Religious Figures & Scholars, WIL-ḤUS
Discover the influential religious figures and scholars whose teachings, writings, reforms, and example have shaped belief, practice, and spiritual life across traditions.
Religious Figures & Scholars Encyclopedia Articles By Title
William Of Saint-amour
William Of Saint-amour was a French philosopher and theologian who led the opposition at the University of Paris......
William of Saint-Thierry
William of Saint-Thierry was a French monk, theologian, and mystic, and a leading adversary of early medieval rationalistic......
Williams, Rowan
Rowan Williams is a noted theologian, was the 104th archbishop of Canterbury (2002–12), archbishop of the Church......
Williams, William
William Williams was a leader of the Methodist revival in Wales and its chief hymn writer. His parents were Nonconformists,......
Willibrord, Saint
Saint Willibrord ; feast day November 7) was an Anglo-Saxon bishop and missionary, apostle of Friesland, and a......
Wilson, A.N.
A.N. Wilson is an English essayist, journalist, and author of satiric novels of British society and of scholarly......
Winchelsey, Robert
Robert Winchelsey was an archbishop of Canterbury who was a champion of clerical privilege and a leading opponent......
Winchester, Elhanan
Elhanan Winchester was an American preacher and revivalist who helped to spread Universalism in the United States.......
Wise, Isaac Mayer
Isaac Mayer Wise was a rabbi whose goal of uniting American Jewry made him the greatest organizer of Reform Jewish......
Wise, Stephen Samuel
Stephen Samuel Wise was a Reform rabbi, a leader of the Zionist movement in the United States, and a liberal activist......
Wiseman, Nicholas
Nicholas Wiseman was the first cardinal resident in England since the Reformation and the first archbishop of Westminster.......
Wishart, George
George Wishart was an early martyr of the Reformation in Scotland. While a teacher of Greek at Montrose, Wishart......
Wolsey, Thomas, Cardinal
Thomas, Cardinal Wolsey was a cardinal and statesman who dominated the government of England’s King Henry VIII......
Wood, Mary Elizabeth
Mary Elizabeth Wood was an American librarian and missionary, whose efforts brought numerous libraries to China......
Woodard, Nathaniel
Nathaniel Woodard was an Anglican priest and founder of middle class public schools. An Oxford graduate, he was......
Woodruff, Wilford
Wilford Woodruff was the fourth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), who issued......
Woolman, John
John Woolman was a British-American Quaker leader and abolitionist whose Journal is recognized as one of the classic......
Woolston, Thomas
Thomas Woolston was an English religious writer and Deist. Woolston became a fellow at the University of Cambridge......
Wovoka
Wovoka was a Native American religious leader who spawned the second messianic Ghost Dance cult, which spread rapidly......
Wright, Laura Maria Sheldon
Laura Maria Sheldon Wright was an American missionary who devoted her energies unstintingly to the education and......
Wu Li
Wu Li was a Chinese painter who was a member of the orthodox school of “literati painting” (wenrenhua) in the early......
Wulfstan
Wulfstan was the bishop of London, 996–1002, archbishop of York, 1002–23, and bishop of Worcester, 1002–16. He......
Wulfstan, Saint
Saint Wulfstan was the bishop of Worcester from 1062, the last surviving English holder of a bishopric after the......
Wycliffe, John
John Wycliffe was an English theologian, philosopher, church reformer, and promoter of the first complete translation......
Wykeham, William of
William of Wykeham was an English prelate and statesman, the founder of Winchester College and of New College,......
Wyszyński, Stefan
Stefan Wyszyński was the Polish archbishop of Gniezno and Warsaw and primate of Poland. After study at Warsaw,......
Wāṣil ibn ʿAṭāʾ
Wāṣil ibn ʿAṭāʾ was a Muslim theologian considered the founder of the Muʿtazilah sect. As a young man Wāṣil went......
Wŏnhyo
Wŏnhyo was a Buddhist priest who is considered the greatest of the ancient Korean religious teachers. A renowned......
Xavier, St. Francis
St. Francis Xavier ; canonized March 12, 1622; feast day December 3) was the greatest Roman Catholic missionary......
Xenophanes
Xenophanes was a Greek poet and rhapsode, religious thinker, and reputed precursor of the Eleatic school of philosophy,......
Yacoub, Mor Ignatius, III
Mor Ignatius Yacoub III was a Syriac Orthodox patriarch of Antioch who combined scholarship and dedication with......
Yaḥyā
Yaḥyā was a Zaydī imam of Yemen from 1904 to 1948. When Yaḥyā was a child, Yemen was a province of the Ottoman......
Yaḥyā Ṣobḥ-e Azal, Mīrzā
Mīrzā Yaḥyā Ṣobḥ-e Azal was the half brother of Bahāʾ Ullāh (the founder of the Bahāʾī faith) and leader of his......
Yāsīn, ʿAbd al-Salām
ʿAbd al-Salām Yāsīn was a Moroccan religious leader. A former school inspector fluent in English and French, he......
Zaccaria, Saint Antonio Maria
Saint Antonio Maria Zaccaria ; canonized May 27, 1897; feast day July 5) was an Italian priest, physician, and......
Zamakhsharī, Abu al-Qāsim Maḥmūd ibn ʿUmar al-
Abu al-Qāsim Maḥmūd ibn ʿUmar al-Zamakhsharī was a Persian-born Arabic scholar whose chief work is Al-Kashshāf......
Zarathushtra
Zarathushtra ; Traditional dates: 628–551 bce) was an Iranian religious reformer and prophet, traditionally regarded......
Zechariah
Zechariah was a Jewish prophet whose preachings are recorded in one of the shorter prophetical books in the Old......
Zedekiah
Zedekiah was the king of Judah (597–587/586 bc) whose reign ended in the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and......
Zephaniah
Zephaniah was an Israelite prophet, said to be the author of one of the shorter Old Testament prophetical books,......
Zephyrinus, St.
St. Zephyrinus ; feast day August 26) was the pope from about 199 to 217. Of humble birth, he succeeded Pope St.......
Zerubbabel
Zerubbabel was the governor of Judaea under whom the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple at Jerusalem took place. Of......
Zhiyi
Zhiyi was a Buddhist monk, founder of the eclectic Tiantai (Japanese: Tendai) Buddhist sect, which was named for......
Zigabenus, Euthymius
Euthymius Zigabenus was a Byzantine theologian, polemicist for Greek Orthodoxy, and biblical exegete whose encyclopaedic......
Zinzendorf, Nikolaus Ludwig, Graf von
Nikolaus Ludwig, count von Zinzendorf was a religious and social reformer of the German Pietist movement who, as......
Zophar
Zophar, in the Book of Job (2:11, 11:1, 20:1, 42:9), one of the three comforters of Job, a biblical archetype of......
Zosimus, Saint
Saint Zosimus ; feast day December 26) was the pope from March 417 to December 418. He was consecrated as Pope......
Zwingli, Huldrych
Huldrych Zwingli was the most important reformer in the Swiss Protestant Reformation. He founded the Swiss Reformed......
Ātmārāmjī
Ātmārāmjī , important Jain reformer and revivalist monk. He was born a Hindu but as a child came under the influence......
Śāntirakṣita
Śāntirakṣita was an Indian Buddhist teacher and saint who was instrumental in the development of Tibetan Buddhism.......
Ŭisang
Ŭisang was a Buddhist monk and founder of the Hwaŏm (Chinese: Hua-yen) sect of Korean Buddhism. He devoted himself......
ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī
ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī was the traditional founder of the Qādirīyah order of the mystical Ṣūfī branch of Islām.......
ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-ʿAbbās
ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-ʿAbbās was a Companion of the prophet Muḥammad, one of the greatest scholars of early Islām,......
ʿAbduh, Muḥammad
Muḥammad ʿAbduh was a religious scholar, jurist, and liberal reformer, who led the late 19th-century movement in......
ʿAlī
ʿAlī was the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, and fourth of the “rightly guided” (rāshidūn)......
ʿAlī al-Riḍā
ʿAlī al-Riḍā was the eighth imam of the Twelver Shīʿites, noted for his piety and learning. In 817, the caliph......
ʿUmar I
ʿUmar I was the second Muslim caliph (from 634), under whom Arab armies conquered Mesopotamia and Syria and began......
ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān
ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān was the third caliph to rule after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. He centralized the administration......
Ḥallāj, al-
al-Ḥallāj was a controversial writer and teacher of Islamic mysticism (Ṣūfism). Because he represented in his person......
Ḥamzah ibn ʿAlī
Ḥamzah ibn ʿAlī was one of the founders of the Druze religion. Almost nothing is known of his life before he entered......
Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, al-
al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī was a deeply pious and ascetic Muslim who was one of the most important religious figures in......
Ḥasan-e Ṣabbāḥ
Ḥasan-e Ṣabbāḥ was the leader, and believed to be the founder, of the Nizārī Ismāʿīliyyah, a Shiʿi Islamic sect......
Ḥillī, al-
al-Ḥillī was a theologian and expounder of doctrines of the Shīʿī, one of the two main systems of Islam, the other......
Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, al-
al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī was a hero in Shiʿi Islam, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fāṭimah and......