The 40 Most Influential Christians . . . Who Shaped What We Believe Today

I enjoyed reading about notable Christians of the past, some I am familiar with and others not. I did, however, find my mind wandering as I was still reading the words. I wouldn't say I would recall very well what I read for the most part.

I was both skeptical and interested. Bethany House offered me a free review copy of the book The 40 Most Influential Christians Who Shaped What We Believe by Daryl Aaron. I have quite a few books that are collections of short biographical sketches of famous Christians. I think that one of the first Christian books I ever bought and probably the first church history I ever read was a small paperback called Heroes of the Faith.

I love biographies and so the collection of 5 to 10 page life stories appeals to me. But the problem is this: Other than being handy for quick reference, these kinds of books tend to be too superficial for my needs. They are great for the novice, the beginner, the person who gets John Calvin and J.C. Ryle confused. I am not trying to sound too erudite or too sophisticated for such books, but I know that I often need to read more than just a short clip on a person or subject.

There happens to be lots of enjoyable books that contain short, usually inspiring biographical sketches. In recent times, Eric Metaxas wrote a book called Seven Men and the Secret of Their Greatness. John MacArthur wrote Twelve Ordinary Men, Twelve Extraordinary Women, and Twelve Unlikely Heroes, all of which are biographical sketches and devotional studies of Bible characters. Warren Wiersbe has a book called Fifty People Every Christian Should Know. A slightly different approach and some different subjects can be found in Saints and Scoundrels: From King Herod to Solzhenitsyn by Robin Philips.

So, before I received my review copy of The 40 Most Influential Christians, I figured I had the book already classified. "Great for younger readers." "A good introduction to famous Christians." "Enjoyable stories of famous believers." "Inspiring tales of faith." But this book surprised me. These biographical studies are quite in-depth, even though they are each 5 pages long. There is more here than just the basic facts of birth, life, death. Instead, each chapter consists of 3 parts: the context, the contribution, and the conclusion. The first part, the context, gives a snapshot of the place where the church or culture was at the time. The second tells what the particular Christian did, while the third part is an evaluation of that person.

I am currently using the book in my theology class with high school students. We have "Theologian Thursday," which is a time when I introduce a historical figure from Christian history (not necessarily a theologian). This book is quite useful for such.

There is another fun part of books like this. It involves who gets included and who gets left out. To be surprised, shocked, bothered, and confirmed all takes place with the opening of the book to the table of contents. The argument with the author begins: "Why did you include ****?" "What! You left **** out?" I will note many of the influential Christians that were included below, but first notice this. Dr. Aaron says that the list consists of who in his opinion are the 40 most influential Christians in his opinion. And, he points out that he is not necessarily a fan of the theologies of all those included, but is only noting that each is influential.

Here are some that Aaron says are blatantly obvious: Tertullian, Augustine, Athanasius, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, and Edwards. In the category of the unfamiliar or less familiar, he includes Clement, Cyprian, Cyril, Julian, Richard Hooker, and Rosemary Reuther (who I have never previously heard of). Some of the others in the book are Anselm, Peter Abelard, Menno Simmons, John Wesley, and James Arminius. I winced over that last name, but realized, that Arminius has been extremely influential.

One of the modern theologians is Friedrich Scheirmacher, who is one that I think the author would be refering to when he says that some of the theologians have been more harmful than good. Karl Barth, Paul Tillich, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer are in the book, and rightly so. So are J. Gresham Machen and Carl F. H. Henry. It might not be easy to have a pleasant meal with the last five people mentioned, but the case can be made that they all made important contributions to Christianity.

Who would I be adding if I had the chance to "correct" the book and increase the number? Definitely, I would add Abraham Kuyper first, and then add on a few more Dutchmen, such as Herman Bavinck and Herman Dooyeweerd. Maybe Machen represented the Princeton tradition, but I would like to have seen chapters on Charles Hodge and Benjamin Warfield. From the most recent decades, a strong case could be made for Francis Schaeffer and Billy Graham. There are always a few favorites, such as George Whitefield. George Grant would be miffed that Thomas Chalmers isn't on the starting line-up. He and I both would want to see Charles Spurgeon included. Neither Cornelius Van Til nor Gordon Clark were included, and for that matter, Alvin Plantiga. And where are John Witherspoon and John Murray? Since the book isn't all about theologians and preachers, Flannery O'Connor would be a good addition.

Yes, I could see the book expanded to some 1000 plus pages, and I would still have a complaint or two. But back to the actual book and the actual list, this is a fine book, a good study. I really like this book and am inspired to know more about these 40 influential Christians.

This book was published by Bethany House Publishers and I received a review copy free. I did not have to write a positive review, but I did. And I did have to include this bit of information.

As the author readily acknowledges in his introduction, choosing any number of Christians in the history of the Church and identifying them as “most influential” is a challenge, simply because there will be many differences of opinion about who would qualify for such a list. With this in mind, I think he has selected good candidates and provides easy-to-read summaries of each one’s historical context and the contribution he or she has made to the development of the Church.

There are two things that disappoint me, however. While I know that every writer has a slant to the topic, I think that the author has identified his doctrinal preference too firmly right from the start. In his first chapter on Clement of Rome, he takes issue with an episcopal church structure. In other words, he plainly states that a church structured with formal bishops, priests, and deacons is in error. Such a statement basically pushes every Roman Catholic and Anglican (and others) to the side and makes his book appear to be written only for low-church Evangelicals. This leads to my second disappointment, which is that he tends to editorialize in several places. While I realize that he is not writing an academic treatise and is aiming at a general audience, his editorial comments move him away from presenting a reasonable summary of what each person did in history, and reinforce the bias he already stated in the first chapter.

In all, this book is a handy resource to learn about key figures in Christian history, especially for those who do not know much about the first 1500 years of Church history. However, its obvious slant is likely to cause it to be painted negatively by those who are not of the popular Evangelical tribe.

I give this book 3 stars out of 5.

I received this book free from Bethany House. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Read the title of this book again. The niche that this author has found isn't the top 40 Christians, but the 40 he believes have had the most impact on current Christian belief---from a conservative position. As he states early on those included in this book are not a definitive list, but the ones he chose, some of which do not reflect his particular views(13). This is a selling point for this book, I think,in that he is willing to engage a more diverse range of opinion than I originally expected to find.

This book covers an immense timeline from first century AD to the mid-20th century, from Clement of Rome to Carl F.H. Henry. Each of his choices receives a treatment that covers Context, Contribution, and Conclusion. The chapters are short but contain enough information to serve as a good starting point for further investigation. And the best part as far as I am concerned is that they are interesting to read. This could have been an arid walk through the halls of theological thought, but it isn't and for that I am grateful to this author. And the publishers for their part in this.

What didn't I like? Not much, since going in I knew his perspective would be conservative and evangelical. His conclusion in the last chapter is decidedly so, but not unaware of the contributions made by those with whom he does not agree fully. "...Just because these theologians are not perfect is no reason to dismiss their ideas."(294). He believes that the consistency of thought present throughout history illustrates that "we should have great confidence that divinely revealed truth has not and will not be lost in the shuffle."(295). And so, he looks forward to what theology will discover in the future citing Isaiah 55:8-9.

I do recommend this book as an excellent starting point in following the evolution of Christian thought.

This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for this review.

Book Review: The 40 Most Influential Christians Who Shaped What We Believe Today by Daryl Aaron

Aaron is a good writer and does a great job at distilling the kinds of things that make a person important in the grand scheme of church history. Of course, the task of choosing only 40 such representatives is in itself a burden, I'm sure. Plus, one cannot avoid the influence of one's own theological presuppositions along with a triumphalistic dependence on what some have termed, "The Historic Christian Church."

The author, of course, does not share many of my theological foundations and, therefore, makes no mention of some Christians without which my own "church history" (Pentecostal) would be different. No doubt other non-Evangelicals will share a similar feeling.

In the end, the book is an interesting and informative read. Does Aaron always succeed? No, but no one can fault him for trying to distill a lifetime into a four-page chapter. If you have five minutes to spare and would like to learn who Bonhoeffer or Arminius were, that's all it will take to get a good introduction to these men.

Disclosure: The book was received for free from Bethany House book review program. The program does not require a positive review, only an honest one.

Covering a vast span of church history, Daryl Aaron's book, The 40 Most Influential Christians . . . Who Shaped What We Believe Today, provides an overview of Christian theology and the men and women who shaped it over time. Each chapter covers the contributions of one particular Christian leader/writer/theologian, etc. in history, his or her beliefs, teachings, brief life experiences and how they impacted his or her influence.

Aaron does offer summation commentary at the end of the chapters, suggesting what was right or wrong, off balance, or perhaps questionable or controversial about the different perspectives. Overall, he tries to stay fair and balanced here, even offering Christian leaders from various branches of Christianity, including Catholicism, Protestantism of various sorts, both liberal and conservative leaders.

In the case of a particularly divisive issue such as Calvinism versus Arminianism, for instance, Aaron urges readers to consider what the leaders really taught rather than extremes, stereotypes, and out-of-context third-party arguments for or against their theology.

In this book, you'll find Christian leaders you may have heard of (Calvin, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer). There were, however, many on the list that may be new to the reader; that was definitely true for me. For those wanting to know more about what we believe and why we believe it, Aaron's book serves as a useful resource. He also connects us to the teachings of Christians going all the way back to the first century.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Daryl Aaron admits that a more accurate title for this book would be "40 of the Most Influential Christians Who Shaped What We Believe Today, in the Humble Opinion of One Particular Writer." Aaron makes it clear that inclusion in this book is not necessarily indicative of his personal acceptance of the theologies of the men and women presented. He asserts that he chose these 40 theologians because "All of these individuals did play important and influential roles in the overall story of the development of Christian theology."

Each chapter (one per theologian) is divided into three parts: the biographical and theological context in which the theologian was working, his or her contribution, and a conclusion, which is Aaron's personal assessment of the theologian's life and influence.

There are only a few pages devoted to each theologian, but this book is a good overview of some of the "faces" of church history. It would be an excellent addition to a church history course.

For a list of the 40 theologians featured in this book, use the store's "Click to Look Inside" button and view the Table of Contents.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Daryl Aaron spent fourteen years in pastoral ministry before coming to the University of Northwestern and he has been a member of the Biblical and Theological Studies faculty since 1996.

Daryl's recent book is The 40 Most Influential Christians Who Shaped What We Believe Today. I know even when I was in seminary, some of my favorite classes were that of church history. And I think the average lay person might get a lot of "bible history" from church, but to get any real "church history" one needs to look elsewhere.

Everything we teach in church today and even the right and the freedom to teach what we do today - comes from our church's forefathers (and foremothers) who have carved that path before us. Daryl has gathered these forty influential names and placed them in chronological order for you so that you can see first hand the impact that they had on Christian culture.

Each one of the chapters is dedicated to one of these pioneers of the faith and Daryl has even graciously allowed each person to speak in their own voice so that the reader can get a sample of their contribution.

At over 300 pages, this is not a quick read, but each chapter is short and contained, so one could easily read this book alongside another one and not have to worry about plowing through it. Daryl is a university professor, so at times you are reminded of that with his prose and grammar, but I don't think that makes this book unapproachable or "scholarly" I think the typical church-goer would enjoy such a book and as such.

Thank you to Bethany House for a review copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is an incredible book about the history of the church, and 40 of the most influential people in shaping not only the church and its development, but the denominations as well. I expected quite a few of the people who were in this book - Augustine, Martin Luther, John Wesley.... but there were MANY in this book that I didn't expect at all. Who talks about Ulrich Zwingli in normal conversations? I learned a lot while reading about each person though, and appreciated being able to read the author's perspective of each of them. Each person had a section on context, a section talking about their contribution, and the final part showing the conclusion.

While this book had a lot of really great information, it was also written in a very "scholarly" way, and honestly, seemed a little bit distant as I read it. I have a good amount of education, but I just felt it was written much more for theology students that for the everyday reader.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are completely my own.

Excellent! When the book first was available to me for review, I was somewhat hesitant to select it because to say "the 40 most" is quite specific. The concern I had was that the author, who I've not read any of his works before, would be biased and only include who he thought was beneficial. I will admit that I, after the fact, would like to have more information on the tertiary Christians that he barely mentions, such as Arius when talking about Athanasius, or Chrysostom when talking about Theodore of Mopsuestia. But I gather the reason Aaron only mentions these others are because their contributions were the result of faction, or they were deemed heretical, both of those in regards to Arius, or such as Chyrsostom, the work they contributed was expounded on more fully by later Christians. Even so, these also helped solidify beliefs of Christians. Aaron's words on the title of the book:

"Regarding the title of this book...Please understand that I am not under the illusion that I have nailed the definitive top 40 list of theologians...I thought a more accurate title would be 40 of the Most Influential Christians Who Shaped What We Believe Today, in the Humble Opinion of One Particular Writer, but that seemed a little unwieldy to the publisher. Good arguments can be made that some of these should not have made it while others should have. (pg 13)"

My thought is that the title would have been perfect if it were written hundreds of years ago! But really I think it would be better without "The". Each of the individuals in the book have indeed had quite a bit of influence on Christian belief; they were most influential, but not the most influential.

The writing style is very easy to follow, even for someone who has very little exposure to 'theology' and/or has a very basic knowledge of theology and church history {that'd be me}. I've read George Hodges' Saints and Heroes to the End of the Middle Ages and his Saints and Heroes Since the Middle Ages, which acquainted me with some of the names in Aaron's book. This book, The 40 Most Influential Christians, actually has forty-two Christians who shaped Christian beliefs. Each chapter starts with a historical setting to give context -we can see where the individual was coming from in life, where they went and who they came into contact with, through their personal life and/or writings and ideas of the time. Next it talks about contributions that were made by the individual. Finally, the author includes a conclusion- this pretty much is how the person's contributions had affected beliefs to that point. Aaron says:

"Regarding format, each chapter will be divided into three main sections with two subparts: context (theological and biographical), contribution (theological and bibliographical), and conclusion (theological and personal)...What is most important in what follows is not getting to know these great Christian thinkers better, nor is it understanding theology better (in and of itself); rather, what is most important is getting to know God better. After all, our Savior, Jesus Christ, commanded us to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind" (Matthew 22:37). There are the stories of Christians who were trying to do that and trying to help others as well. (pg 14, 15)"

I learned quite a bit of where a belief of today stemmed from and who spread it, and found it was generally because of their position, but not always. Also, there is a section titled "Brief Interlude: Meanwhile in Rome (or at least in Trent)" where we are enlightened with some beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church, which to this point personally I had been fairly unaware.

Going back to the writing style: for the most part the information is presented in a no-nonsense fashion. The facts are given, the works are offered, a conclusion is made. However, occasionally Aaron inputs his own personal beliefs into this {would you really expect anything different?}, but more often he imbues the information with a little humor. Not much but it is there and I like it. I'll give you an example of both (with my own emphasis added):

"As a Protestant and evangelical, I would share these concerns; however, I also appreciate and applaud the intent of Christian mystics overall--to draw closer to God in experiential relationship. (pg 147, "Julian of Norwich, Monastic Mystic")
Scholastic theology at this time focused on the integration of theology (revelation) and philosophy (reason), so it stands to reason (no pun intended) that the thought of Aristotle would attract attention. (pg 135, "Thomas Aquinas, Angelic Doctor")"

At the back of the book are two things that I appreciate: Creeds (The Creed of Nicea & The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed) & Resources, which includes both primary and secondary sources that I gather Aaron used to write this book. I love being able to read other books or articles on the subject presented in a book I am reading. He does include many footnotes throughout the book as well, which I also like.

I would definitely recommend this book for anyone interested in history of the church and Christianity. I don't imagine those who are partial to the beliefs that were considered heretical (such as Arianism) would find this to be too terribly beneficial, I still think for the sake of knowledge it would be good. I would definitely recommend it to those looking to strengthen their beliefs- whether they agree with the "Christian" beliefs of today or not. I think that going through the book sheds light on why the belief sprang up -we get a glimpse of the brilliance -or lack of- of thought that brought it about. All glory goes to God that allows Christians to be enlightened by his word, the Bible.

One thing I would love to have seen in this book is more. More of the words of the bibliographical contributions of these Christians. More of the "why" they believed the way they did. We are only presented with enough to give us a basic foundation to move onto the next Christian who shaped the beliefs. I do think that in order to do that, though, the author would have to devote much more time and space to each person, as well as include more people. Perhaps that is just asking too much for this sort of introductory work, as I think of it. Or perhaps a book like I mention already exists and another of its kind is not necessary. Perhaps as stated in the introduction to the book, the focus would change too much by including more. Overall, it is a satisfying and good book.

***Disclaimer: I received the book for free from Bethany House publishing for the purpose of an honest review. All opinions stated are my own.

When I selected a copy of The 40 Most Influential Christians Who Shaped What We Believe Today by Daryl Aaron to review, I was intrigued by the storied men on the front cover - Bonhoeffer, Luther, Edwards, and Calvin. They are all people we have heard of and likely studied in history classes in both secular and non-secular schools. However, how much of the man do we really get to know? How much of his actual contributions are discussed versus the wider movement his actions or bravery inspired? I wanted to read this book to focus more on the contributions of a single person.

I think this book provides plenty of information about each person while also including a brief broader historical context and religious exploration. Within the first few pages focused on Clement, I encountered numerous explanations of religious terminology that felt more organic than a dense text focused solely on the origins of religious words and less cumbersome (which equals more likely to remember in my case).

My only complaint is that the book does not have an index to accompany the footnotes. Considering many of these Christians authored books and other works, you may remember the title of a volume referenced in the pages of 40 Most Influential Christians and want to look up the man who wrote it but that is difficult without an index unless you are reading the book on a tablet or Kindle and can actual search the copy. Other than this issues, the book is a good resource for academics and students focusing on religion in school.

Note: my review was based on a publisher's copy

About the Book:

Compelling Accounts of Key People Who Have Formed Christian Belief through the Ages
All Christians' beliefs are shaped by those who went before them. Now these giants of Christian history are presented chronologically and in a format that helps readers get to know them. In addition to a biographical sketch, readers will discover each person's primary contributions to the Christian faith along with a brief quotation from their work. Students, history buffs, and curious readers will be fascinated as their faith is strengthened. Included are Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Karl Barth, Carl F. H. Henry, and more.

My Review:

Daryl Aaron has put together an awesome Theology resource whether you endeavor to be a Bible scholar, minister, or just someone who would like a more thorough understanding on the background of the Bible. The author has taken the top 40 most influential Christians that changed the face of Christianity as we know it today. With their thoughts, sermons or their publications, these individuals have come to be known as people that can completely change your thoughts on God.

Whether its Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his stance against Nazism or Jurgen Moltmann with his latest approach on Theology from the perspective of eschatology. These brilliant minds gave us so much with their minds and with their Christian walk that we will never be able to repay. Their dramatic and innate works have driven me to research more about them.

This book not only highlights the 40 most influential Christians but also the most brilliant.

**Disclosure** This book was sent to me free of charge for my honest review from Bethany House.

Daryl Aaron's new book The 40 Most Influential Christians deals with a vast sweep of time- two millennia- and his book points a novice of Christian Theology such as myself to some of the main players.

(I have read Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas as well as his Amazing Grace, which features William Wilberforce. Wilberforce did not make this list of the 40 most influential Christians, but he could have. Space only permits so many...and it must have been terribly hard to decide who to include. The author did a great job compiling this selection of people who have influenced Christian thought!)

What Daryl Aaron's book has done for me is pique my interest in several men whose works I haven't been blessed by yet, like Karl Barth, who lived in Germany the same time as Bonhoeffer did under the rein of Adolf Hitler. Now I'll search for something to read about Karl Barth.

As Daryl Aaron points out, lots of time and people have paved the way before us. Some were great thinkers, who handled the Truth in a such a way that their words make the Gospel more clear to us as we read their insights- hundreds of years after they first put pen to paper.
Some of these people influenced us in a different way: they muddied the water with additives like feminism or human-centered theology.
Some of them bled and died for their faith, martyrs and saints.
Some were almost unknown until after they died.
All of their lives are still being felt today.
The old hymn is right:
Only One Life, It Soon Will Pass. Only What's Done for Christ Will Last.

Thank you Bethany House for sending me this book to review!

The premise for this book is indeed amazing, and I couldn’t be happier. I took theology in Bible College, and I can remember many of the theologians at least by name. So I was happy to get to read about some of these great men in history that I knew by name only. I appreciate the conciseness of each chapter, and I enjoyed some of the stories the author told about the person. It was good to see what contributions they had made.

My complaint is that this truly reads as a history textbook. While that may have been the author’s purpose, I struggled through some of the technical nature of the book. I felt that is was assumed that the reader was familiar with various tenets of theology. I will admit that I often felt lost and overwhelmed. If more personal stories had been shared about the theologians, I believe I would have felt more connected with the book.

In conclusion, if the author is only writing for the intellectuals of the Christian world, I would say that he accomplished his purpose. If, however, he wished to reach the more common Christian, this book would need to be much simpler and less comprehensive.

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.

40 Most Influential Christians Who Shaped What We Believe Today, by Daryl Aaron, is my favorite book of this batch. While I do not agree with the theology and beliefs of each of these influential Christians, I can appreciate the contribution that they made to the development of the Christian church.

The book covers 40 chapters, each chapter devoted to one Christian who influenced church theology or growth. The book is not exhaustive, instead providing a short overview on some influential Christians. Each chapter includes a section on the context of the Christian's life, the contribution he made to Christian history, and a short conclusion about the influences he still has on current Christian thought. This is a great starting point for any person who is interested in learning more about the history of the Christian church.

Many thanks to Bethany House for a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. This review is my honest, personal opinion.

Must read for every pastor and leader. What a great overview of our theology and how we got it. Well-written, even-handed, and clear, Daryl Aaron has given a gift to the people of God in this fantastic book. A fascinating peek behind the people and stories that shaped what Christians believe today. Even handed, informative, factual. Excellent for small groups, Sunday School, and college/seminary classes. Highly recommended.

A helpful feature in this book is the timeline on page 10. This helped me to chronologically place the forty. As a result, it's more clear to me how the beliefs of one Christian might shape the next. The 40 Most Influential Christians is well researched and contains the resource list for future reference. It might have been helpful to have an index or some other type of appendix in the back; this is not the type of book that I would read cover-to-cover. I would turn to this book to find more information on an individual mentioned by my minister during a sermon, or perhaps in preparation for a Sunday School lesson. This is a very academic read, not an uplifting biography about each of these forty. I received this book from Bethany House to review. The opinions shared here are 100% mine.

This book was not very interesting and it took me awhile to get through it. I gave the book 4/5 stars for a few reasons. I would say this book is more of a textbook then a sit down and read for the enjoyment book. I also thought some of the people chosen were not as influential as others. There are so many great Christians to choose from that I was surprised at some that were chosen and written about. If you are looking for a book about Christians and are willing to skim over some boring parts, you might enjoy the book more than I did.

I would like to thank the publisher for the copy of this book I enjoyed reading. I gave an honest review based on my opinion of what I read.

Written by: Daryl Aaron
Published by: Bethany House

I was excited to read The 40 Most Influential Christians because I wanted to know a little more about how our faith has come about. So much of what we believe isn't really straight from the Bible, so I wanted to see where it had come from.

Who the book is for:

Those who like learning about the Christian faith. History lovers.

What I liked:

It was interesting to learn just who some of these figures were, and what they were all about.

I like how each chapter is dedicated to a different person, and focuses on that individual.

What I didn't like:

This book was much too boring for me. It was written in a way that just wasn't easy to read, and I had to push myself through it.

My conclusion:

Overall, I didn't end up a fan of this book.

I give The 40 Most Influential Christians 3 out of 5 stars.

I received this book free to review from Bethany House. The opinions expressed in this review are my true thoughts and feeling regarding this book. I am disclosing this information in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.