List of founders of religious traditions
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following figures are believed to have founded or inspired religions or religious philosophies, or to have been the founders of specific churches or denominations or first codifiers or best-known proponents of older known religious tradition. Only individuals that are widely accepted as historical are listed. For legendary figures for which historicity cannot be established, see culture hero.
In many cases, a religion may be considered as a continuous tradition extending to prehistoric times, without a founder, or with legendary founding figures whose historicity cannot be established (such as Abraham or Lord Rishabha). This notwithstanding, the various historical sub-denominations of such religions will still have founders, such as Paul of Tarsus for Pauline Christianity, Nestorius for Nestorianism, or Martin Luther for Lutheranism, all being sub-denominations of Christianity. Religion develops by means of schisms and reforms (motivated either by revelation or by theological speculation), and it is a matter of subjective judgement at what point such a schism or reform assumes the quality of a "foundation" of a new religion.
Chronologically, foundations of religious traditions may be divided into
- the Axial Age, with the earliest major founding figures such as Zoroaster, Buddha, Confucius and Socrates (via Plato);
- Hellenism to Late Antiquity, with foundations of classical religious traditions and schools such as various sects of Early Christianity, Stoicism, Gnosticism, Upanishadic Hinduism
- the medieval to early modern period, with the rise of Islam, classical (Pauranic) Hinduism, the Bhakti movement and Protestant Reformation.
- new religious movements, since ca. 1800.
Contents |
[edit] Ancient (before 500 CE)
[edit] Medieval to Early Modern (500-1800 CE)
[edit] New religious movements (post-1800)
- Further information: list of new religious movements
