List of converts to Christianity
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following is a list of people who have converted to Christianity from non-Christian religions.
Contents |
[edit] List of converts to Christianity
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
[edit] From Atheism
- Marie Dähnhardt - German intellectual and wife of atheist philosopher Max Stirner
- Ulf Ekman - Swedish pastor and founder of the charismatic church Livets Ord ("Word of Life")
- Tony Fontane - popular recording artist in the 1940s and 1950s
- René Girard - philosophical anthropologist
- Joy Gresham - American writer and wife of C.S. Lewis
- Zhang Guotao - former Chinese Communist leader
- Khang Khek Leu (also known as Comrade Duch) - Cambodian director of Phnom Penh's infamous Tuol Sleng detention center
- C. S. Lewis - writer
- Norma McCorvey - "Jane Roe" in Roe v. Wade
- Josh McDowell - Christian apologist
- Alister McGrath - Biochemist and Christian theologian. Founder of 'Scientific theology' and critic of Richard Dawkins in his book Dawkins' God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life
- Alfred Moisiu - First non-Muslim Albanian president. Converted to Greek Orthodoxy
- William J. Murray - author and son of atheist activist Madalyn Murray O'Hair
- Benito Mussolini - Italian Fascist dictator. Baptized in the Roman Catholic Church in 1927.
- John Newton - author of Amazing Grace
- Enoch Powell - British politician
- George R. Price - American population geneticist
- Anne Rice - author of Interview with the Vampire
- Edith Stein - Phenomenologist philosopher
- Lee Strobel - Author of The Case for Christ
- Keith Ward - British theologian from Oxford and theistic evolutionist. Ordained as Anglican priest.
- Monty White - British Young Earth Creationist
[edit] From Buddhism
- Bảo Đại - last Emperor of Vietnam
- David Yonggi Cho - Korean Christian leader; Senior Pastor of the Yoido Full Gospel Church.
- Jaruvan Maintaka - Auditor-General (Thai: ผู้ว่าการตรวจเงินแผ่นดิน) of the Kingdom of Thailand
- Stephen Kaung - Chinese Christian speaker and writer in Richmond, Virginia
- Don Stephen Senanayake - Sri Lankan independence activist
- Talduwe Somarama - assassin of the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in 1959
- Charlie Soong - Chinese missionary
- Yang Xiuqing - Leader of the Taiping Rebellion
- Feng Yuxiang - warlord during Republican China
- Ling-Sheng Zhang - Chinese Christian activist
[edit] From Hinduism
- Tal Brooke - Christian apologist
- Mariamma Chedathy - authority on Paraya folklore
- Bobby Jindal - American politician; Republican congressman from Louisiana
- Devasahayam Pillai - 18th century Christian martyr in India
- Pandita Ramabai - Indian social reformer and activist
- Gabriel Sharma - Anglican Bishop in Fiji
[edit] From Islam
The World Christian Encyclopedia estimates that, within the United States, there may be as many as twenty thousand converts from Islam to Christianity every year.[1] Additionally, Aljazeera suggests that in Africa, 6 million Muslims convert to Christianity every year.[2]
- Hussain Andaryas - Afghani Christian activist
- Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky - Russian officer of Circassian origin who led the first Russian military expedition into Central Asia (note: was converted under unknown circumstances).
- Jean-Bédel Bokassa - Central African Emperor (from Christianity to Islam back to Christianity)
- Emir Caner - Dean of the College at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
- Ergun Caner - President of Liberty Theological Seminary at Liberty University
- Nonie Darwish - freelance writer
- Mark A. Gabriel - writer on Islamic affairs
- Akbar Gbaja-Biamila - American football player
- Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila - American football player
- Tunch Ilkin - former American football player
- Qadry Ismail - former American football player
- Raghib Ismail - former American football player
- Lina Joy - Malay convert to Christianity, who is fighting to have the word Islam removed for her identity card. [43]
- Tuğçe Kazaz - Turkish model; Miss Turkey 2001
- Alexander Kazembek - Russian Orientalist, historian and philologist of Azeri origin
- Mathieu Kérékou - President of Benin (from Christianity to Islam back to Christianity)
- Carlos Menem - former President of Argentina
- Yadegar Moxammat of Kazan - last khan of Kazan Khanate
- Barack Obama - United States Senator from Illinois
- Abdul Rahman - activist
- Emily Ruete - Princess of Zanzibar and Oman
- Begum Samru - powerful lady of north India, ruling a large area from Sardhana, Uttar Pradesh
- Walid Shoebat - author and former member of the PLO
- Patrick Sookhdeo - British Anglican canon
- Ghorban Tourani - former Iranian Sunni Muslim who became a Christian minister
- George Weah - Liberian soccer player (from Christianity to Islam back to Christianity)
[edit] From Judaism
The Jewish Encyclopedia gives some statistics on conversion of Jews to Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, and Orthodox Christianity (which it calls "Greek Catholicism"). [44] Some 2,000 European Jews converted to Christianity every year during the 19th century, but in the 1890s the number was running closer to 3,000 per year, — 1,000 in Austria Hungary (Galizian Poland), 1,000 in Russia (Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, and Lithuania), 500 in Germany (Posen), and the remainder in the English world.
- Michael Solomon Alexander - former Rabbi and first Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem[3]
- Petrus Alphonsi - physician in ordinary to King Alfonso VI of Castile[4]
- Saint Angelus - Jerusalem saint and martyr
- Juan Alfonso de Baena - medieval Castillian troubadour[5]
- Yahia Ben Bakr - Portuguese tax collector
- Eduard Bendemann - German painter [6]
- Sir Julius Benedict - English composer [7]
- Leo de Benedicto Christiano - medieval financier[8]
- Theodor Benfey - German philologist [9]
- Boris Berezovsky - exiled Russian billionaire
- Henri Bergson - French philosopher
- Michael Bernays - German professor of literature [10]
- Gottfried Bernhardy - German philologist and literary historian [11]
- Ludwig Börne - German political writer and satirist[12]
- John Braham - English tenor opera star[13]
- Moritz Wilhelm August Breidenbach - German jurist[14]
- Otto Maria Carpeaux - Austro-Brazilian literary critic and multilingual scholar
- Morris Cerullo - televangelist
- Julius Friedrich Cohnheim - German pathologist[15]
- Isaac da Costa - Dutch language poet[16]
- Jehuda Cresques - Catalan cartographer[17]
- Ferdinand David - German virtuoso violinist and composer[18]
- Ludwig Dessoir - German actor[19]
- Benjamin Disraeli - British Prime Minister and leader of the British Conservative Party in the 19th century[20]
- Alfred Döblin - German writer
- Bob Dylan - popular musician (current religious status disputed)[21]
- Alfred Edersheim - Biblical scholar[22]
- Rachel Felix - French-Swiss theatre actress[23]
- Pero Ferrús - Castilian poet[24]
- Achille Fould - French financier and politician[25]
- Jacob Frank - 18th century Jewish reformer[26]
- Heinrich von Friedberg - German jurist and statesman[27]
- Ludwig Friedländer - German philologist[28]
- Arnold Fruchtenbaum - founder and director of Ariel Ministries
- Eduard Gans - German philosopher and jurist, exponent of the conservative Right Hegelians[29]
- Kathie Lee Gifford - American singer and talk show host
- Hermann Mayer Salomon Goldschmidt - German astronomer and painter[30]
- Tamsin Greig - English actress
- Fritz Haber - German Nobel Prize-winning chemist
- Kurt Hahn - noted German educator
- Heinrich Heine - German writer[31]
- Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle - German physician, pathologist and anatomist[32]
- Samuel Aba of Hungary - Third King of Hungary[33]
- Edmund Husserl - German philosopher, father of phenomenology
- Jorge Isaacs - Colombian writer, politician and soldier[34]
- Heinrich Jacoby - German educator[35]
- Georg Jellinek - German legal philosopher[36]
- Paul S. L. Johnson - american scholar and pastor[37]
- David Kalisch - German playwright and humorist[38]
- Felix Philipp Kanitz - Austro-Hungarian naturalist, geographer, ethnographer, archaeologist and author of travel notes [39]
- Fritz Kohn - grandfather of Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts
- Leopold Kronecker - German mathematician and logician[40]
- Lawrence Kudlow - conservative economist and host of Kudlow & Co. on CNBC
- Hermann Lebert - German physician[41]
- Karl Lehrs - German classical scholar [42]
- Osip Mikhailovich Lerner - 19th century Russian intellectual and lawyer[43]
- Steve Levicoff - American writer and educator
- Fanny Lewald - German author[44]
- Jean-Marie Lustiger - Catholic Cardinal and former Archbishop of Paris
- Heinrich Gustav Magnus - German chemist and physicist[45]
- Ludwig Immanuel Magnus - German mathematician[46]
- Gustav Mahler - Austrian composer
- Osip Mandelstam - Russian poet
- Karl Marx - German socialist, author of The Communist Manifesto[47]
- Friedrich Mandl - German armaments manufacturer
- Felix Mendelssohn - composer (1809-1847)[48]
- Judah Monis - Harvard University Hebrew language instructor
- Edgardo Mortara - Italian Catholic priest
- Rich Nathan - Senior Pastor of the Vineyard Church of Columbus
- Bernard Nathanson - former abortionist turned pro-life activist
- Karl Friedrich Neumann - German orientalist[49]
- Robert Novak - journalist
- Harry Oppenheimer - South African billionaire
- Francis Palgrave - English historian[50]
- St. Paul - author of many New Testament epistles
- Leonid Pasternak, Russian painter, father of Boris Pasternak
- Johannes Pfefferkorn - German Christian theologian
- Friedrich Adolf Philippi - German Lutheran theologian[51]
- Howard Phillips - American conservative activist; founder of U.S. Taxpayers Party / Constitution Party
- Lorenzo Da Ponte - Italian librettist[52]
- Maria Ratisbonne - Catholic priest, visionary and missionary
- Harry Reems - US theater and adult film actor
- Astruc Remoch - proselytizer during the Spanish Inquisition
- David Ricardo - English political economist[53]
- Fernando de Rojas - Renaissance Castilian author
- Daniel Rona - Mormon theologian
- Moishe Rosen - Baptist minister
- Joel C. Rosenberg - author
- Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy - Dartmouth social philosopher
- Hans Rothfels - German historian
- Anton Rubinstein - Russian pianist, composer, and conductor[54]
- Oswald Rufeisen - Carmelite monk who was denied Israeli citizenship
- Epiphanius of Salamis - Church Father and heresiologist
- Yitzhak Salkinsohn - Hebrew translator
- Allan Sandage - American astronomer
- Max Scheler - German Phenomenologist philosopher
- James R. Schlesinger - United States Secretary of Defense from 1973 to 1975
- Alfred Schnittke - Russian composer
- Samuel Scherschewsky - Anglican Bishop of Shanghai, China
- Jay Sekulow - head of conservative legal group ACLJ
- Israel Shamir - writer and journalist
- Helen Shapiro - English singer
- Martin Eduard von Simson - German jurist and politician[55]
- Dan Spitz - lead guitarist of the heavy metal band Anthrax
- Friedrich Julius Stahl - Prussian jurist and conservative thinker[56]
- Edith Stein - German philosopher, nun
- Juan de Valladolid - Renaissance Castilian poet
- Mordechai Vanunu - Israeli nuclear technician
- Rahel Varnhagen (born Rahel Levin) - writer and saloniste[57]
- Heinrich von Friedberg - German jurist and statesman
- Simone Weil - French philosopher and mystic
- Mieczysław Weinberg - Russian composer
- Otto Weininger - Austrian philosopher
- Joseph Wolff - German missionary[58]
- Richard Wurmbrand - Romanian underground church leader; founder of Voice of the Martyrs
- Sir Moses Ximenes - 18th century English merchant[59]
- David Levy Yulee, United States Senator from Florida
- Israel Zolli - former Chief Rabbi of Rome
[edit] From Manichaeanism
[edit] From Paganism
- Aebbe the Elder - Scottish monastic founder
- Alexander Babatunde Akinyele - first Anglican Diocesan Bishop of Ibadan, Nigeria
- Saint Alban - Christian martyr
- Amphibalus - Early Roman Christian priest
- Saint Apollonius - 2nd century Christian martyr and apologist
- Charles Atangana - paramount chief of the Ewondo and Bane ethnic groups in Cameroon, c. 1899
- Athenagoras of Athens - early Christian apologist
- Saint Barbara - Orthodox Christian martyr
- Saint Bavo - monk during the dark ages
- Borivoj I of Bohemia - Duke of Bohemia (852/853 - 888/889)
- Brigid of Ireland - early Irish saint
- Pertinax of Byzantium - Bishop of Byzantium from 169 until his death in 187
- Seru Epenisa Cakobau - Fijian chief and warrior
- Clovis I - first king of all Franks
- Coelia Concordia - last Roman vestal virgin
- Commodianus - Latin language poet
- Constantine the Great - Emperor of Rome
- Constantine of Cornwall - 6th century King of Cornwall
- Samuel Ajayi Crowther - first African Anglican bishop in Nigeria
- Saint Cyriacus - early Christian saint
- Dionysius the Areopagite - judge of the Areopagus and early Bishop of Athens
- Raedwald of East Anglia - King of East Anglia from about AD 599 to about AD 625
- Sigeberht of East Anglia - King of East Anglia from AD 631 to 634
- Leif Ericson - Icelandic Viking explorer
- Saint Eskil - patron saint of Södermanland, Sweden
- Saint Eustace - legendary Christian martyr
- Evodius - early Bishop of Antioch
- Saint Florian - Roman soldier, patron saint of Poland, Linz, Austria, and firefighters. Catholic martyr.
- Gaius Marius Victorinus - Roman philosopher
- Sea-King Godfried - Danish Viking leader of most of Friesland between 880 and 885
- Hone Heke - Māori chief and war leader in New Zealand
- Honoratus - former Archbishop of Arles
- Horapollo - one of the last leaders of Ancient Egyptian priesthood
- Jogaila - former King of Poland
- Saint Julius the Veteran - early Christian martyr
- Queen Kaʻahumanu - Hawaiian monarch and wife of King Kamehameha I
- Helen Kalvak - Inuit artist from Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada
- Ethelbert of Kent - King of Kent
- Jomo Kenyatta - first Prime Minister and President of Kenya
- Vladimir I of Kiev - Grand Prince of Kiev
- Kuchug - Pecheneg khan who ruled during the 990s
- Guthrum the Old - King of the Danish Vikings in the Danelaw
- Lactantius - early Christian author
- Aidan of Lindisfarne - founder of the Lindisfarne monastery
- Gediminas of Lithuania - king of Lithuania in the Middle Ages
- Saint Ludmila - Orthodox Christian saint and martyr
- Bernard Mizeki - African Christian misssionary and martyr
- Justin Martyr - early Christian apologist
- Peada of Mercia
- Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba - queen of Ndongo and Matamba in the 16th century
- Leonard of Noblac - Frankish noble in the court of Clovis I
- Rollo of Normandy - Founder of Viking province of Normandy
- Samson Occom - Mohegan minister
- Edwin of Northumbria - King of Deira and Bernicia
- Saint Pancras - early Christian Roman martyr
- Saint Pantaleon - early Christian martyr
- Pocahontas - Native American celebrity in 17th century London
- Polycarp - early Christian bishop
- Rabbula - early Bishop of Edessa
- Ranavalona II - Queen of Madagascar
- Rorik - Danish Viking Leader
- Rumwold - famous "infant saint"
- Sabinian of Troyes - Christian martyr
- Joseph Shabalala - lead singer, founder and musical director of Ladysmith Black Mambazo
- Erling Skjalgsson - early Norwegian political reformer
- Telerig of Bulgaria - ruler of Bulgaria, 768–777
- Uyaquk - Yupik Moravian missionary
- Cenwalh of Wessex - king of Wessex
[edit] From Rastafarianism
- Judy Mowatt - Jamaican singer
[edit] From Shintoism
- Matsunaga Hisahide - 16th century daimyo of Japan
- Oda Nagamasu - brother of 17th century daimyo Oda Nobunaga
- Chika Honda - famous criminal defendant in Australia
[edit] From Sikhism
- Duleep Singh - Maharajah of Punjab
- Gurmit Singh - popular Singaporean actor and comedy performer
- Sadhu Sundar Singh - Indian Christian
[edit] From Taoism
- Lim Bo Seng - World War II anti-Japanese Resistance fighter
- Allen Yuan - Chinese activist [45]
[edit] See also
- List of people by belief
- List of converts to Hinduism
- List of converts to Islam
- List of converts to Judaism
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Barret, David, cited in Duin, Julia. "Daring Leaps of Faith", The Washington Times. Retrieved on 2006-08-13..
- ^ [1] for english translation, see [2]
- ^ Alexander's Apostasy: First Steps to Jerusalem. by Brian Taylor, from the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain
- ^ "Alphonsi, Petrus." Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ "Baena, Juan Alfonso De." Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [3] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [4] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ Gregorovius, Ferdinand. Rome in the Middle Ages Vol. IV Part 1. 1905.
- ^ [5] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [6] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [7] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [8] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [9] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [10] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [11] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [12] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ Hamy, Bulletin de Géographie, 1891, pp. 218-222.
- ^ [13] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [14] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ Robert Blake, Disraeli, 3. Norman Gash, reviewing Blake's work, argued that Benjamin's claim to Spanish ancestry could not be entirely dismissed. Norman Gash, review of Disraeli, by Robert Blake. The English Historical Review, Vol. 83, No. 327. (Apr., 1968), 360-364.
- ^ Bob Dylan Finds His Source, from Christianity Today, Noel Paul Stookey, January 4, 1980.
- ^ [15] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [16] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ Brian Dutton, Joaquín González Cuenca (editors), Cancionero de Juan Alfonso de Baena (Madrid: Visor Libros, 1993), 534-544.
- ^ [17] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ Arthur Mandel: The Militant Messiah: The Story of Jacob Frank and the Frankists: Atlantic Highlands: Humanities Press: 1979: ISBN 0-391-00973-7.
- ^ [18] Friedberg, Heinrich, von) Jewish Encyclopedia
- ^ [19] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, Gans, Eduard.
- ^ [20] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [21] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [22] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ Kristó Gyula – Makk Ferenc: Az Árpád-ház uralkodói (I.P.C., 1996, ISBN 963-7930-97-3).
- ^ Carvajal, Mario. Vida y pasión de Jorge Isaacs. Manizales, 1937.
- ^ [23] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ Duncan Kelly, "Revisiting the Rights of Man: Georg Jellinek on Rights and the State". Law and History Review vol. 22, no. 3 (Fall 2004).
- ^ A Brief Biography of Paul S.L. Johnson from the Present Truth Library, which catalogues the works of Paul S.L. Johnson.
- ^ [24] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=87&letter=K Kanitz, Felix Philipp] Jewish Encyclopedia, Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906.
- ^ [25] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [26] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, Lehrs, Karl.
- ^ Adler, Jacob, A Life on the Stage: A Memoir, translated and with commentary by Lulla Rosenfeld, Knopf, New York, 1999, ISBN 0679413510. p. 200.
- ^ [27] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [28] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [29] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [30] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [31] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [32] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [33] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [34] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [35] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [36] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [37] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [38] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [39] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [40] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [41] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
- ^ [42] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906
