Includes bibliographical references and index.

Why study theology? -- Origen : oft-reviled but the greatest teacher after the apostles -- Athanasius : the black monk who saved the faith -- Augustine : the most influential theologian ever -- Thomas Aquinas : the teacher of the Catholic Church -- Martin Luther : the monk who rose up against heaven and earth -- John Calvin : greatest theologian of the reformed tradition -- Jonathan Edwards : America's theologian -- Friedrich Schleiermacher : father of liberal theology -- John Henry Newman : Anglican theologian who swam the Tiber -- Karl Barth : most influential twentieth-century theologian -- Hans Urs von Balthasar : stellar Catholic theologian of the twentieth century -- What these theologians teach us about theology.