Athanasius of Alexandria, also called Athanasius the Great, Athanasius the Confessor or, primarily in the Coptic Orthodox Church, Athanasius the Apostolic, was the 20th bishop of Alexandria. His intermittent episcopacy spanned 45 years, of which over 17 encompassed five exiles, when he was replaced on the order of four different Roman emperors. Athanasius was a Christian theologian, a Church Father, the chief defender of Trinitarianism against Arianism, and a noted Egyptian leader of the fourth century.
Saint Martin of Tours was the third bishop of Tours. He has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints in Western tradition.
Warren Mitchell was an English actor. He was a BAFTA TV Award winner and twice a Laurence Olivier Award winner.
Julianof Norwich, also known as Dame Julian or Mother Julian was the greatest of all the English anchorites of the Middle Ages. She wrote the earliest surviving book in the English language to be written by a woman, Revelations of Divine Love. She lived throughout her life in the English city of Norwich, an important centre for commerce that also had a vibrant religious life, but which during her lifetime was a witness to the devastating effects of the Black Death of 1349, the English Peasants' Revolt, which affected large parts of England in 1381, and the suppression of the Lollards.
David Edward Jenkins was a Church of England cleric and theologian. He was Bishop of Durham from 1984 until 1994. After his retirement, he continued to serve as an honorary assistant bishop in the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds.
"First they came ..." is a poem written by the German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984). It is about the cowardice of German intellectuals following the Nazis' rise to power and subsequent incremental purging of their chosen targets, group after group. Many variations and adaptations in the spirit of the original have been published in the English language. It deals with themes of persecution, guilt and responsibility.
Renn Dickson Hampden was an English Anglican clergyman. His liberal tendencies led to conflict with traditionalist clergy in general and the supporters of Tractarianism during the years he taught in Oxford (1829–1846) which coincided with a period of rapid social change and heightened political tensions. His support for the campaign for the admission of non-Anglicans to Oxford and Cambridge Universities was unpopular at the time (1834) and led to serious protests when he was nominated to the Regius Professorship of Divinity two years later. His election as Bishop of Hereford became a cause celebre in Victorian religious controversies because it raised questions about the royal prerogative in the appointment of bishops and the role of the prime minister. He administered the diocese with tolerance and charity without being involved in any further controversy for nearly twenty years.
Morris Langlo West AO was an Australian novelist and playwright, best known for his novels The Devil's Advocate (1959), The Shoes of the Fisherman (1963) and The Clowns of God (1981). His books were published in 27 languages and sold more than 60 million copies worldwide. Each new book he wrote after he became an established writer sold more than one million copies.
Lew Grade, Baron Grade, OStJ, KC*SS, born Louis Winogradsky, was a British media proprietor and impresario.
Joan Noele Gordon was a British stage, film, television actress and presenter. She played the role of Meg Mortimer in the long-running British soap opera Crossroads from 1964 to 1981.
Daniel Austin Dowling was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the first bishop of the Diocese of Des Moines and the second Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
William Henry Grenfell, 1st Baron Desborough, was a British athlete, sportsman, public servant and politician. He sat in the House of Commons first for the Liberal Party and then for the Conservatives between 1880 and 1905 when he was raised to the peerage. He was President of the Thames Conservancy Board for thirty-two years.
Saint Ildefonsus or Ildephonsus was a scholar and theologian who served as the metropolitan Bishop of Toledo for the last decade of his life. His Gothic name was Hildefuns. In the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church he is known as Saint Dexius based on the Ge'ez translation of the legends about his life.
Gary Newbon MBE is a television sports presenter and executive.
Eryl Stephen Thomas was a Bishop of Monmouth and a Bishop of Llandaff.
Throughout the history of the Soviet Union (1922–1991), there were periods where Soviet authorities praised and supported various forms of Christianity to different extents depending on State interests. Soviet Marxist-Leninism policy consistently advocated the control, suppression, and ultimately, the elimination of religious beliefs, and actively encouraged atheism in the Soviet Union. However, most religions were never officially outlawed.
Julian Pascoe Francis St Leger Grenfell, 3rd Baron Grenfell, Baron Grenfell of Kilvey is a Labour hereditary peer and former member of the House of Lords known for his strong Europhile views.
The Secrets of Scientology is a documentary which was broadcast on 28 September 2010 as part of the BBC's Panorama documentary strand. Presented by John Sweeney, it is a follow-up of his 2007 investigation into the Church of Scientology and features interviews with former high-ranking members of the organisation.
The Open Episcopal Church (OEC) is a liberal Christian denomination. It has bishops in England and Wales and clergy throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. It has over 29,000 members.
Tom Coyne was a British news broadcaster and television presenter who was known for being one of the earliest presenters of Top Gear.
