CHRISTIANITY
LEADS WORLD RELIGIONS

Topics: Belief Systems; Missions; Religions

References: Matthew 13:31–33; 28:19; Acts 1:8; Colossians 1:6

Christianity has become the most universal religion in history, with believers today a majority of the population in two-thirds of the world’s 238 countries. So says the second edition of the World Christian Encyclopedia (Oxford University Press, 2001). Other statistics:

•     Christianity began and ended the century as the world’s biggest religion with 555 million believers or 32.2 percent of world population in 1900 and 1.9 billion or 31 percent as of last year.

•     Those Christians are divided among 33,820 denominations or similar distinct organizations. Some 386 million believers are in independent churches. Apart from the historic Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and Protestant churches, Christians counted as belonging to “other” groups have quadrupled since 1970, with huge increases in Pentecostal and Charismatic movements.

•     Islam ranks second worldwide. During the last century, it grew from 200 million, or 12.3 percent of the population, to 1.2 billion, or 19.6 percent.

•     Other current totals: Hinduism, 811 million; Buddhism, 360 million; Sikhism, 23 million; Judaism, 14 million.

•     In the United States there are 5.6 million Jews, 4.1 million Muslims (more than a fourfold increase in thirty years), 2.4 million Buddhists, and 1 million Hindus. There are 192 million people in U.S. Christian groups.

—Associated Press, “New Book Tallies Religions” (January 17, 2001)