The world is changing in so many ways it’s almost too difficult to keep up with the discoveries, technologies and innovations we have now and those that will come in the future. And, not surprisingly, religion is changing along with science and technology.
In a new report released on Thursday from the Washington D.C.-based Pew Research Center, we can look forward to a vibrant and resurgent growth of religion, instead of the decline into godlessness predicted by many futurists.
Taking into account worldwide demographics and statistics from 234 countries, researchers came to the conclusion that religious adherents will increase greatly over the next four decades. This has nothing to do with winning converts but is more than likely to be because of fertility rates and the size of the youth population among the world’s major religions.
Christians and Muslims come out on top
Christians and Muslims are the big winners when it comes to total numbers of adherents. Islam is the world’s fastest growing faith, and its numbers will jump from 1.6 billion in 2010 to 2.76 billion by 2050, according to the Pew study. By 2050, Muslims will make up one-third of the world’s total population of nine billion people.
Christians will remain the largest denomination worldwide, at least for a time, showing a predicted increase from 2.17 billion to 2.92 billion by 2050. These numbers will amount to 31 percent of the world’s population. The spread of secularism in the U.S. will also continue to grow, with 25 percent of the population claiming no religion by 2050, up from 16 percent in 2010.
But Christianity in the U.S. will suffer large losses, with only 66 percent of the population being Christian in 2050, compared to 78 percent in 2010. But the bottom line is this: By 2050, six out of 10 people on Earth will be either Muslim or Christian, and more than likely, for the first time in world history, there will be roughly equal numbers of Muslims and Christians.
Other religions around the world
By the year 2035, Muslims will outnumber Jews in the U.S. The worldwide Buddhist population will remain about the same as it was in 2010, but the Hindu and Jewish religions will continue to grow, becoming larger than they are today. And by 2050, Europe’s population will be 10 percent Muslim. Interestingly, Hindus in India will continue to be the majority religion, but by 2050, India will have the largest Muslim population of any country in the world.
Not to leave out agnostics, atheists and those not declaring any religious preference while their numbers will increase in the U.S. and in France, their numbers will actually be on the decline. One country the researchers had a problem with was China. The world’s most populous country, with 1.3 billion people, also has an effect on global trends.
With many churches in China having gone “underground” because of not being approved by the government, it was impossible to get accurate figures on religious affiliations and trends in religion. In 2010, fully 50 percent of China’s population was not affiliated with any religious body, and only five percent were Christian, with 18 percent Buddhist. Another 22 percent of Chinese practiced folk religions. As some researchers believe, if a great percentage of China’s unaffiliated population converted to Christianity, this would make a significant difference in global predictions.
Another interesting observation made in the report was the shift in the number of Christians living in Sub-Saharan Africa. Now 25 percent of the population is Christian, but by 2050, 40 percent of the population will be Christian. This shift has implications in the direction of church policies, as well as in government.
One more interesting trend in the Pew report: “The number of countries with Christian majorities will drop to 151, as Christians are projected to decrease in Australia, Benin, Bosnia-Herzegovina, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Republic of Macedonia and the United Kingdom.” It’s all very thought-provoking.
