List of people who made multiple religious conversions
Encyclopedia
This is a list of people noted for having converted to two or more religions or religious movements. Their original religion is mentioned first when applicable. In certain cases the individual considered themselves to be of more than one religion at a time.
- SkanderbegSkanderbegGeorge Kastrioti Skanderbeg or Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu , widely known as Skanderbeg , was a 15th-century Albanian lord. He was appointed as the governor of the Sanjak of Dibra by the Ottomans in 1440...
- AlbanianAlbaniansAlbanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
monarch and military leader, National Hero of Albania, was born as an Eastern Orthodox, converted to Islam in his early years, but reverted back to Christianity later in life, dying as a Catholic. - Nicolas AntoineNicolas AntoineNicolas Antoine was a French-Christian Protestant theologian and pastor who converted to Judaism, though he was never officially admitted in Judaism, because of fears by the Jewish community that persecutions would happen if it became known that he was an apostate of Christianity; he was advised...
- Started in CatholicismCatholicismCatholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
; conversions Protestantism and Judaism. (not officially admitted to the last one) - Augustine of HippoAugustine of HippoAugustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
- Mixed Catholic/Pagan background with Catholic upbringing; conversions to ManichaeismManichaeismManichaeism in Modern Persian Āyin e Māni; ) was one of the major Iranian Gnostic religions, originating in Sassanid Persia.Although most of the original writings of the founding prophet Mani have been lost, numerous translations and fragmentary texts have survived...
, NeoplatonismNeoplatonismNeoplatonism , is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, based on the teachings of Plato and earlier Platonists, with its earliest contributor believed to be Plotinus, and his teacher Ammonius Saccas...
, and finally baptized Catholic. - Eldridge CleaverEldridge CleaverLeroy Eldridge Cleaver better known as Eldridge Cleaver, was a leading member of the Black Panther Party and a writer...
- Conversions/Associations to Nation of Islam then Evangelical Christianity then Mormonism. - Rod DreherRod DreherRod Dreher is an American writer and editor. He was a conservative editorial writer and a columnist for The Dallas Morning News, but departed that newspaper in late 2009 to affiliate with the John Templeton Foundation. He has also contributed in the past to The American Conservative and National...
- Started in MethodismMethodismMethodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
; conversions to Catholicism then Eastern Orthodoxy. - Daveed Gartenstein-RossDaveed Gartenstein-RossDaveed Gartenstein-Ross is an American counter-terrorism expert and attorney living in Washington D.C. He is the Director of the Center for the Study of Terrorist Radicalization at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank. He frequently consults on counter-terrorism...
- Jewish parents; conversions to Islam then Christianity. - Tom HanksTom HanksThomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
- Raised primarily in Catholicism then Mormonism; conversions to "born again" Christianity and Greek Orthodoxy. - Martin Harris - Undetermined Protestantism; Conversions to the Quakers, Universalists, Baptists, Presbyterians, and several denominations of MormonismMormonismMormonism is the religion practiced by Mormons, and is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the 1820s as a form of Christian primitivism. During the 1830s and 1840s, Mormonism gradually distinguished itself...
, Also may have been Methodist for a time. Known among Mormons as one of the Three WitnessesThree WitnessesThe Three Witnesses were a group of three early leaders of the Latter Day Saint movement who signed a statement in 1830 saying that an angel had shown them the golden plates from which Joseph Smith, Jr. translated the Book of Mormon and that they had heard God's voice testifying that the book had...
. - Lex HixonLex HixonLex Hixon was an accomplished author, poet, and spiritual teacher. He practiced and held membership in several of the world's major great religious traditions, and documented his spiritual explorations in nine books and many articles and teachings given to various groups...
- Not raised religious; Conversions to VedantaVedantaVedānta was originally a word used in Hindu philosophy as a synonym for that part of the Veda texts known also as the Upanishads. The name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedic hymns." It is also speculated that "Vedānta" means "the purpose or goal...
, SufismSufismSufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
. Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and possibly ZenZenZen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
. - Muhammad Khodabandeh (Oljeitu) - Nestorian Christian upbringing; Buddhism, Sunni IslamSunni IslamSunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
, and Shia Islam - David KirkDavid Kirk (activist)Father David Kirk was a civil rights and anti-poverty activist. He was reared a Baptist but converted to the Melkite Catholic Church , where he remained for most of his life...
- Originally Baptist; became a deacon in the Melkite Greek Catholic ChurchMelkite Greek Catholic ChurchThe Melkite Greek Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catholic Church. The Melkites, Byzantine Rite Catholics of mixed Eastern Mediterranean and Greek origin, trace their history to the early Christians of Antioch, Syria, of...
and later converted to the Orthodox Church in AmericaOrthodox Church in AmericaThe Orthodox Church in America is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in North America. Its primate is Metropolitan Jonah , who was elected on November 12, 2008, and was formally installed on December 28, 2008...
. - Debi MazarDebi MazarDeborah "Debi" Mazar is an American actress, perhaps best known for her Jersey Girl-type roles; as sharp-tongued women in independent films; and for her recurring role as press agent Shauna Roberts on the HBO series Entourage.-Early life:...
- Originally Catholic; Actress who reportedly converted to Buddhism, Judaism, and briefly the Jehovah's Witnesses. - Ibrahim NjoyaIbrahim NjoyaKing Ibrahim Njoya , distinguished ruler, intellectual, and inventor, was 17th in a long dynasty of kings that ruled over Bamum and its people in western Cameroon dating back to the 14th century. He succeeded his father Nsangu and ruled from 1886/7 until his death in 1933...
- Bamum peopleBamum peopleThe Bamum, sometimes called Bamoum, Bamun, Bamoun, or Mum, are an ethnic group of Cameroon with around 215,000 members.-Religion:...
religion; back and forth conversions from Islam to Christianity. Also created his own religion. - J. D. SalingerJ. D. SalingerJerome David Salinger was an American author, best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, as well as his reclusive nature. His last original published work was in 1965; he gave his last interview in 1980....
- Started in JudaismJudaismJudaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
; converted or experimented with Zen Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta, Dianetics, and Christian Science. - Ignaz Trebitsch-Lincoln- Born an Orthodox Jew, he converted to Lutheranism to escape Austro-Hungarian authorities, and then converted to both PresbyterianismPresbyterianismPresbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,...
and AnglicanismAnglicanismAnglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
and then finally converted to BuddhismBuddhismBuddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
towards the end of his life. He converted to all of said religions for selfish and not religious reasons; for example, in his final religious conversion, he stole from Buddhist monks and seduced nuns.