Religion's 100 Most Influential People

Beliefs Religion

Compiled by Michael H. Hart in his secular look at those who influenced religious beliefs. He also included ten runner-ups who are ranked as 101.

This Category is Ranked. Sort by Ranking Based on Votes by clicking on Vote Ranking. Sort by the Collection's Ranking by clicking on List Ranking.

Vote RankingList Ranking  

30

1

Muhammad

Biblical Character

45.16% (84 of 186 votes)

105

2

Isaac Newton

Scientist

0% (0 of 6 votes)

45

3

Jesus Christ

Religious Figure

25.00% (295 of 1180 votes)

27

4

Buddha

Religious Figure

50.0% (5 of 10 votes)

14

5

Confucius

Philosopher

80.0% (4 of 5 votes)

86

6

St. Paul the Apostle

Biblical Character

0% (0 of 7 votes)

89

7

Cai Lun

Inventor

0% (0 of 0 votes)

73

8

Johannes Gutenberg

Inventor

0% (0 of 1 votes)

21

9

Christopher Columbus

Explorer

52.34% (56 of 107 votes)

39

10

Albert Einstein

Scientist

35.63% (31 of 87 votes)

72

11

Louis Pasteur

Scientist

0% (0 of 3 votes)

107

12

Galileo Galilei

Scientist

0% (0 of 2 votes)

47

13

Aristotle

Philosopher

16.67% (1 of 6 votes)

54

14

Euclid

Mathematician

0% (0 of 1 votes)

61

15

Moses

Biblical Character

0% (0 of 1 votes)

80

16

Charles Darwin

Scientist

0% (0 of 1 votes)

25

17

Qin Shi Huang Di

Monarch

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

19

18

Augustus Caesar

Monarch

66.67% (2 of 3 votes)

109

19

Nicolaus Copernicus

Astronomer

0% (0 of 0 votes)

100

20

Antoine Lavoisier

Scientist

0% (0 of 0 votes)

8

21

Constantine

Monarch

100% (1 of 1 votes)

83

22

James Watt

Craftsman

0% (0 of 0 votes)

69

23

Michael Faraday

Scientist

0% (0 of 0 votes)

48

24

James Clerk Maxwell

Scientist

14.29% (1 of 7 votes)

18

25

Martin Luther

Religious Figure

66.67% (2 of 3 votes)

36

26

George Washington

U.S. President

39.35% (61 of 155 votes)

29

27

Karl Marx

Philosopher

47.39% (145 of 306 votes)

78

28

Orville and Wilbur Wright

Inventor

0% (0 of 0 votes)

26

29

Genghis Khan

World Leader

50.0% (5 of 10 votes)

104

30

Adam Smith

Philosopher

0% (0 of 0 votes)

38

31

William Shakespeare

Playwright

36.00% (18 of 50 votes)

71

32

John Dalton (Physicist)

Scientist

0% (0 of 0 votes)

52

33

Alexander the Great

Monarch

0% (0 of 1 votes)

20

34

Napoleon Bonaparte

Monarch

58.52% (79 of 135 votes)

46

35

Thomas Alva Edison

Inventor

20.0% (2 of 10 votes)

94

36

Anton Van Leeuwenhoek

Scientist

0% (0 of 0 votes)

12

37

William T.G. Morton

Doctor

100% (1 of 1 votes)

82

38

Guglielmo Marconi

Inventor

0% (0 of 0 votes)

16

39

Adolf Hitler

World Leader

69.55% (1124 of 1616 votes)

60

40

Plato

Philosopher

0% (0 of 0 votes)

5

41

Oliver Cromwell

Military Personnel

100% (2 of 2 votes)

43

42

Alexander Graham Bell

Inventor

31.68% (32 of 101 votes)

76

43

Alexander Fleming

Scientist

0% (0 of 1 votes)

3

44

John Locke

Philosopher

100% (3 of 3 votes)

37

45

Ludwig Van Beethoven

Composer

38.60% (22 of 57 votes)

98

46

Werner Heisenberg

Scientist

0% (0 of 0 votes)

95

47

Louis Daguerre

Inventor

0% (0 of 0 votes)

33

48

Simon Bolivar

Military Personnel

42.01% (71 of 169 votes)

106

49

Rene Descartes

Philosopher

0% (0 of 2 votes)

75

50

Michelangelo

Artist

0% (0 of 4 votes)

84

51

Pope Urban II

Religious Figure

0% (0 of 0 votes)

13

52

Omar

Religious Figure

100% (1 of 1 votes)

66

53

Ashoka

Monarch

0% (0 of 0 votes)

57

54

St. Augustine of Hippo

Philosopher

0% (0 of 0 votes)

99

55

William Harvey

Doctor

0% (0 of 0 votes)

63

56

Ernest Rutherford

Scientist

0% (0 of 1 votes)

17

57

John Calvin

Philosopher

66.67% (2 of 3 votes)

85

58

Gregor Mendel

Religious Figure

0% (0 of 2 votes)

4

59

Max Planck

Scientist

100% (2 of 2 votes)

91

60

Joseph Lister

Doctor

0% (0 of 1 votes)

10

61

Nicolaus August Otto

Inventor

100% (1 of 1 votes)

6

62

Francisco Pizarro

Military Personnel

100% (1 of 1 votes)

7

63

Hernando Cortes

Military Personnel

100% (3 of 3 votes)

31

64

Thomas Jefferson

U.S. President

42.25% (60 of 142 votes)

51

65

Queen Isabella (Spain)

Monarch

5.56% (2 of 36 votes)

40

66

Josef Stalin

World Leader

35.06% (27 of 77 votes)

53

67

Julius Caesar

Military Personnel

0% (0 of 0 votes)

55

68

King William I the Conqueror

Monarch

0% (0 of 0 votes)

24

69

Sigmund Freud

Doctor

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

92

70

Edward Jenner

Doctor

0% (0 of 0 votes)

2

71

Wilhelm Roentgen

Scientist

100% (1 of 1 votes)

101

72

Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer)

Composer

0% (0 of 0 votes)

56

73

Lao Tzu

Philosopher

0% (0 of 0 votes)

79

74

Voltaire

Philosopher

0% (0 of 0 votes)

110

75

Johannes Kepler

Scientist

0% (0 of 0 votes)

77

76

Enrico Fermi

Scientist

0% (0 of 1 votes)

62

77

Leonhard Euler

Mathematician

0% (0 of 0 votes)

103

78

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Philosopher

0% (0 of 0 votes)

65

79

Niccolo Machiavelli

Philosopher

0% (0 of 6 votes)

1

80

Thomas Malthus

Philosopher

100% (1 of 1 votes)

32

81

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

U.S. President

42.17% (132 of 313 votes)

70

82

Gregory Pincus

Inventor

0% (0 of 0 votes)

67

83

Mani

Religious Figure

0% (0 of 0 votes)

42

84

Vladimir Illyich Lenin

World Leader

32.00% (112 of 350 votes)

64

85

Emperor Wen of Sui

Monarch

0% (0 of 0 votes)

87

86

Vasco Da Gama

Explorer

0% (0 of 1 votes)

68

87

Cyrus the Great

Monarch

0% (0 of 0 votes)

34

88

Tzar Peter I

Monarch

42.00% (63 of 150 votes)

44

89

Mao ZeDong

World Leader

28.57% (4 of 14 votes)

59

90

Francis Bacon (Philosopher)

Philosopher

0% (0 of 0 votes)

90

91

Henry Ford

Automaker

0% (0 of 1 votes)

11

92

Mencius

Philosopher

100% (1 of 1 votes)

81

93

Zoroaster

Religious Figure

0% (0 of 0 votes)

15

94

Queen Elizabeth I Tudor

Monarch

77.78% (7 of 9 votes)

49

95

Mikhail Gorbachev

World Leader

8.33% (3 of 36 votes)

97

96

Menes

Monarch

0% (0 of 1 votes)

50

97

Charlemagne

Monarch

5.71% (2 of 35 votes)

74

98

Homer

Poet

0% (0 of 1 votes)

96

99

Justinian I

Monarch

0% (0 of 0 votes)

93

100

Mahavira

Royalty

0% (0 of 0 votes)

9

101

St. Thomas Aquinas

Philosopher

100% (1 of 1 votes)

22

101

Mahatma Gandhi

Diplomat

51.43% (18 of 35 votes)

23

101

Ferdinand Magellan

Explorer

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

28

101

Khufu

Monarch

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

35

101

Abraham Lincoln

U.S. President

40.57% (71 of 175 votes)

41

101

Madame Marie Curie

Scientist

32.63% (31 of 95 votes)

58

101

Archimedes

Scientist

0% (0 of 0 votes)

88

101

Charles Babbage

Mathematician

0% (0 of 0 votes)

102

101

Benjamin Franklin

Patriot

0% (0 of 7 votes)

108

101

Leonardo Da Vinci

Artist

0% (0 of 3 votes)