When I started this site in 2016, I wanted to understand Christianity better – to understand its traditions and history, its different thinkers across time. I went out and bought Augustine’s Confessions, and just kept going.

Here, we explore the big four Christian theologians – Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, and Calvin. Different people might shift that list around a little – but if you’re looking for a place to start, this is as good as any.

Augustine

Augustine was the first proper theologian I ever read. Born in the 4th century, his major works include City of God, written in the wake of the sack of Rome, Confessions, and On The Trinity.

Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas sits at the heart of the Catholic faith. His major work, the Summa Theologiae, unified Aristotelian thought with Christian doctrine. I’ve only read the first part of it, the Prima Pars, but that took me most of a full year. It has a dialectic structure, sort of like a debate, where he lays out a series of arguments in favour of one position, and then counters those arguments with his actual position.

Luther

Luther is the guy responsible for starting the Protestant Reformation. Some people say he’s less a theologian and more a reformer, a revolutionary, but we read his stuff anyway. It’s interesting to see the start of it all. We focus on his 1520 trilogy: Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, Prelude on the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, and On the Freedom of a Christian, all published right before his excommunication in 1521.

Calvin

Calvin is a grumpy little shit, but he’s also probably the single most influential Protestant theologian. I read his Institutes of the Christian Religion, and it was very angry, and increasingly I agree with a lot of what he says, God help me.