Christians

All of the persons listed in this post lived to be at least 100 years old.

Jose de Jesus Garcia Ayala: (1910, Mexico - 2014) Roman Catholic bishop.

John the Silent: (452, Armenia - 558) Greek Christian saint. John lived as a hermit for 76 years.

Nguyen Khac Ngu: (1906, Vietnam - 2009) Vietnamese Roman Catholic bishop who was ordained as a priest in 1934.

Herbert George Welch: (1862, New York State, USA - 1969) Methodist bishop and university president (Ohio Wesleyan University). Welch served as a Methodist pastor in Korea, China, and Pennsylvania.

Nicholas Kao Se Tseien: (1897, China - 2007) Chinese Roman Catholic priest known especially for his service in Hong Kong. Oldest known person to ever undergo surgery for cataracts. 

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Some of those listed may surprise you.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff: (b. 1912, England - d. 2005) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1976 - 1979. Baptist, converted to Atheist.

Margaret Hilda Roberts Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher: (b. 1925, England - d. 2013) 

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1979 - 1990. Methodist, converted to Anglican.

Sir John Major: (b 1943, England) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1990 - 1997, Anglican

Anthony Charles Lynton Blair: (b 1953, England) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1997 - 2007, Anglican, converted to Roman Catholic

James  Gordon Brown: (b. 1951, England) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 2007 - 2010, Church of Scotland

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Some of those listed may surprise you.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Rene Joseph Letourneau: (b. 1929, Massachusetts, USA – d. 2013) Korean War veteran. Alabama Bowlers Hall of Fame. Roman Catholic.

John Brown: (b. 1763, Ireland – d. 1842) Presbyterian minister.  President of the University of Georgia (USA) from 18111-1816.

Johann Valentin Andreae: (b. 1586, Germany - d. 1654: aka: Johannes Valentinus Andeaea)  Author of Christianopolis (1619), a novel about a democratic utopian society governed by scholars and artisans.  He became interested in esoterics and the occult and was involved in the foundation of Rosicrucianism.

Zewditu I: (b. 1876, Ethiopia –d. 1930; aka: Askala Maryam; Queen of Kings) Daughter of Meneiik II of Ethiopia, Empress of Ethiopia 1916-1930.  She was known to be intensely devout. Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo.

Angela Dorothea Kasner Merkel: (b. 1954, West Germany)  Chancellor of Germany 1994-1998.  Lutheran.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Some of those listed may surprise you.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Kim Il-sung: (b.1912, Japanese Korea –d. 1994; Eternal President of the Republic) Leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (1948-1994) Raised as a Presbyterian, became a Communist, then a Socialist.

Kim Hyong-jik: (b. 1884, Korea – d. 1926) Father of Kim Il-sung.  Presbyterian.

Kang Pan-sok: (b. 1892, Korea – d. 1932) Mother of Kim Il-sung.  Presbyterian, then Communist.

Kang Dong-wook (b. Korea; aka: Kang Ton Uk) Maternal grandfather of Kim Il-sung.  Protestant minister.

Kang Ryang-uk: (b. 1904, Korea - 1983; aka: Kang Yang Wook; Kang Lyanguk)  Former Methodist minister, school teacher, non-Communist.  Kim Il-sung made him his Vice President.  Kang was a cousin of Kang Dong-wook.

Blogger Rankings of Saints on the Loose

In each Blogger users profile is a list of the writer's interests.  Those who post about these interests are ranked by the number of their posts.  Here are the Blogger Post rankings for Saints on the Loose! and the number of persons who have listed each interest.

genealogy: #1 of 64,700
baseball: #1 of 51,500
Christianity: #1 of 42,700
grandchildren: #1 of 8700
grace: #1 of 1000
biography: #1 of 603
inventions: #1 of 579
doctrine: #1 of 134
Baptist: #1 of 128
Trinity: #1 of 98
competitive sports: #1 of 89
medical technology: #1 of 87
hematology: #1 of 35
literary agents: #1 of 32
Christian blogs: #1 of 10
Evangelical theology:  #1 of 7
Christian writers: #1 of 4
Christian Publishing: #1 of 1
films: #2 of 238,000
theology: #2 of 42,100
football: #3 of 210,000
religion: #3 of 103,000
comedy: #3 of 31,300
science fiction: #4 of 49,600
philosophy: #5 of 402,000
sport: #5 of 221,000
humor: #5 of 112,000
history: #10 of 246,000
art: not in top 10
books: not in top 10
writing: not in top 10

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Some of those listed may surprise you.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Rufus: The brother of Alexander and one of the sons of Simon of Cyrene (Mark 15:21).  He is possibly the same man mentioned by Paul in Romans 16:13.

Marcus: Marcus was a relative of Barnabas.  He left Paul but later became an important Christian leader.  (Acts 13:13, 15:39; 2 Timothy 4:11)

Simeon: (aka: Niger) Simeon was a leader in the church at Antioch (Antakya, Turkey).  He chose Paul and Barnabas as missionaries.  Acts 13:1-2.

Epaenetus: Epaenetus of Rome is mentioned by Paul in Romans 16:5.  He was possibly the first male Christian convert in Asia.

Philologus: This Roman Christian is mentioned by Paul in Romans 16:15.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Some of those listed may surprise you.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Bartolomeu de Gusmao: (b. 1685, Brazil –d. 1724) Portuguese Jesuit priest, naturalist, philologist, mathematician, linguist, university professor, chaplain to King John V of Portugal.  He designed a lighter-than-air airship but it was never built.

Francesco Lana de Terzi: (b. 1631, Italy – d. 1687) Italian Jesuit priest, naturalist, mathematician, aeronautics theorist, developer of a pre-Braille reading system for the blind.  He worried that flying ships could be used for warfare.

Serzh Azati Sargsyan: (b. 1954, Nagorno-Karabakh) Third President of Armenia, first elected in 2008. Armenian Apostolic.

Ernest Jennings Ford: (b. 1919, Tennessee, USA – d. 1991; aka: “Tennessee Ernie” Ford) Country and Gospel music singer, guitarist, and violinist. His television show always ended with a hymn. He struggled with alcoholism his entire life. Country Music Hall of Fame 1991.

Hugo Chavez: (b. 1954, Venezuela – d. 2013) president of Venezuela 1999-2013, Socialist. Roman Catholic.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Some of those listed may surprise you.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (b. 1813, Italy – d. 1901, aka: Joesph Fortuninus Franciscus Verdi, Joseph Fortunin Francois Verdi) Italian composer, mainly of operas.  Roman Catholic.

Hrant Dink: (b. 1964, Turkey – d. 2007) Editor, journalist, columnist, civil rights activist.  Armenian Apostolic Chrurch, Evangelical Protestant.

Ernest David Kelly: Baptist minister, father of actor DeForest Kelly (1920-1999).

Geza Vermes (b. 1924, Hungary) British theologian, historian, expert in Hebrew, Aramaic, and the life of Jesus.  He and his family were Jewish converts to Roman Catholicism.

James Tetsuzo Takeda (b. 1901, Japan; aka: Tetsu) Episcopal priest, chaplain at St. Paul’s University.  He writes Japanese haiku. 

Book Comment: Who's Who in the Age of Jesus

The 2005 book, Who’s Who in the Age of Jesus, by professor Geza Vermes, is an extremely interesting book for those who love history, biography, and the Bible.  Dr. Vermes intended the book to emphasize the unassailable historicity and the intense Jewishness of Jesus. 

Many of the people Dr. Vermes discusses are persons you have never heard of before.  He talks, of course, about the Roman emperors, governors, procurators, and legates and the Jewish High priests, but also about important women such a Mariamne and Drusilla,  rabbis such as Yohanan ben Zakkai and Simeon ben Shetah, Jewish mystics such as Simon the Essene and Honi the Circle-Drawer, Jewish revolutionaries such as Simon bar Giora and Judas son of Sapphoreus, writers such as Josephus and Justus of Tiberias,  and important persons.

The book also contains genealogical charts and a chronological table.

Dr. Vermes was born in 1924 in Hungary into a Jewish family, some of whom (including his parents) died during the Holocaust.  The family became converts to Roman Catholicicsm and young Geza went on to become a Roman catholic priest.  Vermes is essentially a scholar and academic and became a specialist in Hebrew, Aramaic, Christian and Jewish history, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the life of Jesus. 

 Dr. Vermes questions some of the traditional Christian understandings of Jesus.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/mar/18/academicexperts.highereducationprofile

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A general caution: books may give you wonderful new insights and explanations of subjects, but you should never base your Christian beliefs on any one book or the teachings of one person, no matter who they are. All teachings must be consistent with scripture. Read as the Bereans did, with discernment. “… for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 NASB

Any doctrines must be consistent with the historical full body of Christian thought. Doctrines or teachings inconsistent with scripture in any way must be rejected. You would not eat cheese which had a fuzzy fungus growing on it.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Some of those listed may surprise you.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Vaclav Klaus: (b. 1941, Bohemia) Prime Minister of the Czech Republic 1992-1197, President of the Czech Republic, elected 2003. Czechoslovak Hussite Church.

Jiri Paoubek: (b. 1952, Czechoslovakia) Prime Minister of the Czech Republic  2005-2006. Czechoslovak Hussite Church.

Martha Bedell Alexander: (b. 1939, Florida (USA)) Librarian, chaplain, North Carolina House of Representatives  1993-2013. Episcopal.

Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard: (b. 1938, Netherlands; Beatrix of the Netherlands) Wife of Claus van Amsberg.  Queen of the Netherlands (1980-2013) Protestant Church of the Netherlands.

Claus George Willem Otto Frederik Geert van Amsberg: (b. 1926 – d. 2002) Husnad of Beatrix of the Netherlands, diplomat.  Dutch Reformed Church.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Some of those listed may surprise you.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Abraham Johannes Muste: (b. 1885, Netherlands – d. 1967; A.J. Muste) American Clergyman, civil rights activist, pacifist.  Muste was a proponent of the Social Gospel.  He was a Dutch Reformed Socialist who became a Quaker Christian pacifist.

Honorio Hermeto Carneiro Leao, Marquis of Parana: (b. 1801, Brazil –d. 1856) Judge, politician, diplomat, and monarchist.  Roman Catholic.

Howard Thurman: (b. 1899, Florida (USA) – d. 1981) Baptist minister, educator, author, philosopher, theologian, civil rights leader.  Thurman was a mentor to Martin Luther King, Jr.

James Leonard Farmer, Jr.: (b. 1920, Texas (USA) – d. 1999) Civil rights activist who organized the 1961 Freedom Ride and was a cofounder of the Congress of Racial Equality.  Son of James Leonard Farmer, Sr. Methodist.

James Leonard Farmer, Sr.: (b. 1886 – d. 1961) Author, theologian, educator, university professor.  Father of James Leonard Farmer, Jr.  Methodist.

Oldest Person in the United States Dies

Mamie Rearden, of Edgefield, South Carolina (USA) died Wednesday 2 January 2013 at the age of 114.  She was, until her death, the oldest living person in the United States.  Her rapid decline in health came after she fell and broke her hip.

Mamie Rearden, a schoolteacher and homemaker, was born on 7 September 1898.   She had eleven children, ten of whom survive her.

When asked her opinion of a local preacher’s very boring sermon she had nothing negative to say because, as she said, “Well, it came from the Bible.”

Mrs. Rearden was not the oldest person on Earth.  That honor belongs to Jimeron Kimura of Japan, who is 115. 

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Some of those listed may surprise you.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Gall: (b. ca 1840 – d. 1894, South Dakota, USA; aka: Phizi) A battle chief of the Hunkpapa Lakota tribe against the United States Army at the Battle of Little Bighorn.  He was known as Gall because, as a youth, he ate the gall bladder of an animal.  He was a large, tall man weighing almost three hundred pounds (137 kilograms).  Late in his life he became a Christian convert and settled down as a farmer.

Alma Maria Kartano: (b. 1885, Finland – d. 1953) Lutheran sectarian leader who taught a very apocalyptic doctrine of Jesus’ imminent return.  She taught that all sexual activity, even within marriage, was evil.  Her followers, called Kartanoans, numbered about 1000.

Saint Gall: (b. ca 550, Ireland –d ca 646; Gallen, Gallus)  Irish disciple and traveling companion of Saint Columbanus.  Missionary in France, Austria, Switzerland, and Germany.  Roman Catholic.

Saint Deicolus: (b. ca. 530, Itrland –d. 625; aka: Deicole, dichuil, Deel, Deicola, Deicull, Delle, Desle, Dichul, Dicull) A missionary in France and a younger brother of Saint Gall.  Roman Catholic.

Jose Luis Alberto Munoz Marin: (b. 1898, Puerto Rico – d. 1980) Poet, journalist, politician.  He was the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico (1949-1965).  He was called the “Father of modern Puerto Rico” and the “Architect of the Commonwealth.”  Roman Catholic.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Some of those listed may surprise you.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Robert Patrick Ellison: (b. 1942, Ireland) Roman Catholic Bishop of Banjul, The Gambia

Mvemba a Nzinga: (b. ca 1582, Kongo – d. 1663, aka: Afonso I; Nzinga Mbemeba Affonso) A Kongo chieftain who became the Manikongo in 1506, reigning as Afonso I.

Solomon Tilewa Johnson: (b. 1954, The Gambia) Anglican Bishop of The Gambia.

George Beverly Shea: (b. 1909, Canada) Vocalist, evangelist.  Associated with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association since the 1940’s.

Luciano Pavarotti: (b. 1935, Italy – d. 2007) Operatic tenor, humanitarian.  Roman Catholic.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Some of those listed may surprise you.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Elizabeth Cranach: Daughter of Augustin Cranach (d. 1595), a German painter.  Elizabeth married Polykarp Leyser the Elder.

Polykarp Leyser the Elder: (b. 1552, Germany – d. 1610) Lutheran theologian and university professor.

Polykarp Leyser II: (b. 1586, Germany – d. 1633) Lutheran theologian and university professor.  Son of Polykarp Leyser the Elder.

Polykarp Leyser III: (b. 1656, Germany – d. 1725) Lutheran theologian, orientalist, and university professor. Grandson of Polykarp Leyser the Elder and a nephew of Polykarp Leyser II.

Polykarp Leyser IV: (b. 1690, Germany – d. 1728) Lutheran theologian, physician, lawyer, historian, and university professor.  Son of Polykarp Leyser III.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Some of those listed may surprise you.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Dinesh D’Souza: (b. 1961, India) American author and public speaker, political commentator.  Roman Catholic.

Abundias: (b. Spain - d. 854) Martyr. Roman Catholic parish priest in the village of Ananelos, Spain, near Cordoba.  He was beheaded and his body was thrown to hungry dogs.

Nicola Gruevski: (b. 1970, Macedonia) Banker, elected Prime Minister of Macedonia in 2006. Macedonian Orthodox.

Hassan Sharif Lubenga (b. ca 1958, Uganda) Former Muslim extremist who converted to Christianity after having dreams and visions of Jesus.  He fled to Kenya for his personal safety. He was a sheikh of Buk Haram, a violent group similar to the Nigerian Boko Haram (Hausa = “western education is sinful”).

Isidora Barankis (d. ca. 369, Egypt) One of the first “holy fools.”  A nun at the convent in Tabenissi (on the upper Nile River) in Egypt.  She lived a life of absolute humility and pretended to be insane.  Eventually she left the convent to live in the desert. Eastern Orthodox.

Christians

Chiang Ching-kuo (B. 1910, China –d. 1988)  President of the Republic of China 1978-1988.  Methodist.

Titus (fl. 1^st century) A Gentile Christian who was a convert and later a friend and emissary of Paul. Paul sent him on several specific missions.  Galatians 2:3, 1 Corinthians 1-6, 2 Corinthians 2:13, 7:5-16, chapter 8, the book of Titus, 2 Timothy 4:10.  He was accepted as Paul’s spokesman.

Horatio Gates Spafford:  (b. 1828, New York (USA) – d. 1888) Attorney, investor, philanthropist, hymnist.  After all four of his daughters died in a shipwreck he wrote the words to the hymn, “It Is Well With My Soul.”  He, his wife, and their subsequent children worked for years in Jerusalem providing soup kitchens, hospitals, and orphanages.  He died in Jerusalem.  “I am glad to trust the Lord when it will cost something.”

Tiana Anpo Win Spotted Thunder (b. Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota (USA), aka: Tasiyagmuka Ho Waste Win; Good Voice Meadowlark  Woman)  Singer in English and Lakota.

Melchior Grodziecki (b. ca 1582, Poland – d. 1619) Jesuit priest, military chaplain,  and martyr.  Beheaded by Transylvanian troops in Kosice.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Some of those listed may surprise you.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

John Ray: (b. 1627, England – d. 1705) Botanist, college lecturer, biological cataloger).  Ray is credited with laying the foRyan Hallundations for modern botany and zoology.

Mary of Lapland: (b. Lappland (Finland, aka: Milla Clementsdottir of Follinge)  Mary was a Sami woman who, in 1844, showed the Swedish Lutheran pastor, Lars Levi Laestadius, the need for a deeper, more personal faith.

Lars Levi Laestadius (b. 1800, Sweden – d. 1861) Swedish Lutheran pastor, author, botanist.

Ryan Hall: (b. 1982, California, USA) United States Olympic long distance runner (London 2012) who credits God as his only coach.

Oswiu of Northumbria: (b. ca 612 – d. 670; aka: Oswy, Oswig)  King of Bernicia, an early British kingdom. 

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Bernard Acworth: (b. 1885, England – d. 1963) Writer, biologist, submariner, creationist. Evangelical.

Catherine Howard: (b. ca. 1518 - 1524, England –d. 1842; aka: Katherine, Katheryn, Kathryn, “a rose without a thorn”)  The fifth wife of Henry VIII, King of England.  In order to marry wife number six, Henry had f=her executed for treason and adultery. Roman Catholic.

Edward Jonathan Giddings (b. 1831 – d. 1894) Writer. Author of American Christian Rulers (1890).

Peter Maurin: (b. 1877, France –d. 1949; aka: Aristide Pierre Maurin) Roman Catholic social activist.  With Dorothy Day, was a co-founder of the Catholic Worker’s Movement (1933).

William McKinley (b. 1843, Ohio, USA – d. 1901) President of the United States (1897-1901).  He was assasinated by an anarchist.  Methodist.