Christianity is Alive and Well Across the Globe

The most popular religion in America is undoubtedly Christianity. According to recent surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center, 65% of American adults consider themselves Christians. While Christianity continues to reign in the West, the same surveys reflect that it is not as popular in America as it was a decade ago. The Pew Research Center reported that 77% of Americans identified as Christians in 2009. Meanwhile, the number of Americans that consider themselves religiously unaffiliated, atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular” is on the rise. This group, commonly referred to as the Nones, is at 26% of the American population, up from 17% in 2009. Millennials remain far more likely to identify as Nones than other generations. While Christianity appears to be dwindling in America, global numbers tell a different story.

100 years ago, 80% of Christians lived in North American and Europe, compared to 40% today. 40 years ago, more Christians lived in the South than the North for the first time in 1,000 years. Today, Christians in Latin America and Africa account for 1 billion people. Since 1900, Protestantism has increased significantly in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Latin America. Today, 1 out of 4 Christians in the world lives in Africa and studies estimate that Africa’s Christian population will continue to increase by 30% by 2030. The Christian population in Asia is also on the rise. In the last century, Christianity in Asia grew at twice the rate of the population there. That population is expected to continue to rise by more than 100 million by 2025. In China even, more Christians are worshipping on any given Sunday than in the United States. In large part, the world is a religious place. A global study in 2012 by the Pew Research Center reflected that 84% of the world’s population was affiliated with a religion, while 16% wasn’t.

The religious population is rapidly shifting throughout the globe, and Christianity is alive and well.

Resources:

Article Title: Think Christianity is Dying? No, Christianity is Shifting Dramatically
Publisher: Washington Post
Website: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/05/20/think-christianity-is-dying-no-christianity-is-shifting-dramatically/

Article Title: In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace
Publisher: Pew Research Center
Website: https://www.pewforum.org/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/

Article Title: The Global Religious Landscape
Publisher: Pew Research Center
Website: https://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-exec/

Article Title: Millennials Increasingly are Driving Growth of ‘Nones’
Publisher: Pew Research Center
Website: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/12/millennials-increasingly-are-driving-growth-of-nones/

Encyclopedia of Protestantism