Research Guides: World Religions: Home

Religious Leaders

In the world's major religions and philosophies there exist some well-known leaders. Here are a few of them for consideration:

Buddhism:

the Buddha (Gautama Buddha)

The 14th Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso)

Confucianism:

Confucius

Islam:

Muhammad (Muhammad ibn Abdullāh)

Judaism:

Moses - prophet

Catholicism:

Pope Francis

Christianity (also Protestantism):

Jesus of Nazareth

Martin Luther

Hinduism:

Mātā Amṛtānandamayī Devī (Amma)

New Religious Movements:

Mormonism (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints):

Joseph Smith, Jr.

Brigham Young

Current President - Russel M. Nelson

Unification Movement:

Sun Myung Moon

Scientology:

L. Ron Hubbard

TED-ed video - The five major world religions - John Bellaimey
It's perfectly human to grapple with questions, like 'Where do we come from?' and 'How do I live a life of meaning?' These existential questions are central to the five major world religions -- and that's not all that connects these faiths. John Bellaimey explains the intertwined histories and cultures of Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam

Religious Composition by Country
The religious profile of the world is rapidly changing, driven primarily by differences in fertility rates and the size of youth populations among the world’s major religions, as well as by people switching faiths. The table below details the estimated religious composition of 198 countries and territories for 2010 to 2050.

World Religions Fact Sheet
This World Religions Fact Sheet provides a good overview of the basic tenets of the world's major religious traditions.

Internet Sacred Text Archive
This mega-site offers full text sources of scripture and religious texts from many world religions.
World Religions Introduction
An introduction to explain the differences between various types of religious organizations, understand classifications of religion, and describe several major world religions.
Virtual Religion Index
Provides links to religious web sites, including those dealing with Buddhism, East Asian religions, Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, and may more.
Religious Studies Web Guide
This web site, in existence since 1995, focuses on free (open-access) internet resources ( bibliographies/indexes, library and archive catalogues, dictionaries/encyclopedias, e-texts and journals) supporting the academic study of religion. It is compiled by Cheryl Adams, Library of Congress and Saundra Lipton, University of Calgary Library.
Websites on Religion: World Religions
The Atla Websites on Religion LibGuide is a growing, selective, annotated collection of web resources for the study of religion.