How many christians in the World? 10 Things to Know About Christians Around The World

DeMille and the Tablets of the Ten Commandments in The Ten Commandments trailer.jpg Photo by Trailer screenshot – Wikimedia Commons

How many Christians are in the World? 10 Things to Know About Christians Around The World

In 2020, it was noted that there were approximately 2.4 billion adherents. Christianity is known as the most prominent religion by the population. Christians make up 2.4 billion of the worldwide population of about 7.7 billion people. Christianity represents nearly one-third of the world’s population, it is also the largest religion in the world. The three largest groups of Christians are the Catholic Church, Protestantism, and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

The Largest Christian denomination is the Catholic Church with 1.3 billion baptized members. The second largest Christian branch is either Protestantism or the Eastern Orthodox Church. Christianity is the predominant religion and faith in Europe, the Americas, the Philippines, East Timor, Sub-Saharan Africa,  and Oceania. The large Christian communities in other parts of the world such as Indonesia, Central Asia, the Middle East, and West Africa where Christianity is the second largest religion after Islam. 

The United States has the largest Christian population in the world followed by Brazil, Mexico, Russia, and the Philippines. According to Pew Research Center in 2010, Vatican City had the highest percentage of the Christian population but the United States had the highest number of Christians.

Read more about Christianity and the faith prescribed here.

1. The Population Growth

The World Population Review noted that there were 2.4 million Christians around the world in 2020. In a 2012 Pew Research Center survey, Christianity will remain the World’s largest religion by the year 2050. According to a 2015 Pew Research Center study, Christianity is estimated to reach 3 billion adherents out of a projected population of 9.3 billion in 2050.

For the first time in history, the Muslim population is predicted to be about 2.8 billion by the year 2050.

2. The Christian Branches

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The Catholic Church is the largest branch of Christianity with 1.345 billion. It is noted as the largest among churches. As for Protestantism, it estimates from 800 million to 1 billion. Most scholars don’t include Anabaptism, Anglicanism, Baptists, and Independent Nondenominational Christianity as part of Protestantism. The Protestant denomination altogether doesn’t form a single structure comparable to the Catholic Church.

There are several different comparable communions that exist within Protestantism such as the World Evangelical Alliance, Anglican Communion, World Communion of Reformed Churches, World Baptist Alliance, World Methodist Council, and the World Lutheran Federation. 

The Lutheranism denomination has a total of 70-90 million persons. The Lutheran World Federation is the sixth-largest communion.

3. The Ten Commandments

10commandmentsCI.jpg Photo by New York : Published by Currier & Ives, c1876 – Wikimedia Commons

The Decalogue also known as the Ten Commandments are a set of biblical principles relating to ethic and worship that play a fundamental role in Christianity. According to the Book of Exodus in the Torah, the Ten Commandments were revealed to Moses at Mount Sinai and are inscribed by the finger of God on two tablets of stone kept in the Ark of the Covenant.

Some modern scholars suggest that they were likely modeled on Hittite and Mesopotamian laws and treaties. Scholars also note that the Ten Commandments are basically the laws of God that each faithful Christian follows.

4. The Christian Holidays

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Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ every year on December 25. In addition, Palm Sunday is a moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, it is an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Palm Sunday marks the first day of Holy Week. For Christians, it is the last week of the Christian solemn season of Lent that precedes the arrival of Eastertide. Palm Sunday is celebrated with the blessing and distribution of palm branches.

Easter also known as Ressurection Sunday is a Christian festival and cultural holiday that commemorates the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. In the New Testament, it occurs on the third day of his burial following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary.

Pentecost also known as Whit Sunday takes place on the 50th day after East Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks. 

Read more about Christianity and the faith prescribed here.

5. The Holiest City

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Jerusalem is a city in Western Asia and is one of the oldest cities in the world. Jerusalem is considered to be a holy city for the three major Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Both Israelis and Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital.

Throughout its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, captured and recaptured 44 times, and attacked 52 times. The part of Jerusalem called the City of David shows the first signs of settlement in the 4th millennium BCE. In 2022, Jerusalem had a population of some 971,800 residents., almost 60% were Jews and almost 40% were Palestinians.

6. The Christian Sacrament

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There are seven sacraments of Christians according to the Roman Catholic faith namely, the sacrament of baptism, Eucharist, confirmation, reconciliation, Marriage, ordination, and anointing of the sick. Baptism, for instance, is a form of purification, initiation, and adoption. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head or being immersed in water. Traditionally it is done three times, once for each person of the Trinity. Baptism is considered a sacrament in most churches, and an ordinance in others. Many Christians believe that being baptized is a way of cleansing your soul and becoming free of original sin.

Infant baptism is the practice of baptizing infants or young children. It is also known as christening by some faith traditions. Most Christians belong to denominations that practice infant baptism. Branches of Christianity that practice infant baptism include, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Oriental Orthodoxy.

7. The Christian Mission

Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries. There are a few different kinds of mission trips, short-term, long-term, relational, and those that simply help people in need.

Missionaries preach the Christian faith and provide humanitarian aid. Christian doctrines permit the provision of aid without requiring religious conversion. Missions carry on evangelism or other activities such as educational or hospital work. It has been noted that there are 316,000 missionaries in the world.

Read more about Christianity and the faith prescribed here.

8. The Christian Doctrine

The Christian doctrine of the Trinity is the central doctrine concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches. It defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. 

The doctrine of the Trinity was first formulated among the early Christians and fathers of the Church as they attempted to understand the relationship between Jesus and God in their scriptural documents and prior traditions. The New Testament contains a number of Trinitarian formulas.

Some Christians don’t believe in the Trinity because they believe it may lead to the idea that there is more than one God.

9. Creation of The World

The Genesis creation narrative is the creation myth of both Judaism and Christianity. The narrative is made up of two stories which are equivalent to the first two chapters of the Book of Genesis. In the first, God creates the heavens and the Earth in six days, then blesses and sanctifies the seventh. In the first story, God is referred to as Elohim.

In the second story, God created Adam, the first man, from dust and places him in the Garden of Eden. Adam is then given dominion over the animals. Eve, the first woman, is created from Adam’s rib as his companion. In this version of the story, God is now referred to by the personal name Yahweh.

10. The Eternal Sin

In Christianity, eternal sin also known as the unforgivable sin is the sin that will not be forgiven by God. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an unforgivable sin, it is also known as the sin unto death. Thomas Aquinas explains the unforgeability of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit means that it removed the entrance of these means of salvation. However, it cannot hinder God from taking away this obstacle by way of a miracle.

The unforgivable sin is interpreted by Christian theologians in various ways, although they generally agree that one who has committed the sin is no longer able to repent, and so one who is fearful that one has committed it has not done so. 

Read more about Christianity and the faith prescribed here.