Protestantism

Protestantism is a movement within Christianity, representing a split from within the Roman Catholic Church during the mid-to-late Renaissance in Europe —a period known as the Protestant Reformation.

Well-known Protestant and Anglican religious figures

In alphabetical order by century

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

16th century

• Jacobus Arminius, Dutch theologian, founder of school of thought known as Arminianism
• Heinrich Bullinger, successor of Zwingli, leading reformed theologian
• John Calvin, French speaking Reformer, theologian, founder of school of thought known as Calvinism
• Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury under Henry VIII, leader of the English Reformation
• John Knox, Scottish Calvinist reformer,
• Martin Luther, German religious reformer, theologian, founder of the Lutheran church in Germany, founder of Lutheranism
• Philipp Melanchthon, early Lutheran leader
• Menno Simons, founder of Mennonitism
• Huldrych Zwingli, founder of Swiss reformed tradition

17th-19th centuries

• Jacob Amman, founder of the Amish church
• Francis Asbury, early bishop of American Methodism
• Jonathan Edwards, American Puritan theologian, Great Awakening reformist preacher, Calvinist
• George Fox, Founder of the Religious Society of Friends
• William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury under Charles I of England
• Friedrich Schleiermacher, German theologian considered founder of Liberal Christianity
• Philipp Jakob Spener, "godfather" of the Pietist movement
• Charles Wesley, Anglican priest, Methodist leader, poet, & hymn writer
• John Wesley, Anglican priest, founder of the Methodist movement
• George Whitefield, Great Awakening reformist preacher

20th century

• Karl Barth, German theologian along with Emil Brunner known for Dialectical theology and Neo-orthodox theology
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German theologian, involved in the resistance against Nazism and executed shortly before the end of World War 2
• Jerry Falwell, American evangelist and political activist
• Billy Graham, American evangelist
• Martin Luther King, Jr., peace and civil rights activist
• C. S. Lewis, apologist / fiction writer
• Reinhold Niebuhr, American theologion and ethicist
• Pat Robertson, American charismatic/fundamentalist leader
• Paul Tillich, Lutheran existentialist theologian
• Desmond Tutu, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, peace activist
• John Howard Yoder, Mennonite theologian and ethicist

21st century

• John B. Cobb, theologian, involved in Process Theology
• Franklin Graham, American evangelist (son of Billy Graham)
• Stanley Hauerwas, American Christian theologian and ethicist