Unwilling to allow the church to compromise its most fundamental beliefs in the face of Nazism, Dietrich Bonhoeffer worked tirelessly to keep the true spirit of the church alive in Germany. His resistance cost him his life.

Dorothy Day was an American journalist and founder of the Catholic Worker movement. Day devoted her life to defending the downtrodden and serving Christ by serving the poor.

Søren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher, theologian, poet, social critic, and spiritual writer.

C. S. Lewis, a British novelist, poet, and Christian apologist, has been called one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century.

Eberhard Arnold (1883–1935), a German theologian, was co-founder of the Bruderhof and the founding editor of Plough.

Edith Stein (1891–1942) was born into an observant Jewish family. She became an atheist as a teenager, but at the age of thirty encountered the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Ávila, converted to Catholicism, and took vows as a Carmelite nun.

A German pastor and religious socialist, Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt influenced theologians such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Eberhard Arnold, Emil Brunner, Oscar Cullman, and Karl Barth.

Johann Heinrich Arnold is best known for his books which have helped thousands to follow Christ in their daily lives. Those who knew him best remember Arnold as a down-to-earth man who would warmly welcome any troubled person in for a cup of coffee and a chat.

One of the greatest writers of Western literature, Fyodor Dostoyevsky continues to receive undiminished popularity and acclaim. He is best known for his novels The Idiot, The Brothers Karamazov, and Crime and Punishment.

Dorothy L. Sayers was a renowned British writer best known for her detective stories, as well as for her translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy.

A noted speaker and writer on marriage, parenting, education, and end-of-life issues, Arnold was a senior pastor of the Bruderhof, a movement of Christian communities.

George MacDonald wrote over fifty books that are still cherished for their literary quality and spiritual insight. C. S. Lewis has said that MacDonald’s influence can be found in every book he wrote.

Henri J. M. Nouwen was an internationally loved and renowned priest, professor, and author. He wrote more than forty books offering spiritual guidance and direction.

Known in his lifetime as India’s most famous convert to Christianity, Sundar Singh would not approve of that characterization. He loved Jesus and devoted his life to knowing and following him, bringing to life his teachings for millions of Indians.

Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk, pacifist, poet, and bestselling author, was a leading spiritual voice of his generation.

Christina Rossetti (1830–1894) was an English poet of the Victorian period.

Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) has been hailed by other literary giants as one of the world’s greatest writers. He is best known for his novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina.

A leading bible scholar and former Anglican bishop, N.T. Wright is professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St. Andrews.

Will Willimon is a professor at Duke Divinity School and a retired United Methodist bishop.

Famous as a mystic after his death, in life Meister Eckhart (ca. 1260–1328) was a noted scholar and active administrator, serving as a Dominican provincial and teaching at the University of Paris.

Erik Varden is bishop of Trondheim and former abbot of the Trappist monastery of Mount Saint Bernard in Leicestershire.

Jakob Hutter, an early Anabaptist leader, was a pastor, missionary and martyr. The congregation he led for two short years is known as the Hutterite church today.

Peter Riedemann (1506–1556) was an early Anabaptist leader and missionary.

Julian of Norwich (1342–c. 1416), was an English mystic and anchoress.

Stanley Hauerwas is a theologian and Christian ethicist, and professor emeritus of theological ethics and of law at Duke University. He is the author or editor of more than fifty books.

Ignatius was an early Christian writer and the bishop of Antioch in Syria.

Clement of Rome (died c. AD 100) was a bishop of Rome in the first century.

Saint Gregory of Nazianzus (329–390) was a theologian, author, and doctor of the church.

Saint Hildegard of Bingen was a German abbess, visionary mystic, and composer.

Archbishop Angaelos is the first Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London.

Saint John Chrysostom (c. 347–407), Archbishop of Constantinople, was a Church Father known for his eloquence, writings, and ascetism.

Howard Thurman (1899–1981) was a spiritual mentor to civil rights leaders.

Cyril of Jerusalem (AD 313–386) was Archbishop of Jerusalem and a doctor of the church.

Catherine de Hueck Doherty (1896–1985), founded Friendship House, a house of hospitality to the homeless in Toronto, and later Madonna House, a more rural intentional Christian community and international Catholic lay apostolate.

Malcolm Guite is a poet, priest, and lead singer and guitarist for the blues-rock band Mystery Train.

Tish Harrison Warren is a priest in the Anglican Church in North America and the author of Liturgy of the Ordinary and Prayer in the Night.

Alastair Roberts received his PhD from Durham University, and teaches for both the Theopolis Institute and the Davenant Institute.

Prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity since 2010, Cardinal Kurt Koch is responsible for nurturing relations between the Roman Catholic Church and other Christian denominations.

Adrienne von Speyr (1902–1967) was a Swiss mystic, prolific author, and medical doctor.

Hannah Whitall Smith (1832–1911), was an American Christian reformer and preacher who wrote the bestselling The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life.

Johann Ernst von Holst (1828–1898) was a Lutheran pastor in Riga, Latvia.

Wendell Berry is an American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer.

Kwon Jeong-saeng (1937–2007) grew up as a refugee of the Korean War. Even later in life, after his children’s books met with commercial success, he continued to live in a simple one-room dwelling near the bell tower of his village church.