Hugo Grotius (1583 to 1645)
Arminian
This Prison Escapee Wrote International Law.
Hugo Grotius, known to us as the "Father of International Law" was born at Delft, Holland. Though trained and working in the political world, Grotius chose to involve himself in the theological conflict between Calvinism and Arminianism that was agitating Holland at that time. His sympathy for Arminian views caused him to be sentenced to life in prison, although he escaped two years later and fled to Paris. He spent the last ten years of his life in the service of the Swedish government. His efforts to create an international law were the result of the horrible outrages he saw "Christians" commit against one another during the Thirty Years' War.
Johann Peter Lange (1802 to 1884)
Evangelical
He Stood up for the Historical Jesus.
Johann Peter Lange was born in Elberfield, Prussia. He studied at Bonn University, and after his ordination he pastored from 1825-41. He drew recognition of the evangelical leaders by the publication of articles revealing his commitment to orthodoxy over a period from 1830 to 1840. In 1835 D. F. Strauss [1808-1874] published a view that said that the portrayal of Jesus in the Gospels was not a reliable record, but "mythical." Lange took a strong stand, and published a book in 1836 to refute this view, which was beginning to dominate all of German theology. In 1841 Lange became professor of theology at Zurich (a position originally offered to Strauss). Here Lange produced a five-volume work, translated into English in 1864 as The Life of the Lord Jesus Christ. But his most noted work was a 25-volume commentary on the whole Bible, translated into English by Philip Schaff.
William Booth (1829 to 1912)
Salvation Army
He Founded an Army to Tackle Social Issues.
William Booth was born in Nottingham. Working first as a Methodist minister and evangelist, Booth and his able wife Catherine began tackling social evils at the same time engaging in direct evangelism. In 1865 Booth began a Christian mission in east London. By 1878 the mission and its work had evolved into the fullgrown organization of the Salvation Army. By the time of his death, Booth had traveled five million miles, preached 60,000 sermons and had drawn some 16,000 enlisted soldiers into his Army. At that time the Salvation Army was working in 58 countries in 34 languages.
Henry H. Halley (1874 to 1965)
Protestant
Author of Halley's Bible Handbook.
Birth of Henry H. Halley, the author ofHalley's Bible Handbook, which by his 90th birthday had printed over more than 1,250,000 copies. When he became a Bible teacher, he produced a little 16-page pamphlet of Bible helps, which grew in depth of material with each edition until by 1960 there were nearly 1,000 pages.