Boethius

In 523 Boethius (480-524), who was the head of the civil service and chief of the palace officials for Theodoric The Great in Rome, was arrested on suspicion of secret dealings with Theodoric’s enemies in Constantinople. During his time in prison awaiting execution, he wrote The Consolation of Philosophy, which encouraged man to find consolation through meditation and prayer. During the Middle Ages this was a much-revered work and both Chaucer and Queen Elizabeth 1st translated it into English.
Boethius also wrote five theological treatises, which systematically applied the logic of Aristotle to Christian theology. They earned him the label of the first of the scholastic philosophers- one who attempts to use philosophy to explain Christian faith.
Boethius famously claimed that it is wrong to say what God is. Instead we should say what God is not, since the moment we say what he is we reduce him, thus diminishing him to the level of our inadequate thoughts and even more inadequate language.

William Blake

The visionary English artist and poet William Blake was known as “barmy” Blake, as he believed he had long conversations with biblical heroes and other famous historic figures. Even as a child he had visions of angels in a tree and the prophet, Ezekiel in a field. If his wife Catherine decided that her eccentric husband was spending too much time with his visions and angels and not enough earning his daily bread, at mealtime she placed an empty plate at his end of the table.
The Non-conformist mystic wanted to escape from puritanical repressive Christianity and had contempt for organized religion. He believed that England had a special relationship with God, having accepted the myth that Christianity had been established at Glastonbury almost in Christ’s own lifetime, by his follower Joseph of Arimethea, and that as the Jews have failed him, God replaced them with the English as his “chosen people.” In 1804 Blake wrote in his preface to his long poem Milton, Jerusalem, a poem of spiritual power and sexual liberty. The line “and did these feet in ancient time” referred, according to Blake, to Joseph of Arimethea. Sir Hubert Parry put the poem to music in 1916 to beef up British morale during the bleakest days of the First World War. Despite the unorthodox theology of the words it is now one of the most popular hymns in the English language and many of the English population would like this to replace "God Save The Queen" as their national anthem.

Tony Blair

In 1997 the voters of the United Kingdom dispatched the Conservative Party into opposition after 18 years in power and replaced it with the Labour Party and a new Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Twelve years later Blair won his third general election. making him the Labour Party's longest-serving Prime Minister and the only person to have led the party to three consecutive general election victories.
Blair had his political views motivated by his Christian beliefs and was arguably the most devout British Prime Minister since William Gladstone. A High Church Anglican, he frequently attended Catholic services with his equally devout Roman Catholic wife, Cherie. On 22 December 2007, it was disclosed that Blair had converted to the Catholic faith, and that it was "a private matter."

Antoinette Blackwell

Antoinette Blackwell (1825-1921) was inspired by evangelical revivals to enrol at the Presbyterian Oberlin College and study theology, but as a woman she was refused a degree and ordination. After lecturing on women's rights and occasionally preaching at progressive churches, she was appointed in 1853 pastor by the First Congregational Church in South Butler, New York, thus becoming the first woman minister in an established Protestant denomination. However due to theological disagreements she resigned after less than a year and later joined the Unitarian church.
One of Antoinette Blackwell’s sister in laws was Elizabeth Blackwell, the first British woman doctor and the first woman to gain a medical degree anywhere.

The Black Death

In the mid-14th century a great epidemic of plague, mainly the bubonic variant known as The Black Death swept through Europe killing millions. Many people feared it was God’s judgement on a wicked world. Dice-makers turned their dice into beads for prayer and the Archbishop of York ordered solemn processions to ask for God’s mercy. One particular group who subscribed to this judgement theory were the Flagellants, groups of hooded men who marched with their white robes emblazoned on both sides with a red cross. They marched in parties of around 100 in a funeral procession from town to town with a combination of hymnal singing and sobbing. Throughout Europe they preached against church corruption and persecution of the Jews. Twice a day they performed a ceremony in public where they whipped themselves or beat themselves with iron spikes. The general public had tremendous regard for the Flagellants, as they see their acts as symbolizing man’s remorse for his wicked ways in a period when God’s judgement and wrath were manifestly evident.
By the 1350s there was a religious revival in Europe aimed at atoning for whatever sins may have caused the plague. This revival lead to an increase in charitable works and the founding of many new hospitals across Europe.
Also many people paid money to their priests to dedicate Masses to them and their families, believing that this would ensure divine protection on Earth. The result of this was a large income for the church that was spent on intricate decoration and liturgical music. As a result most churches had at least one resident musician whose task was to produce music on a weekly basis for both the Mass and the choir.

The Black Church in America

Richard Allen (1760-1831) was born a slave and converted to Methodism as a young man. After he converted his owner, he was given his freedom. In 1874 he was accepted as a Methodist preacher and returned to Philadelphia to preach . After an incident in which white parishioners forced the African-Americans present to segregate themselves, he led his black parishioners to form a Free African Society in 1787 , and in 1794 Allen established a separate Methodist church for African-Americans. Many African-Americans flocked to the new denomination as it allowed them to worship God in a culture that they could relate to. Allen, who campaigned for many years against the slave trade, worked to make the church an organization that was able to unite the African-Americans together.
In 1816 a number of independent black Methodist churches around the North East came together to form the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and on 11th April 1816 he was ordained its first bishop leading it until his death.

Otto Bismarck

As prime minister of Prussia, Otto Von Bismarck (1815-1898) pursued an aggressively expansionist policy, waging wars against Denmark (1863–64), Austria (1866), and France (1870–71), which brought about the unification of Germany and the founding of the German empire. Having received a humanistic education in his younger days, Bismarck was a freethinker, however his devout Lutheran wife, Joanna helped him to discover the Christian faith.
Bismarck believed that the Roman Catholic Church held too much political power and in 1871 he began an anti-Catholic campaign known as the Kulturkampf (cultural struggle). It was an attempt to subordinate the Roman Catholic Church in Germany to the state and the laws arising from this prohibited all Catholic religious assemblies. Many members of Catholic religious orders were expelled, including the Jesuits, a thousand priests were imprisoned or exiled and a million Catholics were left without their sacraments.