37% Protestantism (Adventism, Anglicanism, Baptist churches, Reformed churches, Lutheranism, Methodism, Pentecostalism and other denominations)[4]
10% Eastern Orthodox Church[4]
2% Oriental Orthodox[4]
1% Other Christian traditions (incl. Assyrian Church of the East, Latter Day Saint movement, Jehovah's Witnesses, Unitarianism and Nondenominational churches)[4]
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Sacred languages:
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Classical Armenian[10]
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A Christian (/ˈkrɪstʃən,-tiən/ⓘ) is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus. Christians form the largest religious community in the world.[11] The words Christ and Christian derive from the Koine Greek title Christós (Χριστός), a translation of the Biblical Hebrew term mashiach (מָשִׁיחַ) (usually rendered as messiah in English).[12] While there are diverse interpretations of Christianity which sometimes conflict,[13][14] they are united in believing that Jesus has a unique significance.[13] The term Christian used as an adjective is descriptive of anything associated with Christianity or Christian churches, or in a proverbial sense "all that is noble, and good, and Christ-like."[15] It does not have a meaning of 'of Christ' or 'related or pertaining to Christ'.
According to a 2011 Pew Research Center survey, there were 2.2 billion Christians around the world in 2010, up from about 600 million in 1910.[4] Today, about 37% of all Christians live in the Americas, about 26% live in Europe, 24% live in sub-Saharan Africa, about 13% live in Asia and the Pacific, and 1% live in the Middle East and North Africa.[4] Christians make up the majority of the population in 158 countries and territories.[4] 280 million Christians live as a minority. About half of all Christians worldwide are Catholic, while more than a third are Protestant (37%).[4] Orthodox communions comprise 12% of the world's Christians.[4] Other Christian groups make up the remainder. By 2050, the Christian population is expected to exceed 3 billion.[4] According to a 2012 Pew Research Center survey, Christianity will remain the world's largest religion in 2050, if current trends continue. In recent history, Christians have experienced persecution of varying severity, especially in the Middle-East, North Africa, East Asia, and South Asia.[16][17][18]
^"Religion Information Data Explorer | GRF". www.globalreligiousfutures.org. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
^Johnson, Todd M.; Grim, Brian J., eds. (2020). "All Religions (global totals)". World Religion Database. Leiden, Boston: BRILL, Boston University.
^"Christianity 2015: Religious Diversity and Personal Contact" (PDF). gordonconwell.edu. January 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxAnalysis (19 December 2011). "Global Christianity" (PDF). Pewforum.org. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
^Ehrman, Bart D. (2014). How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee. HarperOne. ISBN 978-0-06-177818-6.
^Melton, J. Gordon (2005). Encyclopedia of Protestantism. Infobase Publishing. pp. 284–285. ISBN 978-0-8160-6983-5. Today, the Christian community in India includes approximately 62 million people, about 6 percent of the population. Of these, 14 million are Roman Catholic and 3 million are Orthodox.
^Melton, J. Gordon; Baumann, Martin (2010). Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, 2nd Edition [6 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. pp. 1399, 1401–1403. ISBN 978-1-59884-204-3. Protestants 21,100,000 Independents 18,200,000 Roman Catholics 21,700,000 (2010)
^Johnson, Todd M.; Grim, Brian J. (2013). The World's Religions in Figures: An Introduction to International Religious Demography(PDF). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
^A history of ancient Greek by Maria Chritē, Maria Arapopoulou, Centre for the Greek Language (Thessalonikē, Greece) pg 436 ISBN 0-521-83307-8
^Wilken, Robert Louis (27 November 2012). The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-300-11884-1.
^Center, Pew Research (19 December 2011). "Global Christianity - A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
^Bickerman (1949) p. 145, "The Christians got their appellation from 'Christus,' that is, 'the Anointed,' the Messiah."
^ abWoodhead, Linda (2004). Christianity: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. n.p.
^Beal, Timothy (2008). Religion in America: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 35, 39. Beal states that, "Although all of them have their historical roots in Christian theology and tradition, and although most would identify themselves as Christian, many would not identify others within the larger category as Christian. Most Baptists and Fundamentalists, for example, would not acknowledge Mormonism or Christian Science as Christian. In fact, the nearly 77 percent of Americans who self-identify as Christian are a diverse pluribus of Christianities that are far from any collective unity."
^Schaff, Philip. "V. St. Paul and the Conversion of the Gentiles (Note 496)". History of the Christian Church.
^"Christian persecution 'at near genocide levels'". BBC News. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
^Kay, Barbara. "Our politicians may not care, but Christians are under siege across the world". National Post. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
^Wintour, Patrick. "Persecution of Christians coming close to genocide' in Middle East – report". The Guardian. 2 May 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
there were 2.2 billion Christians around the world in 2010, up from about 600 million in 1910. Today, about 37% of all Christians live in the Americas,...
Empire. Since the emergence of Christian states in Late Antiquity, Christians have also been persecuted by other Christians due to differences in doctrine...
majority of Palestinian Christians also identify as Arab Christians. Palestinian Christians belong to one of a number of Christian denominations, including...
related to Arab Christians. Arabic Christians community Arabic Christians magazine Sample of Melkite Chant in Arabic, English, and Greek Christian Minorities...
The Saint Thomas Christians, also called Syrian Christians of India, Marthoma Suriyani Nasrani, Malankara Nasrani, or Nasrani Mappila, are an ethno-religious...
adherents, known as Christians, are estimated to make up a majority of the population in 157 countries and territories. Christians believe that Jesus is...
Cultural Christians are the nonreligious or non-practicing Christians who received Christian values and appreciate Christian culture. As such, these individuals...
Christians made up 1.9% of the Israeli population, numbering approximately 185,000. 75.8% of the Christians in Israel are Arab Christians. Christians...
found Christians in the country in Malabar known as St. Thomas Christians who belonged to the then-largest Christian church within India. The Christians were...
Orthodox Christians, and Oriental Orthodox Christians also live in Pakistan. Around 75 percent of Pakistan's Christians are rural Punjabi Christians, while...
Christianity, various Christian bodies of Syriac traditions Saint Thomas Christians, Christians of Syriac tradition in India, also called Syrians or Nasrani Syriac...
proportion of Christians in the Middle East, around 40%, predominantly Maronites. Egypt has the next largest proportion of Christians (predominantly...
European Christians placed Near Eastern Christians in peril during the Crusades. From the mid-13th century, Mongol rule was a relief to Persian Christians until...
Maronites List of Eastern Orthodox Christians List of Protestants List of Anglicans List of Baptists List of evangelical Christians List of Mennonites List of...
Catholics or Syriacs (see Terms for Syriac Christians). Non-Assyrian Iraqi Christians are largely Arab Christians and Armenians, and a very small minority...
100 AD. The term "Jewish Christian" appears in modern historical texts contrasting Christians of Jewish origin with gentile Christians, both in discussion...
Jerusalem to Christians entered a period of decline during the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. According to Eusebius, Jerusalem Christians escaped...
Syrian Church, Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, CSI Syrian Christians, Mar Thoma Syrian Church, Pentecostal Syrian Christians, St Thomas Evangelical Church...
Terms for Syriac Christians are endonymic (native) and exonymic (foreign) terms, that are used as designations for Syriac Christians, as adherents of...
taxpayers) under Sharia law. Christians similarly possess a wide range of views about Islam. The majority of Christians view Islam as a false religion...
thousand Christians in the Punjab Province of colonial India; the 1880s saw the growth of the Presbyterian Church from 660 to 10,615 baptized Christians. Continued...
of the last generation of influential Arab Christian writers. Arab Christians and Arabic-speaking Christians, especially Maronites, played important roles...
Protestant Christians that have adopted Protestant theology but have cultural and historical ties with other Eastern Christians. Eastern Christian denominations...
for Evangelical Christians. Because of persecution of Christians, Evangelical house churches are the only option for many Christians to live their faith...
2017. The largest Christian community in the Middle East, Coptic Christians make up the majority of Egypt's roughly 9 million Christians. About 1 million...