Home›Religious Founders, Prophets & Reformers›TraditionBrowse ByTraditionThis page groups historical figures by the religious tradition they belonged to or helped shape, connecting a person to the belief system that claims them. Wikipedia describes a tradition as "a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past." Browsing this way lets a visitor read every founder, reformer or teacher from one tradition together, rather than finding them scattered by century.FactsTraditionConnectionsSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsComparisonPrimary Academic DisciplineWell-attestedComparative Religion 2DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedHistorical Figures 1TraditionFilter Results34 entriesEraAll1075 to 1162 (1)1080 to 1130 (1)1105 to 1167 (1)1173 to 1205 (1)1200 to 1276 (1)1400 to 1450 (1)1492 to 1554 (1)1499 to 1552 (1)1501 to 1556 (1)1575 to 1629 (1)1591 to 1643 (1)1624 to 1691 (1)1626 to 1676 (2)1684 to 1706 (1)1735 to 1815 (1)1760 to 1831 (1)1798 to 1887 (1)1801 to 1877 (1)1802 to 1866 (1)1804 to 1869 (1)1804 to 1879 (1)1805 to 1844 (1)1813 to 1849 (1)1815 to 1895 (1)1817 to 1852 (1)1821 to 1910 (1)1827 to 1915 (1)1832 to 1893 (1)1832 to 1907 (1)1836 to 1918 (1)1841 to 1898 (1)1844 to 1906 (1)1845 to 1931 (1)1849 to 1925 (1)1851 to 1896 (1)1852 to 1916 (1)1854 to 1948 (1)1856 to 1932 (1)1861 to 1945 (1)1862 to 1950 (1)1866 to 1961 (1)1871 to 1948 (1)1872 to 1967 (1)1873 to 1939 (1)1878 to 1932 (1)1887 to 1951 (1)1887 to 1960 (1)1891 to 1975 (1)1893 to 1985 (1)1897 to 1957 (1)1898 to 1981 (1)18th century (1)1908 to 1971 (1)1917 to 2008 (1)1918 to 1984 (1)1920 to 1947 (1)1920 to 1990 (1)1921 to 2013 (1)1922 to 1971 (1)1923 to 2009 (1)1929 to 2024 (1)1930 to 1997 (1)985 to 1021 (1)Place of ActivityAllAdelaide (1)Angola (1)Australia (1)Baghdad (2)Basel (1)Bihar (1)Bolivia (1)Brazil (4)Cairo (1)California (1)China (1)Cologne (1)Egypt (1)France (1)Germany (1)Grimma (1)Haifa (1)Haiti (1)Illinois (1)India (1)Iran (1)Japan (3)Karnataka (1)London (1)Lyon (1)Massachusetts (2)Memphis (1)Morocco (1)Netherlands (2)Nevada (1)New York City (1)New Zealand (1)Nigeria (1)Paris (2)Pennsylvania (1)Philadelphia (1)Pittsburgh (1)Rome (1)Saint Paul (1)San Diego (1)San Francisco (1)Santa Monica, California (1)Shiraz (1)Silesia (1)Smyrna (2)South Africa (1)Sri Lanka (1)Strasbourg (1)Switzerland (1)Syria (1)Tanta (1)Tulsa (1)Tyrol (1)United Kingdom (1)United States (6)Utah (1)Vienna (1)Zurich (1)GenderAllFemale (10)Male (29)HistoricityAllComposite figure: more than one person or tradition behind the name (1)Historically attested (33)Veneration StatusAllFormally Canonized or Sainted (2)Historically Significant but Not Venerated (21)Officially Recognized or Venerated (6)Popularly or Locally Venerated (1)Manner Of DeathAllAssassinated (1)Died by accident or misadventure (1)Died by suicide (1)Died of natural causes (11)Disputed (1)Executed (5)Killed in battle (2)Martyred (2)NationalityAllAlmohad Caliphate (1)Angola (1)Australia (1)Brazil (2)China (1)Democratic Republic of the Congo (1)France (2)Germany (1)Haiti (1)India (1)Iran (2)Italy (1)Jamaica (1)Japan (3)Lebanon (1)Mamluk Sultanate (1)Morocco (1)Netherlands (1)New Zealand (1)Nigeria (1)South Africa (1)Switzerland (1)The Ottoman Empire (2)United Kingdom (2)United States (9)Vietnam (2)In GroupAllAfrican and African Diaspora Tradition Founders (6)Baha'i Founders and Forerunners (1)Catholic and Orthodox Reform Founders (1)Christian Reform and Anabaptist Founders (1)East Asian New Religion Founders (6)Hindu and Dharmic Founders (1)Islamic Founders and Reformers (4)Jewish Messianic Movement Founders (2)Latter Day Saint Movement Founders (1)Native American and Indigenous Tradition Founders (5)Neopagan and Wiccan Founders (2)New Age, Esoteric and Theosophical Founders (6)Protestant and Evangelical Founders (1)Syncretic and New Religious Movement Founders (4)Revered InAllBahá’í Faith (1)Cao Đài (1)Christianity (4)Eckankar (1)Falun Gong (1)Haudenosaunee Longhouse Religion (1)Hinduism (1)Hoa Hao Buddhism (1)Islam (3)Judaism (2)Latter Day Saint Movement (1)Modern Satanism (1)New Thought (1)Omoto (1)Rastafari (1)Santo Daime (1)Shamanism (Tradition) (1)Spiritism (1)Tenrikyo (1)Theosophy (1)Umbanda (1)União do Vegetal (1)Yarsanism (1)Yazidism (1)Adherents Today MaximumAll6000 (1)13,000 (1)5,000,000 (1)14,800,000 (1)17,000,000 (1)324,000,000 (1)1,200,000,000 (1)2,000,000,000 (1)2,300,000,000 (1)Adherents Today MinimumAll6000 (1)13,000 (1)5,000,000 (1)14,800,000 (1)17,000,000 (1)324,000,000 (1)1,200,000,000 (1)2,000,000,000 (1)2,300,000,000 (1)Basis of the Humanitarian Aid FigureAllJournalistic or Scholarly Estimate (1)Basis of the Membership FigureAllChurch-Reported Rolls (8)Independent Survey (7)National Census (6)Scholarly or Demographic Estimate (15)Era of Decline End YearAll1600 (1)Era of Decline Start YearAll1521 (1)Era of Modern Revival End YearAll2000 (1)Era of Modern Revival Start YearAll1990 (1)Establishment StatusAllConfessionalist (1)Declared Not Established (1)No Establishment (2)Varies by Province (4)How the Expectation Is EnforcedAllCodified Obligation With Consequences (2)Customary Norm (7)Preached Expectation, Not Enforced (1)Humanitarian Aid Figure As OfAll2024-12-31 (1)Membership Figure As OfAll1927-01-01 (1)1944-01-01 (1)1949-01-01 (1)1965-01-01 (1)1969-12-31 (1)1972-01-01 (1)1974-01-01 (1)1975-01-01 (1)1978-01-01 (1)1990-01-01 (1)1993-01-01 (1)1995-01-01 (1)1999-01-01 (1)1999-07-22 (1)2000-01-01 (1)2001-01-01 (1)2002-01-01 (1)2004-01-01 (1)2008-01-01 (2)2010-01-01 (8)2011-01-01 (1)2011-01-27 (1)2011-12-19 (1)2012-01-01 (2)2012-12-18 (2)2013-01-01 (1)2014-01-01 (1)2015-01-01 (1)2017-01-01 (2)2017-07-17 (1)2020-01-01 (5)2021-05-12 (1)2021-12-31 (1)2022-01-01 (2)2023-03-01 (1)2025-01-01 (1)2026-08-13 (1)2026-08-14 (1)Origin Period End YearAll500 BCE (1)400 BCE (2)50 (1)632 (1)800 (1)1043 (1)1200 (1)1428 (1)1800 (1)1838 (1)1857 (1)1863 (1)1891 (1)1895 (1)1926 (1)1930 (1)1935 (1)1954 (1)1965 (1)1966 (1)1992 (1)Origin Period Start YearAll1500 BCE (1)586 BCE (1)500 BCE (1)30 (1)610 (1)700 (1)1017 (1)1100 (1)1325 (1)1400 (1)1700 (1)1799 (1)1830 (1)1838 (1)1844 (1)1857 (1)1875 (1)1880 (1)1892 (1)1900 (1)1926 (1)1930 (1)1939 (1)1946 (1)1961 (1)1965 (1)1966 (1)1971 (1)1992 (1)Position on MarriageAllMarriage is held to be monogamous, with remarriage after divorce sanctioned under specified conditions (1)Marriage may licitly be polygynous (1)Position on SexualityAllSame-sex orientation or practice is held to bar full membership or participation (3)Same-sex sexual relationships are held contrary to teaching; LGBT individuals are welcomed as members but not ordained, and same-sex unions are not blessed (1)The body holds no single settled position; the question is actively and openly contested within it (3)Position on UsuryAllInterest is permitted but bound by ethical constraints against exploiting the poor (1)Interest of any kind on a loan is forbidden (1)Practice StatusAllClosed ceremonial knowledge, described but not reproduced (2)Discontinued as a state religion (1)Living, and practised in varied local forms (9)Partly restricted: some elements are closed to outsiders (8)Standard Rate ExpectedAllNineteen percent. (1)Ten percent. (1)Two and a half percent. (1)Status TodayAllHistorical; not practised continuously (1)Living tradition, practised today (32)Revived or reconstructed in the modern era (1)TheologyAllAncestor-centred (5)Animist: persons and powers in land, water and living things (1)Atheistic: no god (1)Duotheistic: a divine pair (1)Emanationist: reality proceeds from an ineffable One (1)Henotheistic: a supreme being above served lesser divinities (7)Monistic: one ultimate reality behind all appearance (1)Monotheistic: one God (15)Non-theistic: no creator god is central (2)Panentheistic: the divine both within the world and beyond it (2)Polytheistic: many gods (3)Show ResultsBrowseCompareAztec ReligionTradition1 entryBahá’í FaithTradition3 entriesBuddhismTradition1 entryCao ĐàiTradition1 entryChristianityTradition31 entriesDruze FaithTradition1 entryEckankarTradition1 entryFalun GongTradition1 entryGoddess MovementTradition1 entryHaitian VodouTradition1 entryHaudenosaunee Longhouse ReligionTradition1 entryHinduismTradition3 entriesHoa Hao BuddhismTradition1 entryIslamTradition3 entriesJudaismTradition1 entryKongo ReligionTradition1 entryLatter Day Saint MovementTradition3 entriesModern SatanismTradition1 entryNative American ReligionTradition3 entriesNew ThoughtTradition9 entriesOmotoTradition2 entriesRastafariTradition1 entrySanto DaimeTradition1 entrySpiritismTradition1 entryTengrismTradition1 entryTenrikyoTradition1 entryTheosophyTradition2 entriesUmbandaTradition1 entryUnião do VegetalTradition1 entryWiccaTradition1 entryXhosa Traditional ReligionTradition1 entryYarsanismTradition1 entryYazidismTradition1 entryYorùbá Religion (Ifá)Tradition1 entryConnectionsAssociated WithAfrica, Continents Well-attested This source names Africa directly: "founders of colonial and postcolonial Africa, the Pacific and the Americas, and the twentieth century's new religious movements."Source Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Americas, Continents Well-attested This source names Americas directly: "Africa, the Pacific and the Americas, and the twentieth century's new religious movements."Source Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Sources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 1Category: Historical Figures2. Wikipedia: Comparative religiontier 2WikipediaComparative religion, opening definitionQuote, Comparative religion, opening definitionComparative religion is the branch of religious studies that systematically compares the doctrines, practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the worlds religions.View the SourceDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.