religion has played a crucial role in
both the everyday lives of individuals
and the history of the world
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top 10
influential religious figures for this
list we’re focusing on people who had a
profound impact on religion or religious
followers either as founder inspiration
or influential follower however we’ve
excluded those figures who are more
known as philosophers rather than
religious leaders number 10 Joseph Smith
Jr this 19th century American religious
leader founded the Latter day Saints
movement whose most famous followers are
the Mormons in 1830 Smith published the
Book of Mormon
a translation of a set of golden plates
he was said to have been shown by an
angel which detailed an ancient
judeo-christian civilization in America
that was visited by Jesus after his
resurrection
thanks to Smith’s teachings the various
churches of the LDS movement have over
15 million followers today number 9 the
Dalai Lama Gindin drub Gindin drupe was
the first of the Dalai Lama’s a line of
holy Buddhist men believed to be the
reincarnation of the Bodhisattva of
compassion though they began as mystical
leaders many of the Dalai Lama’s have
also been considered the heads of the
Tibetan government denden droop himself
was a highly regarded monk whose
meditations revealed visions from a
female guardian spirit these visions
established the lineage of the Dalai
Lama’s drop and the subsequent
incarnations have influenced Buddhist
thought for centuries
number 8 st. Peter one of the Twelve
Apostles of Jesus Christ Saint Peter is
the rock upon which the Christian church
was built and is considered the first
Pope of the Roman Catholic Church st.
Peter and all subsequent popes have
wielded enormous power and authority
over all aspects of the Catholic Church
whether initiating Crusades to reclaim
land
or as pope john xxiii famously did
instituting the landmark vatican ii
reforms the heirs of st. peter have
profoundly affected the lives of
billions of all faiths number seven
Zoroaster though it’s unclear when
exactly this ancient persian prophet
lived
what’s more evident is that the concept
of monotheism may have had its origins
with Zoroaster his teachings emphasized
both free will and the importance of
good deeds in life and these ideas
influenced judeo-christian and Vedic
Hindu religions as well as some Greek
philosophers for millennium
Zoroastrianism was one of the world’s
most powerful religions though today it
has split into two groups
the parsy’s and Iran ease which are
culturally and linguistically distinct
from one another
number six Martin Luther Martin Luther
is the seminal figure behind the
Protestant Reformation of the 16th
century and thus laid the groundwork for
what became today’s Protestant churches
originally a Catholic monk Luther
rebelled against what he saw as
corruption and immorality among Catholic
Church leaders for their practice of
selling indulgences his famous 95 theses
were a call to action which set the
stage for the eventual Reformation x’
within the catholic church and his
translation of the Bible into colloquial
speech made it accessible to the masses
number 5
Krishna in Hinduism Krishna is regarded
as the eighth incarnation of the god
Vishnu his story encompasses centuries
but part of it involves time spent as a
flute playing youth and as a human
Prince Vishnu story includes many
exciting adventures but his teachings
had a significant impact on the
development of Hinduism through his role
in the epic poem the Mahabharata and his
well known message the Bhagavad Gita
followers of Vishnu also have influenced
Buddhism Jainism and Ahmadiyya Islam
among other religions thus affecting
billions of followers worldwide
number four Moses while the biblical
figure Abraham established the first
covenant between God and what became the
Jewish people the later figure of Moses
is arguably of even greater significance
to Judaism for his role in liberating
the Jewish slaves and leading them to
the promised land the author of the
Torah
Moses is also a major figure in Islam
and Christianity the Ten Commandments
which Moses brought to the people from
God is the basis of Western religious
belief and his heavily shaped Western
political thought as well number three
Siddhartha Gautama also known as Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama was a prince
sheltered from life’s problems who lived
for sensual pleasures and luxury but
after discovering the poverty that
afflicted his subjects the prince
underwent a transformation eventually
meditating for 49 days until he achieved
a state of elevated awareness this led
him to discover the four noble truths
which formed the basis of what became
Buddhism and if followed can lead to
peace of mind or Nirvana Gautama also
promoted the middle way which is a happy
medium between living to excess and
total abstinence number two Mohammed
considered the last prophet of God by
the Muslims Mohammed was said to have
received revelations from God through
the angel Gabriel he shared these
revelations in the form of the Quran a
sacred text of the Islamic religion that
preaches monotheism as a central theme
as a military leader as well as a
religious figure Muhammad unified and
changed the shape of the Arab world
during his lifetime and has made a
lasting contribution to the religious
lives of billions through the ages
before we reveal our top pick
here are a few honorable mentions
number one Jesus Jesus of Nazareth is
considered the Son of God by Christians
and an important prophet by the Islamic
and Baha’i faiths
and today Christianity is considered the
world’s largest religion with some two
billion followers though he only had a
few years with which to preach his
gospel of kindness compassion and mercy
before he was betrayed arrested and
crucified his teachings have profoundly
affected religious political and moral
thought over the past two millennia and
are sure to have a considerable
continued impact in the future do you
agree with our choices what other
influential religious figures should we
have added to this list for more
enthralling top 10s published every day
be sure to subscribe to watchmojo.com
both the everyday lives of individuals
and the history of the world
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top 10
influential religious figures for this
list we’re focusing on people who had a
profound impact on religion or religious
followers either as founder inspiration
or influential follower however we’ve
excluded those figures who are more
known as philosophers rather than
religious leaders number 10 Joseph Smith
Jr this 19th century American religious
leader founded the Latter day Saints
movement whose most famous followers are
the Mormons in 1830 Smith published the
Book of Mormon
a translation of a set of golden plates
he was said to have been shown by an
angel which detailed an ancient
judeo-christian civilization in America
that was visited by Jesus after his
resurrection
thanks to Smith’s teachings the various
churches of the LDS movement have over
15 million followers today number 9 the
Dalai Lama Gindin drub Gindin drupe was
the first of the Dalai Lama’s a line of
holy Buddhist men believed to be the
reincarnation of the Bodhisattva of
compassion though they began as mystical
leaders many of the Dalai Lama’s have
also been considered the heads of the
Tibetan government denden droop himself
was a highly regarded monk whose
meditations revealed visions from a
female guardian spirit these visions
established the lineage of the Dalai
Lama’s drop and the subsequent
incarnations have influenced Buddhist
thought for centuries
number 8 st. Peter one of the Twelve
Apostles of Jesus Christ Saint Peter is
the rock upon which the Christian church
was built and is considered the first
Pope of the Roman Catholic Church st.
Peter and all subsequent popes have
wielded enormous power and authority
over all aspects of the Catholic Church
whether initiating Crusades to reclaim
land
or as pope john xxiii famously did
instituting the landmark vatican ii
reforms the heirs of st. peter have
profoundly affected the lives of
billions of all faiths number seven
Zoroaster though it’s unclear when
exactly this ancient persian prophet
lived
what’s more evident is that the concept
of monotheism may have had its origins
with Zoroaster his teachings emphasized
both free will and the importance of
good deeds in life and these ideas
influenced judeo-christian and Vedic
Hindu religions as well as some Greek
philosophers for millennium
Zoroastrianism was one of the world’s
most powerful religions though today it
has split into two groups
the parsy’s and Iran ease which are
culturally and linguistically distinct
from one another
number six Martin Luther Martin Luther
is the seminal figure behind the
Protestant Reformation of the 16th
century and thus laid the groundwork for
what became today’s Protestant churches
originally a Catholic monk Luther
rebelled against what he saw as
corruption and immorality among Catholic
Church leaders for their practice of
selling indulgences his famous 95 theses
were a call to action which set the
stage for the eventual Reformation x’
within the catholic church and his
translation of the Bible into colloquial
speech made it accessible to the masses
number 5
Krishna in Hinduism Krishna is regarded
as the eighth incarnation of the god
Vishnu his story encompasses centuries
but part of it involves time spent as a
flute playing youth and as a human
Prince Vishnu story includes many
exciting adventures but his teachings
had a significant impact on the
development of Hinduism through his role
in the epic poem the Mahabharata and his
well known message the Bhagavad Gita
followers of Vishnu also have influenced
Buddhism Jainism and Ahmadiyya Islam
among other religions thus affecting
billions of followers worldwide
number four Moses while the biblical
figure Abraham established the first
covenant between God and what became the
Jewish people the later figure of Moses
is arguably of even greater significance
to Judaism for his role in liberating
the Jewish slaves and leading them to
the promised land the author of the
Torah
Moses is also a major figure in Islam
and Christianity the Ten Commandments
which Moses brought to the people from
God is the basis of Western religious
belief and his heavily shaped Western
political thought as well number three
Siddhartha Gautama also known as Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama was a prince
sheltered from life’s problems who lived
for sensual pleasures and luxury but
after discovering the poverty that
afflicted his subjects the prince
underwent a transformation eventually
meditating for 49 days until he achieved
a state of elevated awareness this led
him to discover the four noble truths
which formed the basis of what became
Buddhism and if followed can lead to
peace of mind or Nirvana Gautama also
promoted the middle way which is a happy
medium between living to excess and
total abstinence number two Mohammed
considered the last prophet of God by
the Muslims Mohammed was said to have
received revelations from God through
the angel Gabriel he shared these
revelations in the form of the Quran a
sacred text of the Islamic religion that
preaches monotheism as a central theme
as a military leader as well as a
religious figure Muhammad unified and
changed the shape of the Arab world
during his lifetime and has made a
lasting contribution to the religious
lives of billions through the ages
before we reveal our top pick
here are a few honorable mentions
number one Jesus Jesus of Nazareth is
considered the Son of God by Christians
and an important prophet by the Islamic
and Baha’i faiths
and today Christianity is considered the
world’s largest religion with some two
billion followers though he only had a
few years with which to preach his
gospel of kindness compassion and mercy
before he was betrayed arrested and
crucified his teachings have profoundly
affected religious political and moral
thought over the past two millennia and
are sure to have a considerable
continued impact in the future do you
agree with our choices what other
influential religious figures should we
have added to this list for more
enthralling top 10s published every day
be sure to subscribe to watchmojo.com
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