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REVOLUTIONARIES Men and Women in Every Century Who Advanced Christianity MATT BROWN Revolutionaries: Men and Women in Every Century Who Advanced Christianity. Copyright 2009 by Matt Brown. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permis - sion except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For in - formation address Skyline Book Publishers, P.O. Box 43036, Minneapolis, MN 55443. Skyline Book Publishers books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promo - tional use. For information please write: Special Markets Department, Skyline Book Pub - lishers, P.O. Box 43046, Minneapolis, MN 55443. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New In - ternational Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. F I R S T E D I T I O N Cover Design by Luke Frederick Interior Photos by Shelley Paulson Photography & Michelle Brown Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request. ISBN: 978-0-9842587-0-3 Printed in the United States of America International Praise for REVOLUTIONARIES “Fascinating … well written … very needed!” Doug Wead , former White House special assistant to President George Bush sr., New York Times bestselling author, Washington DC “This is the book that is missing in most Christian libraries. Su - perbly written, exhaustively researched, today’s Church makes much more sense after reading this account.” Dwight Denyes , Lead Pastor of Emmanuel Christian Center, Minneapolis, MN. “Revolutionaries is broad in scope, yet very concise and specific… Matt Brown has given us a work that introduces the reader to a myriad of revolutionaries that have been obscured from most of the church’s memory, but who “wrought exploits” of faith similar to the heroes of Hebrews 11. They also saw many lives trans - formed by God’s forgiving grace. An easy and agile read, it is must reading for those who want to rekindle the fire of evangelism at this time of opportunity and challenge. The book’s tone is very much like the tone of evangelist Matt Brown’s life—full of hard hitting truth, passionate and to the point.” Rocky Grams , author of In Awe in Argentina and President of River Plate Bible College, Buenos Aires, Argentina “It is wonderful to read what God has done, because it gives us hope that He can do it again. This is a great read, and will inspire you.” Michael McNamee , former assassin, turned missionary, Euro - pean President of Convoy of Hope, Brussels, Belgium “Revolutionaries is a timely book written by Matt Brown. The book is exhaustive in both its contents and scope. It is based on sound Bib - lical principles as well as giving practical details of historical events. It will satisfy both intellectuals and practitioners. It is a down to earth book that challenges the reader to personal and world evan - gelism.” Thimothi Rao , President of Shekinah Bible College and AP Bible College, Assemblies of God District Superintendent, Andhra Pradesh, India “It is good to be reminded of the people God used to reach their generation for our Savior Jesus Christ. Matt helps us to see the past to ignite us to be part of what God is doing today … Matt has found the heart of God.” Reggie Dabbs , international speaker, Fort Myers, FL “Matt Brown enables us to stand on the shoulders of the greatest Revolutionaries in history. This book will charge you up and change the way you think and live!” Tim Enloe , national speaker and bestselling author of Want More? and Helping Others Receive the Gift, Wichita, KS This book is dedicated to the love, joy and treasure of my life - my wife Michelle. “Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts.” Psalm 145:4, NLT “It is not God’s plan that the world be merely evangelized ulti - mately. Instead, that in every generation there would be a constant Gospel witness in every corner of the earth.” T. A. Hegre Contents Foreword by Sujo John Author’s Foreword 15 1st Century: 25 The First Revolutionary: Jesus Christ They Died Preaching: The Twelve Revolutionaries The Thirteenth Revolutionary: The Apostle Paul 2nd Century: 45 Church Father and Revolutionary: St. Irenaeus of Lyons 3rd Century: 51 Theologian and Revolutionary: Origen The Miracle Worker: St. Gregory Thaumaturgus The First Christian Nation: St. Gregory the Illuminator 4th Century: 61 The First Christian Empire: Emperor Constantine the Great Evangelizing Africa: St. Frumentius 5th Century: 67 Saving Ireland from Cannibalism: St. Patrick 6th Century: 71 Evangelizing Scotland: St. Columba Evangelizing England: St. Augustine of Canterbury 7th Century: 77 The First Revolutionary to China: Alopen England Comes to Christ: St. Aiden 8th Century: 83 Evangelizing Germany: St. Boniface 9th Century: 89 Brothers Evangelizing the Slavs: St. Cyril Brothers Evangelizing the Slavs: St. Methodius 10th Century: 93 The Conversion of Kings: King Vladimir of Russia Evangelizing Northern Europe: St. Adalbert of Prague 11th Century: 97 Evangelizing Poland: St. Otto of Bamberg 12th Century: 101 Founder of the Waldenses: Peter Waldo The Revolutionary Prophetess: St. Hildegard of Bingen 13th Century: 107 Founder of the Franciscans: St. Francis of Assisi The Revolutionaries are Few: John of Monte Corvino 14th Century: 115 Evangelizing India: St. Jordanus Doctor of the Church: St. Catherine of Siena 15th Century: 121 Gospel and Healing Crusades: St. Vincent Ferrer 16th Century: 127 Founder of the Jesuits: St. Ignatius of Loyola Evangelizing Asia: St. Francis Xavier Founder of the Lutherans: Martin Luther 17th Century: 139 Founder of the Quakers: George Fox 18th Century: 145 Founder of the Methodists: John Wesley Evangelizing Europe: George Whitefield Methodism in America: Francis Asbury 19th Century: 157 Founder of the Plymouth Brethren: John Nelson Darby Evangelizing China: Hudson Taylor Evangelizing America: D. L. Moody Founders of the Salvation Army: William & Catherine Booth Praying Hyde: John Hyde 20th Century: 173 The Healing Revolutionary: Smith Wigglesworth Founder of the Foursquare Denomination: Aimee Semple McPherson Founder of Campus Crusade for Christ: Bill Bright The World Revolutionary: Billy Graham 21st Century: 193 Revolutionary Lessons Learned What is Happening Today? A Revolutionary Challenge Notes 199 Sources 204 Acknowledgements 215 Foreword by Sujo John I am so honored to write the foreword of this incredible book by Matt Brown. I promise you, as you begin to read this you will not want to put it down. Although I have met many young men in my ministry, I can truly say that I have been deeply touched by the passion of Matt Brown. I thank God for the purity of his heart and the pur - pose in this young man’s life. His ministry is touching many and will impact thousands around the world. Over the years Christendom has witnessed thousands of men and women who have given their present, their future, their lives, their all for the advancement of the greatest cause on earth. They dropped that which was familiar, and embraced the revolu - tionary lifestyle of being a follower of Jesus Christ, and embarked on a journey that took them places they never dreamt they would go. From the coliseums of Rome, to the deserts of Africa, to the thick jungles of the Amazon, they stood for what they believed in. They responded to the challenges of their time with unwavering faith. This book will challenge you to imitate their lives as they have imitated the life of their Master. We now live in a dark time, a period of time like never be - fore. The darkness has got as dark as it can get. Will you take a stand? Are you ready to take your world for the Lord? Sujo John , 9/11 survivor, international evangelist and bestselling author of Do You Know Where You are Going? , Dallas, TX Author’s Foreword Several years ago while still in Bible College I was perusing the library and stumbled upon a dusty Wycliffe Biographical Dictionary of the Church . I was surprised to find it filled with stories of men and women of faith—all but forgotten in the dusty annals of his - tory—who did countless miracles, who led entire nations to belief in Christianity, who revolutionized entire societies. I had been given a life-long Christian education and upbringing, but knew so little of these heroic deeds. As I turned the pages I discovered men and women—revolutionaries—whose extraordinary lives had been summed up in a few short paragraphs for future generations to ferret out. Furthering my research of the past several years I found some of these have one or more biographies written of them, while others have no biography, only sentences to summarize their great lives of faith. I was especially impressed to discover revolutionary people of faith during the “dark ages” of the Church, from the 5th to the 15th centuries, about which I had heard next to nothing during all my years of Christian education and Church history study. Most Church histories are uneven, with arduous attention given to the 15 REVOLUTIONARIES first few centuries of the Church plus the Protestant Reformation onward, leaving a thousand years of the church largely unac - counted for. I discovered, hidden within the seemingly dark ages of the Church, some of its most brilliant revolutionaries. This book unveils their stories. May they live on in the lives they impact, and continue to cause revolutionary change in societies around the world, both in our generation and beyond.