Non-Catholic Christians: Difference between revisions

In 1520, there were four main government-approved churches: the Roman Catholic Church, The Eastern Orthodox Church, The Ethiopian Church, and the Assyrian (Indian) Church - divided primarily by location.  By 1750, there were numerous organized Protestant denominations, including the Anglicans, Lutherans, Mennonites, Baptists, Hutterites, Moravians, Pilgrims, Armenians, Puritans, Quakers, and Huguenots. Many of these groups were persecuted by the Catholic Church, but also persecuted the Catholic Church and each other when the opportunity arose.  

*William Tyndale: Translated the Bible into English, and was burned alive on 6 October 1536.  His final words reportedly were, "Oh Lord, open the King of England's eyes".  Tyndale is quoted as saying "I defy the Pope, and all his laws; and if God spares my life, I will cause the boy that drives the plow in England to know more of the Scriptures than the Pope himself!"  (Foxe's Book of Martyrs, Chap XII)  Tyndale introduced the following phrases into English during his translation: "let there be light", "the powers that be", "my brother's keeper", "the salt of the earth", "a law unto themselves", "filthy lucre", "it came to pass", "gave up the ghost", "Jehovah", "Passover", "atonement", and "scapegoat".  

*Isaac Watts:  (July 17, 1674 – November 25, 1748) is recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", as he was the first prolific and popular English hymnwriter, credited with some 750 hymns.

*John Bunyan (November 28, 1628 – August 31, 1688), a Christian writer and preacher. He wrote The Pilgrim's Progress, arguably the most famous published Christian allegory.

*George Fox:  (July 1624 – January 13, 1691) was an English Dissenter and a major early figure — usually considered the founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers. Toward the end of his life, he wrote a letter for general circulation pointing out that Abel, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses and David were all keepers of sheep or cattle, and that a learned education should not therefore be seen as a qualification for ministry. (Marsh 1847, 364)

*Menno Simons: (1496–January 31, 1561) was an Anabaptist religious leader from Friesland. Quoted as saying "Christ is our fortress; patience our weapon of defense; the Word of God our sword. ... Iron and metal spears and swords we leave to those who, alas, regard human blood and swine’s blood of well-nigh equal value." "

*Jacob Hutter (died February 25, 1536) was an Anabaptist religious leader who practiced community of goods, nonviolence, and baptism of adult believers.  He was tortured and burned alive on February 25, 1536.

'''George Whitefield''' (December 16, 1714 - September 30, 1770), was a minister in the Church of England and one of the leaders of the Methodist movement.  He travelled through America, England, Scotland, Ireland, Bermuda, Gibraltar, and The Netherlands.  Benjamin Franklin calculated, by pacing the area around George Whitefield where his voice was audible while preaching, that he could indeed speak to tens of thousands of people in a single sermon.  

'''Francis Asbury''' (August 20, 1745 – March 31, 1816) became a local preacher at 18 and was ordained at 22. In 1771 he volunteered to travel to America. When the American War of Independence broke out in 1776 he was the only Methodist minister to remain in America.  <ref name="Bishops">America's Bishop: The Life of Francis Asbury (2003) by Darius Salter (ISBN 1-928915-39-6)</ref>