Ajay Kumar at 20:08, 28 September 2023

2023-09-28T20:08:51Z

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{{Short description|None}}
{{For|legendary figures for which historicity cannot be established|Culture hero}}


These are [[historical figure]]s credited with founding [[religion]]s or [[religious philosophy|religious philosophies]], or who codified older known religious traditions. The list includes those who have founded a specific major [[Religious denomination|denomination]] within a larger religion.

==Legendary/semi-historical==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Traditional founder
! Religious tradition founded
! Historical founder(s)
! Life of historical founder

|-
| No single Founder (Hinduism)<br/> [[Indra]] (Vedic Hinduism) || [[Hinduism]] || [[Saptarishi|The Saptarishi]] || c. 15th century BC to 10th century BC
|-
| [[Abraham]] (covenant with God)<br/>[[Moses]] (religious law) || [[Judaism]] || [[Yahweh#Iron Age II (1000–586 BCE)|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">[[#Albertz1994|Albertz 1994]], p. 61.</ref><ref name="Grabbe 2008, pp. 225–6">Grabbe 2008, pp. 225–6.</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Biblical Peoples and Ethnicity: An Archaeological Study of Egyptians, Canaanites, Philistines, and Early Israel, 1300–1100 B.C.E.|year=2005|publisher=Society of Biblical Literature|last=Killebrew|first=Ann E.|isbn=978-1-58983-097-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VtAmmwapfVAC&q=Biblical+peoples+and+ethnicity:+an+archaeological}}</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)==
{{hatnote|See [[culture hero]] for legendary founders of doubtful historicity. For figures that fall into that category, please add them to [[List of founders of religious traditions#Legendary/semi-historical|the Legendary section]], not here.}}


{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Founder Name
! Religious tradition founded
! Life of founder
|-
| [[Akhenaten]] || [[Atenism]] || c. 1353 BC – 1336 BC<ref name=Hornung>{{cite book |last=Hornung |first=Erik |date=1999 |title=Akhenaten and the Religion of Light |url=https://archive.org/details/akhenatenreligio00horn |url-access=registration |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-8725-5 }}</ref>
|-
| [[Zoroaster]] || [[Zoroastrianism]] || c. 1000 BC<ref name="Melton2003p191">[[#Melton2003|Melton 2003]], p. 191.</ref>
|-
| [[Parshvanatha]] || The penultimate (23rd) [[Tirthankara]] in [[Jainism]] || 877 BC – 777 BC{{sfn|Zimmer|1953|p=183}}<ref>{{cite book | last =Fisher | first =Mary Pat | title =Living Religions: An Encyclopedia of the World's Faiths | publisher = I.B.Tauris | year =1997 | location =London | isbn =978-1-86064-148-0 }} p. 115</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia | title =Parshvanatha | encyclopedia =Encyclopædia Britannica | volume =Encyclopædia Britannica Online | year =2007 | url =http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9058576 | access-date =2007-10-22 }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia | last =Bowker | first =John | title =Parsva | encyclopedia =The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions | publisher =Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press | year =2000 | url =https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780192800947 | access-date =2007-10-22 | isbn =9780192800947 }}</ref><ref name="Charpentier">{{cite encyclopedia | title=The History of the Jains | encyclopedia=The Cambridge History of India | author=Charpentier, Jarl | year=1922 | volume=1 | location=Cambridge | pages=153}}</ref>
|-
| [[Numa Pompilius]] || [[Religion in ancient Rome|Roman Religion]]|| c. 753 BC – 672 BC
|-
| [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] || built the [[Etemenanki]], established [[Marduk]] as the patron deity of [[Babylon]] || c. 634 BC – 562 BC{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}
|-
| [[Ajita Kesakambali]] || [[Charvaka]] || 6th century BC<ref name=r79>{{harvnb|Radhakrishnan|Moore|1957|pp=227–249}}</ref><ref name=jmk>John M. Koller (1977), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1397613 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, {{ISBN|978-8120812932}}, pages 53-58</ref>
|-
| [[Mahavira]] || The final (24th) [[tirthankara]] in [[Jainism]] || 599 BC – 527 BC{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2016|p=313}}{{sfn|Zimmer|1953|p=222}}<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 BC{{sfn |Cousins |1996 |pp = 57–63}}{{sfn |Schumann |2003 |pp = 10–13}}
|-
| [[Confucius]] || [[Confucianism]] || 551 BC – 479 BC<ref name=birth>{{cite book |last1=Hugan |first1=Yong |title=Confucius: A Guide for the Perplexed |date=2013 |publisher=A&C Black |page=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1R9MAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170416224536/https://books.google.com/books?id=1R9MAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 |archive-date=2017-04-16 |isbn=9781441196538 }}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Riegel|2002}}.</ref>
|-
| [[Pythagoras]] || [[Pythagoreanism]] || fl. 520 BC
|-
| [[Mozi]] || [[Mohism]] || 470 BC – 390 BC
|-
| [[Makkhali Gosala]] || [[Ājīvika]] || 5th century BC<ref name=james>James Lochtefeld, "Ajivika", ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism'', Vol. 1: A–M, Rosen Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0823931798}}, page 22</ref>
|-
| [[Ezra]] || [[Second Temple Judaism]]<ref name="Brueggemann2002p75">[[#Brueggemann2002|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 (god)|Armazi]] || 326 BC – 234 BC
|-
| [[Valmiki]] || [[Balmiki sect|Valmikism]] || c. 3rd century BC<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ramayana {{!}} Summary, Characters, & Facts|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ramayana-Indian-epic|access-date=2020-08-12|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</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 (brother of Jesus)|James the Just]] || [[Jewish Christian]]ity || 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
|-
| [[Nagarjuna]] || [[Madhyamaka]] || 150–250
|-
| [[Plotinus]] || [[Neoplatonism]] || 205–270
|-
| [[Mani (prophet)|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 [[First Council of Nicea|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 [[Council of Chalcedon|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 I of Antioch|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)==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Name
! Religious tradition founded
! Life of founder
|-
| [[Mazdak]] ||[[Mazdak]]ism|| died c. 526
|-
| [[Bodhidharma]] || [[Zen]], more specifically [[Chan Buddhism|Ch'an]] || 5th or 6th century
|-
| [[Muhammad]] || [[Islam]] || c. 570–632
|-
| [[Songtsen Gampo]] || [[Tibetan Buddhism]] || 7th century
|-
| [[En no Gyōja]] || [[Shugendō]] || late 7th century
|-
| [[Huineng]] || [[Chan Buddhism|East Asian Zen Buddhism]] || 638–713
|-
| [[Padmasambhava]] || [[Nyingma]] || 8th century
|-
| [[Han Yu]] || [[Neo-Confucianism]] || 8th or 9th century
|-
| [[Saichō]] || [[Tendai]] (descended from [[Tiantai]]) || 767–822
|-
| [[Kūkai]] || [[Shingon Buddhism]] || 774–835
|-
| [[Adi Shankara]] || [[Advaita Vedanta]] || 788–820
|-
| [[Ibn Nusayr]] || [[Alawites|Nusayrism]] || late 9th century
|-
| [[Matsyendranath]] || [[Nath]] || 10th century
|-
|[[Ramanuja]] || [[Vishishtadvaita]] || 1017–1137
|-
|[[Great Peacemaker]] || [[Great Law of Peace]] || Between the 10th and 15th centuries
|-
| [[Hamza ibn ‘Alī ibn Aḥmad]]<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Hendrix |editor1-first=Scott |editor2-last=Okeja |editor2-first=Uchenna |title=The World's Greatest Religious Leaders: How Religious Figures Helped Shape World History [2 volumes] |date=2018 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1440841385 |page=11}}</ref> || [[Druze]] || 11th century
|-
| [[Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir]] || [[Yazidis]]m || 12th century
|-
| [[Basava]] || [[Lingayatism]] || 12th century
|-
| [[Hōnen]] || [[Jōdo-shū]] (descended from [[Pure Land Buddhism]]) || 1131–1212
|-
| [[Eisai]] || [[Rinzai school|Rinzai Zen]] (descended from the [[Five Houses of Chán#Linji school|Linji school]]) || 1141–1215
|-
| [[Shinran]] || [[Jōdo Shinshū]] (descended from [[Jōdo-shū]])|| 1173–1263
|-
| [[Dōgen]] || [[Sōtō]] Zen (descended from the [[Caodong school]]) || 1200–1253
|-
| [[Haji Bektash Veli]] || [[Bektashi Order]] of [[Sufism]] || 1209–1271
|-
| [[Nichiren]] || [[Nichiren Buddhism]] || 1222–1282
|-
| [[Abraham Abulafia]] || [[Prophetic Kabbalah]], a.k.a. [[ecstatic Kabbalah]] || 1240–1290s
|-
|[[Dyaneshwar]] || [[Varkari]] || 1275–1296
|-
|[[Madhvacharya]] || [[Dvaita]] || 1238–1317
|-
| [[John Wycliffe]] || [[Lollardy]] || 1320s–1384
|-
| [[Fazlallah Astarabadi|Fażlu l-Lāh Astar-Ābādī]]|| [[Hurufism]] || 14th century
|-
| [[Mahmoud Pasikhani]] || [[Nuqtavi|Nuqṭawism]] || late 14th century
|-
| [[Jan Hus]] || [[Hussites|Hussitism]] || 1372–1415
|-
| [[Tlacaelel]] || [[Aztec religion|Cult of Huitzilopochtli]] || 1397–1487
|-
| [[Ramananda]] || [[Ramanandi Sampradaya|Ramanandi]] [[Vaishnavism]] || 15th century
|-
| [[Kabir]] || [[Kabir Panth]] || 1398–1448
|-
| [[Pachacuti]] || [[Inti|Cult of Inti]] || 1418–1472
|-
| [[Sankardev]] || [[Ekasarana Dharma]] || 1449–1568
|-
| [[Ravidas]] || [[Ravidassia]] || c. 1450–1520
|-
| [[Guru Nanak]] || [[Sikhism]], [[Nanak Panth]] || 1469–1539
|-
| [[Sri Chand]] || [[Udasi]] || 1494–1629
|-
| [[Vallabha Acharya]] || [[Shuddhadvaita]] || 1479–1531
|-
| [[Martin Luther]] || [[Lutheranism]] and [[Protestantism]] in general || 1483–1546
|-
| [[Chaitanya Mahaprabhu]] || [[Gaudiya Vaishnavism]], [[Achintya Bheda Abheda]] || 1486–1534
|-
| [[Thomas Cranmer]] || [[Anglicanism]] ([[Church of England]]) || 1489–1556
|-
| [[Menno Simons]] || [[Mennonite]] || 1496–1561
|-
| [[Conrad Grebel]] || [[Swiss Brethren]], [[Anabaptists]] || 1498–1526
|-
| [[Jacob Hutter]] || [[Hutterite]] || 1500–1536
|-
| [[Isaac Luria]] || [[Lurianic Kabbalah]] || 1534–1572
|-
|[[Guru Angad]]
|[[Sikhism]]
|1539–1552
|-
| [[Sultan Sahak]] || [[Yarsanism]] || early 15th century
|-
|[[Guru Amar Das]]
|[[Sikhism]]
|1552–1572
|-
| [[John Calvin]] || [[Calvinism]]<ref name="Melton2003p67">[[#Melton2003|Melton 2003]], p. 67.</ref> || 1509–1564
|-
| [[Michael Servetus]]<ref name="Melton2003p128">[[#Melton2003|Melton 2003]], p. 128.</ref> || [[Unitarianism]] || 1511?–1553
|-
| [[John Knox]]<ref name="Melton2003p69">[[#Melton2003|Melton 2003]], p. 69.</ref> || [[Presbyterianism]] || 1510–1572
|-
|[[Guru Ram Das]]
|[[Sikhism]]
|1574–1581
|-
| [[Akbar]] || [[Din-i Ilahi]] || 1542–1605
|-
| [[Jacobus Arminius]] || [[Arminianism]] || 1560–1609
|-
| [[John Smyth (Baptist minister)|John Smyth]]<ref name="Melton2003p102">[[#Melton2003|Melton 2003]], p. 102.</ref> || [[Baptists]] || 1570–1612
|-
|[[Guru Arjan]]
|[[Sikhism]]
|1571–1606
|-
|[[Guru Hargobind|Guru HarGobind Sahib Ji]]
|[[Sikhism]]
|1606–1644
|-
| [[Avvakum]]{{Citation needed|date=March 2010}} || [[Old Believers]] of [[Russian Orthodox Church]] || 1620–1682
|-
|[[Guru Tegh Bahadur|Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji]]
|[[Sikhism]]
|1621–1675
|-
| [[George Fox]]<ref name="Melton2003p95">[[#Melton2003|Melton 2003]], p. 95.</ref> || [[Quakers]] || 1624–1691
|-
| [[Philipp Spener]]<ref name="Melton2003p73">[[#Melton2003|Melton 2003]], p. 73.</ref> || [[Pietism]] || 1635–1705
|-
|[[Guru Har Rai|Guru Har Rai Ji]]
|[[Sikhism]]
|1644–1661
|-
| [[Jakob Ammann]] || [[Amish]] || 1656–1730
|-
|[[Guru Har Krishan|Guru Har Krishan Ji]]
|[[Sikhism]]
|1661–1664
|-
| [[Gobind Singh|Guru Gobind Singh]] || [[Sikhism]], [[Khalsa Panth]] || 1666–1708
|-
| [[Emanuel Swedenborg]] || [[The New Church]] || 1688–1772
|-
| [[Baal Shem Tov|Yisroel ben Eliezer "Baal Shem Tov"]]<ref name="Melton2003p183">[[#Melton2003|Melton 2003]], p. 183.</ref> || [[Hasidic Judaism]] || 1698–1760
|-
| [[John Wesley]],<ref name="Melton2003p75">[[#Melton2003|Melton 2003]], p. 75.</ref> [[Charles Wesley]], [[George Whitefield]] || [[Methodism]] || 1703–1791
|-
| [[Ann Lee]]<ref name="Melton2003p724">[[#Melton2003|Melton 2003]], p. 724.</ref> || [[Shakers]] || 1736–1784
|}

==New religious movements (post-1800)==

{{Further|List of new religious movements}}
{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! Name
! Religious tradition founded
! Life of founder
|-
|[[Shaykh Ahmad|Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsá'í]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=AḤSĀʾĪ, SHAIKH AḤMAD – Encyclopaedia Iranica|url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ahsai-shaikh-ahmad|access-date=2020-10-16|website=www.iranicaonline.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Individualism and the Mystical Path in Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i|url=https://www.h-net.org/~bahai/bhpapers/ahsaind.htm|access-date=2020-10-16|website=www.h-net.org}}</ref>
|[[Shaykhism]], precursor of [[Bábism]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Shaykhism|url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195390155/obo-9780195390155-0188.xml|access-date=2020-10-16|website=Oxford Bibliographies|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=SHAYKHISM – Encyclopaedia Iranica|url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/shaykhism|access-date=2020-10-16|website=www.iranicaonline.org}}</ref>
|1753–1826
|-

| [[Ram Mohan Roy]] || [[Brahmo Samaj]] || 1772–1833

|-

| [[Swaminarayan]] || [[Swaminarayan Sampraday]] || 1781–1830

|-

| [[Auguste Comte]] || [[Religion of Humanity]] || 1798–1857

|-

| [[Nakayama Miki]] || [[Tenrikyo]] || 1798–1887

|-

| [[Ignaz von Döllinger]] || [[Old Catholic Church]] || 1799–1890

|-

| [[Phineas Quimby]] || [[New Thought]] || 1802–1866

|-

| [[Allan Kardec]] || [[Spiritism]] || 1804–1869

|-

| [[Joseph Smith]] || [[Mormonism]], also known as the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] ||1805–1844

|-

| [[John Thomas (Christadelphian)|John Thomas]] || [[Christadelphians]] || 1805–1871

|-

| [[Abraham Geiger]] || [[Reform Judaism]] || 1810–1874

|-

| [[Jamgon Kongtrul]] || [[Rimé movement]] || 1813–1899

|-

| [[Hong Xiuquan]] || [[Taiping Christianity]] || 1814–1864

|-

| [[Bahá'u'lláh]]<ref name="Melton2003p992">[[#Melton2003|Melton 2003]], p. 992.</ref> || [[Baháʼí Faith]] || 1817–1892

|-

| [[Báb]] || [[Bábism]], precursor of the [[Baháʼí Faith]] ||1819–1850

|-

| [[James Springer White]] || [[Seventh-day Adventist Church]] || 1821–1881

|-

| [[Wang Jueyi]] || [[Yiguandao]] || 1821–1884

|-

| [[Mary Baker Eddy]]<ref name="Melton2003p741">[[#Melton2003|Melton 2003]], p. 741.</ref> || [[Christian Science]] || 1821–1910

|-

| [[Ramalinga Swamigal]] || Samarasa Sutha Sanmarga Sangam || 1823–1874

|-

| [[Dayananda Saraswati]] || [[Arya Samaj]] || 1824–1883

|-

| [[Ellen G. White]]<ref name="Melton2003p621">[[#Melton2003|Melton 2003]], p. 621.</ref> || [[Seventh-day Adventist Church]] || 1827–1915

|-

| [[Oahspe: A New Bible#Biography of John Newbrough|John Ballou Newbrough]] || [[Oahspe: A New Bible#Faithism|Faithism]] || 1828–1891

|-

| [[Helena Blavatsky]] || [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|Theosophy]] || 1831–1891

|-

| [[Ayya Vaikundar]] || [[Ayyavazhi]] || 1833–1851

|-

| [[Mirza Ghulam Ahmad]] || [[Ahmadiyya]] || 1835–1908

|-

| [[Guido von List]] || [[Ariosophy#Armanism|Armanism]] ([[Germanic mysticism]]) || 1848–1919

|-

| [[Charles Taze Russell]]<ref name="Melton2003p637">[[#Melton2003|Melton 2003]], p. 637.</ref> || [[Bible Student movement]] || 1852–1916

|-

| [[Wovoka]] || [[Ghost Dance]] || 1856–1932

|-

| [[Rudolf Steiner]] || [[Anthroposophy]] || 1861–1925

|-

| [[Swami Vivekananda]] || [[Ramakrishna Mission]] || 1863–1902

|-

| [[William Irvine (Scottish evangelist)|William Irvine]]<ref>[[#Chryssides2001|Chryssides 2001]], p. 330.</ref> || [[Two by Twos]] and [[Cooneyites]] || 1863–1947

|-

| [[Max Heindel]] || [[The Rosicrucian Fellowship]] || 1865–1919

|-

| [[Tsunesaburo Makiguchi]] || [[Soka Gakkai]] || 1871–1944

|-

| [[Sri Aurobindo]] || [[Integral yoga]] || 1872–1950

|-

| [[Mason Remey]] || [[Orthodox Baháʼí Faith]] || 1874–1974

|-

| [[Aleister Crowley]] || [[Thelema]] || 1875–1947

|-

| [[Charles Fox Parham]] || [[Pentecostalism]] || 1873–1929

|-

| "[[Father Divine]]" || [[International Peace Mission movement]] || c. 1876–1965

|-

| [[Edgar Cayce]] || [[Association for Research and Enlightenment]] || 1877–1945

|-

| [[Ngô Văn Chiêu]] || [[Caodaism]] || 1878–1926

|-

| [[Guy Ballard]] || [["I AM" Activity]] || 1878–1939

|-

| [[Frank Buchman]] || [[Oxford Group]]/[[Moral Re-Armament]] || 1878–1961

|-

| Alfred G. Moses || [[Jewish Science]] || 1878–1956
|-
|[[John Slocum]]
|[[Indian Shaker Church]]
|1881
|-

| [[Mordecai Kaplan]] || [[Reconstructionist Judaism]] || 1881–1983

|-

| [[Gerald Gardner]] || [[Wicca]] || 1884–1964

|-

| [[Felix Manalo]] || [[Iglesia ni Cristo]] (Church of Christ) || 1886–1963

|-

| [[Frank B. Robinson]] || [[Psychiana]] || 1886–1948

|-

| [[Noble Drew Ali]] || [[Moorish Science Temple of America]] || 1886–1929

|-

| [[Marcus Garvey]] || [[Rastafari]] || 1887–1940

|-

| [[Ernest Holmes]] || [[Religious Science]] || 1887–1960

|-

| Sadafaldeo || [[Vihangamyoga]] || 1888–1954

|-

| [[Aimee Semple McPherson]]<ref name="Melton2003p451">[[#Melton2003|Melton 2003]], p. 451.</ref> || [[International Church of the Foursquare Gospel|Foursquare Church]] || 1890–1944

|-

| [[Zélio Fernandino de Moraes]]<ref name="SmithProkopyp279">[[#SmithProkopy2003|Smith and Prokopy 2003]], p. 279-280.</ref> || [[Umbanda]] || 1891–1975

|-

| [[Ida B. Robinson]] || [[Mount Sinai Holy Church of America]] || 1891–1946

|-

| [[B. R. Ambedkar]] || [[Navayana Buddhism]] || 1891 – 1956

|-

| [[Wallace Fard Muhammad]] || [[Nation of Islam]] || 1891 – 1934 (absentia)

|-

| [[Paramahansa Yogananda]] || [[Yogoda Satsanga Society of India]], [[Self-Realization Fellowship]] || 1893–1952

|-

| [[A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada]] || [[International Society for Krishna Consciousness]] || 1896–1977

|-

| [[Ruth Norman]] || [[Unarius Academy of Science|Unarius]] || 1900–1993

|-

| [[Muktananda|Swami Muktananda]] || [[Siddha Yoga]] || 1908–1982

|-

| [[Paul Twitchell]] || [[Eckankar]] || 1908–1971

|-

| [[Ikurō Teshima]] || [[Makuya]] || 1910–1973

|-

| [[L. Ron Hubbard]] || [[Dianetics]] and later [[Scientology]] || 1911–1986

|-

| [[Chinmayananda Saraswati]] || [[Chinmaya Mission]] || 1916–1993

|-

| [[Maharishi Mahesh Yogi]] || [[Transcendental Meditation]] || 1918–2008

|-

| [[Samael Aun Weor]] || Universal Christian Gnostic Movement || 1917–1977

|-

| [[Mark L. Prophet]] || [[The Summit Lighthouse]] || 1918–1973

|-

| [[Ben Klassen]] || [[Creativity (religion)|Creativity]] || 1918–1993

|-

| [[Ahn Sahng-hong]] || [[World Mission Society Church of God]] || 1918–1985

|-

| [[Huỳnh Phú Sổ]] || [[Hòa Hảo]] || 1919–1947

|-

| [[Sun Myung Moon|Yong (Sun) Myung Moon]]<ref name="BH98_365">[[#Beit-Hallahmi98|Beit-Hallahmi 1998]], p. 365.</ref> || [[Unification Church]] || 1920–2012

|-

| [[Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar]] || [[Ananda Marga]] || 1921–1990

|-

| [[Clarence 13X]] || [[Five-Percent Nation]] || 1922–1969

|-

| [[Mestre Gabriel]] || [[União do Vegetal]] || 1922–1971

|-

| [[Nirmala Srivastava]] || [[Sahaja Yoga]] || 1923–2011

|-

| [[Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson]] || [[Ásatrú]] || 1924–1993

|-

| [[Sathya Sai Baba]] || [[Sathya Sai Organization]] || 1926–2011

|-

| [[Anton LaVey]] || [[Church of Satan]] ([[LaVeyan Satanism]]) || 1930–1997

|-

| [[Rajneesh]]<ref name="Melton2003,1051">[[#Melton2003|Melton 2003]], p. 1051.</ref> || [[Rajneesh movement]] || 1931–1990

|-

| [[Mark L. Prophet]];<br> [[Elizabeth Clare Prophet]]<ref name="BH98_97">[[#Beit-Hallahmi98|Beit-Hallahmi 1998]], p. 97.</ref> || [[Church Universal and Triumphant]] || 1918–1973;<br>1939–2009

|-

| [[Adi Da]] || Adidam || 1939–2008

|-

| [[Claude Vorilhon]] || [[Raëlism]] || 1946–

|-

| [[Marshall Vian Summers]] || New Message from God || 1949–

|-

| [[Li Hongzhi]] || [[Falun Gong]] || born 1951 or 1952

|-

| [[Ryuho Okawa]] || [[Happy Science]] || 1956–2023

|-

| [[Vissarion]] || Church of the Last Testament || 1961–

|-

| [[Chris Korda]] || [[Church of Euthanasia]] || 1962–

|-

| Tamara Siuda || [[Kemetic Orthodoxy]] || 1969–

|-

| Olumba Olumba Obu || [[Brotherhood of the Cross and Star]] || 1918–

|-

| Isak Gerson || [[Missionary Church of Kopimism]] || 1993–

|-

| [[Bobby Henderson (activist)|Bobby Henderson]] || [[Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2014/04/10/thanks-to-a-technicality-pastafarianism-is-now-an-official-religion-in-poland/ |title=Thanks to a Technicality, Pastafarianism is Now an Official Religion in Poland! |last=Atheist |first=Friendly |website=patheos.com |access-date=7 February 2018}}</ref> or [[Flying Spaghetti Monster|Pastafarianism]] || 1980–

|-

| [[Erdoğan Çınar]] || [[Ishikism]] || 21st century

|-

|}

==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==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book | last =Beit-Hallahmi | first =Benjamin | title =The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Active New Religions, Sects, and Cults | publisher =Rosen Publishing Group | year =1998 | isbn = 978-0-8239-2586-5|ref=Beit-Hallahmi98| edition =Revised }}
*{{cite book | last =Brueggemann | first =Walter | title =Reverberations of Faith: A Theological Handbook of Old Testament Themes | publisher =Westminster John Knox Press | year =2002 | isbn = 978-0-664-22231-4|ref=Brueggemann2002}}
*{{cite book | last =Chryssides | first =George D. | title =Historical dictionary of new religious movements | publisher =The Scarecrow Press, Inc. | year =2001 | isbn =978-0-8108-4095-9 | ref =Chryssides2001 | url-access =registration | url =https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000chry }}
* {{Citation |last = Cousins |first = LS |year = 1996 |title = The dating of the historical Buddha: a review article | journal = Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |series = 3 |volume = 6 |number = 1 |pages = 57–63 |url = http://indology.info/papers/cousins |doi = 10.1017/s1356186300014760|s2cid = 162929573 }}
*{{cite book | last =Jestice | first =Phyllis G. | title =Holy People of the World: A Cross-cultural Encyclopedia (Volume 3) | publisher =ABC-CLIO, Inc. | year =2004 | isbn = 978-1-57607-355-1|ref=Jestice2004}}
*{{cite book | first = J. Gordon | last = Melton | author-link = J. Gordon Melton | title = Encyclopedia of American Religions | publisher = The Gale Group, Inc. | year = 2003 | place = Farmington Hills, Michigan | isbn = 978-0-7876-6384-1|ref=Melton2003| edition = Seventh }}
* {{cite book|last1=Radhakrishnan|first1=Sarvepalli|last2=Moore|first2=Charles|title=A Source Book in Indian Philosophy|date=1957|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-01958-1|url=https://archive.org/details/sourcebookinindi00radh}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last1=Riegel |first1=J |title=Confucius |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2012/entries/confucius/ |encyclopedia=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |access-date=27 October 2018 |language=en |date=3 July 2002}}
* {{Citation |last = Schumann |first = Hans Wolfgang |year = 2003 |title = The Historical Buddha: The Times, Life, and Teachings of the Founder of Buddhism |publisher = Motilal Banarsidass |isbn = 978-8120818170}}
*{{cite book | first=Christian | last=Smith | author2=Joshua Prokopy | title=Latin American Religion in Motion | publisher=Routledge | location=New York, New York | year=1999 | isbn=978-0-415-92106-0 | ref=SmithProkopy2003 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/latinamericanrel0000unse }}
* {{citation |last=Singh |first=Upinder |author-link=Upinder Singh |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pq2iCwAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Pearson Education]] |date=2016 |isbn=978-93-325-6996-6 |ref={{sfnref|Upinder Singh|2016}} }}
* {{citation |last=Zimmer |first=Heinrich |author-link=Heinrich Zimmer |title=Philosophies Of India |date=1953 |orig-year=April 1952 |editor-first=Joseph |editor-last=Campbell |editor-link=Joseph Campbell |publisher=[[Routledge]] & Kegan Paul Ltd |location=[[London]] |url=https://archive.org/details/Philosophy.of.India.by.Heinrich.Zimmer |isbn=978-81-208-0739-6 }}

{{History of religions|state=autocollapse}}
{{religion topics}}
{{Lists of people considered founders by specific groups|state=autocollapse}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Founders Of Religious Traditions}}
[[Category:Founders of religions| ]]
[[Category:History of religion|Founders]]
[[Category:Lists of religious leaders|Founders]]
[[Category:Religion-related lists|Founders]]

List of founders of religious traditions - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 20:08, 28 September 2023