List of converts to Christianity

Converts to Christianity

Total population

2.7 million every year, according to the World Christian Encyclopedia[1] 10.2 million Muslim convert to Christianity according to 2015 study[2] Due primarily to conversion the number of Chinese Christians has increased significantly; from 4 million before 1949 to reaching 67 million today[3][4] Due primarily to conversion, Christianity has grown in South Korea from 2.0% in 1945[5] to 29.3% in 2010[6] Protestantism is growing as a result to conversion in Asia,[5][7][8][9][10] Latin America,[7][11][12] Muslim world,[13] and Oceania

The following is a list of notable people who converted to Christianity from a different religion or no religion. This article addresses only past voluntary professions of faith by the individuals listed, and is not intended to address ethnic, cultural, or other considerations such as Marriage. Certain people listed here may be lapsed or former converts, or their current religious identity may be ambiguous, uncertain or disputed. Such cases are noted in their list entries.

From major religions

• List of converts to Christianity from nontheism
• List of converts to Christianity from Buddhism
• List of converts to Christianity from Confucianism
• List of converts to Christianity from Hinduism
• List of converts to Christianity from Islam
• List of converts to Christianity from Judaism
• List of converts to Christianity from Paganism
• List of converts to Christianity from Sikhism

Cao Dai

• Phan Thị Kim Phúc - subject of a Pulitzer Prize winning photograph by "Nick" Ut,^[14] she now heads a fund for children victims of war.^[15]

Manichaeism

• St. Augustine of Hippo - was an early Christian theologian and philosopher.^[16]

Rastafarian

• Judy Mowatt - Jamaican reggae singer ^[17]
• Papa San - Jamaican reggae singer ^[18]
• Bob Marley - Jamaican reggae singer and musician

Zoroastrianism

• Mar Abba I - Metropolitan bishop and saint of the Assyrian Church of the East^[19]
• Shapurji Edalji - probably the first person from South Asia to be made the vicar of an English parish.

Yezidism

• Zarifa Pashaevna Mgoyan - Russian pop singer, model and actress convert to Eastern Orthodoxy after marriage.^[20]

Satanism

• Jason Massey - American murderer
• Sean Sellers - American murderer.^[21]

Skepticism

• Chip Ingram - American author and pastor of Venture Christian Church.

Undetermined

• Kim Dae-jung - President of South Korea from 1998 to 2003, and the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient.^[22]
• Tony Fontane - popular recording artist in the 1940s and 1950s^[23]
• Wernher von Braun (1912-1977) - German aerospace engineer and space architect considered a "father of rocket science". Von Braun's religious conversion occurred in 1946 after he visited a church in Texas.
• René Girard (1923-2015) - philosophical anthropologist^[24]
• William Onyeabor - Nigerian funk musician.
• Barbara Jones - Jamaican singer who after becoming a Christian gave up her secular career and released four Gospel albums.^[25]
• Gloria Gaynor - American singer, best known for her disco era hits, notably "I Will Survive". After what she referred to as a sinful lifestyle, and a search in different faiths, she became a Christian and rejected several things from her former musical career.^[26]
• Tony Orlando - American producer who reached fame as the lead singer of the group Tony Orlando and Dawn in the early 1970s. Interviewed in the 700 Club, he explained that he became a Christian in 1978, after life struggles.^[27]
• Lou Gramm - lead singer of 80's band Foreigner. He struggled with sex, drugs and rock n'roll, and in 1992, after having completed a stint in a rehab center, he became a born again Christian.^[28] After surviving a brain tumour, he released a Christian rock album The Lou Gram Band (2009).^[29]
• Lord Kenya - pioneer of Ghanaian Hiplife and multiple award-winning musician who in 2010 became a Christian after visiting a Church where he said he had an experience with the Holy Spirit and a warning of repentance.^[30][31][32] He changed his life direction and became an evangelist under his real name Abraham Philip Akpor Kojo Kenya.^[33]
• Nicko McBrain - drummer of heavy metal band Iron Maiden.
• Jin Au-Yeung - Chinese-American hip hop rapper, songwriter and actor. Became a born again Christian in 2008.^[34]
• Spencer Chamberlain - lead vocalist of the Christian metalcore band Underoath, was not raised in a religious home.^[35]
• Dave Mustaine - former lead guitarist of Metallica and co-founder and lead guitarist of Megadeth. Though raised as a Jehovah Witness, he left religion early in his youth and later practiced satanism and occult practices. In 2002 he became a born-again Christian.^[36]
• Kunle Ajayi - Nigerian saxophonist and veteran of Gospel music in his country. He became a Christian when he was in High School. Later, along with his musical career, he also became a Pastor.^[37]
• Abraham Laboriel - prominent Mexican bassist who has participated in over 5,000 studio albums along with international musicians. He became a Christian and recorded several Gospel albums and he has continued to play along with Christian and secular musicians.^[38][39]
• G.E.M. - notable Hong Kong singer who was baptized and became a Christian in 2011.^[40]
• Vanity - former front woman of Vanity 6 who after becoming a Christian renounced her stage name and music and started to preach in different parts of the U.S.^[41][42][43]

See also

• Conversion to Christianity
• Lists of former Christians

Notes and references

1. David B. Barrett; George Thomas Kurian; Todd M. Johnson, eds. (February 15, 2001). World Christian Encyclopedia p.360. Oxford University Press USA. ISBN 0195079639.
2. Johnstone, Patrick; Miller, Duane Alexander (2015). "Believers in Christ from a Muslim Background: A Global Census". Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion. 11: 8. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
3. MIller, 2006. pp. 185-186
4. China accused of trying to 'co-opt and emasculate' Christianity, The Guardian, Tuesday 17 November 2015
5. Korean Overseas Information Service, A Handbook of Korea (1993) p, 132
6. "Global Christianity: Regional Distribution of Christians". Pew Research Center. December 19, 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
7. Ostling, Richard N. (24 June 2001). "The Battle for Latin America's Soul". TIME.com. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
8. China on course to become 'world's most Christian nation' within 15 years
9. "In China, Protestantism's Simplicity Yields More Converts Than Catholicism". International Business Times. 28 March 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
10. Miller, 2006. pp. 185-186
11. Chris Arsenault. "Evangelicals rise in Latin America". Retrieved 14 February 2015.
12. "Religion in Latin America, Widespread Change in a Historically Catholic Region". http://www.pewforum.org. Pew Research Center, November 13, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2015. External link in |website= (help)
13. Believers in Christ from a Muslim Background: A Global Census
14. Canadian Christianity.com
15. Kim Foundation
16. ;
17. http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608003963/Judy-Mowatt.html
18. http://194.154.164.100/~[e-mail]/4artisttrackdb/showarticle.php?id=86
19. Holweck, F. G. "A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints". St. Louis, Missouri: B. Herder Book Co., 1924.
20. http://kurd-art.com/index.php/en/everything-for-you/music/music/188-zara До 2004 года Зара исповедовала езидизм, затем приняла христианство.
21. Clay and Thornton, "Sellers Executed For 3 Murders", The Daily Oklahoman, February 4, 1999.
22. "John Paul II's appeal saved future Korean president from death sentence". Catholic News Agency. 21 May 2009. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
23. Wonderful Words of Life: Hymns in American Protestant History and Theology By Richard J. Mouw, Mark A. Noll (Accessed 14 June 2007)
24. "In the winter of 1959 [René Girard] experienced a conversion to Christian faith which had been preceded by a kind of intellectual conversion while he was working on his first book." René Girard:A Biographical Sketch, by James G. Williams
25. Musical tributes for Barbara Jones
26. Gloria Gaynor: Surviving In Christ. 700 Club
27. Tony Orlando's Brush With Death, cbn.com; accessed June 23, 2014
28. Lou Gramm Knows What Love Is
29. Lou Gramm Knows What Love Is (Extended Version)
30. Lord Kenya | Born Again
31. Lord Kenya - A new man
32. Truly Born Again! Lord Kenya says he cannot stand the smell of weed and alcohol now
33. Stations and DJs are not helping my cause - Lord Kenya
34. http://www.allhiphop.com/stories/news/archive/2009/09/03/21923200.aspx
35. The best interview ever with the lead men of UnderOath Norma Jean As I Lay Dying - Buzznet
36. Top 10 Rockers Who Found God > 5. Dave Mustaine
37. NAIJ.com Kunle Ajayi speaks on music, rising from poor background. H. Igwe. March, 2016
38. Sevilla, María Eugenia. 2016. Abraham Laboriel, el discreto brillante. El Financiero.
39. Toma Tu Lugar Conference (Official Youtube Chanel). Conferencia TOMA TU LUGAR - Reforma 2015 - Entrevista Abraham Laboriel. Sep 15, 2015
40. China Christian Daily. "Christian Singer G.E.M. Nominated on the 2016 Forbes 30 Under 30 for Music". Grace Zhi. January 12, 2016
41. Goblanerías.com. Muere a los 57 años de edad la cantante Vanity. 16 de febrero de 2016.
42. Rettenmund, Matthew (1996). Totally Awesome 80s: A Lexicon Of the Music, Videos, Movies, TV shows, Stars, and Trends Of That Decadent Decade. Macmillan. p. 57. ISBN 0-312-14436-9.