Most influential person in World History

[Phlegmak]

I would have to say Jesus was the most influential.

 

[MattII]

Jesus? Wasn't it his apostles who spread his word?

Regardless, I still think Bessemer plays more of a part in the modern world than Einstein or Washington, and Marconi more than Fermi or Columbus.

 

[Che Guava]

Jesus? Wasn't it his apostles who spread his word?

Regardless, I still think Bessemer plays more of a part in the modern world than Einstein or Washington, and Marconi more than Fermi or Columbus.

Yeah, If we're going the jesus route, I might have to say Saul/Paul of tarsus instead...

 

[Plotinus]

Well, yes, but without Jesus there wouldn't have been any apostles, would there? At least, not doing any apostling.

 

[machia]

If we take on account that Paul's doctrine had nothing to do with Jesus teachings, he could have based that doctrine on anybody else, like John the Baptists, for instance. Oh, but I see you say apostles, and Paul wasn't an apostle, so it doesn't count.

 

[Plotinus]

Paul called himself an apostle and is normally regarded as one. And I don't think the oft-repeated claim that his teachings had nothing to do with those of Jesus is really quite true. Paul certainly didn't think that himself.
But whatever the truth, the fact is that no-one other than Jesus actually did inspire apostles and others to do quite what Jesus' apostles did. John the Baptist still had plenty of disciples after his death, but what did they do?

 

[machia]

the fact is that no-one other than Jesus actually did inspire apostles and others to do quite what Jesus' apostles did.

That is a belief, not a fact, IMHO, for what respect to Paul. For the apostles that knew Jesus, problably is right.

 

[classical_hero]

That is a belief, not a fact, IMHO, for what respect to Paul. For the apostles that knew Jesus, problably is right.

Without Jesus there would be no Apostles, because that word simply means, sent one, so they had to be sent by someone and that someone obviously had to be very influential.

 

[Che Guava]

to change the topic slightly, what is the case for Mohammed? Besides the obvious impact that Islam has had on the world, I mean. I have heard more than once that he probably the most influenciual person in history (more so than Jesus, Moses, Abraham, etc), so I was wondering what the rationale behind that is.

 

[salty mud]

Where is the 'Other' button?

I chose Columbus, becuase he discovered America, which would add a nice chunk to our glorious British Empire!

 

[craig9897]

Stalin only gets two votes? MAO ONE?! Are we western thinkers or what?!

 

[Plotinus]

It's not a matter of being western, simply one of thinking that no-one that recent can really be called the most influential person in world history. I mean, if you're talking about China, how can Mao be considered more influential than Confucius or Lao Tzu?

 

[Thorgalaeg]

to change the topic slightly, what is the case for Mohammed? Besides the obvious impact that Islam has had on the world, I mean. I have heard more than once that he probably the most influenciual person in history (more so than Jesus, Moses, Abraham, etc), so I was wondering what the rationale behind that is.

I think that while it is true that there are less muslims than christians, it is true that muslims are MUCH more influenced by his religion since Islam is not only a theology but a political system designed by Mohamed himself, so while christianism is only a belief system and in most christian countries social, philosophical, legal sytems are mostly based on the ones of Roman Empire and the Greeks, Islam countries are modeled in all aspects according to the Islam. So while Mohammed impact affected less people the impact was much stronger.

 

[Bungholio]

washington inspired colonies to become indepndent.

 

[cairo140]

I would have to play ARISTOTLE at the top of the list, because he kinda invented reasoning (probably better reworded as "refined and made relevant to dozens of scholarly topics" because the actual inventors of knowledge and logic were Socrates and Plato, most figure). JESUS and MUHAMMED are also excellent choices.

 

[puglover]

Obviously Jesus Christ. No other man has had that much power over the way people think and act.

 

[Capulet]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_100

Michael Hart wrote a book called, "The 100," which listed the 100 most influential people in history. Muhammad (PBUH) was number one, and this is why:

Read this for the whole entry: http://thetruereligion.org/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=104

How, then, is one to assess the overall impact of Muhammad on human history? Like all religions, Islam exerts an enormous influence upon the lives of its followers. It is for this reason that the founders of the world's great religions all figure prominently in this book . Since there are roughly twice as many Christians as Moslems in the world, it may initially seem strange that Muhammad has been ranked higher than Jesus. There are two principal reasons for that decision. First, Muhammad played a far more important role in the development of Islam than Jesus did in the development of Christianity. Although Jesus was responsible for the main ethical and moral precepts of Christianity (insofar as these differed from Judaism), St. Paul was the main developer of Christian theology, its principal proselytizer, and the author of a large portion of the New Testament. Muhammad, however, was responsible for both the theology of Islam and its main ethical and moral principles. In addition, he played the key role in proselytizing the new faith, and in establishing the religious practices of Islam. Moreover, he is the author of the Moslem holy scriptures, the Koran, a collection of certain of Muhammad's insights that he believed had been directly revealed to him by Allah. Most of these utterances were copied more or less faithfully during Muhammad's lifetime and were collected together in authoritative form not long after his death. The Koran therefore, closely represents Muhammad's ideas and teachings and to a considerable extent his exact words. No such detailed compilation of the teachings of Christ has survived. Since the Koran is at least as important to Moslems as the Bible is to Christians, the influence of Muhammed through the medium of the Koran has been enormous It is probable that the relative influence of Muhammad on Islam has been larger than the combined influence of Jesus Christ and St. Paul on Christianity. On the purely religious level, then, it seems likely that Muhammad has been as influential in human history as Jesus. Furthermore, Muhammad (unlike Jesus) was a secular as well as a religious leader. In fact, as the driving force behind the Arab conquests, he may well rank as the most influential political leader of all time. Of many important historical events, one might say that they were inevitable and would have occurred even without the particular political leader who guided them. For example, the South American colonies would probably have won their independence from Spain even if Simon Bolivar had never lived. But this cannot be said of the Arab conquests. Nothing similar had occurred before Muhammad, and there is no reason to believe that the conquests would have been achieved without him. The only comparable conquests in human history are those of the Mongols in the thirteenth century, which were primarily due to the influence of Genghis Khan. These conquests, however, though more extensive than those of the Arabs, did not prove permanent, and today the only areas occupied by the Mongols are those that they held prior to the time of Genghis Khan. It is far different with the conquests of the Arabs. From Iraq to Morocco, there extends a whole chain of Arab nations united not merely by their faith in Islam, but also by their Arabic language, history, and culture. The centrality of the Koran in the Moslem religion and the fact that it is written in Arabic have probably prevented the Arab language from breaking up into mutually unintelligible dialects, which might otherwise have occurred in the intervening thirteen centuries. Differences and divisions between these Arab states exist, of course, and they are considerable, but the partial disunity should not blind us to the important elements of unity that have continued to exist. For instance, neither Iran nor Indonesia, both oil-producing states and both Islamic in religion, joined in the oil embargo of the winter of 1973-74. It is no coincidence that all of the Arab states, and only the Arab states, participated in the embargo. We see, then, that the Arab conquests of the seventh century have continued to play an important role in human history, down to the present day. It is this unparalleled combination of secular and religious influence which I feel entitles Muhammad to be considered the most influential single figure in human history.

 

[Plotinus]

That's a reasonable argument. Although he obviously knows a lot more about Muhammad than he does about Paul.

 

[sydhe]

He has Jesus at #3 and St. Paul at #6. St. Augustine and Constantine the Great are also on the list for their contributions to Christianity.

 

[The Yankee]

to change the topic slightly, what is the case for Mohammed? Besides the obvious impact that Islam has had on the world, I mean. I have heard more than once that he probably the most influenciual person in history (more so than Jesus, Moses, Abraham, etc), so I was wondering what the rationale behind that is.

Mohammed also started the quest for Arab unification, which then expanded over quite a huge empire and had important contributions and roles in history since.

Edit: If you wanted it in a nutshell. See the article above for some more detail.