Rock songs for 50 theologians

by Kim Fabricius

Irenaeus: “Long Road Out of Eden” (Eagles)

Origen: “The First Cut Is the Deepest” (Sheryl Crow)

Pelagius: “The Fall of the World’s Own Optimist” (Aimee Mann)

St. Augustine: “Tortured, Tangled Hearts” (Dixie Chicks)

Isaac the Syrian: “Friend of the Devil” (The Grateful Dead)

St. Francis of Assisi: “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” (Temptations)

Anselm: “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (Rolling Stones)

Thomas Aquinas: “The Logical Song” (Supertramp)

Torquemada: “Torture” (Jackson Five)

Thomas More: “Chelsea Morning” (Joni Mitchell)

Thomas Cranmer: “Light My Fire” (The Doors)

Martin Luther: “Faith” (George Michael)

Ignatius of Loyola: “Soldier Boy” (The Shirelles)

John Calvin: “Show Some Emotion” (Joan Armatrading)

John of the Cross: “One of These Nights” (Eagles)

John Wesley: “Georgia on My Mind” (Ray Charles)

Jonathan Edwards: “Boris the Spider” (The Who)

William Blake: “Heaven and Hell” (Black Sabbath)

G. K. Chesterton: “The Weight” (The Band)

Rudolf Bultmann: “Do You Believe in Magic?” (The Lovin’ Spoonful)

Paul Tillich: “Sex-O-Matic Venus Freak” (Macy Gray)

Karl Barth: “Revelator” (Gillian Welch)

Anders Nygren: “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” (Tina Turner)

C. S. Lewis: “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” (The Tokens)

Reinhold Niebuhr: “Love Is War” (Bon Jovi)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “Folsom Prison Blues” (Johnny Cash)

Mother Teresa: “Foxy Lady” (Jimi Hendrix)

Thomas Merton: “Crazy Baldhead” (Bob Marley)

Billy Graham: “Hallelujah” (Leonard Cohen)

Herbert McCabe: “Whiskey on the Rocks” (AC/DC)

Jürgen Moltmann: “High Hopes” (Pink Floyd)

Pope Benedict XVI: “Shoes” (Shania Twain)

John Howard Yoder: “Give Peace a Chance” (John Lennon)

William Stringfellow: “The Tears of a Clown” (Smokey Robinson & the Miracles)

Mary Daly: “She’s Always a Woman” (Billy Joel)

Camilo Torres Restrepo: “Rebel Rebel” (David Bowie)

Robert Jenson: “I’ve Got My Music” (Marvin Gaye)

Martin Luther King: “I Want to Break Free” (Queen)

John Shelby Spong: “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You” (Sting)

Jerry Falwell (and Friends): “Hey, Hey! We’re the Monkees” (The Monkees)

James Cone: “Paint It Black” (Rolling Stones)

Colin Gunton: “Gone Too Soon” (Michael Jackson)

Stanley Hauerwas: “Rock Dat Shit” (Prodigy)

Alan Lewis: “Saturday Night Fever” (Bee Gees)

John Piper: “Gloria” (Van Morrison)

Wayne Grudem: “Just Like a Woman” (Bob Dylan)

Rowan Williams: “The Beard Song” (The Bandettes)

John Milbank: “Rave On” (Buddy Holly)

David Bentley Hart: “Beautiful” (Carole King)

Joel Osteen: “Money for Nothing” (Dire Straits)