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Religious Affiliation of History's 100 Most Influential People The following list of influential figures from % in world history comes from Michael H. Hart's Religious Affiliation List book The 100: A Ranking of the Most Catholic 31% Influential Persons in History. In the book, Hart Anglican/Episcopalian 13% provides brief biographies of each of the 7% individuals, as well as reasons for their ranking. Jewish Atheist 6% Adherents.com takes no position regarding the Greco-Roman paganism 6% validity of Hart's rankings. Certainly ranking Chinese traditional religion/Confucianism 5% the relative historical influence of individuals is 5% a subjective process. We welcome and will by Lutheran Russian Orthodox 4% happy to post comments from readers suggesting alternative rankings or names of pre-Nicene Christianity 3% influential individuals who should be Platonism 3% included in the "Top 100. Islam 2% 2% This list of names and their ranks are solely the Hindu Buddhist 2% work of Michael H. Hart. The columns "Religious Affiliation" and "Influence" are the Presbyterian 2% work of Adherents.com. We will readily modify Zoroastrian 2% notes if there are any inaccuracies. Manicheanism 2% 2% Note that many influential philosophies (such as Quaker Marxist Communism or Confucianism) are not Unitarian/Universalist 2% always classified as organized "religions" in the Calvinist 2% traditional sense, but are classified as such by Jain 1% sociologists because they are a primary Jansenist 1% motivational worldview for 1% individuals, cultures or subcultures. Also, many United Brethren founders never considered themselves adherents Congregationalist 1% of philosophies or religions which later bore Dutch Reformed 1% their name (e.g., Martin Luther and Egyptian paganism 1% Lutheranism). Mongolian shamanism 1% 1% In the table below, where there are two religions Taoism listed, the first one is the religion the person was Baptist 1% born into. The second was the religion or Sandemanian 1% philosophy the person later joined or founded. Protestant (denomination unknown) 6% Comments in the "Influence" column are in 5% bold when the influence is mainly in the realm unknown of religion and philosophy. Rank 1 Name Muhammad Religious Affiliation Islam Influence Prophet of Islam; conqueror of 1 Arabia; Hart recognized that ranking Muhammad first might be controversial, but felt that, from a secular historian's perspective, this was the correct choice because Muhammad is the only man to have been both a founder of a major world religion and a major military/political leader. More 2 Isaac Newton Anglican (rejected Trinitarianism, i.e., Athanasianism; believed in the physicist; theory of universal Arianism gravitation; laws of motion of the Primitive Church) 3 Jesus Christ * Judaism; Christianity founder of Christianity 4 Buddha Hinduism; Buddhism founder of Buddhism 5 Confucius Confucianism founder of Confucianism 6 St. Paul Judaism; Christianity proselytizer of Christianity 7 Ts'ai Lun Chinese traditional religion inventor of paper 8 Johann Gutenberg Catholic developed movable type; printed Bibles 9 Christopher Columbus Catholic explorer; led Europe to Americas 10 Albert Einstein Jewish physicist; relativity; Einsteinian physics 11 Louis Pasteur Catholic scientist; pasteurization 12 Galileo Galilei Catholic astronomer; accurately described heliocentric solar system 13 Aristotle Platonism / Greek philosophy influential Greek philosopher 14 Euclid Platonism / Greek philosophy mathematician; Euclidian geometry 15 Moses Judaism major prophet of Judaism 16 Charles Darwin Anglican (nominal); Unitarian biologist; described Darwinian evolution, which had theological impact on many religions 17 Shih Huang Ti Chinese traditional religion Chinese emperor 18 Augustus Caesar Roman state paganism ruler 19 Nicolaus Copernicus Catholic (priest) astronomer; taught heliocentricity 20 Antoine Laurent Lavoisier Catholic father of modern chemistry; philosopher; economist Roman state paganism; Christianity Roman emperor who completely legalized Christianity, leading to its status as state religion. Convened the First Council of Nicaea that produced the Nicene Creed, which rejected Arianism (one of two major strains of Christian thought) and established 21 Constantine the Great 2 Athanasianism (Trinitarianism, the other strain) as "official doctrine." 22 James Watt Presbyterian (lapsed) developed steam engine 23 Michael Faraday Sandemanian physicist; chemist; discovery of magneto-electricity 24 James Clerk Maxwell Presbyterian; Anglican; Baptist physicist; electromagnetic spectrum 25 Martin Luther Catholic; Lutheran founder of Protestantism and Lutheranism 26 George Washington Episcopalian first president of United States 27 Karl Marx Jewish; Lutheran; Atheist; Marxism/Communism founder of Marxism, Marxist Communism 28 Orville and Wilbur Wright United Brethren inventors of airplane 29 Genghis Khan Mongolian shamanism Mongol conqueror 30 Adam Smith Liberal Protestant economist; philosopher; expositor of capitalism; author: The Theory of Moral Sentiments 31 Edward de Vere a.k.a. William Shakespeare Catholic; Anglican literature; also wrote 6 volumes about philosophy and religion 32 John Dalton Quaker chemist; physicist; atomic theory; law of partial pressures (Dalton's law) 33 Alexander the Great Greek state paganism conqueror 34 Napoleon Bonaparte Catholic (nominal) French conqueror 35 Thomas Edison Congregationalist; agnostic inventor of light bulb, phonograph, etc. 36 Antony van Leeuwenhoek Dutch Reformed microscopes; studied microscopic life 37 William T.G. Morton ?? pioneer in anesthesiology 38 Guglielmo Marconi Catholic and Anglican inventor of radio 39 Adolf Hitler Nazism; born/raised in, but rejected Catholicism conqueror; led Axis Powers in WWII 40 Plato Platonism / Greek philosophy founder of Platonism 41 Oliver Cromwell Puritan (Protestant) British political and military leader 42 Alexander Graham Bell Unitarian/Universalist inventor of telephone * 43 Alexander Fleming Catholic penicillin; advances in bacteriology, immunology and chemotherapy 44 John Locke raised Puritan (Anglican); Liberal Christian philosopher and liberal theologian 45 Ludwig van Beethoven Catholic composer 46 Werner Heisenberg Lutheran a founder of quantum mechanics; discovered principle of 3 uncertainty; head of Nazi Germany's nuclear program 47 Louis Daguerre ?? an inventor/pioneer of photography 48 Simon Bolivar Catholic (nominal); Atheist National hero of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia 49 Rene Descartes Catholic Rationalist philosopher and mathematician 50 Michelangelo Catholic painter; sculptor; architect 51 Pope Urban II Catholic called for First Crusade 52 'Umar ibn al-Khattab Islam Second Caliph; expanded Muslim empire 53 Asoka Buddhism king of India who converted to and spread Buddhism 54 St. Augustine Greek state paganism; Manicheanism; Early Christian theologian Catholic 55 William Harvey Anglican (nominal) described the circulation of blood; wrote Essays on the Generation of Animals, the basis for modern embryology 56 Ernest Rutherford ?? physicist; pioneer of subatomic physics 57 John Calvin Protestant; Calvinism Protestant reformer; founder of Calvinism 58 Gregor Mendel Catholic (Augustinian monk) Mendelian genetics 59 Max Planck Protestant physicist; thermodynamics 60 Joseph Lister Quaker principal discoverer of antiseptics which greatly reduced surgical mortality 61 Nikolaus August Otto ?? built first four-stroke internal combustion engine 62 Francisco Pizarro Catholic Spanish conqueror in South America; defeated Incas 63 Hernando Cortes Catholic conquered Mexico for Spain; through war and introduction of new diseases he largely destroyed Aztec civilization 64 Thomas Jefferson Episcopalian; Deist 3rd president of United States 65 Queen Isabella I Catholic Spanish ruler 66 Joseph Stalin Russian Orthodox; Atheist; Marxism revolutionary and ruler of USSR 67 Julius Caesar Roman state paganism Roman emperor 68 William the Conqueror Catholic laid foundation of modern England 69 Sigmund Freud Jewish; atheist; Freudian psychology/psychoanalysis founded Freudian school of psychology/psychoanalysis (i.e., 4 the "religion of Freudianism") 70 Edward Jenner Anglican discoverer of the vaccination for smallpox 71 Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen ?? discovered X-rays 72 Johann Sebastian Bach Lutheran; Catholic composer 73 Lao Tzu Taoism founder of Taoism 74 Voltaire raised in Jansenism; later Deist writer and philosopher; wrote Candide 75 Johannes Kepler Lutheran astronomer; planetary motions 76 Enrico Fermi Catholic initiated the atomic age; father of atom bomb 77 Leonhard Euler Calvinist physicist; mathematician; differential and integral calculus and algebra 78 Jean-Jacques Rousseau born Protestant; converted as a teen to Catholic; later Deist French deistic philosopher and author 79 Nicoli Machiavelli Catholic wrote The Prince (influential political treatise) 80 Thomas Malthus Anglican (cleric) economist; wrote Essay on the Principle of Population 81 John F. Kennedy Catholic U.S. President who led first successful effort by humans to travel to another "planet" 82 Gregory Pincus Jewish endocrinologist; developed birthcontrol pill 83 Mani Manicheanism founder of Manicheanism, once a world religion which rivaled Christianity in strength 84 Lenin Russian Orthodox; Atheist; Marxism/Communism Russian ruler 85 Sui Wen Ti Chinese traditional religion unified China 86 Vasco da Gama Catholic navigator; discovered route from Europe to India around Cape Hood 87 Cyrus the Great Zoroastrianism founder of Persian empire 88 Peter the Great Russian Orthodox forged Russia into a great European nation 89 Mao Zedong Atheist; Communism; Maoism founder of Maoism, Chinese form of Communism 90 Francis Bacon Anglican philosopher; delineated inductive scientific method 91 Henry Ford Protestant developed automobile; achievement in manufacturing and assembly 92 Mencius Confucianism philosopher; founder of a school of Confucianism 5 93 Zoroaster Zoroastrianism founder of Zoroastrianism 94 Queen Elizabeth I Anglican British monarch; restored Church of England to power after Queen Mary 95 Mikhail Gorbachev Russian Orthodox Russian premier who helped end Communism in USSR 96 Menes Egyptian paganism unified Upper and Lower Egypt 97 Charlemagne Catholic Holy Roman Empire created with his baptism in 800 AD 98 Homer Greek paganism epic poet 99 Justinian I Catholic Roman emperor; reconquered Mediterranean empire; accelerated CatholicMonophysite schism 100 Mahavira Hinduism; Jainism founder of Jainism Source of list of names: Hart, Michael H. The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History, Revised and Updated for the Nineties. New York: Carol Publishing Group/Citadel Press; first published in 1978, reprinted with minor revisions (reflected above) in 1992. In the afterword to his book The 100, Michael H. Hart listed 100 runners-up, all of which are listed here. The book's afterword also included brief discussions about ten of these runners-up (about one page each). These discussions include notes about their influence and about they were not included in the top 100. Hart states that these ten individuals should not be thought of as numbers 101-110 on the list. The ten runners-up discussed are: St. Thomas Aquinas; Archimedes; Charles Babbage; Cheops; Marie Curie; Benjamin Franklin; Mohandas Gandhi ; 6 Abraham Lincoln; Ferdinand Magellan; Leonardo da Vinci. The other runners-up are simply listed, without further details or discussion. Webmaster's Comments about this Webpage This list is compiled only for fun and reference. Certainly no theological or sociological inferences should be drawn from a subjectively chosen list of only 100 people from throughout human history. These individuals clearly transcend statistical sociological analysis. Nevertheless, it is fascinating to consider the varied ways in which the lives and contributions of nearly all of them were profoundly influenced by their religious background and personal beliefs. ("Contribution" may not be the best word to describe the influence of some of these individuals, such as Hitler, Stalin, etc.) Also, the "Influence" column in the table is very brief. It is only provided only to refresh one's memory about the identity of the historical person - not to encapsulate or summarize their career. The most-represented religious group on this list is obviously Catholicism. This should be expected, given the many centuries that the most technologically and economically advanced Western world was synonymous with the Catholic world. The most obscure faith group represented on this list is the Sandemanians, who were never very numerous. The physicist Michael Faraday (23rd on this list and history's 9th most influential scientist, according to Hart) was a devout member of this now-extinct group. Other small minority religious groups represented here are Jansenists (Voltaire) and some Quakers. It is worth noting that many of the individuals on this list were the founders, major propagators, or reformers of major world religions: Muhammad, Jesus Christ, Buddha, St. Paul, Confucius, Lao Tzu, Mencius, Mani, Mahavira, Marx, Plato, Calvin, Martin Luther, Zoroaster, Mao. Many would include Freud among these. Other philosophers on this list made contributions which had an impact on religion but are not founders of a religion or branch of religion. Of the twelve "classical world religions", the founders of eight are represented on this list (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism). Shinto and Hinduism have no founder. Sikhism and the Bahai Faith (the youngest of the "classical world religions") have founders (Guru Nanak Dev and Baha'u'llah, respectively), but Hart did not include them on his list. Comments from Readers of this Website about the Ranking of Jesus on this List Jesus Christ It is not uncommon for people to wonder why Jesus is not ranked first on this list. As far as the way the list appears on this web page, the answer is simple: We have reproduced Hart's list in exactly the order he wrote it. But it is true that many people, both Christians and secular historians, would have ranked Jesus first on a list of the world's most influential people. Hart said that he himself would have ranked Jesus first, if all the people who today identify themselves as Christians actually followed Jesus's teachings more substantially. He considers contemporary Muslims more influenced by Muhammad than contemporary Christians are by Jesus. 7 Also, Hart's outlook was essentially secular in outlook. He did consider the doctrinal role of Jesus in human salvation as taught by Christianity. Muhammad, on the other hand, carved out an actual, geographic empire during his lifetime. Christians as well as historians agree that Jesus himself conquered no lands and led no armies during his lifetime. John H. Kerr, an elder in the Presbyterian Church of Canada wrote us on this topic. His ideas, echoed by many and presented here with his permission are below: In my opinion no one has come near to Jesus Christ with respect to His influence on so many aspects of our world and society. Most schools of higher learning in the English speaking world and many in the non-English speaking world exist because of Christ. Women and children throughout this world, with the exception of a few countries have a much better way of life because of what Christ taught and people accepted. The peace, good will and renewal that result each year from the celebration of His birth is astounding. Many of the internalional charities that exist today are Christian based. The Christian work ethic has spurred inventions of all sorts that have benefited mankind enormously. Just think of the influence Christians have had down through the centuries, every bit of their influence is either directly or indirectly associated with the influence Christ had on them. Many of these Christians are on Hart's list. Even Karl Marx owed his fanatical promotion of communism to the revenge he sought for being bounced out of a Christian Seminary, by a misdirected priest. To a point the creation of such a list is as you point out subjective, and subject to the bias of the individual or group that prepare it. But, for the life of me, I cannot conceive how any well read individual with eyes to see and ears to hear, would not place Jesus Christ at the top of such a list, so far ahead of the next most influential person that one would leave at least the subsequent 9 spaces on the list vacant, to emphasize this point. All of the creation wouldn't exist if it were not for Jesus Christ. When one begins to dwell on what would or would not have been, had Christ not existed in the beginning, let alone had He not come to earth 2000 years ago it boggles the mind. When I think of the thousands of prayers answered, lives changed, wars ended or avoided, I can't help but thank such a benevolent Lord. Was it not the influence of a Christian mother on her son, the leader of the Soviet Union, and a Christian American President, working with Mikhail Gorbachev that brought an end to the cold war. When we look at the cause and effect of so many major positive events in our history, we see the hand of Christ working on one or more of His servants. John McDonagh (22 July 2005), who identifies himself as an informal proponent of freethought (a secular movement dedicated to reasoning independently of authority, especially religious dogma and revelation), wrote in response to John H. Kerr's statements: John Kerr's comment may seem puzzling to the uniniated reader when he says that "All of the creation wouldn't exist if it were not for Jesus Christ. When one begins to dwell on what would or would not have been, had Christ not existed in the beginning". To the uninitiated reader, Jesus was born within the last 3000 years, so they may feel baffled as to how he could have participated in the creation of the universe billions of years ago. In fact, Mr. Kerr has let slip in the Gospel of John idea that Jesus eternally preexisted as the cosmic Logos. 8 Mr. Kerr would do well to read this quote: "Muslims believe that Jesus did not die on the cross (Koran 4:157), but this does not mean that historians (even Muslim historians) can use this belief as historical evidence that Jesus was not crucified. What one believes and what one can demonstrate historically are usually two different things." -Robert J. Miller, Bible scholar, (Bible Review, December 1993, Vol. IX, Number 6, p. 9) [John Kerr also wrote:] "Most schools of higher learning in the English speaking world and many in the non-English speaking world exist because of Christ." [John McDonagh responds:] As shown by Joseph McCabe in his Rationalist Encyclopedia, education in the Roman Empire suffered upon the acceptance of Trinitarian Christianity. [John Kerr also wrote:] "Women and children throughout this world, with the exception of a few countries have a much better way of life because of what Christ taught and people accepted." [John McDonagh responds:] Mr. Kerr seems ignorant of the worldwide history of ethics. In fact, many of the helpful ideas espoused by Jesus were espoused by the Buddha, Confucius, etc. hundreds of years before Jesus allegedly lived and were common knowledge internationally already. Jesus' relatively original ideas, such as his emphasis on eternal damnation, his discouragement of intellectualism and critical thinking, his authoritarian leadership style, and his childish intolerance have not contributed to the improvement of social conditions. Timothy W. Foutz (28 June 2002) also wrote to us about the ranking of Jesus on Hart's list: Hart's criteria is clearly biased. His list is supposed to be about the most influential people, but he put Muhammad first because he was both a religious and military leader. Apparently one has to have a diverse resume to make the list. But there is a huge difference between what a person did themselves and how much of an influence they were. When Jesus ascended into heaven, there were only 120 people he could call his followers, so personally he was not very influential. But the movement he started is undoubtedly the most influential of all human history. I think Hart's list has value, but why make such a list if he wasn't going to be honest with the data? My suspicion is that Hart didn't want Jesus to be first on the list for personal reasons regardless of what history has clearly shown. Alan Thibideau wrote (9 October 2002): Aside from my religious affiliations and the present climate (after 9/11), it makes more sense that Christ sit atop the list of most influential individuals simply because history turned on his life more so than it did any other single figure. No one else can claim that history turned on a dime after his life. The fact that someone was both a spiritual and national leader is not relevant in this sense. That is a personal accomplishment and might make that person more successful in his lifetime but 9 does not make him necessarily a more influential person in history. So whoever did this ranking is simply incorrect if their criteria was the most influential person in history. The Rev. Anthony J. Felich, (Pastor of the Redeemer Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian Church in America) in Overland Park, Kansas; www.redeemer-pca.org) offered the following comments (9 April 2004): While I appreciate the idea that Muhammad was both a founder of religion and a political/military leader, he should not displace Jesus Christ. Newton should be third at best. My obvious religious convictions aside: 1. Our dating system is based on Christ 2. 80% of the people in your top 100 were Christian or some sect thereof, not Islamic. 3. For good or bad, many wars have been fought over Christianity. 4. Christianity has mingled with "the state" in hundreds of countries for centuries. Technically, Muhammad invented a religion somewhat based on Zoroastrianism. It was not very unique, when analyzed. Jesus Christ is the forecasted Jewish Messiah and the founder of the Christian Church. Hard to get more influential than that. John F. Kennedy over FDR? Seriously? Other than the Cuban Missle Crisis, what did he really do? Cultural icon maybe, but over FDR? Even Truman was more influential. Whoever invented the television [Philo Farnsworth] should be way up near the top. It has forever changed communication... probably not for the better. Rev. Felich wrote (above): "Technically, Muhammad invented a religion somewhat based on Zoroastrianism. It was not very unique, when analyzed. Jesus Christ is the forecasted Jewish Messiah and the founder of the Christian Church. Hard to get more influential than that." John McDonagh (22 July 2005) wrote in response to this statement (and another item on this page): Mr. Felich steps into matters beyond the ambit of the historian. A historian would have to discount Jesus as the forecasted Jewish messiah, since 99.999999999% of all rabbis would not accept Jesus as the forecasted messiah. For that matter, Christianity, as with Islam, remains quite derivative. Also, most historians would credit Paul with the establishment of the Christian Church. Partially as a response to Rev. Felich's comments (and other comments shown here), M. S. Abdullah has written a list of 16 Reasons why Muhammad (not Jesus) should be ranked first on the list of history's most influential people. [email protected], an Evangelical Christian, said he agreed with Mr. Hart's choice for the top 2 spots, and that Jesus should be listed even lower. His explanation is here. 10 Mark Aubart expressed the opinion that Jesus should not even be on a list of mortal men. You can read his explanation here. Musa Raza's response to Aubart, and his reasons why Muhammad should be at the top of the list are here. Patrick Egbuchunam of Lagos, Nigeria wrote this thoughtful and detailed essay explaining why Jesus should be ranked #1 on the list of history's most influential people. Other Suggested Revisions, Additions to the List Michael McConnell (25 Sept. 2001) also suggests that some revisions to Hart's list are in order: I just glanced at your list of the 100 most influential people and their religion and all I can say is this list is terrible at best. Jesus would have to be number one, Marx/Muhammad tie for number 2... Issac Newton was put above Marx who influences social-economic policy to this day. Aki Nestori Vainio, a self-described atheist from Finland, does not believe that Moses existed (9 June 2003): The book [The 100] is indeed very subjective, as you remark on your page. My main problem with it is the fact that Moses is seated at 15. I would've omitted him completely. He probably did not exist. He is a mythological character, just like Sankara, who did not make it into the book. [Most people would probably disagree with Vainio, simply because the existence of the books attributed to Moses -- books which are the mostly widely published texts in human history -strongly suggest that somebodyhad to write them. That person (or persons) would clearly be highly influential on human history, regardless of the particulars of his life.] Steve Petersen [[email protected]] made the following suggestion (27 April 2002: Yes, indeed, I think you need to add another person to your list! What about Ellen G. White of the Seventh Day Adventist Church? She wrote more books than any other woman in history! On 6 August 2002, Jukka Vatanen of Finland wrote with the following suggestion: My vote for the list of "Top 100" is NICOLA TESLA, who was the actual inventor of the radio. Marconi was most successiful in capitalizing the usage of it, but TESLA was first. He also invented the Tesla turbine that powered the Niagara Falls alternating current generators. The alternating current being propably his greatest invention, making it possible to transfer high voltage current long distances. This invention alone would make him of same importance as Marconi etc... Charles Benedetti wrote: 11 I predict that the most influential person of all time will be L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology (1954). It may take 10 years, or 25 or 50, but that day will surely come. I make this statement after 20 years of experiencing and drawing from the deep reservoir of this spiritual philosophy and Wisdom. Only those who have experienced Scientology would understand these words, and therefore I would not expect others to understand or agree with me. For those who may seek to know more about Scientology, see my website: www.ourhome.org/charliebenedetti. - Dean Knoblauch of Canada made many suggestions, including the suggestion to add Philo Farnsworth and Miguel de Cervantes to the list. His detailed suggestions are here. - Dr. M. A. Hafeez suggested that Ibn Nafis replace William Harvey on the list. More. - Mark Soakai suggested Joseph Smith, Jr. should be on the list. More. - Dragon Atma explained why he felt Columbus isn't so influential, and discussed who should really be #1. More. Of course, the most ridiculous ommission of all from Hart's list is Philo Farnsworth, the inventor of the television. His invention came relatively late in history, and so he had no impact on humanity during the first thousands of years of civilization. But today television has so completely transformed human culture, values, beliefs, etc. that its inventor is easily one of the most influential people in history with regards to people now living. Muhammad Many Muslims have written to us about this webpage. All that have written to us are in agreement with Hart's assessment of Muhammad's top-ranked place on this list, but many have written to disagree with parts of Hart's description of Muhammad. In particular, a number of correspondents have written to point out that Muhammad is not the author of the Qu'ran, but is in fact the Prophet through whom Allah delivered the Qu'ran to humanity. Hamzah Jaradat's notes on this are representative of this discussion: Mohammad is the not the author of the Qu'ran. Excerpt from Hart's book: My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels... Muhammad founded and promulgated one of the world's great religions, and became an immensely effective political leader. Today, thirteen centuries after his death, his influence is still powerful and pervasive... Like all religions, Islam exerts an enormous influence upon the lives of its followers. It is for this reason that the founders of the world's great religions all figure prominently in this book. Since there are roughly twice as many Christians as Moslems in the world, it may initially seem strange that Muhammad has been ranked higher than Jesus. There are two principal reasons for that decision. First, Muhammad played a far more important role in the development of Islam than Jesus did in the development of Christianity. Although Jesus was 12 responsible for the main ethical and moral precepts of Christianity (insofar as these differed from Judaism), St. Paul was the main developer of Christian theology, its principal proselytizer, and the author of a large portion of the New Testament. Muhammad, however, was responsible for both the theology of Islam and its main ethical and moral principles. In addition, he played the key role in proselytizing the new faith, and in establishing the religious practices of Islam. Moreover, he is the author of the Moslem holy scriptures, the Koran, a collection of certain of Muhammad's insights that he believed had been directly revealed to him by Allah. Most of these utterances were copied more or less faithfully during Muhammad's lifetime and were collected together in authoritative form not long after his death. The Koran therefore, closely represents Muhammad's ideas and teachings and to a considerable extent his exact words. No such detailed compilation of the teachings of Christ has survived. Since the Koran is at least as important to Moslems as the Bible is to Christians, the influence of Muhammed through the medium of the Koran has been enormous It is probable that the relative influence of Muhammad on Islam has been larger than the combined influence of Jesus Christ and St. Paul on Christianity. On the purely religious level, then, it seems likely that Muhammad has been as influential in human history as Jesus. Furthermore, Muhammad (unlike Jesus) was a secular as well as a religious leader. In fact, as the driving force behind the Arab conquests, he may well rank as the most influential political leader of all time... the Arab conquests of the seventh century have continued to play an important role in human history, down to the present day. It is this unparalleled combination of secular and religious influence which I feel entitles Muhammad to be considered the most influential single figure in human history. M. S. Abdullah has written a list of 16 Reasons why Muhammad (not Jesus) should be ranked first on the list of history's most influential people. Musa Raza's his reasons why Muhammad should be at the top of the list are here. Additional Notes about the Religious Affiliation and Religious Beliefs of History's 100 Most Influential People NOTE: Adherents.com presents this list, and Hart's arguments, for informational purposes. We do not take any stand on the validity of Hart's statements. We welcome (and will post online) alternative viewpoints. Is Alexander Graham Bell really the inventor of the telephone?: There is some dispute over whether or not Bell is "the inventor" of the telephone. A helpful document is: Who is credited as inventing the telephone? Was it Alexander Graham Bell, Elisha Gray, or Antonio Meucci?, a page sponsored by the Science Reference Services of U.S. The Library of Congress. This page states that "Alexander Graham Bell was the first to patent the telephone," but also points out that Gray and Meucci played important roles in the development of the telephone. On the other hand, the Italian Society of America has an article about Antonio Meucci that casts the Italian inventor as the true father of the telephone, and takes a dim view of Bell. 13 Additional Comments From Readers M. S. Abdullah's Reasons Why Muhammad (Not Jesus) Should be Ranked as Most Influential Person in History M. S. Abdullah (email address: [email protected]) sent us this letter and list on 25 August 2004: To the owner of www.adherents.com/adh_influ.html I am a comparative religion student who would like to share my views on this list. I would like to shed some light as to the order of Muhammad and Jesus on this list. Please feel free to use this email on your website. I believe that Muhammad should be the first in the list even though Jesus was a great man, Muhammad was an even greater man and a greater influence to humanity. Michael Hart (a nonMuslim, in particular a Christian) was correct in taking a non-biased view and choosing Muhammad. Just look at the statistics and history Christianity (1.9+ billion people). 600 year head start on Islam Islam (1.5+ billion people). Catching up at a rate of 10:1. Many of the converts are Atheists or Christians (including many Church leaders and ministers). By 2025 Muslims will outnumber Christians. In America pre 9/11 40000+ people convert to Islam per year, post 9/11, people have became curious about what makes Muslims tick. They are now discovering that what Muslims like these do are completely in the opposite direction to the teachings of Muhammad and Islam, hence why the number of converts has increased to 78000+ a year. Jesus' message was 2.4 years, Muhammad's 23 years Jesus' had 120 followers at the end of his time on earth Muhammad had millions Muhammad confirmed Jesus and believed in him, as Jesus said to his disciples whilst in the Garden of Gethsemane that someone would come to confirm him Jesus said he came to the tribe of Israel only, Muhammad said he came to all mankind. The different denominations of Christianity don't agree with each other about Mary, Jesus, the trinity, the many versions and revisions of the Bible etc, whereas the different denominations of Islam agree that Muhammad is the final Prophet, Jesus is a Prophet and performed miracles, God is One and Only, and the exact Quran as at the time of Muhammad is still used today by all the denominations, and the originals are still available. 10's of millions of Muslims have memorised the entire Quran all over the world, whereas no Christian has memorised the bible and if they did they would have to memorise their own version and would have to update their memorisations every time a new revision was released. 14 The bible that we know today was written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, John (who are they? Real name? Last name?) and Paul (Saul of Tarsus: A Christian Killer) who preached to the Gentiles which Jesus said not to do. None where direct disciples of Jesus. What is known as Apocrypha today is the Gospels that the Roman (Origin Pagans: worshiped many gods, human gods etc) Catholic Church wanted to destroy because it denies the trinity and the divinity of Jesus and reveals the coming of another (Muhammad). "Eg. The Gospel of Barnabas was accepted as a Canonical Gospel in the Churches of Alexandria till 325 C.E. In 325 C.E., the Nicene Council was held, where it was ordered that all original Gospels in Hebrew script should be destroyed. An Edict was issued that any one in possession of these Gospels will be put to death" (http://www.barnabas.net/) Jesus did not found Christianity and the Church (Paul did). Muhammad founded Islam. Muhammad taught a way of life from birth to death. Things as simple as one should sit down when they put their shoes on etc (This has been medically proven that putting your shoes on whilst standing and hunching causes lower back pain). He taught every day life issues etc. The Quran contains many scientific information that has been confirmed by science only in the last century. Would Muhammad have known all this stuff or is he a lucky guesser? The world as we know it today was influenced by Islam, scientifically, mathematically, medically, agriculturally as well as through art etc. Islam promoted education for both men and women whereas the Church forbade it and called it blasphemy and the penalty was death to anyone who would go against the Church (http://www.pbs.org/empires/islam/ a documentary by non-Muslim American historians and lecturers in religion) Islam is in no way derived from Zoroastrianism but follows on from Judaism as Christianity did. The list can go on for many pages, but I think that has said enough. So looking at the facts from a subjective point of view shows that there should be no doubt that Muhammad should be the first on the list. Regards M. S. Abdullah Churchiaya, an Evangelical Christian: Jesus should be even further down on list, the way to life eternal in narrow [email protected] offered an unusual perspective, reprinted here with his permission. Although he did not identify his denominational background, based on his email and his website (www.christisdeity.com), it is clear that he is an Evangelical. Clearly he is not a Catholic. He wrote: I am Christian and I feel that Mr. Hart's choice for #1 and #2 were appropriate; for the road to destruction is broad so that it is obvious that the biggest deception be listed first. I am thus disappointed that Jesus is not further down on his list and that pope john paul and the false doctrine of catholicism is not listed #3 after islam and science... As for the influence with respect 15 to Christianity, especially on this list reflects that the way to life eternal in narrow. This of course is to God's dismay, it is not His will that any should perish. Mr. Hart was correct in seeing that few were properly influenced in regard to true Christianity, for many people are worshipping a false christ. Moreover if one is not in darkness, they will not be offended by this list for in the end every knee will bow at the name of Jesus. Mark Aubart: Jesus is above all men Mark Aubart (29 October 2004) wrote to express the opinion that Jesus should not even be on a list of mortal men. He provided this explanation to post on this website: It is obvious to me, and it ought to be obvious to all mankind, that no research or understanding of who the "Christ" is went into the list of top 100 Religious Leaders. Hart does not seem to me to be legitimate in his creation of a list of mortals to include the CHRIST (Isa) in it at all. In fact, Jesus (the Christ) should not even be on the list, he is above all men, as he is (still today) the son of God - he LIVES! ALL people, everywhere, know this. Adherents would be best to either make note of this and remove his name from this list of mere men, or simply single him out above the list as "the Savior". Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected (the only man on earth ever in the history of the world to resurrect). Jesus lives! Isn't this enough to put him above mere man? Just take his name off the list (and make note of it) so you won't have to deal with this issue any longer. Your list shames man and humanity by placing the living Christ on that list of mortal beings. Christianity bases salvation on grace from God who sent his son for the final sacrifice for all men (all people). Christianity promises everlasting life for those who commit themselves to the seeking the WORD, receiving the holy spirit, and accepting Jesus as their personal savior. Jesus (Isa) removed labels and levels within the body of believers, we are all equal! Born-again Believers of the son of God "the WORD" (the WORD is GOD) MARK AUBART Musa Raza: Christ should be respected, but it is Muhammad who should be listed Number 1 With all my respect due to Mr. Mark, I think his respect towards Christ is mandatory as per his belief but only to my friend's remarks that the only man on earth ever in the history of the world to resurrect is The Christ. That's also the belief of all the Muslims on earth, it is true that Holy Prophet Essa (Christ) will come back before the Day of Judgment. But what would he say about our Holy Prophet Muhammad to whom Allah (God) called upon through His messenger Jibraeel (Gabriel) towards Him to meet His Holy body (Muhammad), Muhammad who met Allah and asked the forgiveness of not only his nation but for those who were to be coming toward Islam after His Virtual Demise as to the Muslims belief that all the Prophets sent from Allah are alive and living in heaven. Holy Muhammad came back to earth after meeting with Allah within no time according to the world, because when he came back to earth his door lock was moving and his bed was still warm so no one could imagine Allah's (God's) Miracles like this which All the Muslims celebrate as the night of Mairaj, So in the end what would my friend say about who is 16 the best among men or in other words The Best Among Humanity because He (Muhammad) was sent as Peace for all the world visible or invisible created by Allah he did not only sent His Messenger for Muslims but also for the worst humanity which was being tolerated by those who were living a most immoral carnage life in the history, In Qur'an Allah says that I sent You (Muhammad) as Peace to all the livings on earth and hereafter. Therefore there were no commandments for him that he's been sent only for Arabs or Muslims. He's the Prophet of every existence as Allah says in Qur'an That I created all the heavens and all the worlds just in your (Muhammad's) Love because you are the Best among My (Allah's) creations. One more thing I would like to clear for all the readers that Muhammad is Not the Author of Qur'an like Mr. Hart explained in his reason for Choosing Him the #1 most cogent person. Qur'an was sent by Allah Almighty through His messenger Jibraeel (Gabriel) not at once but with passage of time and completed in almost 23 years, Qur'an is Allah's message towards humanity in which Allah have cleared all the disbeliefs of other religions included. Musa RazaM. S. Abdullah's Reasons Why Muhammad (Not Jesus) Should be Ranked as Most Influential Person in History Dean Knoblauch of Canada: Alternative rankings or names of influential individuals who should be included in the "Top 100" For the most part Hart's list is accurately ranked and well rationalized. Clearly, Muhammad has affected the lives of a great many people on the planet and, coupled with the fanatical influence of the Quran on world population, including Christians, deserves to be ranked first. By similar rationale of how religion has affected the number of people in the world, alive and dead, Buddha and Confucius, whose teaching pervade the lives, and are followed by, even many Christians, should be ranked slightly ahead of Jesus Christ. Philo Farnsworth should be added to the list without saying as the inventor of the television. I agree with Jukka Vatanen of Finland, Nicola Tesla does precede Guglielmo Marconi. Marconi brought the radio to contemporary society, where it was made popular, but Tesla made it work first. Hernando Cortes, ranked at 63, is not noted [in the "Influence" column of table] for genocide of the Aztecs [but this notation should be added]; through introduction of disease and war he led the obliteration of the way of life for over 25 million people. This definitely puts him ahead of Francisco Pizarro and, in some ways, even ahead of Adolf Hitler for eliminating a way of life in the world for so many people before it's time. 17 Johann Sebastian Bach does not deserve the ranking of 72. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is far more widely recognized over time. At any rate, any composer, including Ludwig van Beethoven ranked at 45, should be ranked in the runner up section, at best. While many composers throughout history have touched the lives of others in some way, all others in the list affected a way of life for a great many people. Nicoli Machiavelli is noted for The Prince, but there is no mention of Sun Tzu for The Art of War in the ranking. Sun Tzu's writings should rank ahead of Nicoli Machiavelli for influencing both military and personal achievement and because it is still read and used by leaders today. John F. Kennedy should not be in the list; he is a runner up at best, but certainly not ranked ahead of Mikhail Gorbachev. Henry Ford should note for his achievement in manufacturing and assembly, as well as development of the automobile. His ranking should not change. Mikhail Gorbachev affected all of Russia, Europe, and North America, by ending the Cold War through Glasnost, nearly a religion in itself. Personally, for this achievement, I would rank Mikhail Gorbachev 28, right behind Karl Marx. By similar reasoning for the bringing together the Chinese, I would rank Sui Wen Ti at 69, behind William the Conqueror. Finally, I would add Miguel de Cervantes to the list at a rank of 45, behind John Locke for his prolific literature, including having an influence on William Shakespeare, but, more importantly, for influencing the way many people write and read by the example of the revolutionary style of the flowing narrative he is famous for: Don Quixote. Dr. M. A. Hafeez: Ibn Nafis instead of William Harvey first described the circulation of blood A Muslim biologist wrote to suggest that British scientist William Harvey should be replaced with Muslim scientist Ibn-e-Nafis: I looked through the list of 100 most influential personalities, by Hart... On circulation of blood the author gives credit to William Harvey (1578-1657). It was Ibn-e-Nafis (Allauddin Abul Hassan ali-bin-abi-al-Hazm al Qarshi-ud-Damishqui, 1210-1288, Damascus) who has been historically and correctly credited with discovery of circulation of blood. If the idea is to give credit to Harvey as a scientist, it would be fair to include him in the list but if importance is placed on discovery of circulation of blood, then Ibn-e-Nafis should replace him. Dr. Hafeez was very fair-minded in noting that Harvey may have been included for the sum of his contributions to science, and not simply for "discovering" the circulation of blood. Indeed, this is the case. In the "influence" column next to Harvey's name we previously mentioned only "discovery of the circulation of blood," which is does not do justice to all that Harvey did, and it does not do justice to all that historian Michael H. Hart discusses in the Harvey chapter of his book The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History. In response to Dr. Hafeez's letter, I replaced "discovered" with "described," although this should not be taken to mean that Harvey was the first to describe the circulation of blood. But his 1628 book An Anatomical Study of the Motion of the Heart and of the Blood in Animals was certainly immeasurably influential on 18 Western medical practice. I also added a note about Harvey's 1651 Essays on the Generation of Animals, which is the basis for modern embryology. None of this takes away from what Ibn Nafis accomplished. Mark Soakai: Joseph Smith is one of history's 50 most influential people Mark Soakai, a native of Tonga who lives in San Diego, California wrote: I really appreciate the time and effort you have spent to create this great website... I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and it bothers me that the founder of our church is not listed on the list of "History's 100 Most Influential People." Consider these facts: 1) 14th largest church in the world with more that 12 million and counting 2) The fastest growing church in the world 3) Founded by Joseph Smith on April 6th, 1830 (JUST 175 yrs ago) 4) The Book of Mormon was translated by Joseph Smith and was recently included in the list of the 20 most influential books in America by Book Magazine (http://www.bookmagazine.com/) You can work in to any Marriott Hotel in the world and you will find a Book of Mormon in their Hotel rooms. If it wasn't for Joseph Smith, there would never be a Brigham Young University. Apart from our love of sports, BYU is listed by US News (USNews.com) as on of the Top 50 Business Schools (ranked 40), and also one of the Top 50 Law Schools (ranked 35). I am hoping that one day, may be someone else other than the 12 million plus members of our church members will give this man, Joseph Smith, some credit. I hope this facts alone will earn Joseph Smith the right to be at least in the top among History's 100 Most Influential People. Thank you for what you do and all these informations you gathered and make it available for us to see on the internet. Hamzah Jaradat: Mohammad is the not the author of the Qu'ran Hamzah Jaradat of Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada wrote (26 April 2005): The sole author of the Qu'ran is not Mohammad, but God, this is a belief that all Muslims share. Mr. Hart's comments stating that Mohammad is the author of the Qu'ran are incorrect. The Qu'ran was sent to Mohammad piece by piece through memorization by the angle Jibreel (sent by God); Mr. Hart stated that Mohammad's thoughts and ideas were put into the Qu'ran by Mohammad. This is untrue, as I mentioned above; the sole author of the Qu'ran is Allah (meaning God in Arabic or Aramaic). However, Mohammad did show the Muslims (his companions) the way to lead a life successfully, happily and in an Islamic manner. He would talk, and share his ideas and thoughts with his companions. Muslims believe that this, his thoughts and knowledge, were a gift from God after Mohammad began his prophetic journey. His thoughts and ideas are a great part of the 19 fundamental Islamic belief and lifestyle. Mohammad's teachings are called Sunnah. An example of the Sunnah is as follows: The prophet used to pray 7 times a day while the only mandatory requirements (from Allah) were 5; some people today pray 7 times a day just like the prophet Mohammad (Sunnah) although it is not mandatory. Mr. Hart was incorrect in stating that the author of the Qu'ran is Mohammad, as I have briefly explained, the creator of the Qu'ran is Allah and not Mohammad. I hope to have informed you about the truth behind the Qu'ran and its author. Nauman Awan: Mohammad deserves to be ranked first. There are far more Muslim prayers than Christian prayers. Nauman Awan ([email protected]) sent us the following on 12 August 2005: This is to support the authors Michael H. Hart's decision in his book, History's 100 Most Influential People. According to him MUHAMMAD (SAW) deserves the first ranking. I have a very simple example and argument to support this decision. We Muslims, pray five times a day and before pray we give ADAN, a mandatory act to say our NAMAZ (PRAY). During ADAN we say that "MUHAMMAD IS THE LAST PROPHET OF ALLAH". This process continues 24 hrs a day in the whole world as you can well imagine our prayer timings, which changes due to longitude and latitude. That means if it is sunrise in east than we will say our morning pray while west Muslims will say their night pray. So in this way ADAN is being going on 24 hrs a day throughout the world. With all kind respect for Mr. Paul, his argument of JESUS NAME in 6 billion books and MUHAMMAD'S in 1 billion has no solid ground, without any proved research. And if it is there i.e. proved, can you compare a person whom NAME is being respectably called 24 hrs a day through out the whole world in groups of trillions of people, with a person whose NAME is called out only once in a week as a group. A PROPHET who carries a book from ALLAH (GOD), which has not been changed after 14 centuries, can you compare HIM with a PROPHET whose book itself has been changed many times? MUHAMMAD was sent by ALLAH and ALLAH REVEALED QURAN ON HIM, it is not HIS BOOK and ALLAH ALSO REVEALED BIBLE ON JESUS. Why QURAN has not been changed yet or no body has dared to change it? Because responsibility of protecting QURAN is being taken by ALLAH (GOD). The original version of BIBLE itself tells an incident in which JESUS was telling his followers about MUHAMMAD, who would come after HIM but with a long gap. And also HE is ordering them to follow HIM because HE WOULD BE LAST ONE AND THE LEADER OF ALL THE PROPHETS. 20 Being MUSLIMS we also believe that JESUS is alive and HE will come back when ALLAH (GOD) will ask HIM TO DO SO. But HE WILL COME AS A FOLLOWER OF MUHAMMAD BECAUSE HE WILL BE COMING IN MUHAMMADS ERA WHICH IS TILL THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT and no one can now come from ALLAH saying that I am the last prophet, because MUHAMMAD IS THE LAST PROPHET - THE NUMBER ONE and also THERE IS NO NEED OF ANY PROPHET BECAUSE HE HAS TOLD US EACH AND EVERYTHING THAT IS TO BE NEEDED TO UNDERSTAND THIS LIFE AND THE LIFE AFTER DEATH THROUGH QURAN AND THOURGH HIS HADITHS AND DEEDS (SUUNAH). The above arguments are made just to support the author’s point of view and have no intention to harm any Religion's credibility, or to harm any personal feelings. These arguments are made just to support authors decision and not to let any others arguments down or not to negate his understanding about author's point of view. Guralivu Paul: Christ should be first. Here's why Guralivu Paul [[email protected]] wrote (4 July 2005): With all respect for Muslims, Jesus Christ should be first because: * Everybody has a belief about Him. For example, Christians say He is God. Muslims say He is a prophet. Hindus says He is an incarnation of Krishna. Buddhists say He is only another path. So almost 6 billion people have this name in their books and in their teachings. Only 1 billion have the name Muhammad in their books. Only 330 millions have the name Buddha in their books and teachings. Only 900 millions have the name Krishna in their books and teachings. * Napoleon said that Jesus is the greatest man that ever lived. This is because He shares with us His divine love. Jesus has a great empire of love, and it remains with us after 2000 years. Many people had empires, but where are these empires today? * Every year 6 million Muslims leave Islam for Christ in Africa alone. (Ahmad Al Katani said this.) * Jesus should be the first because everybody agrees that He is alive. Christians say that He is alive. Muslims say that He is alive. Modern Pagans say that He is alive. I don't understand why Issac Newton is listed at #2 and Jesus #3. Issac Newton should be #3 because he did believe in Jesus and he loved Jesus. If Newton were alive today he would probably say that Jesus should be listed first. Patrick Egbuchunam: Jesus is first and clearly the greatest figure in human history 21 Patrick Egbuchunam of Lagos, Nigeria wrote (11 October 2005): I have been to your site on the web and must thank you for the information contained there. I wish to comment on the list of the 100 most influential people in human history and the listing of Mohammed as first, Isaac Newton as second and Jesus as third. Firstly, I must say that as you rightly pointed out, such an analysis is subjective. I also think it should not be done by only one person as was the case. It is best carried out by a committee of academic professors of world history who should come from varying religious and cultural backgrounds and must include atheists and secular humanists. I believe the sole author of your analysis did a bad job probably because he has Christian roots (I may be wrong) and did not want to be accused of bias. The simple truth is that Mohammed the founder of Islam has not affected human history the way the Galilean carpenter has. Firstly, the fact adduced that Jesus of Nazareth did not found an empire even makes his influence the more glaring. Jesus also did not write anything nor cause anything to be written about him while on earth. Secondly, Jesus is recognized by Christians the way Peter made his profession of faith. "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God". All Christians despite being hopelessly divided and fragmented hold fast to this statement and also use the New Testament without disagreement. On the other hand, Moslems and the Koran recognize Jesus as the Christ but declare that God cannot have a son. The Koran spends so much time debating and disputing Christianity's claim that Jesus is the Son of God, that the status of Jesus is the single most topical issue that Islam has had to confront in its fourteen centuries of existence. Jews totally reject Peter's profession of faith but Jesus for them remains an enigma and a mystery. The fact that a fellow Jew founded the world's most predominant and influential religion still baffles them to no end. Other religious groups such as Eckankar and the Grail message and even founders of major religious/philosophical systems such as Karl Marx who do not accept Peter's declaration still refer to Jesus in superlative terms, calling him, for example, "one of the masters," etc. The great influence of Jesus can be seen in the pre-eminent status of Europe (the so-called Christian continent). Europe colonized most of the world - Africa, Latin, Central and North America, Australasia and small parts of the Middle East and Asia. Missionaries followed the colonialists and adventurers everywhere. The Crusades against the Moslem Ottoman Turks were instigated by a Pope and actually brought Europe in contact with a better civilization and signaled the beginning of Europe's ascendancy. The quarrel was about the use of Jesus birthplace. Let us also consider that despite twelve centuries of different Moslem empires in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, these people did not make much technological and economic progress. It was Christian Europe that did. Even the discovery of oil in the Middle East in the 20th century 22 has not had much impact in the closed Moslem societies where women have no liberty and despots are in control. What about the modern miracle of the founding of the modern nation state of Israel? This was facilitated by the United States and Britain, two clearly Christian powers. Moslem protests, suicide attacks and terrorism have failed as Israel has gone on from strength to strength. What about the impact of the Papacy? Peter's successors for good or for bad have had a great impact on the world stage since Constantine legalized Christianity in 313 AD. For over sixteen centuries Popes have remained undisputed as the most visible, most influential and best known religious leaders in the world. We are all living witnesses to the impact of Pope John Paul II. He was not the first great Pope. Even going back to 1968, check out the mass reaction to Pope Paul's decision to ban artificial forms of contraception among Catholics. It generated wide furor. One can go on and on. One billion Moslems know him and debate and argue about Jesus. Two billion Christians worship him. This totals about half the earth's current population. But what about the Bible? The world's runaway best seller with over 6 billion copies sold. It is Jesus that makes the Bible tick. Without him it would just be the Jewish scriptures. What about the influence of his mother Mary? She is the most important woman in Islam and a whole chapter in the Koran is devoted to her (the only woman to be so honored by the Koran). In fact, Moslems always refer to Jesus as the son of Mary. The Koran accepts the virgin birth of Jesus. On the other hand, Mary divides Christians. One one hand are the half of the world's Christians who are Catholics (the world's biggest religious denomination) along with some other sects that revere and honor her. On the other hand are the other half that reject her pre-eminence or at best prefer to ignore her. To place Jesus at third place behind even Isaac Newton is, to say the least, a travesty of judgment, if I may call it that. I know that every child that goes through school learns of Newton in elementary physics, but what is the percentage of the world's children in school? Most of the humanitarian organizations that give aid to impoverished regions of the world where children cannot go to school are Christian. They bring Jesus along with their aid. I submit that Jesus is first and clearly the greatest figure in human history. Mohammed comes a distant second and Newton may be third. Thank you. Patrick Egbuchunam Lagos, Nigeria 23 Ramazan Saeed: Muhammad was a family man Ramazan Saeed wrote (31 October 2005): I was reading the section on your site about the religious affiliation of history's 100 most influential people (http://www.adherents.com/adh_influ.html). I would just like to make a point that everyone else seems to have forgotten, and please feel free to add this to your website. Many can argue whether Muhammad, Jesus and Newton should be the most influential using numbers on how many followers they have, how great a secular influence they had, whose empire was larger, etc etc. However one thing that differentiates one from the others, is that Muhammad was beyond what is already described, a family man. Not only did he marry, he also had children. And as any father alive will testify, marriage and the raising of children are very difficult tasks, and for Muhammad to do this as well as his other accomplishments show how great a man he was. Dragon Atma: Christopher Columbus didn't discover America; religious founders shouldn't top modern tech developers Dragon Atma wrote (31 May 2007): Christopher Columbus's only real draw is that he discovered America... problem is, he didn't! Leif Ericson discovered it a good five hundred years earlier. Don't believe me? They actually found the remains of a Norse settlemant in L'anse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland. Furthermore, sticking a religious founder at #1 is a complete joke. Why not stick other religious nutjobs like Osama Bin-Laden in too? As for who should go at the #1 spot, there are only three possibilities: The man who created computers, the man who created the internet, and the man who discovered electiricty -- all three changed the world more than jesus or mohammed did and in a far shorter amount of time. Time Magazine's Person of the Century Poll "While Time deliberated on its Person of the Century, the magazine's Web site invited readers to vote. [Source: The King of the Century" in the San Jose Mercury News, 27 Dec. 1999.; URL: http://www7.mercurycenter.com:80/premium/nation/docs/timebox27.htm] Elvis Presley Assemblies of God 624,574 Yitzhak Rabin Jewish 599,557 Adolf Hitler Nazism 516,408 Billy Graham Presbyterian, Baptist 470,477 Albert Einstein Jewish 443,630 24 Martin Luther King Jr. Baptist 381,462 Pope John Paul II Catholic 372,015 Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley Latter-day Saint 255,026 Mohandas Gandhi Hindu, Jain 163,940 Ronald Reagan Presbyterian 81,262 Source: Time Web site: www.pathfinder.com/time/ *Hinckley is president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In choosing their Person of the Century, Time did not use the poll results, but made their own decision. They chose Albert Einstein (Jewish). The runners-up for Time's Person of the Century were Franklin Roosevelt (an Episcopalian) and Mohandas Gandhi (a devout Hindu whose mother was a Jain and whose beliefs and practices were partially Jain). Most Influential Asians of the 20th Century Hirohito Ho Chi Minh Pol Pot Issey Miyake Daisuke Inoue Rabindranath Tagore Sun Yat-sen Mohandas Gandhi Sukarno Mao Zedong Lee Kuan Yew Deng Xiaoping Corazon Aquino Park Chung Hee Eiji Toyoda King Rama Swaminathan Akira Kurosawa Dalai Lama Akio Morita [Source: Nisid Hajari. "Asians of the Century" in Time Asia, August 23-30, 1999 Vol. 154 No. 7/8; URL: http://www.cnn.com/ASIANOW/time/asia/magazine/1999/990823/cover1.html] Useful Biography Links 25 Biography.com - In association with the A&E television show. Catalog of the Scientific Community in the 16th and 17th Centuries Related Links on this Web Site 100s: Books and Lists Ranking People in Various Categories The 100 Most Influential Jews in History The Film 100 - most influential people in movie history Religious Affiliation of History's Greatest Philosophers History's Great Religious Leaders Religious Affiliation of U.S. Presidents Religious Affiliation of U.S. Congress Religious Affiliation of Famous Science Fiction/Fantasy Writers Famous Adherents - Famous Christians, Famous Muslims, Famous Zoroastrians, etc. Most Admired Men and Women - Gallup poll results show Pope John Paul II, Billy Graham, Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley and Dalai Lama on short list of men Americans admire most The 100 Greatest Heroes of All Time The 100 Most Influential Military Leaders in History The 100 Most Influential Figures in Modern Business The 100 Most Influential Hispanics in American History The Novel 100: A Ranking of Greatest Novels All Time The 100 Most Influential Novelists, Playwrights, and Poets The 100 Greatest Golfers of All Time 100 Women Who Shaped World History 100 Most Powerful Women in the World 100 Greatest Men of All Time 100 Scientists Who Shaped World History The Millennium 100 - results of a reader poll: most influential people of the 2nd millennium B.C. Lists of Influential People Without Reference to or Information About Religious Affiliation Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century Biography of the Millennium - Top 100 most influential people of the millennium, from the A&E program Biography Our thanks to Jason Quartarone for assistance with some Voltaire, Marconi and Copernicus facts. Thanks to Joe Rowe for assistance with Johann Gutenberg info. Thanks to Ann RodgersMelnick of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for additional Edison information. 26