Notable Theologians “W...-X...-Y...-Z...-”
for classrooms, home schoolers, offices & theme decor.

John Wesley
b. 6-28-1703; Epworth, Lincolnshire, England
d. 3-2-1791; London

John Wesley, an Anglican minister and Christian theologian, was an early leader in the Methodist movement. “Methodist” was the word coined to describe the practice of methods in Bible study and practical living. The Methodist movement was particularly attractive to the working classes - factory, farms, and slaves, for the liberalization of church structure.

FYI - John Wesley's brother Charles wrote the lyrics for the Christmas carol “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”, the tune is from Mendelssohn.

The Salvation Army charity and church was founded by a former Methodist minister and his wife, William and Catherine Booth.

John Wesley quotes ~
• “Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
• “Think and let think.”
• “Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.”
• “Beware you be not swallowed up in books! An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge.”

• John Wesley Quote poster

George Whitefield
b. 12-27-1714; Gloucester, England
d. 9-30-1770; Newburyport, Massachusetts

Anglican preacher George Whitefield was instrumental in the spreading of the first “Great Awakening” in Britain and the American Colonies in the 18th century. The movement challenged established authority and emphasized personal commitment.

FYI ~ Whitefield and Benjamin Franklin were friends.

George Whitefield quotes ~
• “Come poor, lost, undone sinner, come just as you are to Christ.”
• “Lord Jesus, I am weary in Thy work, but not of it. If I have not yet finished my course, let me go and speak for Thee once more in the field, seal Thy truth, and come home to die.”
• “I have just put my soul as a blank into the hand of Jesus, my Redeemer, and desired Him to write on it what He pleases; I know it will be His image.”

• George Whitefield at Amazon

Roger Williams
b. 12-21-1603; London, England
d. 4-1-1684; Rhode Island

Roger Williams, the founder of the city of Providence, RI and co-founder of the colony of Rhode Island, was a notable advocate of the separation of Church and State (the phrase “wall of separation” is attributed to Williams), and a fair dealer with Native Americans. The Narragansett sachem Canonicus granted William a tract of land that was the beginning of the Providence Plantation.

Roger Williams quotes ~
• “Enforced uniformity confounds civil and religious liberty and denies the principles of Christianity and civility. No man shall be required to worship or maintain a worship against his will.”
• “The greatest crime in the world is not developing your potential. When you do what you do best, you are helping not only yourself, but the world.”

• Roger Williams: Prophet of Liberty

John Wycliffe
b. c. 1320; Ipreswell, England
d. 12-31-1384; Lutterworth

John Wycliffe was a theologian who founded the Lollard* movement, a precursor to the Protestant Reformation. Wycliffe is credited as the instigator of the first complete translation of the Bible into English and his work of making the sacred available to the common man was part of the paradigm of the Peasant's Revolt of 1381. His thinking influenced Jan Hus.

John Wycliffe quotes ~
• “This Bible is for the government of the people, by the people and for the people.”
• “I believe that in the end the truth will conquer.”

• The English Works of Wyclif Hitherto Unprinted

*The term Lollard, Lollardi or Loller was the popular derogatory nickname given to those without an academic background, educated if at all only in English, who were reputed to follow the teachings of John Wycliffe in particular. One suggested etymological path is lollaerd from the Middle Dutch for mumbler, mutter.

Brigham Young
b. 6-1-1801; Whitingham, Vermont
d. 8-29-1877; Utah

Brigham Young was the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until his death, the founder of Salt Lake City and the first governor of Utah Territory. Brigham Young University was named in his honor.

Young was known as the “American Moses,” because he led an exodus of Mormon pioneers through a desert to their “promised land”. He is also known as “the most prominent Mormon polygamist”, one who had plural wives.

Huldrych Zwingli
b. 1-1-1484; Wildhaus, Switzerland
d. 10-11-1531; Zurich

Humanist, scholar, and pastor Huldrych Zwingli, a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland, was influenced by Erasmus and used the Bible as his ultimate authority.

He is often referred to as the “Third Man of the Reformation”, after Martin Luther and John Calvin.

Zoroaster
est dates of birth range from 6000 BC to 400 BC
northwestern or eastern Iran

The ancient prophet, poet and philosopher Zoroaster (also Zarathustra), is the namesake of Zoroastrianism, an ancient faith whose first basic belief is there is one universal and transcendental God, the one uncreated creator and to whom all worship is ultimately directed (named Ahura Mazda) and the purpose of humankind is active participation in life and the exercise of good thoughts, words and deeds.

Zoroaster, through his “Gathas” (hymns) seeded the belief systems that gave shape to the Christian eras of the Middle Ages and the European Enlightenment. Zoroaster is noted in the Mozart's Magic Flute as the character Sarastro, the philosopher Nietzsche uses Zarathustra as a character in his Thus Spoke Zarathustra, composer Richard Strauss wrote Opus 30, also known as Also Sprach Zarathustra.

Zoroaster is also revered in Bahá'í Faith as a “Manifestation of God”.

• In Search of Zarathustra: The First Prophet and the Ideas That Changed the World