Some Famous Names


The following are just a few of those with whom Ottery St. Mary Reformed Church has much in common in holding to what would be later called the Reformed Faith (salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, the Scriptures being the sole rule of faith and practice for followers of Christ). Please note that some of them gave their lives rather than deny or modify Christ's message:

The Four Evangelists (1st Century A.D.) were taught by Christ Himself and propagated His teachings via their Gospel accounts.

The Apostles (1st Century) were the first to be given (and then obeyed) the command to go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel.

Saul of Tarsus, later Paul the last of the Apostles (1st Century). Paul is considered by many to be the first Christian theologian. His writings are central to what would later be called the Reformed Faith.

Ignatius of Antioch (about 40-115 A.D.) ably and vigorously defended the Christian faith against the heresies of Cerinthus and Basilides.

Polycarp of Smyrna (70-156 A.D.), a disciple of John and a bishop at Smyrna, was another who turned many from heresies to the true faith.

Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A.D.), at one time a heretic himself (a Manichaean), was later a great theologian and apologist who constantly opposed heresy. His more important works on sin and grace were written specifically to combat Pelagius, who denied the need for the new birth, the inward work of the Holy Spirit, and the unmerited grace of God towards the believer.

John of Bergamo (died 683 A.D.), a bishop in Lombardy, sought to reform the church by clearing it of the Arianism that had become widespread by his time. So successful was he in establishing the true faith that the leading Arians eventually had him assassinated.

Peter Waldo (about 1200 A.D.) had some of the New Testament translated and resolved to obey its teachings. He went about preaching Christ and built up the Christian Church in much the same way as the later Methodists would, using only the teachings of Scripture.

John Wycliffe (1324-1384 A.D.) was initially a R.C. but then rejected the dogmas of Transubstantiation and Purgatory, realising that the Scriptures were the only law of the Church. He organised bands of preachers (the Lollards) who went about England preaching the Word of God. He also gave us the first English translation of the Bible.

Jan Hus (1369-1415 A.D.) taught that the Law of Christ must always override the ordinances and traditions of men, and that each man had the right to read, understand and apply the Scriptures for himself.

Jerome of Prague (1371-1416 A.D.) was a childhood friend of Hus who debated with Roman Catholic clerics, showing them from the Scriptures how Roman practices were contrary to the Word of God.

Martin Luther (1483-1546 A.D.), an Augustinian monk, had his eyes opened by God to the truth and then went about preaching Justification By Faith, attacking the heresies of Purgatory, Indulgences and Papal authority amongst others. He stated that unless a matter of faith could be proved by the testimony of Scripture alone, it was irrelevant to the life of a Christian. Luther translated the Bible into German to make the Word of God available to all his fellow-countrymen. In many ways the Reformation can be considered to have started with this man.

Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531 A.D.) at the same time but independently, undertook a similar work to Luther's, in Switzerland. He taught that the Word of God was the only rule of faith and practice for believers.

Thomas Bilney (about 1495-1531 A.D.) read the New Testament, was converted through it and in turn sought the salvation of enemies of the Biblical faith (e.g. Hugh Latimer). Bilney was burned to death for his constant Gospel preaching and warnings against the errors of Rome, the manner of his death - when he asked God to bless his enemies - causing many to change their allegiance. Thomas Bilney's conversion is judged by many as marking the beginning of the Reformation in England.

William Tyndale (1494-1536 A.D.) discussed doctrine with Roman Catholic clerics, seeking to establish the truth from the Scriptures. Determining to put the Word of God into the hands of all, from the highest in the land down to the lowliest ploughboy, he prepared a translation of the Bible into English, at the same time preaching the Gospel openly and exposing the errors of the Roman Catholic Church.

George Wishart (about 1513-1546 A.D.), a "very gentle man" preached the Reformed Biblical Faith in Scotland a year after Bible reading was legalised. When the people realised the great difference between what the Bible taught and what the Church of Rome taught, there were riots.

Hugh Latimer (1475-1555) protested to Henry VIII against a law forbidding the use of the Scriptures in England, and maintained a Biblical witness (after a Damascus Road-style conversion) which enraged local Roman Catholics. Latimer and his friend Ridley were later imprisoned for refusing to deny the Reformed Faith. The two men were together burned at the stake. Latimer being 80 years old.

Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556 A.D.) was influenced by Luther. Under Cranmer the English Church curtailed the Pope's power, declaring he had no more say than any other foreign bishop. As a result of this and many other changes the Church of England became partially Reformed.

John Calvin (1509-1564 A.D.), at first a R.C. priest, came to hold to Justification by Faith, publishing "The Institutes Of The Christian Religion" (when only 26) which many consider to be the greatest ever presentation of Christian doctrine. Under Calvin, Geneva became a refuge to many Protestants in danger in their own lands (like John Knox of Scotland) and the new English translation of the Bible - the Geneva Bible - was prepared by them and published there in 1560 A.D.

William Farel (1489-1565 A.D.) was a comtemporary of Calvin and worked with him. Calvin declared that if Farel had not burned with such an extraordinary zeal to advance the gospel, he (Calvin) would have led his life quietly in private study. As it was, Farel brought Calvin to an awareness of the enormity of men's need of the gospel, and so led him (albeit fearfully and reluctantly at first) into his life's work.

Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560 A.D.) helped Luther translate the Bible into German. He was Luther's ally in the dispute at Leipzig in 1519 A.D. when the Roman Catholic theologians led by Eck tried to disprove the Reformed Faith. Like other Reformed Christians, Melanchthon taught that the Bible should be explained by the Bible, and that men's ideas were to be judged and tested by Scripture and not the other way round.

John Knox (1505-1572 A.D.) showed from the Scriptures that the Pope qualified for the title AntiChrist, as a result of which vast numbers of Roman Catholics became Protestants. The great C. H. Spurgeon would later say of this man, 'When John Knox went upstairs to plead with God for Scotland, it was the greatest event in Scottish history'.

John Bunyan (1628-1688 A.D.) languished in Bedford Gaol for 12 years for preaching the Gospel and holding unregistered meetings. On being released from prison he carried on as before. Bunyan is usually remembered as the writer of the allegory, 'The Pilgrim's Progress'.

Howell Harris (1714-1773 A.D.) upon his conversion at 21 immediately set about preaching far and wide in Wales in the open air. Hundreds came to Christ through him, and this Welsh Evangelical Revival flourished some two years before Whitefield undertook a similar but initially quite independent work in England.

Daniel Rowlands (1713-1790 A.D.) started out as the unconverted minister of the Church at Llangeitho, Wales. Upon his conversion at about the same time as Harris, his preaching completely changed and thousands coming to Llangeitho were in turn converted as he powerfully proclaimed the great Doctrines of Grace (commonly called "Calvinism").

George Whitefield (1714-1770 A.D.) 'was probably the greatest preacher that England has ever known' (Jeffery) and preached the glorious evangelical message of salvation all over England after opposition from the Church of England (of which he was a minister), barred him from her pulpits, driving him to preach in the open air. Crowds of over 20,000 heard him at any one time, and vast numbers came into the Kingdom under Whitefield's powerful Biblical preaching.

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758 A.D.) was a central figure in the North American Revival known as the Great Awakening. Holding firmly to the Doctrines of Grace, Edwards was intensely spiritual yet his doctrine was 'all application' (Duncan). Perhaps more than most, he saw the need to distinguish between the flesh and the Spirit, and his greatest work on this subject (often assumed by those who haven't actually read it, to endorse certain phenomena) was produced during the Awakening.

William Carey (1761-1834) pioneered the modern Missionary movement, being one of those few who started the Baptist Missionary Society in 1792. Urging others to take seriously the great Commission, and opposed by many who considered that if God wanted the heathen converted He was well able to do it Himself. Carey himself went to India in 1793, evangelising there until his death. His motto was, 'Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God'.

Billy Bray (1794-1868 A.D.) was a wife-abusing drunken heathen until God dealt with him. A totally-uneducated Cornish tin-miner, Billy then spent all his spare time, money and energy witnessing to Christ and building chapels in which to preach the Gospel. He couldn't wait to 'be wi' Father' and, on his deathbed, yet excited at the thought of dying and going Home, Billy looked hard at his doctor and said, 'shall oi tell Father YOU'll be comin' 'ome to 'en one day, doctor dear?'.

David Livingstone (1813-1873) was a doctor and missionary to Africa. Usually considered to be an explorer who first opened up the Interior of that great country, Livingstone was actually primarily concerned to lead the heathen animists to Christ, something he did gladly and with much success despite his life being in constant peril at every moment.

Hudson Taylor (1832-1905 A.D.) founded the China Inland Mission, and despite great personal hardship and loss sought to win the people of that land for Christ. His view was that if God said something ought to be done, we should just take Him at His word and get on with it.

Zachary Macaulay (1768-1838 A.D.) along with Wilberforce and others of the 'Clapham Sect', was a Christian social reformer who, as Governor of the 'experimental' colony of Sierra Leone, saw his efforts lead to the total abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire by 1833.

John N. Darby (1800-1882 A.D.) was initially a clergyman concerned about the increasingly-unbiblical trends in the Established Church. With others he founded what became known as the 'Christian Brethren Assemblies', seeking a return to the Bible in faith and practice.

Anthony A. Cooper (1801-1885 A.D.), better known as Lord Shaftesbury, spent his life seeking to improve the lot of the working classes in Britain. In particular, he got Parliament to legislate once and for all against young children going up chimneys and down mines. Cooper saw social reform as an integral part of the Evangelical Faith. He founded both the 'Protestant Alliance' and the 'Ragged Schools'.

D. L. Moody (1837-1899 A.D.) was much used of God in the 1859 Revival which began in America and then spread to the British Isles. He became a great evangelist who led thousands to a saving faith in Christ.

Thomas E. Thoresby (1818-1883 A.D.) was concerned about the 'takeover' of the Church of England by the Oxford Movement (which sought a return to Roman doctrine and practice, particularly Baptismal Regeneration). Despite opposition Thoresby formed the Free Church of England in 1863, a Reformed body with the Bible as its sole rule of faith and practice.

Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892 A.D.), known as the 'Prince of Preachers', faithfully proclaimed the Gospel in London where thousands were moved under his ministry to turn to Christ and be saved. Most of his later life, however, was also spent contending with the diluted 'worldly' Gospel fashionable in London at that time (1855), in the 'Baptismal Regeneration' debate (1864), and in the 'Downgrade Controversy' (1887 on), where he sought - virtually alone much of the time - to maintain Biblical truths such as the full deity of Christ against an onslaught of unbelieving rationalism even from within his own Baptist denomination, which he left because of its progressive departure from the Faith and the deceit of some of its leaders. Spurgeon considered that it was the duty of all Christian preachers to both proclaim truth and rebuke error. His total allegiance to Biblical truth caused him much personal suffering and left him with very few friends, contrary to the popular picture often encountered nowadays.

George Muller (1805-1898 A.D.) of Bristol, in his early life an inveterate liar, is remembered for his complete trust in God to supply all he needed. Both the 'Orphan Homes' and the 'Scriptural Knowledge Institution' he founded thus relied entirely upon Divine Providence for their maintenance. At the age of 70 Muller began what he called his 'life's work', a 17-years-long world-wide Gospel preaching tour!

John C. Ryle (1815-1900 A.D.) was the first Anglican Bishop of Liverpool. He sought to maintain the theoretically Protestant character of the Church of England 'as by law established' alongside a tender social conscience.. Doctrine, experience and practice based upon and shaped by the pure Word of God were to him central to the on- going life of the Church. A devastating exposer of the errors of Romanism and Higher Criticism, Ryle was engaged in battles akin to those of his brothers-in-the-Lord Darby and Spurgeon.

Thomas Barnardo (1845-1905 A.D.) was a doctor who, converted in 1862, established orphanages - the famous 'Dr. Barnardo's Homes'.

Charles T. Studd (1860-1931 A.D.) was a famous Cambridge cricketer, but he turned his back on fame to go out alone in the 1920's to preach the Gospel in China, India and finally Africa (where he died). His life was lived on the basis that, 'if Christ be God, and gave Himself for me, then no sacrifice that I might make for Him can ever be too great'. Studd founded the Worldwide Evangelisation Crusade, or W.E.C.

Arthur W. Pink (1886-1952 A.D.) was rejected by many because he insisted on the Biblical truth of the sovereignty of God - nothing new in the past but becoming increasingly unacceptable as the widespread departure from the historic Christian faith continued apace. Most of his life was spent in obscurity on the Isle of Lewis writing works which, years later, have become of inestimable value to the Church.

Eric Liddel (1902-1945 A.D.) was an Olympic (1924) athlete who later became a missionary. He ended his days in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in WWII where those who survived - many turning to Christ through his testimony - spoke of his complete abandonment to the Will of God.

A. W. Tozer (1897-1963 A.D.) preached 'the old gospel' in contrast to those who, though departing from the faith, nevertheless filled Church buildings with their ear-tickling neo-evangelical fables. A voice within the Evangelical Alliance, he sounded a clear note of alarm to the 20th Century Church, calling for a return to the old ways before it was too late. Called 'a 20th Century prophet' Tozer was spot on for, though many scoffed at his warnings, within 20 years of his death much of what he warned against had come to pass in Evangelicalism.

Nathaniel Saint (1923-1956 A.D.) was one of the five men who, under the auspices of the Missionary Aviation Fellowship, went into the jungles of Equador to preach the Gospel to the head-hunting Auca Indians - and were all abruptly speared to death. Elizabeth Elliot (his friend Jim's wife) and his own sister Rachel nevertheless went back and preached the Gospel to the men who had killed and possibly eaten their menfolk, and led many of them to Christ.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981 A.D.), initially assistant to Horder, the King's doctor, gave it up for preaching. Over a long and fruitful life he preached the Reformed Faith - calling for a New Reformation in our day - and built up the faith of thousands. His masterful Bible exposition and his refusal to compromise with error, together with a penetrating insight into trends within Evangelicalism, meant he was either loved or hated but could not be ignored. His warnings about snares - particularly the Ecumenical Movement and the Roman Catholic Church - made him extremely unpopular in some quarters. However, time seems to have proved him right.




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