People of Faith who have influenced our world.

By Reverend Bruno Egli

The present age challenges people of all ages about their faith. Does our belief and our trust in the Bible, prevent us from making real and lasting impact on our world? History actually states the opposite.

For most of the past 2000 years, most people in the Western world have believed the Bible is true. Included are some of the greatest names in history: kings and queens, presidents and prime ministers, scientists and lawyers, philosophers and poets, musicians, writers and artists, inventors, philanthropists and social reformers, as well as untold millions of ordinary men and women and young people from all nations and all walks of life.

If we could ask great men and women from the past to tell us if they believed in the Bible, we might be surprised at the response. Leonardo da Vinci and Michaelangelo, Henry VIII and James I, Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria, Elizabeth Fry and Florence Nightingale, Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, William Shakespeare and John Milton, Sir Isaac Newton and Sir Robert Boyle, Handel, Wordsworth, Tennyson, Bacon and Longfellow, William Gladstone and Robert Louis Stevenson, Lord Shaftesbury and Lord Macaulay: (*) these and hundreds of others would raise their hands. These people helped shape our world. The benefits of their lives and work are still with us today. They were, without exception, intelligent people of exceptional ability and they all believed in the Bible.

No doubt you know people of great faith who have influenced your thinking and who have helped shape your life. I would love to hear from you, and would add such names and some of their achievements to this article.

We have received a rich heritage from our ancestors, whose faith has influenced this world positively. We have the wonderful book called the Bible to teach us about Faith, and to show us the way of life. Mahatma Gandhi once said: “We must be the change we wish to see”. No doubt by reading this article you have been asking yourself many questions about God, your faith and what this means for your own life. I would like to point you to the article “What is Freedom of Will?”, it may help you in the shaping of your thoughts. You are also invited to contact me if you so wish.

(*) list quoted from Bryan Ball’s book “Can We Still Believe The Bible?”

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