List of Christian theologians

See also: History of theology

This is a list of notable Christian theologians listed chronologically by century of birth.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

1st century

• Apostle Paul of Tarsus (died c. 60–65)
• Papias of Hierapolis (c. 60 – c. 130)
• Apostle James, Son of Zebedee
• Apostle Simon Peter
• Apostle John, Son of Zebedee
• Deacon Philip
• Deacon Stephen the Protomartyr
• Ignatius of Antioch (c. 35 or 50 – between 98 and 117)
• Polycarp (c. 69 – c. 155)
• Clement of Rome (fl. c. 96)

2nd century

• Valentinus (c. 100 – c. 160)
• Quadratus of Athens (fl. 124/125)
• Basilides (died c. 132)
• Aristides the Athenian (died c. 133 or fl. c. 140)
• Aristo of Pella (fl. c. 140)
• Marcion (c. 110 – c. 160)
• Justin Martyr (c. 110 – c. 165)
• Hegesippus (c. 110 – 180)
• Melito of Sardis (died c. 180)
• Athenagoras of Athens (c. 133 – c. 190)
• Dionysius of Corinth (fl. c. 171)
• Heracleon (fl. c. 175)
• Apollinaris Claudius (fl. c. 177)
• Ptolemy (fl. c. 180)
• Pantaenus (died c. 200)
• Irenaeus of Lyons (died c. 202)
• Apollonius of Ephesus (fl. c. 180 – c. 210)
• Serapion of Antioch (died 211)
• Clement of Alexandria (c. 150 – 211 or 216)
• Bardaisan (154–222/3)
• Tertullian (c. 160 – c. 220)
• Origen (c. 184 – c. 253)

3rd century

• Minucius Felix (2nd or 3rd century)
• Caius, Presbyter of Rome (early 3rd century)
• Hippolytus of Rome (c. 170 – c. 236)
• Origen of Alexandria (c. 184 – 254)
• Sabellius (fl. c. 215)
• Cyprian (c. 200 – c. 258)
• Novatian (c. 200 – 258)
• Paul of Samosata (c. 200 – c. 275)
• Dionysius of Alexandria (died 265)
• Gregory Thaumaturgus (c. 213 – c. 270)
• Methodius of Olympus (died c. 311)
• Lucian of Antioch (c. 240 – 312)
• Lactantius (c. 240 – c. 320)
• Aphrahat (ܐܦܪܗܛ,c. 280 – c. 345)
• Athanasius of Alexandria (296–373)

4th century

• Ephrem the Syrian (ܡܪܝ ܐܦܪܝܡ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ, c. 306–373)
• Hilary of Poitiers (c. 310 – c. 367)
• Arnobius of Sicca (died c. 330)
• Basil of Caesarea (c. 330 – 379)
• Gregory of Nyssa (c. 330 – c. 395)
• Gregory Nazianzus (329–389)
• Evagrius Ponticus(345-399)
• Ambrose (337/340 – 397)
• John Chrysostom (347–407)
• Jerome (347–420)
• Augustine (354–430)
• Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376 – 444)
• Nestorius (c. 386 – c. 451)

5th century

• Isaac of Antioch (fl. 5th c.)
• Boethius (c. 477–525)

6th century

• Gregory the Great (540–604)
• Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636)

7th century

• Maximus the Confessor (c. 580–662)
• Isaac of Nineveh (died c. 700)

8th century

• Bede (672/673–735)
• John of Damascus (c. 675–749)
• Paschasius Radbertus (785–865)

9th century

• Claudius of Turin (died 839)
• Ratramnus of Corbia (died 868)
• Johannes Scotus Eriugena (810–877)
• Gottschalk of Orbais (808-878)

10th Century

• Arnulf of Orleans

11th century

• Berengar of Tours (999-1088)
• Anselm (1033–1109)
• Peter Abelard (1079–1142)
• Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153)
• Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179)

12th century

• Peter Lombard (c. 1096–1159)
• Peter Waldo (c. 1140-1205)
• Dominic de Guzman (1170-1221)
• Francis of Assisi (c. 1181–1226)

13th century

• Albertus Magnus (c. 1200–1280)
• Bonaventure (1221–1274)
• Thomas Aquinas (1224–1274)
• Peter Quesnel (died 1299)
• Meister Eckhart (1260–1328)
• Scotus Johannes Duns (c. 1265 – c. 1308)
• William of Ockham (1285–1347)

14th century

• Dionigi di Borgo San Sepolcro (1300–1342)
• Bridget of Sweden (1303–1373)
• John Wycliffe (c.1323–1384)
• Catherine of Siena (1347–1380)
• Jan Hus (c. 1369–1415)
• Thomas à Kempis (1380–1471)

15th century

• Nicholas of Cusa (1401–1464)
• Desiderius Erasmus (1469–1536)
• Martin Luther (1483–1546)
• Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531)
• Thomas Cranmer (1489–1556)
• Martin Bucer (1491–1551)
• Ignatius of Loyola (c. 1491–1556)
• Menno Simons (1496–1561)
• Philip Melanchthon (1497–1560)

16th century

• Alexander Alesius (1500–1565)
• John of Avila (1500–1569)
• Heinrich Bullinger (1504–1575)
• John Calvin (1509–1564)
• Michael Servetus (1511–1553)
• John Knox (c. 1513–1572)
• Teresa of Avila (1515–1582)
• Theodore Beza (1519–1605)
• Peter Baro (1534–1599)
• Caspar Coolhaes (1536–1615)
• Herman Witsius (1636–1708)
• Charles Borromeo (1538–1584)
• John of the Cross (1542–1591)
• Johannes Piscator (1546–1625)
• Richard Hooker (1554–1600)
• Lancelot Andrewes (1555–1626)
• Johannes Wtenbogaert (1557–1644)
• William Perkins (1558–1602)
• Jacob Arminius (1560–1609)
• Anton Praetorius (1560–1613)
• Daniel Tilenus (1563–1633)
• Francis de Sales (1567–1622)
• William Laud (1573–1645)
• Willem van der Codde (1574 – c.1630)
• Thomas Helwys (c. 1575 – c. 1616),
• Jakob Boehme (1575–1624)
• Samuel Brooke (1575–1631)
• Eduard Poppius (c. 1576–1624)
• Jacobus Taurinus (1576–1618)
• Gerardus Vossius (1577–1649)
• Thomas Jackson (1579–1640)
• Johannes Arnoldi Corvinus (c. 1582–1650)
• Johann Gerhard (1582–1637)
• Simon Episcopius (1583–1643)
• Hugo Grotius (1583–1645)
• Zachary Boyd (1585–1653)
• Dirk Rafelsz Camphuysen (1586–1627)
• Étienne de Courcelles (1586–1659)
• Caspar Barlaeus (1584–1648)
• John Goodwin (1593–1665)
• Moses Amyraut (1596–1664)

17th century

• Petrus Serrarius (1600–1669)
• Owen Feltham (c. 1602–1668)
• Henry Hammond (1605–1660)
• John Milton (1608–1674)
• Laurence Womock (1612–1686)
• John Pearson (1613–1686)
• Jeremy Taylor (1613–1667)
• Richard Baxter (1615–1691)
• John Owen (1616–1683)
• Francis Turretin (1623–1687)
• George Fox (1624–1691)
• Simon Patrick (1626–1707)
• John Flavel (1627–1691)
• Stephen Charnock (1628–1680)
• Philipp van Limborch (1633–1712)
• George Bull (1634–1710)
• Thomas Grantham (1634–1692)
• Thomas Burnet (c. 1635–1715)
• Philipp Jakob Spener (1635–1705)
• Edward Stillingfleet (1635–1699)
• Gilbert Burnet (1643–1715)
• Isaac Jacquelot (1647–1708)
• Fenelon (1651–1715)
• Jean Leclerc (1657–1736)
• Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772)
• Johann Jakob Wettstein (1693–1754)
• John Gill (1697–1771)

18th century

• Nicolas Ludwig Count von Zinzendorf (1700–1760)
• Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758)
• John Wesley (1703–1791)
• Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
• George Whitefield (1714–1770)
• John Brown (1722–1787)
• John Fletcher (1729–1785)
• Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781)
• Ignaz Wurz (1731–1784)
• John Hey (1734–1815)
• Thomas Coke (1747–1814)
• Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
• Aaron Bancroft (1755–1839)
• Heinrich Paulus (1761–1851)
• Adam Clarke (1762–1832)
• Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834)
• Archibald Alexander (1772–1851)
• Lyman Beecher (1775–1863)
• Nathan Bangs (1778–1862)
• Thomas Hartwell Horne (1780–1862)
• Richard Watson (1781–1833)
• Nathaniel William Taylor (1786–1858)
• Charles Grandison Finney (1792–1875)
• Wilbur Fisk (1792–1839)
• Charles Hodge (1797–1878)

19th century

• John Henry Newman (1801–1890)
• Christian Hermann Weisse (1801–1866)
• Leonard Bacon (1802–1881)
• Horace Bushnell (1802–1876)
• Frederick Denison Maurice (1805–1872)
• Horatius Bonar (1808–1889)
• C. F. W. Walther (1811–1887)
• Thomas Osmond Summers (1812–1882)
• Franz Delitzsch (1813–1890)
• Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855)
• John Miley (1813–1895)
• John McClintock (1814–1870)
• James Stuart Russell (1816–1895)
• J. C. Ryle (1816–1900)
• Ransom Dunn (1818–1900)
• Philip Schaff (1819–1893)
• Randolph Sinks Foster (1820–1903)
• Henry C. Sheldon (1820–1877)
• Mary Baker Eddy (1821–1910)
• William Burt Pope (1822–1903)
• Albrecht Ritschl (1822–1889)
• James Strong (1822–1894)
• Willibald Beyschlag (1823–1900)
• A. A. Hodge (1823–1886)
• William Alexander (1824–1911)
• William Booth (1829–1912)
• Frederic William Farrar (1831–1903)
• Heinrich Julius Holtzmann (1832–1910)
• James Strong (1833–1913)
• William Fairfield Warren (1833–1929)
• Charles Spurgeon (1834–1892)
• Henry Barclay Swete (1835–1918)
• Augustin Gretillat (1837–1894)
• Abraham Kuyper (1837–1920)
• Peter Taylor Forsyth (1842–1921)
• Albert Benjamin Simpson (1843–1919)
• Borden Parker Bowne (1847–1910)
• Hugh Price Hughes (1847–1902)
• Bernhard Stade (1848–1906)
• Adolf von Harnack (1851–1930)
• B. B. Warfield (1851–1921)
• Franz Pieper (1852–1931)
• Charles Taze "Pastor" Russell (1852–1916)
• Herman Bavinck (1854–1921)
• Max Reischle (1858–1905)
• Walter Rauschenbusch (1861–1918)
• Billy Sunday (1862–1935)
• Geerhardus Vos (1862–1949)
• Nicholas Timothy Clerk (1862–1961)
• Richard C. H. Lenski (1864–1936)
• Rudolf Otto (1869–1937)
• William Henry Chamberlin (1870–1921)
• Sergei Bulgakov (1871–1944)
• Lewis Sperry Chafer (1871–1952)
• Louis Berkhof (1873–1957)
• Albert C. Knudson (1873–1953)
• Nikolai Berdyaev (1874–1948)
• Karl Heim (1874–1958)
• Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965)
• Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange (1877–1964)
• H. Orton Wiley (1877–1961)
• Mary Ely Lyman (1880s – 1975)
• Nikolaj Velimirović (1880–1956)
• Edwin Lewis (1881–1959)
• John Gresham Machen (1881–1937)
• William Temple (1881–1944)
• Johannes Pedersen (1883–1977)
• Edgar S. Brightman (1884–1953)
• Rudolf Karl Bultmann (1884–1976)
• Étienne Gilson (1884–1978)
• E. Stanley Jones (1884–1973)
• Oliver Chase Quick (1885–1944)
• Karl Barth (1886–1968)
• Paul Tillich (1886–1965)
• Friedrich Gogarten (1887–1967)
• Vincent Taylor (1887–1968)
• Emil Brunner (1889–1966)
• Dietrich von Hildebrand (1889–1977)
• Leonard Hodgson (1889–1969)
• Anders Nygren (1890–1978)
• Georgia Harkness (1891–1974)
• Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971)
• Dorothy Sayers (1893–1957)
• H. Richard Niebuhr (1894–1962)
• Fulton Sheen (1895–1979)
• Cornelius Van Til (1895–1987)
• Henri de Lubac (1896–1991)
• Mildred Barker (1897–1990)
• Dorothy Day (1897–1980)
• A. W. Tozer (1897–1963)
• C. S. Lewis (1898–1963)
• John Murray (1898–1975)
• Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899–1981)

20th century

• Gerhard von Rad (1901–1971)
• Gordon Clark (1902–1985)
• Oscar Cullmann (1902–1999)
• Watchman Nee (1903–1972)
• Dumitru Stăniloae (1903–1993)
• Yves Congar (1904–1995)
• Bernard Lonergan (1904–1984)
• Joseph Sittler (1904-1987)
• Karl Rahner (1904–1984)
• Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905–1988)
• Eric Lionel Mascall (1905–1993)
• Mildred Bangs Wynkoop (1905–1997)
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945)
• Joseph Clifford Fenton (1906–1969)
• Albert C. Outler (1908–1989)
• F. F. Bruce (1910–1990)
• W. T. Purkiser (1910–1992)
• John Walvoord (1910–2002)
• George Eldon Ladd (1911–1982)
• Frank Stagg (1911–2001)
• Alan Walker (1911–2003)
• Jacques Ellul (1912–1994)
• Francis Schaeffer (1912–1984)
• Dafydd Rhys ap Thomas (1912–2011)
• Carl F. H. Henry (1913–2003)
• Anthony A. Hoekema (1913–1988)
• Bolaji Idowu (1913–1993)
• Thomas F. Torrance (1913–2007)
• Leon Lamb Morris (1914–2006)
• Thomas Berry (1914–2009)
• Hebe Charlotte Kohlbrugge (1914–2016)
• Anthony of Sourozh (Andrei Borisovich Bloom, 1914–2003)
• Vernon Grounds (1914–2010)
• Edward Schillebeeckx (1914–2009)
• Markus Barth (1915–1994)
• Thomas Merton (1915–1968)
• Derek Prince (1915–2003)
• Marie-Émile Boismard (1916–2004)
• William Ragsdale Cannon (1916–1997)
• Stanley Monroe Horton (1916–2014)
• Victor Paul Wierwille (1916–1985)
• C. K. Barrett (1917–2011)
• G. B. Caird (1917–1984)
• Edmund Clowney (1917–2005)
• Avery Dulles (1918–2008)
• Billy Graham (1918–2018)
• J. Rodman Williams (1918–2008)
• Langdon Gilkey (1919–2004)
• John Macquarrie (1919–2007)
• Catharina Halkes (1920–2011)
• Karol Wojtyła (Pope John Paul II) (1920–2005)
• J. Kenneth Grider (1921–2006)
• George Wesley Buchanan (1921–2019)
• Alexander Schmemann (1921–1983)
• John Stott (1921–2011)
• Hans Wilhelm Frei (1922–1988)
• John Hick (1922–2012)
• Meredith G. Kline (1922–2007)
• John Alexander Motyer (1924–2016)
• John B. Cobb (born 1925)
• James Leo Garrett Jr. (1925–2020)
• John J McNeill (1925–2015)
• Charles Ryrie (1925–2016)
• Frederick Buechner (1926-2022)
• H. Ray Dunning (born 1926)
• Jurgen Moltmann (1926–2024)
• J. I. Packer (1926–2020)
• Thomas J. J. Altizer (1927–2018)
• Gerhard Forde (1927–2005)
• Chuck Smith (1927–2013)
• Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) (1927–2022)
• John Howard Yoder (1927–1997)
• Mary Daly (1928–2010)
• Gustavo Gutiérrez (born 1928)
• Hans Küng (1928–2021)
• Martin E. Marty (born 1928)
• Johann Baptist Metz (1928–2019)
• Wolfhart Pannenberg (1928–2014)
• William Stringfellow (1928–1985)
• Carl Braaten (1929–2023)
• Kwesi Dickson (1929–2005)
• Kosuke Koyama (小山晃佑, 1929–2009)
• Dorothee Soelle (1929–2003)
• James D. Strauss (1929–2014)
• Joseph A. Bracken (born 1930)
• Ignacio Ellacuría (1930–1989)
• Michael Green (1930–2019)
• John Polkinghorne (1930–2021)
• Robert Jenson (1930–2017)
• David Pawson (1930–2020)
• Patricia Reif (1930–2002)
• William L. Lane (1931–1999)
• John S Mbiti (1931–2019)
• Thomas C. Oden (1931–2016)
• Adrian Rogers (1931–2005)
• John Shelby Spong (1931–2021)
• John Zizioulas (1931–2023)
• Millard Erickson (born 1932)
• Norman Geisler (1932–2019)
• Eugene H. Peterson (1932–2018)
• Alvin Plantinga (born 1932)
• Robert L. Reymond (1932–2013)
• Charles Stanley (1932–2023)
• Rubem Alves (1933–2014)
• Walter Brueggemann (born 1933)
• Roger T. Forster (born 1933)
• Walter Kaiser Jr. (born 1933)
• Michael Novak (1933–2017)
• Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki (born 1933)
• Charles E. Curran (born 1934)
• Gordon Fee (1934–2022)
• I. Howard Marshall (1934–2015)
• Mercy Oduyoye (born 1934)
• Henry Wansbrough (born 1934)
• Dallas Willard (1935–2013)
• Denise Ackermann (born 1935)
• Rosemary Radford Ruether (1936–2022)
• Justo Gonzalez (born 1937)
• Clark Pinnock (1937–2010)
• Anthony Thiselton (1937–2023)
• Ed Parish Sanders (1937–2022)
• Richard Thomas France (1938–2012)
• Leonardo Boff (born 1938)
• David J. A. Clines (1938–2022)
• James Hal Cone (1938–2018)
• Jack Cottrell (1938–2022)
• Ronald M. Enroth (1938–2023)
• Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza (born 1938)
• James Montgomery Boice (1938–2000)
• Keith Ward (born 1938)
• James Dunn (1939–2020)
• John Frame (born 1939)
• John F. MacArthur (born 1939)
• R. C. Sproul (1939–2017)
• Matthew Fox (born 1940)
• Stanley Hauerwas (born 1940)
• Walter Klaiber (born 1940)
• John N. Oswalt (born 1940)
• Stephen Tong (born 1940)
• Elizabeth Johnson (born 1941)
• Erwin Lutzer (born 1941)
• David Hocking (born 1941)
• George Newlands (born 1941)
• Marcus Borg (1942–2015)
• Grant R. Osborne (1942–2018)
• Paige Patterson (born 1942)
• Lamin Sanneh (1942–2019)
• Marilyn McCord Adams (1943–2017)
• John Lennox (born 1943)
• Douglas Stuart (born 1943)
• Gareth Lee Cockerill (born 1944)
• Klyne Snodgrass (born 1944)
• John Ankerberg (born 1945)
• Kwame Bediako (1945–2008)
• Keith Drury (born 1945)
• D. A. Carson (born 1946)
• John Piper (born 1946)
• Vern Poythress (born 1946)
• Andrew Purves (born 1946)
• John Sailhamer (1946–2017)
• William Willimon (born 1946)
• William J. Abraham (1947–2021)
• Paul S. Fiddes (born 1947)
• Jesse Mugambi (born 1947)
• Greg Bahnsen (1948–1995)
• David Brown (born 1948)
• Marva Dawn (1948–2021)
• Sinclair Ferguson (born 1948)
• Bob Goss (born 1948)
• Wayne Grudem (born 1948)
• Scotty McLennan (born 1948)
• J.P. Moreland (born 1948)
• Michael Plekon (born 1948)
• N. T. Wright (born 1948)
• William Lane Craig (born 1949)
• Ray Comfort (born 1949)
• Chris Glaser (born 1950)
• Stanley Grenz (1950–2005)
• Gary Habermas (born 1950)
• Timothy J. Keller (1950–2023)
• Katherine Sonderegger (born 1950)
• Rowan Williams (born 1950)
• Nancy Wilson (born 1950)
• Ken Ham (born 1951)
• Ben Witherington (born 1951)
• Marcella Althaus-Reid (1952–2009)
• Joel R. Beeke (born 1952)
• Greg Laurie (born 1952)
• Alistair Begg (born 1952)
• Kenneth J. Collins (born 1952)
• Roger E. Olson (born 1952)
• Carsten Peter Thiede (1952–2004)
• Daniel B. Wallace (born 1952)
• Kent Hovind (born 1953)
• Musimbi Kanyoro (born 1953)
• Catherine Keller (born 1953)
• Randy L. Maddox (born 1953)
• William D. Mounce (born 1953)
• Alister McGrath (born 1953)
• Adele Reinhartz (born 1953)
• Douglas Wilson (born 1953)
• Peter Lampe (born 1954)
• Scott J. Jones (born 1954)
• Thomas R. Schreiner (born 1954)
• Tina Beattie (born 1955)
• Craig Blomberg (born 1955)
• Michael L. Brown (born 1955)
• Skip Heitzig (born 1955)
• Don Thorsen (born 1955)
• Graham Ward (born 1955)
• Robert Jeffress (born 1955)
• Joel B. Green (born 1956)
• Miroslav Volf (born 1956)
• Gregory A. Boyd (born 1957)
• Douglas Groothuis (born 1957)
• Scott Hahn (born 1957)
• Daniela Müller (born 1957)
• Kevin J. Vanhoozer (born 1957)
• Gavin D'Costa (born 1958)
• Robert A. J. Gagnon (born 1958)
• James Alison (born 1959)
• R. Albert Mohler Jr. (born 1959)
• Timothy Tennent (born 1959)
• Yves-Marie Adeline (born 1960)
• Mark Dever (born 1960)
• Craig S. Keener (born 1960)
• Frank Turek (born 1961)
• Peter Enns (born 1961)
• Paul Washer (born 1961)
• Willie James Jennings (born 1961)
• Paul Copan (born 1962)
• Elizabeth Stuart (born 1963)
• Michael Horton (born 1964)
• Seung-Moo Ha (하승무, born 1963)
• David Bentley Hart (born 1965)
• Thomas Jay Oord (born 1965)
• R. C. Sproul, Jr. (born 1965)
• Ken Schenck (born 1966)
• Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator (born 1967)
• Mikael Mogren (born 1969)
• Robert Arp (born 1970)
• Ulrich L. Lehner (born 1976)
• Heidrun E. Mader (born 1977)
• John L. Drury (born 1978)
• Michael S. Heiser (1963–2023)
• Gavin Ortlund (born 1983)
• Jordan Cooper (born 1987)
• Mike Winger
• Yolanda Pierce

21st century

Donald E. Battle (born 1950)

See also

• List of Catholic philosophers and theologians
• Doctor of the Church (Catholicism / Orthodox Christianity)
• List of Methodist theologians
• List of Reformed Baptists
• List of Renewal theologians
• Christian theologian