List of ex-Christians
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of people who left Christianity for another religion or a non-religious ideology.
Contents |
[edit] Ex-Christians who had been Anglican
This section is for those who left varying forms of Anglicanism in favor of a non-Christian religion or ideology.
[edit] Atheism and non-theism
- Don Cupitt, Once ordained and still believes in elements of Christianity in a non-theist sense.
[edit] Judaism
- Lord George Gordon, After being excommunicated by the Archbishop of Canterbury. He ultimately became Yisrael bar Avraham Gordon.
[edit] Ex-Christians who had been Catholics (Roman and Eastern Rite)
This section is for people who left the Roman Catholic Church or one of the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches in favor of a non-Christian denomination or ideology.
[edit] Atheist or Humanist
- Barbara Smoker, A former President of the National Secular Society (1971-1996).
- Julia Sweeney, atheist comedian on the advisory board of the Secular Coalition for America
[edit] Buddhism
- Alanis Morissette, singer-songwriter
- Sting, né Gordon Matthew Sumner, British musician/actor
[edit] Islam
- Gary Miller (Abdul-Ahad Omar) - former priest & missionary administration of the Committee on Relations with Public Associations
- Diana Haddad, Singer raised in the Maronite Church, which is in full-communion with Rome.
- Murad Wilfred Hofmann, diplomat.
- Matthew Saad Muhammad, boxer.
[edit] Judaism
- Bishop Bodo, confessor to Louis the Pious also deacon[1]
- Abraham ben Abraham, Polish Talmudic scholar (conflicting stories though)
- Cameron Kerry, brother of U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry
- Anne Meara (1929 - ) American comedian and actress, partner and wife of Jerry Stiller[2]
[edit] Scientology
- Tom Cruise - American actor [3] [4]
[edit] Ex-Christians who had been Eastern Christians
This section is for those who left varying forms of Eastern Christianity in favor of a non-Christian religion or ideology.
[edit] Communists and non-Christian Socialists
- Nikolai Chernyshevsky - Utopian socialist thinker and materialist.
[edit] Converts to Islam
- Cat Stevens, legendary musician and singer-songwriter, now known as "Yusuf Islam"
- Omar Pasha-From Serbian Orthodoxy.
- Ilie II Rareş-Changed his named to "Mehmet" on conversion, he later died in Aleppo.
[edit] Ex-Christians who had been Protestants
[edit] Atheism, Deism, and non-theist ideologies
- Karl Marx - His parents converted to the Lutheran Church, he advocated Christianity in his earliest writings.
- Normal Bob Smith-Graphic artist and parodist of Christianity
- Charles Templeton-Christian and Missionary Alliance evangelist turned agnostic.
[edit] Converted to Islam
- Martin Lings-Converted to Sufi Islam.
- Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood-Converted to Islam.
- Alexander Russell Webb-Converted to Islam
- Benjamin Chavis Muhammad-Converted to the Nation of Islam from Congregationalism.
[edit] Judaism
- Shlomo Ben Avraham "Ole" Brunell, former Lutheran minister from Finland and Australia. Along with him, his wife Ruth (formerly Runa), two adult daughters, two teenage daughters, and a former son-in-law also converted.[5]
- Johann Peter Spaeth, German theologian[6] "Johann Peter Spaeth (about 1642-1701), author of an attack on Spinoza's Tractatus Theologico-politicus, finally became a Jewish convert, called himself "Moses Germanus," and was even circumcised a few years before his death in 1697"
- Obadiah the Proselyte (né Johannes), priest and composer [7].
- Shlomo Ben Avraham "Ole" Brunell-Lutheran minister who converted to Judaism.
[edit] See also
- List of converts to Christianity
- List of Catholic converts
- List of former proponents of atheism
- List of former Protestants
- List of ex-Roman Catholics
- Former Latter-day Saints
- List of former Muslims
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
- ^ O'Toole, Lesley. "Ben Stiller : 'Doing comedy is scary'", The Independent, 2006-12-22. Retrieved on December 22, 2006.
- ^ [1] "RD: You were Catholic originally. Cruise: Well, we went from Episcopalian, to atheist, to Catholic..."
- ^ [2] "In 1990 Cruise renounced his devout Catholic beliefs and embraced The Church Of Scientology claiming that Scientology teachings had cured him of the dyslexia that had plagued him all of his life."
- ^ Jerusalem Post
- ^ Commentary Magazine
- ^ [3]
