Madonna made headlines earlier this week with her revelation that she'd begun studying the Koran, the sacred text of Islam. The pop provocateur, who was raised Catholic and later embraced the teachings of Kabbalah, has always been outspoken about her spiritual beliefs.


And she's not the only one. Here's what other stars have said about their religious faith or lack thereof.



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  • Madonna


    Madonna was raised Catholic but embraced Kabbalah in the mid 1990s after being <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhoM9xfoTAg" target="_hplink">encouraged by a friend </a>to take some classes. "It didn't really matter that I was, you know, raised Catholic or I wasn't Jewish and I felt very comfortable and I liked being anonymous in a classroom environment," <a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-kaballah-founders-story-part-two,0,4137283.htmlstory" target="_hplink">she told Larry King in 1999.</a> In 2013, she <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/08/madonna-islam_n_4063853.html" target="_blank">told Harper's Bazaar</a>: "I am building schools for girls in Islamic countries and studying the Qur'an. I think it is important to study all the holy books. As my friend Yaman always tells me, a good Muslim is a good Jew, and a good Jew is a good Christian, and so forth. I couldn't agree more. To some people this is a very daring thought."




  • Katy Perry


    Katy Perry grew up in a strict, Christian household and sports a tattoo that says <a href="http://www.katyperrytattoo.com/katy-perry-tattoo/katy-perry-jesus-tattoo-wrist/" target="_hplink">"Jesus" on her left wrist</a> that she got when she was 18. "I come from a very non-accepting family, but I'm very accepting. Russell [Brand] is into Hinduism, and I'm not [really] involved in it," <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2011/05/katy-perry-on-her-religious-childhood-her-career-and-her-marriage-to-russell-brand" target="_hplink">she told Vanity Fair of her now ex-husband</a>. "I have always been the kid who's asked 'Why?' In my faith, you're just supposed to have faith. But I was always like...why?"




  • Mario Lopez


    Lopez has spoken about his Catholic faith over the years. Upon the new pope's election in 2013, <a href="http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/new-pope-elected-snooki-mario-lopez-and-other-stars-react-to-pope-francis-2013133" target="_blank">he tweeted:</a> "Big moment for the church & for those of us who call ourselves Catholics. I hope Pope Francis comes with an open heart & open mind... #Faith" And in 2008, <a href="http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20214280,00.html" target="_blank">he told People</a>: "I go to church by myself, and it's just my time to be alone with God. At home in L.A., I go to St. Robert's in Burbank. Whatever city I'm in, I try to find the nearest Catholic church. I've been going to St. Patrick's in New York. If I miss Mass, I feel guilty and I'll usually go find a church and light a candle. I missed Mass this past weekend because of all the traveling I've been doing. But there was a nun on the plane, so I felt better. The sister was cool about me."




  • Justin Bieber


    Teen sensation Justin Bieber has multiple tattoos dedicated to religious beliefs. The pop star has a tattoo written in Hebrew that says "Jesus" and he tattooed a black ink portrait of Jesus on his left calf in January 2012. In February 2013, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/27/justin-bieber-x-tattoo_n_2769494.html" target="_blank">he added</a> the Greek letter "Chi," which means Christ. "I'm a Christian, I believe in God, I believe that Jesus died on a cross for my sins," <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/01/06/justin-bieber-gets-big-jesus-christ-tattoo-on-his-leg/" target="_hplink">Bieber told the Associated Press in 2010</a>. "I believe that I have a relationship and I'm able to talk to him and really, he's the reason I'm here, so I definitely have to remember that. As soon as I start forgetting, I've got to click back and be like, you know, this is why I'm here." In 2012 he spoke again about his personal beliefs, <a href="http://www.mtv.tv/news/justin-bieber-talks-sex-drugs-partying-and-religion/" target="_hplink">telling <em>V</em> magazine:</a> "A lot of people who are religious, I think they get lost. They go to church just to go to church. I'm not trying to disrespect them, but for me, I focus more on praying and talking to him."




  • Dianna Agron


    "Glee" star Dianna Agron has always been connected to the traditional aspects of her religion. She spoke about her faith with <a href="http://www.jvibe.com/Pop_culture/Glee.php" target="_hplink">Jvibe.com, stating:</a> "I went to Sunday school, Hebrew school and a Jewish [day school] through third grade. My brother and I loved everything about Hanukkah and Passover and all the food."




  • Jessica Simpson


    Simpson <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/04/jessica-simpson-in-vanity_n_195638.html" target="_blank">discussed her faith</a> in the June 2009 issue of Vanity Fair, telling the magazine: "I'm spiritual. I live off the faith that has been instilled in me, that has never left. I've never let a stumbling block actually make me fall.... We all go through trials, but not one thing has ever made me question God. I have a great relationship with God. I can talk to him, get mad at him, frustrated with him. But, ultimately, my faith is what defines me."




  • Debby Ryan


    Disney star Debby Ryan discussed the evolution of her Christian faith in a <a href="http://www.susiemagazine.com/home.aspx" target="_hplink">chat with SUSIE magazine</a>. "I was like, 'You guys, this is great for you. It seems to work for you, but I don't know if this is me." Eventually Debby says: "I felt His presence like He was sitting next to me. God was like, 'Don't you understand? I want to love you. I created you. I sacrificed for you. And I want to spend time with you.'"




  • Miley Cyrus


    Miley Cyrus has expressed her views on Twitter, posting a quote by theoretical physicist Laurence Krauss, which <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/07/miley-cyrus-responds-to-twitter-attack-forget-jesus_n_1326820.html" target="_hplink">caused a lot of controversy</a>: "You are all stardust. You couldn't be here if stars hadn't exploded... So forget Jesus. Stars died so you could live." Cyrus responded to the backlash by tweeting: "How can people take the love out of science and bring hate into religion so easily?" she asked, before quoting Albert Einstein. "It makes me sad to think the world is this way. Like Einstein says 'Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind.'" Cyrus has spoken openly about her beliefs. <a href="http://www.parade.com/celebrity/2010/03/miley-cyrus.html" target="_hplink">In 2010 she told Parade magazine: </a> "My faith is very important to me," she says. "But I don't necessarily define my faith by going to church every Sunday. Because now when I go to church, I feel like it's a show. There are always cameras outside. I am very spiritual in my own way. Let me make it clear, though--I am a Christian. Jesus is who saved me. He's what keeps me full and whole. But everyone is entitled to what they believe and what keeps them full. Hopefully, I can influence people and help them follow the same path I am on, but it is not my job to tell people what they are doing wrong."




  • Justin Timberlake


    Justin Timberlake may sport a tattoo of a cross on his right shoulder, but the singer and actor has said he doesn't consider himself to be religious. "I wouldn't -- I think the term for me would be more spiritual than religious," he <a href="http://www.adherents.com/people/pt/Justin_Timberlake.html" target="_hplink">told Larry King in 2001</a>. Timberlake reiterated his disinterest in religion in an <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/07/justin-timberlake-mila-kunis_n_892293.html" target="_hplink">interview with Elle magazine in 2011: </a> "I had a date ask me one time if I had found God. I'm a sick human being -- I mean, I answered, 'Yeah, he's in my pants.' So, the date didn't go that much longer because my date thought that was crass, and I thought that asking me about God was crass," he said.




  • Liv Tyler


    Actress Liv Tyler spoke about her own religious beliefs to <a href="http://www.popeater.com/2011/06/24/liv-tyler-the-ledge-steven-hobbit-religion-overbite/" target="_hplink">Pop Eater in 2011 </a>when discussing her movie "The Ledge," in which she played a woman who falls in love with a born-again evangelical Christian. "I feel quite strongly in my own personal ... I wouldn't say religion because I'm not a religious person but I consider myself a spiritual person. I definitely have some kind of belief in something bigger than myself. I almost feel like it's the universe and the earth and mother nature and that feeling when you go to the beach or stand on top of a mountain and look around and go, 'God this is not about me.' I feel quite clear about that in my own heart. I'm definitely curious and enjoy talking to different people about their beliefs. I grew up around so many different types of people, political, religious, in my lifetime so I'm quite used to overhearing those conversations," she said. Photo Credit: Getty




  • Jonas Brothers


    For a time, the Jonas Brothers were known just as much for their pop music as they were for their purity rings. In 2010, youngest brother Nick told VMAN magazine: "My faith plays a big part in who I am: a Christian guy playing pop-rock music. I'm in a pop-rock band, not a Christian band," he says. Photo Credit: Getty




  • Kim Kardashian


    Anyone who has watched an episode of the Kardashians' reality TV franchise knows they are constantly asking "Bible"? It's the family's quick way of asking if someone is being completely honest. In <a href="http://www.popeater.com/2010/08/17/kim-kardashian-allure-photos/" target="_hplink">2010 Kim told Allure magazine</a> she had very religious upbringing: "All the books we read before bed were, like, Bible-study books. Or little tales, like Samson and Delilah with cartoons. And my mom would have Bible study at the house with her girlfriends," she said.




  • Kristin Chenoweth


    "GCB" actress Kristin Chenoweth <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/05/kristin-chenoweth-gcb-gay-character-christian_n_1321120.html" target="_hplink"> spoke to ABC News</a> about how it's possible to be both a supporter of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights and a vocal churchgoer. "I'd say go to church and take a look around the room and see if you see any women who might be married to a man who might be gay," she said. "I'd say be very careful of judging someone who's in a marriage who is gay because they don't want to be told they're going to hell. I think that happens and I think it's horrible." "Even as a young child, I thought, 'Why is being gay bad?' I didn't understand it. So I asked my grandma, who is the best Christian I ever knew. I'd say, 'What about my friend Denny, he's gay, is he going to hell?' She told me, 'I read the Bible like I eat fish. I take the meat that serves me well but I don't choke on the bone.'"




  • Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt


    "<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/brad-pitt-20-percent-atheist-80-percent-agnostic-article-1.394661" target="_blank">I'm probably 20 percent atheist and 80 percent agnostic</a>," Pitt said in 2009. "I don't think anyone really knows. You'll either find out or not when you get there, until then there's no point thinking about it." His prettier half, Jolie, said in 2000: "<a href="http://www.avclub.com/articles/is-there-a-god,1394/" target="_blank">There doesn't need to be a God for me.</a> There's something in people that's spiritual, that's godlike. I don't feel like doing things just because people say things, but I also don't really know if it's better to just not believe in anything, either."




  • Daniel Radcliffe


    "<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/harry-potter/5734000/Daniel-Radcliffe-a-cool-nerd.html" target="_blank">I'm an atheist, but I'm very relaxed about it</a>," the "Harry Potter" star said in 2009. "I don't preach my atheism, but I have a huge amount of respect for people like Richard Dawkins who do. Anything he does on television, I will watch."




  • Julianne Moore


    In a 2002 interview on "Inside the Actor's Studio," Moore was asked as part of the series' questionnaire, "If heaven exists, what would you like God to say at the pearly gates?" She replied: "Well, I guess you were wrong. I do exist!" (<a href="http://youtu.be/_w1WyHsFbpM" target="_blank">36:45</a>)




  • Javier Bardem


    In an interview in 2012, Bardem was quick to say "<a href="http://www.gq.com/entertainment/celebrities/201210/javier-bardem-gq-october-2012-interview" target="_blank">I've always said I don't believe in God, I believe in Al Pacino.</a>"




  • Jodie Foster


    In a 2007 interview, Foster replied to the question of whether she's religious or not by saying "<a href="http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20054140,00.html" target="_blank">I'm an atheist</a>. But I absolutely love religions and the rituals. Even though I don't believe in God. We celebrate pretty much every religion in our family with the kids. They love it, and when they say, 'Are we Jewish?' or 'Are we Catholic?' I say, 'Well, I'm not, but you can choose when you're 18. But isn't this fun that we do seders and the Advent calendar?'"




  • Morgan Freeman


    In 2012, when asked "<a href="http://www.thewrap.com/tv/article/morgan-freeman-inventing-god-aliens-eating-us-and-his-odds-surviving-dark-knight-rises-42886?page=0,1" target="_blank">Did we invent God?</a>" Freeman replied "Yes." He then elaborated: "Has anybody ever seen hard evidence? What we get is theories from our earlier prophets. Now, people who think that God invented us think that the Earth can't be more than 6,000 years old. So I guess it's a question of belief. My belief system doesn't support a creator as such, as we can call God, who created us in His/Her/Its image."




  • Keira Knightley


    "<a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/4285973/Atheist-actress-Keira-Knightley-wishes-she-believed-in-God.html" target="_blank">If only I wasn't an atheist, I could get away with anything</a>," Knightley said in 2012. "You'd just ask for forgiveness and then you'd be forgiven."




  • Emma Thompson


    "<a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/acting-on-outspoken-beliefs/story-e6frg8n6-1111117752031" target="_blank">I'm an atheist</a>," Thompson said in 2008. "I suppose you can call me a sort of libertarian anarchist. I regard religion with fear and suspicion. It's not enough to say that I don't believe in God. I actually regard the system as distressing: I am offended by some of the things said in the Bible and the Koran, and I refute them."




  • Billy Joel


    In 2010, <a href="http://www.howardstern.com/howard-on-air/howard-100-101/2010-11-16" target="_blank">Joel was a guest on Howard Stern's radio show</a> and when asked if he believes in God, he replied: "No. I'm an atheist."




  • James Cameron


    In the 2010 book "<a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/book/90876/the-futurist-by-rebecca-keegan" target="_blank">The Futurist</a>," Cameron calls himself a "<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=aoiieuxmNdUC&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=james+cameron+agnostic&source=bl&ots=kGEVvtXavy&sig=tB1ktQ6UlibIfTeExnEyWyDX_gc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tx7wUcrNDbK44AO95YCYBg&ved=0CFAQ6AEwBTgU#v=onepage&q=james%20cameron%20agnostic&f=false" target="_blank">converted agnostic</a>" and says "I've sworn off agnosticism, which I now call cowardly atheism. I've come to the position that in the complete absence of any supporting data whatsoever for the persistence of the individual in some spiritual form, it is necessary to operate under the provisional conclusion that there is no afterlife and then be ready to amend that if I find out otherwise."




  • Janeane Garofalo


    In 2010, Garofalo <a href="http://nation.foxnews.com/entertainment/2010/06/25/garofalo-bible-work-fiction-child-audience" target="_blank">compared the Bible to a Bill O'Reilly autobiography and a children’s book</a> authored by former President Bush, saying: "That's just three works of fiction targeted to a child-like audience."




  • Kathy Griffin


    During her Emmy Award acceptance speech in 2007, Griffin said: "A lot of people come up here and they thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that <a href="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0709/17/lkl.01.html" target="_blank">no one had less to do with this award than Jesus.</a> He didn't help me a bit. If it was up to him, Cesar Millan would be up here with that damn dog. So all I can say is suck it Jesus, this reward is my God now."




  • Hugh Hefner


    In 2012, Hefner penned an editorial that said "<a href="http://www.playboy.com/playground/view/sexual-freedom" target="_blank">when religion rather than reason dictates legislation, do not expect logic with your law</a>," and: "This is a religious nation, but it is also a secular one. For decades the American people have found a way to balance religious beliefs with secular freedoms. We have enjoyed freedom of religion as well as freedom from religion. These need not be incompatible. No one should have to subjugate their religious freedom, and no one should have their personal freedoms infringed. This is America and we must protect the rights of all Americans." Earlier this year, the prestigious <a href="http://freethinker.co.uk/2013/05/23/despicable-little-monster-jessica-ahlquist-wins-prestigious-hugh-hefner-award/" target="_blank">Hugh Hefner award for those who protect the First Amendment went to a 16-year-old atheist</a> who fought to have a prayer banner at her high school removed.