Effective CPM

Effective CPM

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christian people who changed the world

Welcome to Christian Heroes

This web site exists because far too few Christians know of their true heritage. They know very little about the men and women of faith who were obedient to the call of God. These men and women are heroes, Christian heroes, who laid down their lives (often literally) and gave us the rich Christian heritage that we have today.

If you want to know who we are mentioning in this site then please follow this people link. From there you can go directly to the information about the people you select. However we do have some themes that allow you to see individuals within the context of a much larger event. Currently these themes are:

 The Abolition of the Slave Trade

 The History of the Reformation

The Reformation was an important period in our history. The Protestant church was established amidst a new era of the revelation of the Word of God to ordinary people. Suddenly anyone who could read was able to see the Bible for themselves. This was a dangerous time for the Christian. Persecution abounded. There are many cities and towns in the United Kingdom which have memorials to people who were martyred for their faith in Christ and their desire to read the Bible in English.

Of course most Christians will know of some missionaries. These heroes, both men and women, took the message that God loves us around the world. The United Kingdom in particular sends missionaries throughout the world and churches were established in most countries. Perhaps the fact that modern day UK Christians do not really know their heritage is why we in the United Kingdom are now receiving missionaries from these other countries to work in our towns and cities!

People will also know of some Evangelists, for example Florence Nightingale is a very well known name! But what about Mildred Cable? And there are plenty of other men and women who dedicated their lives to the work that God wanted them to do. Their influence on today's society was immense.

The world is now going through a period of postmodernism where leaders, even in the church, declare that there is now no absolute right or wrong but that anybody can do what they think is right(Judges 17:6). This is the complete opposite of God's word to us. I hope that you will see in the lives of these Christian heroes the measure of God's love for us.

Rank	Name	Religious Affiliation	Influence
1	Muhammad	Islam	Prophet of Islam; conqueror of 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 Arianism of the Primitive Church)	physicist; theory of universal gravitation; laws of motion
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
21	Constantine the Great	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 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 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; Catholic	Early Christian theologian
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., 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 birth-control 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
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 Catholic-Monophysite 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 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 ; 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.

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.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 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.

Churchiaya@aol.com, 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.

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.

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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 somebody had to write them. That person (or persons) would clearly be highly influential on human history, regardless of the particulars of his life.]

Steve Petersen [steve_petersen@msn.com] 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:

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.our-home.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.

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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 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.

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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.

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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
	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