Religious controversies frequently focus on origins, and at the origins of the major religious traditions one typically finds a seminal figure. Names such as Jesus, Muhammad, Confucius, and Moses are well known, yet their status as 'founders' has not gone uncontested. The aim of this book is to consider the subtexts of debates about these 'founders' as an exercise in comparative religion. As the contributors survey the landscape shaped by questions within each tradition, they provide an opportunity to map their contours from a novel perspective.