List of founders of religious traditions explained

These are historical figures credited with founding religions or religious philosophies, or who codified older known religious traditions. The list includes those who have founded a specific major denomination within a larger religion.

Legendary/semi-historical

Traditional founderReligious tradition foundedHistorical founder(s)Life of historical founder
No single Founder (Hinduism)c. 15th century BC to 10th century BC
Abraham (covenant with God)
Moses (religious law) 		Yahwists[1] c. 13th[2] [3] [4] to 8th century BC[5]
369 BC – 286 BC

Ancient (before AD 500)

Founder NameReligious tradition foundedLife of founder
c. 1353 BC – 1336 BC[6]
c. 1000 BC[7]
877 BC – 777 BC[8] [9] [10] [11]
Roman Religionc. 753 BC – 672 BC
c. 634 BC – 562 BC
6th century BC[12] [13]
599 BC – 527 BC[14]
563 BC – 483 BC
551 BC – 479 BC[15] [16]
fl. 520 BC
470 BC – 390 BC
5th century BC[17]
Second Temple Judaism[18] fl. 459 BC[19]
fl. 307 BC
333 BC – 264 BC
326 BC – 234 BC
c. 3rd century BC[20]
2nd century BC
Jesus (and the Twelve Apostles)c. 4 BC – c. 30/33 AD
c. 33 AD
Jewish Christianity c. 33 AD
1st century AD
2nd century AD
2nd century AD
110–160
170–230
150–250
205–270
216–274
Arius[21] Arianism[22] 250–336
Pelagianism[23] 354–430
Nestorianism[24] 386–451
Monophysitism[25] 380–456

Medieval to Early Modern (500–1800 AD)

Name Religious tradition foundedLife of founder
Mazdakismdied c. 526
5th or 6th century
c. 570–632
7th century
late 7th century
638–713
8th century
8th or 9th century
Tendai (descended from Tiantai) 767–822
774–835
788–820
late 9th century
10th century
1017–1137
Between the 10th and 15th centuries
Hamza ibn ‘Alī ibn Aḥmad[26] 11th century
Yazidism 12th century
12th century
1140–1205
Jōdo-shū (descended from Pure Land Buddhism) 1131–1212
Rinzai Zen (descended from the Linji school) 1141–1215
Jōdo Shinshū (descended from Jōdo-shū)1173–1263
Sōtō Zen (descended from the Caodong school) 1200–1253
1209–1271
1222–1282
1240–1290s
1275–1296
1238–1317
1320s–1384
Fażlu l-Lāh Astar-Ābādī14th century
late 14th century
1372–1415
1397–1487
15th century
1398–1448
1418–1472
1449–1568
c. 1450–1520
1469–1539
1494–1629
1479–1531
Lutheranism and Protestantism in general 1483–1546
1486–1534
Anglicanism (Church of England) 1489–1556
1496–1561
1498–1526
1500–1536
1534–1572
1539–1552
early 15th century
1552–1572
Calvinism[27] 1509–1564
Michael Servetus[28] 1511?–1553
John Knox[29] 1510–1572
1534–1581
1542–1605
1560–1609
John Smyth[30] 1570–1612
1571–1606
1606–1644
1620–1682
1621–1675
George Fox[31] 1624–1691
Philipp Spener[32] 1635–1705
1644–1661
1656–1730
Guru Har Krishan JiSikhism1661–1664
1666–1708
1688–1772
Yisroel ben Eliezer "Baal Shem Tov"[33] 1698–1760
1703–1791
1703–1792
Ann Lee[35] 1736–1784

New religious movements (post-1800)

NameReligious tradition foundedLife of founder
Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsá'í[36] [37] Shaykhism, precursor of Bábism[38] [39] 1753–1826
1772–1833
1781–1830
1798–1857
1798–1887
1799–1890
1802–1866
Allan Kardec (founder of the religion)
Holy Spirit (made the teachings) 		1804–1869
1805–1844
1805–1871
1810–1874
1813–1899
1814–1864
Bahá'u'lláh[40] 1817–1892
1819–1850
1821–1881
1821–1884
Mary Baker Eddy[41] 1821–1910
Samarasa Sutha Sanmarga Sangam 1823–1874
1824–1883
Ellen G. White[42] 1827–1915
1828–1891
1831–1891
1833–1851
1835–1908
Armanism (Germanic mysticism) 1848–1919
Charles Taze Russell[43] 1852–1916
1856–1932
1861–1925
1863–1902
William Irvine[44] 1863–1947
1865–1919
1871–1944
1872–1950
1874–1974
1875–1947
1873–1929
"Father Divine" c. 1876–1965
1877–1945
1878–1926
1878–1939
1878–1961
Alfred G. Moses 1878–1956
John SlocumIndian Shaker Church1881
1881–1983
1884–1964
Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ) 1886–1963
1886–1948
1886–1929
1887–1940
1887–1960
Sadafaldeo 1888–1954
Aimee Semple McPherson[45] 1890–1944
Zélio Fernandino de Moraes[46] 1891–1975
1891–1946
1891–1956
1891–1934 (absentia)
1893–1952
1896–1977
1900–1993
1908–1982
1908–1971
1910–1973
1911–1986
1916–1993
1917–2001
1918–2008
Universal Christian Gnostic Movement 1917–1977
1918–1973
1918–1993
1918–1985
1919–1947
Yong (Sun) Myung Moon[47] 1920–2012
1921–1990
1922–1969
1922–1971
1923–2011
1924–1993
1926–2011
Michel Potay 1929–
Church of Satan (LaVeyan Satanism) 1930–1997
Rajneesh[48] 1931–1990
Mark L. Prophet

Elizabeth Clare Prophet[49]
1918–1973;
1939–2009
Adidam 1939–2008
1946–
New Message from God 1949–
born 1951 or 1952
1956–2023
Church of the Last Testament 1961–
1962–
Tamara Siuda 1969–
Olumba Olumba Obu 1918–
Isak Gerson 1993–
21st century
1983–
1972–

See also

Notes

  1. The religion of the Israelites of Iron Age I was based on a cult of ancestors and worship of family gods, the "gods of the fathers". With the emergence of the monarchy at the beginning of Iron Age II the kings promoted their family god, YHWH (Yahweh), as the god of the kingdom, but beyond the royal court, religion continued to be both polytheistic and family-centered. As such, this founding group is referred to as "Yahwists".
  2. [#Albertz1994|Albertz 1994]
  3. Grabbe 2008, pp. 225–6.
  4. Book: Killebrew, Ann E.. Biblical Peoples and Ethnicity: An Archaeological Study of Egyptians, Canaanites, Philistines, and Early Israel, 1300–1100 B.C.E.. 2005. Society of Biblical Literature. 978-1-58983-097-4.
  5. Israel emerges into the historical record in the last decades of the 13th century BCE, at the very end of the Late Bronze Age, as the Canaanite city-state system was ending. In the words of archaeologist William Dever, "most of those who came to call themselves Israelites … were or had been indigenous Canaanites". The worship of YHWH (Yahweh) alone began at the earliest with Elijah in the 9th century BCE, but more likely with the prophet Hosea in the 8th; even then it remained the concern of a small party before gaining ascendancy in the exilic and early post-exilic period.
  6. Book: Hornung, Erik . 1999 . Akhenaten and the Religion of Light . registration . Cornell University Press . 978-0-8014-8725-5 .
  7. [#Melton2003|Melton 2003]
  8. Book: Fisher, Mary Pat . Living Religions: An Encyclopedia of the World's Faiths . I.B.Tauris . 1997 . London . 978-1-86064-148-0 . p. 115
  9. Encyclopedia: Parshvanatha . Encyclopædia Britannica . Encyclopædia Britannica Online . 2007 . 2007-10-22 .
  10. Encyclopedia: Bowker . John . Parsva . The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions . Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press . 2000 . 2007-10-22 . 9780192800947 .
  11. Encyclopedia: The History of the Jains . The Cambridge History of India . Charpentier, Jarl . 1922 . 1 . Cambridge . 153.
  12. John M. Koller (1977), Skepticism in Early Indian Thought, Philosophy East and West, 27(2): 155-164
  13. Dale Riepe (1996), Naturalistic Tradition in Indian Thought, Motilal Banarsidass,, pages 53-58
  14. "Mahavira." Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2006. Answers.com 28 Nov. 2009. http://www.answers.com/topic/mahavira
  15. Book: Hugan . Yong . Confucius: A Guide for the Perplexed . 2013 . A&C Black . 3 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170416224536/https://books.google.com/books?id=1R9MAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 . 2017-04-16 . 9781441196538 .
  16. .
  17. James Lochtefeld, "Ajivika", The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A–M, Rosen Publishing., page 22
  18. [#Brueggemann2002|Brueggemann 2002]
  19. historicity disputed but widely considered plausible. Gosta W. Ahlstrom argues the inconsistencies of the biblical tradition are insufficient to say that Ezra, with his central position as the 'father of Judaism' in the Jewish tradition, has been a later literary invention. (The History of Ancient Palestine, Fortress Press, p.888)
  20. Web site: Ramayana Summary, Characters, & Facts. 2020-08-12. Encyclopædia Britannica.
  21. The teaching of the traditional "founding father" of a "heresy" is may well have differed greatly from the contents of the heresy as generally understood. For references see following notes.
  22. Acc. to Rowan Williams, 'Arianism' was essentially a polemical creation of Athanasius in an attempt to show that the different alternatives to the Nicene Creed collapsed back into some form of Arius' teaching. (Arius, SCM (2001) p.247)
  23. Pelagius' thought was one sided and an inadequate interpretation of Christianity, but his disciples, Celestius and, to a greater extent, Julian of Eclanum pushed his ideas to extremes.(Kelly, J.N.D. Early Christian Doctrines A & C. Black (1965) p.361) Pelagius himself was declared orthodox by the synod of Diospolis in 415, after repudiating some of Celestius' opinions. (Frend, W.H.C. Saints and Sinners in the Early Church DLT (1985) p.133)
  24. Nestorius specifically endorsed the repudiation of "Nestorianism" reached at Chalcedon in 451 (Prestige, G.L. Fathers and Heretics SPCK (1963) p.130)
  25. Monophysitism represents an advanced type of Alexandrian Theology; it emerged in a distinctive form in 433 as a result of the agreement between John of Antioch and Cyril of Alexandria. The exaggerated form held by Eutyches was condemned in 451 by the Council of Chalcedon. In its moderate forms the divergence from orthodoxy may be simply terminological. Alexandrian Theology stressed both divine transcendence and a marked dualism between the material and the spiritual and so tended to nullify the humanity of Christ.(Cross & Livingstone. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (1974) arts. Monophysitism, Alexandrian Theology)
  26. Book: Hendrix . Scott . Okeja . Uchenna . The World's Greatest Religious Leaders: How Religious Figures Helped Shape World History [2 volumes] . 2018 . ABC-CLIO . 978-1440841385 . 11.
  27. [#Melton2003|Melton 2003]
  28. [#Melton2003|Melton 2003]
  29. [#Melton2003|Melton 2003]
  30. [#Melton2003|Melton 2003]
  31. [#Melton2003|Melton 2003]
  32. [#Melton2003|Melton 2003]
  33. [#Melton2003|Melton 2003]
  34. [#Melton2003|Melton 2003]
  35. [#Melton2003|Melton 2003]
  36. Encyclopedia: AḤSĀʾĪ, SHAIKH AḤMAD. Encyclopædia Iranica. 2020-10-16.
  37. Web site: Individualism and the Mystical Path in Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i. 2020-10-16. h-net.org.
  38. Web site: Shaykhism. 2020-10-16. Oxford Bibliographies.
  39. Encyclopedia: SHAYKHISM. Encyclopædia Iranica. 2020-10-16.
  40. [#Melton2003|Melton 2003]
  41. [#Melton2003|Melton 2003]
  42. [#Melton2003|Melton 2003]
  43. [#Melton2003|Melton 2003]
  44. [#Chryssides2001|Chryssides 2001]
  45. [#Melton2003|Melton 2003]
  46. [#SmithProkopy2003|Smith and Prokopy 2003]
  47. [#Beit-Hallahmi98|Beit-Hallahmi 1998]
  48. [#Melton2003|Melton 2003]
  49. [#Beit-Hallahmi98|Beit-Hallahmi 1998]

Bibliography

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