60 People Who Shaped the Church: Learning from Sinners, Saints, Rogues, and Heroes

by Alton Gansky

The Church exists today in its current form because of the people who have come before us. Who were those people? Staid and dour scholars? Cultural movers and shakers? How does their contribution to history affect us today?

From a consummate storyteller comes this collection of inspiring biographical sketches of people who played pivotal roles in advancing the Kingdom of God on earth. In rich prose and spanning twenty centuries of church history, these engaging narratives range from the well-known to the obscure, highlighting personalities such as Josephus, Francis of Assisi, Thomas Aquinas, Galileo, John Calvin, Blaise Pascal, Jonathan Edwards, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, William Wilberforce, G. K. Chesterton, and many others. Readers will feel the past come alive and mingle in their minds with the present state of the Church, encouraging and galvanizing them to live their own faith courageously in our time--and shape the Church of the future.

Genres: History, Church History, Christianity, Biography, Nonfiction, Christian

320 pages, Paperback

First published May 13, 2014

About the author

Alton Gansky is the author of 30 books--24 of them novels, including the Angel Award winner Terminal Justice and Christy Award finalist A Ship Possessed. A frequent speaker at writing conferences, he holds a BA and MA degrees in biblical studies. Alton and his wife reside in Southern California.

Reviews

[Rebecca Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strong list of 60. It isn't who is included that is problematic, it is who is excluded. The list is 59 men and 1 woman. It is based almost entirely on white men of the western hemisphere. It's true that any author attempting this type of compilation has to make cuts somewhere on who to include, but the lack of diversity suggests that the church is much more narrow than it is and that is a shame.

Why Francis of Assisi and not Mother Theresa?

Why Constantine and not King Ezana?

Why William Wilberforce and not Martin Luther King, Jr.?

Why Diocletian and not Bloody Mary?

Why Dostoyevsky and not Flannery O’Connor?

What about Hildegard de Bingen? Anne Hutchinson? Rosalind Rinker?

Who are the movers and shakers of the Church in Asia, Africa, South America, Central America as Christianity spread?

At the very least, it prompted me to ask these questions, and to start looking for other influencers in the church. And that's a reading list I look forward to building.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moderns have the idea that only what’s new is worthwhile. Many also think that what’s worthwhile is new. Both are wrong. (C. S. Lewis labeled the first mistake “historicism.” The second error is historical ignorance, as condemned by George Santayana.) Many trends in the modern church, as well as other institutions, are rooted centuries back. This volume is a useful corrective.

Given my background, I inevitably like a well-written history of the church. This is well-written. An easy and informative read with a clear explanation of why Gansky thought each person--some decidedly not Christians--shaped the Christian church.

One might quibble with who was included and who excluded but Gansky did a great job encapsulating each person’s life and significance in four to six pages. The Roman Emperor Diocletian is not an obvious choice, but he certainly shaped the church. I might have included Saint Patrick and Count Zinzendorf and dropped Handel, Dostoyevsky or Graham. We all love Billy Graham, but in a hundred years he’ll be as forgotten as Charles Finney and Billy Sunday. But maybe that’s the point of books like this.

AS a good history,60 People Who Shaped the Church: Learning from Sinners, Saints, Rogues, and Heroes explores the cultural context and forces at work in the world of historic and contemporary Christianity. A bit Europe biased, but for centuries Christianity spread little beyond that continent. The vote is still out on whether those evangelists actually changed the church.

Gansky makes a worthwhile contribution to moderns who may know little of church history.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book consists of 60 brief (usually 2 to 3 page) biographies which serve as good introductions to historical figures. Most of the names were familiar to me, but it was good to get a better idea of who they were and what contributions they made. It is interesting to see how the church has been shaped over the years through the lives and actions of individuals. The format doesn't lend itself well to long periods of reading, and so it took me awhile to get through it. Good for short reads before bed.

[Wes Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in a men's Bible Study reading group. For those who are unfamiliar with the people covered, this book provides a quick, often somewhat simplistic introduction to them. The author acknowledges at the beginning that one might quibble over his choices; everyone's "top 60" list will be different. Perhaps because the people come from a wide range from Roman Catholic saints to evangelicals he steers a pretty neutral course. And yet the range is not terribly wide. The early people are, naturally enough, Roman Catholic, although, as is common with Western Christians there are no Orthodox Christians here. The later the time period, the more heavily Evangelicals are represented. All are men, except for one woman--Fanny Crosby. In terms of the author's assessment, major issues tend to be papered over or ignored. These are not critical reviews. As a result, critiques tend to be limited to "you might not agree with him, but he has had an influence" kind of statements. Each account is short and simply written to reach a wide audience. If you have a good knowledge of any of those included, you will be frustrated at the brevity and lack of depth. However, if there are people with whom you are not familiar included (and with 60 people there are bound to be some), then this book at least makes you aware of them and the way in which the author thinks they have shaped the Church.

[Scot Bellavia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A more accurate title for this book would be 60 People You May Have Heard of and Forgotten from Bible College and Also People You Didn’t Realize Were or Weren’t Believers. Gansky’s Wikipedia format bios on the people in his book have no compelling statement on how they shaped the church; at best, a sentence is given to this point at the close of each chapter but it’s usually very general. Gansky doesn’t claim this book to be comprehensive and recognized he’s omitting many other “shapers”.
To his credit, each is better researched than a Wikipedia article. I appreciate this collection of famous people. It’s a good reference tool. Many of the other negative reviews have issue with the title not lining up with the content. That’s certainly a hurdle for me too. However, the biographies aren’t always solely focused on the people or their impact. Especially at the beginning, when there is much less information about the person, the author often gives anecdotes from his own life or elsewhere to fill the space.
All in all, it’s well researched but don’t judge this book by its cover.

[Doug Adamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and well-written book about some amazing and influential people. Granted, some may quibble over the inclusion of some and the exclusion of others but such debates and disagreements are unavoidable in drawing up a list like this. Gansky's writing style was enjoyable to read. I do think the book suffers from the occasional misstatement or generalization. A couple of errors made it past the proof-reader or editor (like the statement that Bede's Ecclesiastical History covered the span between 55 BC and 73 AD). In all, I found the book engaging and encouraging.

[Thomas Ricker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great introductions to shapers of the church

I am so grateful for the opportunity to be introduced to so many who were influential in the shaping of the church.
It is very much like being introduced to someone and then allowing me as a reader to decide that I want to pursue getting to know o w them more or not.
The one thing that I wish had been done was a further reading section after each person. But I can easily pursue that on my own.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great overview for the layman who wants concise overviews of the 60 personalities in the book. As with any religious book, this one comes from a certain perspective, and you will sometimes notice where the bias lies, but it's not overt. I found it to be a really good refresher in preparation for leading a church history discussion.

[Everett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good, short intro to people that have made a difference in the shaping of the church. The only complaint I have is that the intros to these people were, in most cases, too short but then it would have been double the size.

[Sandra Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book!

Gansky, a master storyteller, has selected sixty people who influenced the church in various ways. Beginning with Peter and ending with Billy Graham, this book is packed with inspirational stories.

[Brace1737 · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is mostly short biographies of both familiar and unfamiliar Protestant leaders. Compare and contrast with Bishop Robert Barron's Catholicism: the Pivotal Players.

[Bethany Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of 60 people who influenced Christianity. If you're looking for an in-depth study on any of these people find a different book.

[Katherine Wacker · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 60 People Who Shaped the Church: Learning from Sinners, Saints, Rogues, and Heroes, Alton Gansky profiles those who have influenced the church for good or ill. Beginning with the Apostle Peter and ending in the present day with Billy Graham, Gansky presents sixty men and women who have contributed to church history using mini-biographies arranged in chronological order. The book gives a broad overview of the ecclesiastical past through the lives of those who impacted the church. Each chapter begins with a quote referencing the person profiled, which was effective. There is more extensive material available, but this is a helpful introduction to the heroes and villains of the faith.

60 People Who Shaped the Church is well-organized, and the three to six page biographies give the reader important history without overwhelming detail. However, it would have been more helpful to profile fewer people and give a bit more attention to each personality.

At times, the writing felt shallow. Gansky’s theological bias is evident, which is unsettling. It would have been better to state the differing doctrinal positions without inserting himself, or giving unequal treatment to individuals, or characterizing someone with whom he may differ as “controversial.”

All in all, 60 People Who Shaped the Church is effective in its function and whets the appetite for more ecclesiastical history.


I was given a free copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review

[Daniel G Keohane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Chronologically, from the apostle Peter to Billy Graham, each chapter gives a high-level overview of the life of some of the most influential people who shaped the church over the past two thousand years. High-level is a key word here – if you want an in-depth life story of each person, there are other books that can provide that. I liked the fact that each chapter gave just enough information to understand the overall life of the person and their impact, or contribution, to the Christian church. Especially since it seems, listening to sermons, like everyone else knew who these folks were, except me. The book, because it is in chronological order, also gives a great – again high-level – history of the Church, itself. For me, it was terrific, and whet my appetite to learn more about some of the people, or in some cases the period of time in church history. If there is any criticism, fifty-nine of the sixty influential people discussed were men. I would have thought more women would have been covered, Mother Theresa, for example, but perhaps this leaves room for a volume 2?

[Irene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won 60 People Who Shaped The Church from Goodreads giveaway. Thank you for this interesting book. I enjoyed learning about all 60 people. Some I have read and learned about. Some I knew from their Christian contributions through music and preaching. However, I do feel there wasn't enough information on some people. I do like the format of how the book was written allowing me to pick up the stories at my leisure. Alton Gansky is a good writer that I would enjoy reading his other books. Thank you Goodreads for giving me the opportunity to read this book. I will be passing it on to my friends.

[Ralph Cann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this to be an easy read and quite informative. It has many interesting facts about characters from history that I knew little about. However, it had one rather shocking flaw. "6o People Who Shaped the Church......." and only one woman. Really!? Great to see Fanny Crosby included. She rightly and easily earned her into this book. But no Elizabeth Fry or Corrie Ten Boom? No Suzanna Wesley or Phoebe Palmer? Just to name a few.
Inexcusable.

[Lacey Buell · Rating 4 out of 5]

60 People Who Shaped the Church: Learning from Sinners, Saints, Rogues and Heroes was a completely fascinating book. I wanted to know more about the beginning of how the church was formed and the people that made it happen. I have to say this book delivered. Alton Gansky gave so much information in a fun and entertaining way, I could not put it down!

[Grant · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little disappointing. This work reads like it was written in a hurry and, at times, with not much research done. This is particularly evident with how infrequently references are cited and how frequently personal anecdotes are made.