Book Notice: SHAPERS OF CHRISTIANITY, by Nick Needham

A Brief Book Notice from Books At a Glance 

Nick Needham’s works on Christian history are well known and much loved. Here he turns his attention – with his usual and popular excellence – to figures whose influence has shaped Christian history since. Brief, accessible, informative, and enjoyable reading.  

Table of Contents 

Foreword by Ian Hamilton
Introduction 

1. Irenaeus of Lyons (flourished ad 175–195) 
2. Gregory of Nazianzus (ad 330–390) 
3. Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109) 
4. Theophylact of Ochrid (1050–1109) 
5. John Wycliffe (c. 1330–1384) 
6. Peter Martyr (1499–1562) 
7. Francis Turretin (1623–1687) 
8. John Wesley (1703–1791) 
9. Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) 
10. Tikhon of Zadonsk (1724–1783) 
11. Benjamin Breckenridge Warfield (1851–1921) 
12. J. Gresham Machen (1881–1937) 

Needham’s Introduction 

The apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:6 that Christ is the human face of God. In similar fashion, godly individuals are the human face of church history.

In this series of studies, I give some brief sketches of twelve Christians from the past two thousand years who stand out for their human interest and theological significance. I have not always made obvious choices; hence my portrait of Theophylact from the Middle Ages, Peter Martyr Vermigli as representative of the Reformation era, and Tikhon of Zadonsk from eighteenth-century Russia. Perhaps Francis Turretin from the seventeenth century will be equally exotic to some (even though he really deserves to be better known, at least to Reformed readers).

I hope these sketches will help to kindle a spiritual interest in God’s people and God’s work across the ages. 

Needham’s Previous Works

• • 2,000 Years of Christ’s Power: Vol.1: The Age of the Early Church Fathers 
    • Hardcover – Kindle – Audiobook 
  • 2,000 Years of Christ’s Power: Vol.2: The Middle Ages 
    • Hardcover – Kindle – Audiobook
  • 2,000 Years of Christ’s Power: Vol.3: Renaissance and Reformation 
    • Hardcover – Kindle – Audiobook
  • 2,000 Years of Christ’s Power: Vol.4: The Age of Religious Conflict 
    • Hardcover – Kindle – Audiobook
  • 2,000 Years of Christ’s Power: Vol.5: The Age of Enlightenment and Awakening  
    • Hardcover – Kindle – Audiobook

Buy the books

SHAPERS OF CHRISTIANITY, by Nick Needham

Banner of Truth, 2025 | 112 pages

From: Amazon ( Paperback )