Prominent American Religious - Biographies By Last Name

Francis Asbury (1745-1816) was the preeminent leader of American Methodism after the Revolutionary War.

John Carroll (1735-1815) served as the first Catholic bishop in the United States and helped expand the Catholic Church domestically.

Charles Coughlin (1891-1979) was a Catholic "radio priest," who was controversial for his anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi views leading up to World War II.

Dorothy Day (1897-1980) was a Catholic activist, known for co-founding the Catholic Worker movement, leading anti-war and anti-nuclear proliferation movements, and promoting assistance to the poor.

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) is the most influential theologian in American religious history and helped start the First Great Awakening.

Charles Finney (1792-1875) was a prominent evangelical and revivalist during the Second Great Awakening.

James Gibbons (1834-1921) was an American cardinal archbishop who guided the Catholic Church through historic changes and mediated relations between American Catholics and the Vatican.

Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972) was an important Jewish theologian and social activist in the 20th century.

John Hughes (1797-1864) was a New York archbishop, who oversaw growth in the American Catholic Church due to Irish immigration and advocated Catholic parochial education.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) was an African-American Baptist minister and civil rights leader who combined Gandhi’s nonviolent philosophy and Christian love to fight racism.

William Miller (1782-1849) predicted that the return of Christ would occur in 1843, garnering both religious fervor and criticism.

Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971) was an influential theologian who advocated social justice and critiqued aspects of theological liberalism. He also is credited with the Serenity Prayer.

The American writer Flannery O'Connor (1925-1964) depicted fictional Southern characters confronting grace in depressing circumstances.

William Penn (1644-1718) was a Quaker activist, religious tolerance advocate and founder of the Pennsylvania colony.

Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916) sparked the religious tradition later known as the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Francis Schaeffer (1912-1984) was a famous evangelical apologist who denounced the spread of relativism in modern society.

Fulton Sheen (1895-1979) was a popular Catholic leader, who appeared on popular radio programs ("Catholic Hour") and television programs ("Life is Worth Living").

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) was a women’s rights advocate who pioneered feminist theology through her controversial biblical commentary known as the The Woman’s Bible.

Paul Tillich (1886-1965) was a German American theologian and public intellectual who connected Christian faith to modern culture.

Charles Wesley (1707-1788) was an important leader of the Methodist movement, the younger brother of John Wesley, and an influential hymn writer.

Ellen Gould White (1827-1915) was the co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. She promoted Saturday as the Christian Sabbath and advocated biblically-based health initiatives.

George Whitefield (1714-1770) was the leading preacher and revivalist of the First Great Awakening in the American colonies.

Roger Williams (1603-1683) was a theologian, advocate for the separation of civil and church authority, and founder of Rhode Island.

John Witherspoon (1723-1794) was a Presbyterian minister, president of the College of New Jersey, and the only clergy signatory of the Declaration of Independence.

Pope John XXIII (1881-1963) called the Second Vatican Council, one of the most significant events in the modern Catholic Church.

Brigham Young (1801-1877) succeeded Joseph Smith as Mormon president. He led a Mormon exodus to Utah and helped expand the church to 150,000 members.