List of former atheists and agnostics

• John Dobson - became a believer in Vedanta – astronomer and telescope designer{{cite web|url=http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/dobson_astronomer_000507.html |publisher=space.com |title=John Dobson: Amateur Astronomy's Revolutionary |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060409214808/http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/dobson_astronomer_000507.html |archivedate=2006-04-09 }}[http://www.sidewalkastronomers.us/id61.html Wall Street Journal Article about John]
• Sita Ram Goel - Indian commentator, writer and Hindu activistGoel, Sita Ram, [http://voiceofdharma.com/books/hibh/ch1.htm "How I became a Hindu"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184355/http://voiceofdharma.com/books/hibh/ch1.htm |date=2007-09-30 }}

• Eben Alexander - neurosurgeon, author, teaching physician. Author of Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife{{Citation needed|date=September 2018}}
• Plutarco Elías Calles former president of Mexico who was an atheist but became a spiritist later in life{{Citation needed|date=September 2018}}
• Gabrielle Carey - Australian co-author of Puberty Blues who was raised atheist but converted to Catholicism and then explored other theologies.[https://web.archive.org/web/20021021212902/http://www.abc.net.au/austory/transcripts/s685468.htm ABC Australia].{{Cite web |url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20717523-5003900,00.html |title=The Australian |access-date=2007-10-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090919171625/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20717523-5003900,00.html |archive-date=2009-09-19 |url-status=dead }}
• Antony Flew - philosopher and respected atheist thinker of the 20th century, became a deist.[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/belief/scripts/antony_flew.html BBC Interview] Quote: "What I was converted to was the existence of an Aristotelian God, and Aristotle's God had no interest in human affairs at all."
• Moses Hess - Socialist philosopher and Left Hegelian who first influenced Karl Marx in his criticism of religion, but who later tried to combine the pantheism of Baruch Spinoza with Hegelianism.{{Cite web |url=http://assets.cambridge.org/97805213/87569/frontmatter/9780521387569_frontmatter.pdf |title=Moses Hess: The Holy History of Mankind and other writings |access-date=2013-08-07 |archive-date=2023-05-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230513170333/https://assets.cambridge.org/97805213/87569/frontmatter/9780521387569_frontmatter.pdf |url-status=dead }}
• Jordan Peterson - Canadian clinical psychologist, former atheist and former materialist, ambiguous beliefs{{Cite web |last=Peterson |first=Jordan |date=April 4, 2022 |title=Speech About Religion and The Bible {{!}} I'm NOT an ATHEIST |url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XrXU-JJ8d-E |access-date=June 4, 2024 |website=YouTube |quote=I'm not an atheist, anymore. Because I don't look at the world that way anymore. I'm not a materialist anymore. I don't think the world's made out of matter. I think it's made out of what matters. It's made out of meaning.}}{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIB05YeMiW8 |title=Am I Christian? – Timothy Lott and Jordan B. Peterson |date=1 August 2017 |medium=video |access-date=22 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015033154/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIB05YeMiW8 |archive-date=15 October 2017 |url-status=live |via=YouTube}}
• William Luther Pierce - American white supremacist and political activist who created Cosmotheism{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g-LXDQAAQBAJ&q=william+pierce+cosmotheism&pg=PA35|title=Dark Ideas: How Neo-Nazi and Violent Jihadi Ideologues Shaped Modern Terrorism|last=Morris|first=Travis|date=2016-12-14|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=9780739191057|language=en}}
• Anne Rice - best-selling American author of Gothic and religious-themed books.[http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/december/11.50.html Christianity Today] She returned to Catholicism, and remained as such for many years, but has since announced that although she still believes in God and in Christ she no longer considers herself a Christian.{{cite web |title=Quick Takes: Anne Rice quits Christianity |date=2010-07-30 |website=Los Angeles Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100731020930/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-quick-20100730,0,7660849.story |archive-date=2010-07-31 |url-status=live |url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-quick-20100730,0,7660849.story}}[http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/faith/2010/07/anne_rice_christian.html Baltimore Sun]: My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I didn't understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me. But following Christ does not mean following His followers. Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been or might become.
• Allan Sandage - Astronomer known as the Father of Observational Cosmology discovered the universe was not cyclical and therefore the Big Bang was a one-time event which persuaded him that God existed. He later became a Christian.[https://www.scribd.com/document/342177430/Why-Three-Brilliant-Atheists-Became-Christians-RONALD-CRAM|title=Why Three Brilliant Atheists Became Christians|accessdate=2023-01-18]
• J. Neil Schulman - Libertarian science fiction writer who states he met, or experienced, God and that this ended his atheism. The first such experience would have occurred when he was 35. That stated he remains skeptical of "the church" and does not belong to any religion.[http://www.pulpless.com/jneil/libertarianprophet.html Interview with Schulman]: "After a thorough analysis of my previous life's experiences, and later experiences that lent validation, I concluded that the reality was that what had happened to me were really encounters with God -- therefore proving God's existence to me."
• Dave Sim - comics writer and anti-feminist. He converted to, or created, his own mixture of Abrahamic religions.[http://www.villagevoice.com/books/0413,hendrix,52244,10.html Village Voice] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613213102/http://www.villagevoice.com/books/0413%2Chendrix%2C52244%2C10.html |date=2008-06-13 }}[http://www.suncomics.com/cerebus%20fans/cerebite.htm Sun Comics]
• Ted Turner - media mogul who stated that he is no longer an atheist or an agnostic. He has not embraced any specific religion.{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-04-01-turner-churches_N.htm|title=Ted Turner apologizes, joins churches' $200M malaria fight|date=2008-04-01|work=USA Today|publisher=Associated Press|accessdate=2009-10-27}}
• Mark Zuckerberg - Facebook founder and philanthropist{{cite news|author1=Julie Zauzmer|title=Mark Zuckerberg says he's no longer an atheist, believes 'religion is very important'|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/12/30/mark-zuckerberg-says-hes-no-longer-an-atheist-believes-religion-is-very-important/|access-date=December 30, 2016 | newspaper=The Washington Post|date=December 30, 2016}}

{{Empty section|date=March 2022}}

• List of atheists
• List of converts to nontheism
• Lists of former Christians
• List of former Catholics
• List of former Protestants
• List of former or dissident LDS
• List of former Jews
• List of former Muslims

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Atheists, former