Heroes of the Faith: with J.John and Killy

During a visit to an art museum whilst travelling through Europe, Zinzendorf experienced the Holy Spirit upon viewing ‘Ecce Homo’ by Domenico Feti. Deeply moved, he declared, ‘I have loved him for a long time, but I have never actually done anything for him. From now on I will do whatever he leads me to do.’ It was a turning point in Zinzendorf’s life.

Some of my heroes are known for a lifetime of activity but some, like Rosa Parks, the woman whose quiet protest ended racial segregation in the United States, are known for what they did in a moment.

Robert Raikes created the first modern Sunday schools, a revolutionary answer to a desperate social need.

One of the most important cultural figures a hundred years ago was G.K. Chesterton; an astonishingly prolific writer, speaker and defender of Christianity.

Bristol-born Hannah More was one of the most influential women of her day. A successful poet, playwright and campaigner, she was a champion of social reform, female education and the abolition of slavery.

He studied medicine and began to rise rapidly in the medical profession. His life changed when he had a series of deep experiences of God which gave him a love and zeal for Christ. Soon, despite having the most promising of medical careers before him, Lloyd-Jones felt called to preach. In 1927, without any formal theological training, he left medicine and, taking a massive salary cut, went with his wife Bethan to pastor a struggling church in Port Talbot, one of the poorest areas of South Wales.

Born in Guildford in 1878 to a family with a deep Christian faith, Mildred accepted Christ at the age of twelve and soon felt God’s call to mission. One of the first women students at London University, she learnt medical skills suitable for the mission field. She sensed a calling to China and became engaged to a man who shared her vision. 

Francis of Assisi is apparently the world’s most popular saint, but much of this popularity is for the ‘legendary Francis’; an amiable, uncontroversial spiritual figure who loved animals, proclaimed peace and endorsed the simple lifestyle. Behind this largely imaginary individual lies the real Francis, a man who is not just authentic but also much more challenging.

Fanny Crosby was a prolific hymnist, writing more than 8,000 hymns and gospel songs, and the most remarkable thing about her was that she did so in spite of her blindness.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, executed for his long-standing opposition to Hitler, is one of the great Christian heroes of the twentieth century.

High above Westminster Abbey’s west door are statues of ten modern martyrs and there stands the figure of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He deserves that place.