List of converts to Christianity from paganism

This is a list of notable converts to Christianity from pagan religions. Paganism is a term which, from a Western perspective, has come to connote a broad set of spiritual or cultic practices or beliefs of any folk religion, and of historical and contemporary polytheistic religions in particular.

While the term has historically been used to denote adherents of any non-Abrahamic faith, for the purposes of this list, only adherents of non-major polytheistic, shamanistic, pantheistic, or animistic religions will be listed in this section.

British Isles/Celtic/Germanic (excluding Norse) paganism

• Aebbe the Elder - Scottish monastic founder.[1]
• Saint Alban - first Christian martyr in Britain.[2]
• Cenwalh of Wessex - King of Wessex.[3]
• Constantine of Cornwall - 6th-century king of Dumnonia.
• Saint Constantine of Strathclyde - King of Strathclyde, and later abbot of Rahan.[4]
• Óengus mac Nad Froích - 5th century King of Munster
• Cynegils - Anglo-Saxon king of the West Saxons.[5]
• Raedwald of East Anglia - King of East Anglia from about AD 599 to about AD 625.[6]
• Sigeberht of East Anglia - King of East Anglia from AD 631 to 634.[7]
• Riderch Hael - King of Strathclyde who established the first See of Strathclyde at Glasgow.[8]
• Æthelberht of Kent - King of Kent.[9]
• Clovis I - early king of the Franks.[10]
• Igraine - mother of King Arthur
• Peada of Mercia - King of southern Mercia; helped found the monastery at Peterborough.[11]
• Leonard of Noblac - Frankish noble in the court of Clovis I.[12]
• Edwin of Northumbria - King of Deira and Bernicia.
• Rumwold - legendary "infant saint".[13]
• Saint Bavo - Frankish eremitic monk who lived during the Middle Ages.[14]

Norse paganism

• Leif Ericson - Icelandic Viking explorer.[15]
• Guthrum of East Anglia - King of the Danish Vikings in the Danelaw.[16]
• Rollo of Normandy - founder of Viking province of Normandy.[17]
• Saint Olaf - King of Norway.[18]
• Rorik of Dorestad - Danish Viking leader.[19]

Graeco-Roman Paganism

• Saint Apollonius - 2nd-century Roman Senator, Christian apologist and martyr.[20]
• Coelia Concordia - last Roman Vestal Virgin.[21]
• Commodianus - Latin poet; first practiced Judaism, and later converted to Christianity.[22]
• Constantine I (the Great) - Roman Emperor who legalized Christianity in the Edict of Milan in 313.[23]
• Pertinax of Byzantium - Bishop of Byzantium from 169 until his death in 187.[24]
• Athenagoras of Athens - philosopher and early Christian apologist.[25]
• Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite - judge of the Areopagus and early Bishop of Athens.[26]
• Saint Eustace - early Christian who was martyred, with his family, in a brazen bull.[27]
• Evodius - early Bishop of Antioch who (according to tradition) first called the disciples of Christ "Christians".[28]
• Gaius Marius Victorinus - Roman philosopher.[29]
• Honoratus - former Archbishop of Arles.[30]
• Pancras of Rome - early Roman Christian martyr.[31]
• Saint Pantaleon (Panteleimon) - early Christian physician and martyr.[32]
• Saint Cyriacus - early Christian saint.[33]
• Saint Julius the Veteran - early Christian martyr.[34]
• Sabinian of Troyes - Christian martyr.[35]
• Tertullian - author and apologist; coined the Latin term for 'Trinity.'
• Lactantius - early Christian author.[36]
• Theophilus of Antioch - early Patriarch of Antioch.[37]
• Justin Martyr - early Christian apologist.[38]
• Polycarp - early Christian bishop.[39]

Egyptian paganism

• Horapollo - leader of the few remaining pagan schools of Menouthis during Emperor Zeno's reign (474-491) who converted to Christianity after being tortured.[40]

Mideastern and Arabian paganism

• Waraqah ibn Nawfal - Parental cousin of Khadija, Muhammad's first wife.[41]
• Rabbula - early Bishop of Edessa.[42]

African traditional religions

• Charles Atangana - paramount chief of the Ewondo and Bane ethnic groups in Cameroon; first Ewondo to be baptised.[43]
• Francis Arinze - Nigerian Roman Catholic cardinal.[44]
• Félix Houphouët-Boigny - first President of Côte d'Ivoire.
• Frederick William Koko Mingi VIII of Nembe - 19th-century king of Nembe who later returned to animism[45]
• Samuel Ajayi Crowther - first African Anglican bishop in Nigeria.[46]
• Jomo Kenyatta - first Prime Minister and President of Kenya.[47]
• Bernard Mizeki - African Christian missionary and martyr.[48]
• Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba - Queen of Ndongo and Matamba in the 16th century.[49]
• Ranavalona II - Queen of Madagascar.[50]
• Joseph Shabalala - lead singer, founder and musical director of Ladysmith Black Mambazo.[51]

North American or Inuit

• Gelelemend - prominent Lenape convert to the Moravian Church.
• Samson Occom - Mohegan minister.[52]
• Pocahontas - Native American celebrity in 17th century London.[53]
• Helen Kalvak - Inuit artist from Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada.[54]
• Kateri Tekakwitha - Native American who became a Roman Catholic saint.

New Zealand and Pacific Islands traditional religions

• Hone Heke - Māori rangatira (chief) of the Ngāpuhi iwi (tribe) of Aotearoa New Zealand.[55]
• Tāmati Wāka Nene - Māori rangatira (chief) of the Ngāpuhi iwi (tribe) of Aotearoa New Zealand who fought as an ally of the British in the Flagstaff War.[56]
• Tārore - Māori daughter of chief Wiremu Ngākuku. Murdered by Paora Te Uita in the Kiamai Ranges, 18 Oct 1836 at the age of 12.[57]
• Wiremu Ngākuku - Māori rangatira (chief) of the Ngāti Hauā iwi (tribe) of Aotearoa New Zealand refused to take utu (revenge) for his daughter Tārore's murder.[57]
• Paora Te Uita - Ngāti Whakaue warrior and murderer of Tārore, converted to Christianity after hearing a reading from Tārore's Gospel of Luke that he had stolen from her.[57]
• Tāmihana Te Rauparaha - son of chief Te Rauparaha, influential convert to Christianity and early, but temporary, champion of the Māori King Movement.[58]
• Wiremu Tāmihana - Māori leader of the Ngāti Hauā iwi (tribe) of Aotearoa New Zealand. Known as the kingmaker for his role in the Māori King Movement.[59]
• Āpihai Te Kawau - Māori paramount chief of the Ngāti Whātua iwi (tribe) responsible for gifting the land to build the city of Auckland.[60][61]
• Piripi Taumata-a-Kura - notable Māori evangelist of Ngati Porou iwi (tribe) descent.[62]
• Queen Kaʻahumanu - Hawaiian monarch, wife of Kamehameha I.[63]

European paganism (generic)

• Saint Barbara - Orthodox Christian martyr.[64]

Eastern European/ Slavic paganism

• Borivoj I of Bohemia - Duke of Bohemia (852/853 - 888/889).[65]
• Boris I of Bulgaria - Bulgarian ruler and monk.[66]
• Anna, daughter of Presian I - sister of Boris I.
• Saint Ludmila - Catholic and Orthodox Christian saint and martyr.[67]
• Jogaila - former King of Poland and Duke of Lithuania.[68]
• Mieszko I of Poland - first Prince of Poland (962-992)
• Sittas - Byzantine magister militum.[69]
• Vladimir I of Kiev - Grand Prince of Kiev.,[70] the Baptiser of Russian Lands, Equal to Apostles

Finnic paganism

• Caupo of Turaida, leader of Livonians

References

1. The Northern Saints Archived 2007-09-27 at Archive.today
2. Patron Saints Index: Saint Alban Archived 2012-09-10 at the Wayback Machine
3. Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Book III, chapter 7.
4. Britannia EBK Biographies: St. Constantine, King of Strathclyde
5. "Berkshire History: Biographies: St. Abban of Abingdon". Archived from the original on 2017-07-21. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
6. Raedwald - Britannica Online Encyclopedia
7. D.H. Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (Oxford 1978). ISBN 0-19-282038-9.
8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-08-31. Retrieved 2009-08-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Ethelbert (King of Kent)
10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-10-17. Retrieved 2012-03-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
11. Allen, Grant. "Anglo-Saxon Britain".
12. Patron Saints Index: Saint Leonard of Noblac Archived 2012-08-13 at the Wayback Machine
14. St. Bavo - Catholic Online
15. BBC - History - Leif Erikson (11th century)
16. Green, John Richard. "A short history of the English people".
17. Rollo of Normandy
18. Olav Haraldsson
19. Viking in the Netherlands
20. Saint Patrick's Church: Saints of April 18
21. Forum Romanum: the Temple of Vesta and the Vestal Virgins Archived 2005-12-19 at the Wayback Machine
22. CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Commodianus
23. CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Constantine the Great
24. "Ecumenical Patriarchate". Archived from the original on 2007-10-08. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
25. CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Athenagoras
26. CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite
27. Patron Saints Index: Saint Eustachius Archived 2006-12-05 at the Wayback Machine
28. Archived 2012-08-04 at Archive.today,
29. CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Caius Marius Victorinus
30. CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Saint Honoratus
31. Patron Saints Index: Saint Pancras Archived 2006-08-30 at the Wayback Machine
32. Body Theology - St. Panteleimon
33. Patron Saints Index: Saint Cyriacus Archived 2012-05-03 at the Wayback Machine
34. Patron Saints Index: Saint Julius the Veteran Archived 2012-08-28 at the Wayback Machine
35. Patron Saints Index: Saint Sabinian of Troyes Archived 2006-05-07 at the Wayback Machine
36. CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius
37. Apologia ad Autolycum i. 14, ii. 24.
38. CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Justin Martyr
39. , Archived 2012-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
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46. Crowther, Samuel Ajayi, Nigeria, Anglican Archived 2012-04-15 at the Wayback Machine
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48. Bernard Mizeki, Catechist and Martyr in Africa
49. ,
50. February 21: Ranavalona II; Christian History Institute Archived 2006-06-19 at Archive.today
51. Rock Paper Scissors - Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Raise Your Spirit Higher (Heads Up) - Concert Preview
52. Samson Occom, Christian Convert
53. Pocahontas Archived 2009-04-17 at the Wayback Machine
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56. Dictionary Of New Zealand Biography
57. Newman, Keith (2010) [2010]. Bible & Treaty, Missionaries among the Māori – a new perspective. Penguin. p. 101-103. ISBN 978-0143204084.
58. Newman, Keith (2010) [2010]. Bible & Treaty, Missionaries among the Māori – a new perspective. Penguin. p. 260. ISBN 978-0143204084.
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63. The Woman Who Changed A Kingdom - Hawaiian Queen Ka'ahumanu
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66. Untitled Document
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69. Martindale, John Robert; Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin; Morris, J., eds. (1992). The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Volume III: A.D. 527–641. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-20160-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) pp. 1160–1163.
70. Patron Saints Index: Saint Vladimir I of Kiev Archived 2012-03-08 at the Wayback Machine