May 5, 2005 (Lincoln, NE)----A recent TheologicalStudies.org poll has found French theologian and reformer, John Calvin, to be the “greatest theologian of all-time.” Four hundred respondents at the TheologicalStudies.org website were asked the question: “In your opinion who is the greatest Christian theologian since A.D. 100?” Eight options were offered in this unscientific poll. Here are the results:

John Calvin (24%)

Augustine (16%)

Karl Barth (14%)

Other (14%)

Martin Luther (14%)

Jonathan Edwards (9%)

Thomas Aquinas (8%)

Friedrich Schleiermacher (less than 1%)

“John Calvin was the winner in our survey,” declares Michael J. Vlach, Ph.D., President of TheologicalStudies.org (www.TheologicalStudies.org). “When we first had the idea for this poll we thought it would be a close race between John Calvin, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and Martin Luther, but Calvin was the clear winner.”

According to Vlach, certain other things are worth noting about the survey. “Although John Calvin was the winner, the results show that there is a wide variety of opinion concerning who is the greatest theologian,” he states. “Twenty-four percent made Calvin the winner, but several other theologians received significant support as well. We were particularly surprised that twentieth-century theologian, Karl Barth, received more support than some like Jonathan Edwards and Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas was the most important philosopher and theologian of the Middle Ages and we thought he would do a little better.”

“It should also be noted that different people have different ideas of what being the ‘greatest’ means, says Vlach. “For some ‘greatest’ could mean a person’s favorite theologian, while for others ‘greatest’ might mean the person who had the most influence on the Christian Church.”

Vlach points out that although Calvin won the poll, three out of four respondents picked another theologian. “This shows that there is a wide variety of opinion on the issue of who the greatest theologian of all time is,” says Vlach. “Let the debate continue!”

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