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.
- Mar Abba I — Metropolitan bishop and saint of the Assyrian Church of the East[36]
- Anastasius of Persia — was originally a Zoroastrian soldier in the Sasanian army, later converted to Christianity.
- Babowai — was Catholicos of Seleucia-Ctesiphon and Patriarch of the Church of the East from 457 to 484, during the reign of the Sassanid King Peroz I.
- Bademus — was a rich, noble citizen from Persia, who founded a monastery nearby.[39]
- Behnam, Sarah, and the Forty Martyrs — were 4th-century Christians who suffered martyrdom during the reign of Shapur II.
- Christina of Persia — was a Sasanian Persian noblewoman and Christian martyr.[41]
- Nadir Dinshaw — was a British Parsi philanthropist, businessman and accountant, he converted from Zoroastrianism to Christianity in the early 1960s.[42]
- Shapurji Edalji — probably the first person from South Asia to be made the vicar of an English parish.[43]
- Eustathius of Mtskheta — was an Orthodox Christian saint, executed for his apostasy from Zoroastrianism by the Sasanian military authorities in Caucasian Iberia.[44]
- George of Izla — was an East Syriac martyr, theologian and interpreter.
- Golinduch — was a noble Persian lady, She converted from Zoroastrianism to Christianity in the reign of Khosrau I.[46]
- Gregory the Commander — was a Sasanian military leader from the House of Mihran, who converted from Zoroastrianism to Christianity.[47]
- Varaz Grigor — was the Mihranid king of Caucasian Albania from 628 until his death in 638.
- Daisy Irani — an Indian actress in Hindi and Telugu language films.[48]
- Ishoʿsabran — was a Persian Zoroastrian convert to Christianity who was martyred in the Sasanian Empire in 620 or 621.[49]
- Javanshir — was the prince of Caucasian Albania from 637 to 680, hailing from the region of Gardman.
- Joseph Hazzaya — was an 8th-century Syriac Christian writer, ascetic and mystic.[50]
- Miles — was the bishop of Susa in Sasanian Persia from before 315 until his martyrdom in 340 or 341.
- Mirian III of Iberia — was a king of Iberia or Kartli.[52]
- Niketas the Persian — was a 7th-century Byzantine officer.[53]
- Peroz — was king of Gogarene and Gardman, ruling from 330 to 361. He converted to Christianity during his rule in Caucasus.[54]
- Piran Gushnasp — was appointed as the new governor (marzban) of Iberia. Between 540 and 542 he converted to Christianity.[55]
- Razhden the Protomartyr — was a 5th-century Persian nobleman in the service of the Georgian king Vakhtang I of Iberia and a convert to Christianity who was executed by the Sassanid military in Iberia.[56]
- Sagdukht — was a 5th-century queen consort of Iberia.[57]
- Salome of Armenia — was an Armenian princess.
- Sinharib — was an Assyrian king who controlled Nineveh in the fourth century AD.[60]
- Sultana Mahdokht — was the daughter of Pholar, the Prince of Dorsas.
- Theophobos — was an Iranian commander of the Khurramites who converted to Christianity.
- Tiridates III of Armenia — he proclaimed Christianity as the state religion of Armenia in 301, making the Armenian kingdom the first state to embrace Christianity officially.[62]
- Yazdin — was an influential Iranian aristocrat.
- Kim Dae-jung — President of South Korea from 1998 to 2003, and the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient.[66]
- Tony Fontane — popular recording artist in the 1940s and 1950s[67]
- 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.[68]
- René Girard (1923–2015) — philosophical anthropologist[69]
- William Onyeabor — Nigerian funk musician.
- Barbara Jones — Jamaican singer who after becoming a Christian gave up her secular career and released four Gospel albums.[70]
- 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.[71]
- Tony Orlando — American producer who reached fame as the lead singer of the group Tony Orlando and Dawn in the early 1970s. Interviewed on The 700 Club, he explained that he became a Christian in 1978, after life struggles.[72]
- Lou Gramm — lead singer of 1980s 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.[73] After surviving a brain tumour, he released a Christian rock album The Lou Gram Band (2009).[74]
- 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.[75][76][77] He changed his life direction and became an evangelist under his real name Abraham Philip Akpor Kojo Kenya.[78]
- 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.[79]
- Spencer Chamberlain — lead vocalist of the Christian metalcore band Underoath, was not raised in a religious home.[80]
- 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.[81]
- 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.[82]
- 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.[83][84]
- G.E.M. — notable Hong Kong singer who was baptized and became a Christian in 2011.[85]
- 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.[86][87][88]
"Witnessing The New Reach Of Pentecostalism". The Washington Post. 3 August 2002. Pentecostalism is widely recognized by religious scholars as the fastest-growing Christian movement in the world, reaching into many different denominations.
"Canadian Pentecostalism". McGill–Queen's University Press. 9 February 2009. One of the most significant transformations in twentieth-century Christianity is the emergence and development of Pentecostalism. With over five hundred million followers, it is the fastest-growing movement in the world. An incredibly diverse movement, it has influenced many sectors of Christianity, flourishing in Africa, Latin America, and Asia and having an equally significant effect on Canada.
"Protestantism: The fastest growing religion in the developing world". The Manila Times. 18 November 2017. At the heart of this religious resurgence are Islam and Pentecostalism, a branch of Protestant Christianity. Islam grew at an annual average of 1.9 percent between 2000 and 2017, mainly as the result of a high birth rate. Pentecostalism grew at 2.2 percent each year, mainly by conversion. Half of developing-world Christians are Pentecostal, evangelical or charismatic (all branches of the faith emphasize the authority of the Bible and the need for a spiritual rebirth). Why are people so attracted to it?.
Korean Overseas Information Service, A Handbook of Korea (1993) p, 132
Miller, 2006. pp. 185-186
F. Harik, Iliya (2017). Politics and Change in a Traditional Society: Lebanon 1711-1845. Princeton University Press. p. 241. ISBN 9781400886869. the Abillama' amirs, were mostly Christians converted from the Druze faith.
Shwayri, Raif (2016). Beirut on the Bayou: Alfred Nicola, Louisiana, and the Making of Modern Lebanon. SUNY Press. p. 14. ISBN 9781438460956. The Abillamah, by the way, also converted to Christianity when the Metn Mountains came to be densely inhabited by Christians, a second conversion for them, given that they already turned Druze earlier, relinquishing the Sunni religion
Nisan, Mordechai (2004). The Conscience of Lebanon: A Political Biography of Etienne Sakr (Abu-Arz). Routledge. p. 14. ISBN 9781135759520. Other earlier converts were the Abillamah Druze Emirs and Harfush Shiite.
al- H̲azīn, Farīd (2000). The Breakdown of the State in Lebanon, 1967–1976. Harvard University Press. p. 35. ISBN 9780674081055. So did other amirs, like the originally Druze Abi-llamah family, which also became Maronite
Salibi, Kamal (1900). A House of Many Mansions: The History of Lebanon Reconsidered. University of California Press. p. 162. ISBN 9780520071964. namely the emirs of the house of Abul - Lama, used to be Druzes before they converted to Christianity and became Maronites
Booth, Martin. Cannabis: A History. pp. 366, 367, 368.
Holweck, F. G. "A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints". St. Louis, Missouri: B. Herder Book Co., 1924.
John Wilson, The Star of Bethlehem and the Magi from the East: A Sermon Preached on the Occasion of the Baptism of a Parsi Youth 31 August, MDCCCLVI, Smith Taylor & Co, Bombay, 2nd ed, 1857
Michael G. Morony, Iraq after the Muslim Conquest, p. 299
Jean Maurice Fiey, Saints Syriaques (Darwin Press, 2004), pp. 100–102.
Kaegi (2003), pp. 188–189, 206
Binns, John. An Introduction to the Christian Orthodox Churches. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002, p. 30. ISBN 0-521-66738-0.
"Зара". Archived from the original on 2014-10-18. Retrieved 2014-10-18. До 2004 года Зара исповедовала езидизм, затем приняла христианство.
Clay and Thornton, "Sellers Executed For 3 Murders", The Daily Oklahoman, February 4, 1999.
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.
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- Rapp, S.H. Jr. (2003). Studies in Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts and Eurasian Contexts. Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium. Vol. 113. Peeters. ISBN 978-90-429-1318-9.
- Rassam, Suha (2005). Christianity in Iraq: Its Origins and Development to the Present Day. Gracewing Publishing.
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- Wardrop, Margery; Wardrop, J.O. (2006). "Life of St. Nino". In Margery Wardrop; Kirsopp Lake; G.H. Gwilliam; C.F. Rogers (eds.). Studies in Biblical and Patristic Criticism: Or Studia Biblica Et Ecclesiastica. Vol. 5. Gorgias Press. ISBN 1-59333-470-2.
- Wigram, William Ainger (1910). An Introduction to the History of the Assyrian Church or The Church of the Sassanid Persian Empire 100-640 A.D. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. ISBN 9780837080789.
- Wood, Philip (2013). The Chronicle of Seert: Christian Historical Imagination in Late Antique Iraq. Oxford University Press.