My class finished our last lesson about Influential Christians throughout History! It was a great class and I really enjoyed teaching it! There are just so many great people that we could have learned about over the last month, but we only had time for 30. Perhaps next year we can learn about new people. Below is some info and a discussion question about each person we learned about. Click on each name to visit their Wikipedia page.
Corrie ten Boom - Dutch Christian clocksmith and writer who worked with her family members to help Jews hide in their home and then escape during the Holocaust. She was eventually sent to a concentration camp but survived and wrote about these events later. She also spent her post-war years helping disabled people and foster kids.
- Discussion question: Some Christians chose to support the Nazis. How do you think they justified it? How do you feel about their choices?
C.S. Lewis - English writer, academic, literary critic, theologian, professor, and more! He is most famous for writing The Chronicles of Narnia, Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, and more. He converted from atheism to Christianity in his 30s, with help from his friend JRR Tolkien.
- Discussion question: What is your favourite part of the Chronicles of Narnia? How does that part represent Christianity?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer - German Lutheran pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident who is famous for his influential writings, being a founding member of the Confessing Church (wartime church that was against Nazism), and being a modern martyr. He was imprisoned in a concentration camp due to his resistance to the Nazis, and was executed immediately after preaching his last sermon in the camp.
- Discussion question: If you had to choose between doing what was right and being killed or living, which do you think you would choose?
Mother Teresa - Catholic sister and missionary who spent much of her life serving the poorest of poor in Calcutta, India. she founded several organizations that are still going strong today and is best known for working with those suffering from serious diseases such as AIDS and leprosy. She won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work, and her organizations are currently operating in over 100 countries. She did all this despite often feeling that God didn't speak to her.
- Discussion question: How is your faith affected when God feels far away from you? How can Mother Teresa be an inspiration during those times?
Rosa Parks - African American civil rights activist best known for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on the bus. This sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and she became an icon of the civil rights movement. She was known as the "first lady of civil rights" and worked with MLK Jr. before he was famous. Her spunky attitude sparked reform in her city and lead to buses without segregation.
- Discussion question: What social issues really frustrate you? What is one thing you can start fighting for?
Billy Graham - American evangelist and minister, best known for his revival meetings and alter calls (especially during the "early days" of youth ministry). The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association started Christianity Today magazine, he was a spiritual advisor to many presidents, and was the first evangelist to speak behind the Iron Curtain. He also opposed segregation at his events, tearing down ropes that separated the races.
- Discussion question: Have you ever been to a large Christian gathering or conference? What was it like?
Desmond Tutu - South African social rights activists and bishop. He was the first black Archbishop of Cape Town and is often called "South Africa's moral conscience." he opposed apartheid and organized peaceful marches to spark change. He is a global activist and has campaigned to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, poverty, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and more. He received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work,
- Discussion question: what are some types of people that Christians disagree with morally? How can we still show love to those people?
Martin Luther King Jr. - African American pastor, activist, humanitarian, and civil rights leader best known for organizing the March on Washington in 1963 where he gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, he advanced human rights with non-violent civil disobedience and was one of the biggest faces in the civil rights movement. He was eventually assassinated.
- Discussion question: What are some ways we can integrate different ethnic groups here at Bethany?
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