Athanasius became Bishop of Alexandria during the church's struggle with Arianism, in which Arians claimed that Jesus was merely a creature and not divine. This was despite rulings to the contrary from the Council of Nicaea (325 AD). So Athanasius spent his life promoting the Nicene understanding of the faith at a time when "the whole world groaned in astonishment to find itself Arian."

The name ‘John Calvin’ is synonymous with many things, depending on who you ask. A straw poll of Western Christians would probably reveal labels like ‘great theologian’ and ‘totally biblical’ being neck-and-neck with a descriptor like ‘theologically misguided’ and other terms not suitable for publication. There are few more polarizing figures in the church than this sixteenth-century reformer.

It may be cause for rejoicing that someone who regularly calls his opponents ‘swineherds’ or the ‘ass to cap all asses’ (and those are some of his politer idioms) is not typically analyzed as a pastor. Martin Luther is remembered primarily for his larger than life persona, which aided his posting of the Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg and his ensuing tête-à-tête with the Pope. In fact, much of the popular media concerning last year’s 500th anniversary of the Reformation re-enforced this view of Luther as rebel prophet, persecuted saint, and defender of the gospel of grace.