box: https://missionsbox.org/missionary-bio/eric-liddell/

Weihsien Paintings: https://www.weihsien-paintings.org/NormanCliff/people/individuals/Eric01/txt_dates.htm

http://www.weihsien-paintings.org/EricLiddell/index.php

ABWE International: https://www.abwe.org/blog/%E2%80%98jesus-running-shoes%E2%80%99-honoring-eric-liddell-75-years-later

Christianity.com: https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1901-2000/eric-liddell-champion-athlete-11630736.html


Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

Aimee Semple McPherson was a 20th Century leader in the Pentecostal movement. Her church services at the Angelus Temple in California were a forerunner of the modern evangelical worship services. Whether you know of her or not, there's a good chance that Aimee has had an influence on your life.


RESOURCES

Challies: https://www.challies.com/articles/facts-about-aimee-semple-mcpherson/

The Revival Library: http://www.revival-library.org/index.php/pensketches-menu/american-pentecostal-pioneers/aimee-semple-mcpherson

Cyberjournal for Pentecostal-Charismatic Research: http://www.pctii.org/cyberj/cyberj13/Hudson.html

God's Generals and Revivals: http://godsgeneralsandrevivals.com/?p=1426

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

Episode 02 focuses on Charles H Spurgeon, renowned 19th century Baptist minister. This man has had a tremendous impact on Christians throughout the world. His influence on modern church life cannot be overstated. Spurgeon's own works are prolific and widely available and highly recommended to the Christian of today.



RESOURCES

Christian History Magazine: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/charles-spurgeon-englands-prince-of-preachers

Pictures from Pilgrim's Progress: http://grace-ebooks.com/library/Charles%20Spurgeon/CHS_Pictures%20From%20Pilgrims%20Progres

Themelios: https://themelios.thegospelcoalition.org/article/spurgeons-use-of-luther-against-the-oxford-movement/

Wholesome Words: https://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/biospurgeon6.html

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

Today's subject is the renowned journalist, apologist, debater, author, theologian, and renowned wit - G.K. Chesterton. This will be a short episode. There's a lot of meat in Chesterton's writings but some of it doesn't translate well to audio form. I've heard plenty of folks reading Chesterton on podcasts and broadcasts and there always seems to be something missing in the conveyance. If you are unfamiliar with GK Chesterton I hope to give you just a taste of his importance and encourage you to seek out and read some of his works for yourself.

RESOURCES

Orthodoxy: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16769/16769-h/16769-h.htm

Autobiography: http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks13/1301201h.html

G.K. Chesterton: A Gallery of Beloved Enemies: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/chesterton-gallery-of-beloved-enemies

Gkc.org.uk: http://www.gkc.org.uk/gkc/

Chesterton.org: https://www.chesterton.org/who-is-this-guy/

Intro Music: Country Strumstick Mountain Hop, by Andy Slatter

Welcome to Episode 0 of a brand new podcast, Giants of the Faith. My name is Robert Daniels and I'll be the host of this new show. I want to spend a few minutes to introduce myself and give you an idea what Giants of the Faith is all about, what you can expect from the show, and – just as importantly – what not to expect.