Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
(CNN) - Christians are by far the largest religious group on the planet, and the religion has gone truly global over the past century, according to a new report out Monday, which finds some of the world's biggest Christian communities in surprising places.
Europe was the clear center of world Christianity one hundred years ago, but today the Americas are home to more than a third of all Christians. In fact, the United States has the world's largest Christian population, of more than 247 million, followed by Brazil and Mexico.
China also appears on the list of top 10 largest Christian populations - with an estimated 67 million Christians, it has more followers of the faith than any western European country.
There are nearly 2.2 billion Christians around the world, making up about one-third of the world's population - the same percentage as a century ago, according to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
Islam is the world's second largest religion, with about 1.6 billion followers worldwide, the Washington-based organization calculates. That's just under one-quarter of the estimated 2010 world population of 6.9 billion.
Sub-Saharan Africa has seen the biggest explosion in its Christian population in the past century, going from about 9 million Christians in 1910 to about 516 million today - nearly a quarter of all the world's Christians. Three of the world's ten largest Christian populations are in Africa: Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia.
The report calculates that half the world's Christians are Catholic, 37% are Protestants, and 12% are Orthodox. The remaining 1 percent belong to other traditions such as Mormonism.
What do you think about this? Discuss!
Since the majority of the world (two-thirds) does not believe in the Christian god (Jesus/=God), then what do you think about this?
The problem with stats like this is that they are not accurate. Most folk in the former British colonies identify as christian (except India) as that is usually the majority religion. In SA 78% self identify but based on the oft espoused mantra of "not a true christian(tm)" on these forums and the fact that of my immediate neighbours where I live, two houses left and right of me and 6 houses across the street, not one of them attend church EVER in the last 10 years.
The catholics call these cafeteria christians. Furthermore some religions/churches never strike you off their membership rolls even if you simply stopped attending like I did. We have heard that the RCC have stopped the method of self excommunication and as such you remain a member even if you are now atheist. Thus the statistics bear no resemblance to the reality of the said claims.
The town I live in has about 25 different churches and IF all these self ID xians were to attend simultaneously every sunday, there are not enough pews or space to accommodate the 78%.
These stats merely suggest the influence of xianity in certain areas and is more a "cultural" thing as opposed to reverent devout xians. This is why the evangelicals prostelyse folk like the catholics as they are seen as not real christians(tm) yet ironically, the RCC is the foundation of all xian denominations and are still the majority.
All of these supposed xians are in name only. It is simple, calculate the number of pews per church in the town/suburb you live in and take tat as a percentage of the populace, nowhere near 80% and more likely in the order of 10-15% at best.
In my town, 25 churches @~300 per church = 7500 and we are ~50000 = 15% and then these churches are NEVER full on any given Sunday.
pure unadulterated corruption. Dark ages will be back soon.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
