List of founders of religious traditions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Template:Short description Template:For
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 founder | Religious tradition founded | Historical founder(s) | Life of historical founder |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abraham (covenant with God) Moses (religious law) |
Judaism | Yahwists<ref group="n">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".</ref> | c. 13th<ref name="Albertz1994p61">Albertz 1994, p. 61.</ref><ref name="Grabbe 2008, pp. 225–6">Grabbe 2008, pp. 225–6.</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> to 8th century BC<ref group="n">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.</ref> |
| Laozi | Taoism | Zhuang Zhou | 369 BC – 286 BC |
Ancient (before AD 500)
{{#invoke:Hatnote|hatnote}}
| Founder name | Religious tradition founded | Life of founder |
|---|---|---|
| Akhenaten | Atenism | c. 1353 BC – 1336 BC<ref name=Hornung>Template:Cite book</ref> |
| Zoroaster | Zoroastrianism | c. 1000 BC<ref name="Melton2003p191">Melton 2003, p. 191.</ref> |
| Parshvanatha | The penultimate (23rd) Tirthankara in Jainism | 877 BC – 777 BCTemplate:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite book p. 115</ref><ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref name="Charpentier">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> |
| Numa Pompilius | Roman Religion | c. 753 BC – 672 BC |
| Nebuchadnezzar II | built the Etemenanki, established Marduk as the patron deity of BabylonTemplate:Citation needed | c. 634 BC – 562 BCTemplate:Citation needed |
| Ajita Kesakambali | Charvaka | 6th century BC<ref name=r79>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name=jmk>John M. Koller (1977), Skepticism in Early Indian Thought, Philosophy East and West, 27(2): 155-164</ref><ref>Dale Riepe (1996), Naturalistic Tradition in Indian Thought, Motilal Banarsidass, Template:ISBN, pages 53-58</ref> |
| Mahavira | The final (24th) tirthankara in Jainism | 599 BC – 527 BCTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>"Mahavira." Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2006. Answers.com 28 Nov. 2009. http://www.answers.com/topic/mahavira</ref> |
| Gautama Buddha | Buddhism | 563 BC – 483 BCTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn |
| Confucius | Confucianism | 551 BC – 479 BC<ref name=birth>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Harvnb.</ref> |
| Pythagoras | Pythagoreanism | fl. 520 BC |
| Mozi | Mohism | 470 BC – 390 BC |
| Zamolxis | Zamolxism | 5th century BC |
| Makkhali Gosala | Ājīvika | 5th century BC<ref name=james>James Lochtefeld, "Ajivika", The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A–M, Rosen Publishing. Template:ISBN, page 22</ref> |
| Ezra | Second Temple Judaism<ref name="Brueggemann2002p75">Brueggemann 2002, pp. 75, 144.</ref> | fl. 459 BC<ref group="n">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)</ref> |
| Epicurus | Epicureanism | fl. 307 BC |
| Zeno of Citium | Stoicism | 333 BC – 264 BC |
| Pharnavaz I of Iberia | Armazi | 326 BC – 234 BC |
| Valmiki | Valmikism | c. 3rd century BC<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Patanjali | Rāja yoga sect of Hinduism | 2nd century BC |
| Jesus (and the Twelve Apostles) | Christianity | c. 4 BC – c. 30/33 AD |
| Paul the Apostle | Pauline Christianity | c. 33 AD |
| James the Just | Jewish Christianity | c. 33 AD |
| Lakulisha | Pashupata Shaivism sect of Hinduism | 1st century AD |
| Judah the Prince | Rabbinic Judaism | 2nd century AD |
| Montanus | Montanism | 2nd century AD |
| Marcion of Sinope | Marcionism | 110–160 |
| Elkesai | Elkesaism | 170–230 |
| Nagarjuna | Madhyamaka | 150–250 |
| Plotinus | Neoplatonism | 205–270 |
| Mani | Manichaeism | 216–274 |
| Arius<ref group="n" name="trad">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.</ref> | Arianism<ref group="n">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)</ref> | 250–336 |
| Pelagius<ref group="n" name="trad"/> | Pelagianism<ref group="n">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)</ref> | 354–430 |
| Nestorius<ref group="n" name="trad"/> | Nestorianism<ref group="n">Nestorius specifically endorsed the repudiation of "Nestorianism" reached at Chalcedon in 451 (Prestige, G.L. Fathers and Heretics SPCK (1963) p.130)</ref> | 386–451 |
| Eutyches | Monophysitism<ref group="n">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)</ref> | 380–456 |
Medieval to Early Modern (500–1800 AD)
New religious movements (post-1800)
See also
- Burial places of founders of world religions
- List of Buddha claimants
- List of messiah claimants
- List of people who have been considered deities
- List of religions and spiritual traditions
- Lists of religious leaders by century
- Timeline of religion
Notes
<references group="n"/>
References
Bibliography
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Citation
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite encyclopedia
- Template:Citation
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Citation
- Template:Citation
Template:History of religions Template:Religion topics Template:Lists of people considered founders by specific groups