Many people think Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world. Not true. Islam is growing fast, but Christianity is growing faster. Indeed there are twice as many Christians as Muslims in the world today and the gap is becoming larger. Moreover, Christianity has become the world's only religion that is truly universal.
Islam too has a wide reach, but Islam has only a small presence in the United States, Canada, Central and South America, and Australia. Christianity, by contrast, is strong everywhere in the world except the Middle East. Islam is growing mainly through reproduction, which is to say by Muslims having large families. Christianity is growing both through reproduction and through conversion.
So if Christianity is growing so fast, why don't we see it? Because the growth is occuring mainly in Asia and Africa. The full story is told in What's So Great About Christianity but here are some examples. In 1900 less than 10 percent of Africa was Christian. Now it's around 50 percent. That's an increase from 10 million Christians in 1900 to more than 350 million today. The story is pretty much the same in Asia. China now has an underground church numbering in the tens of millions. In Korea, Christians outnumber Buddhists and, in a remarkable historical reversal, now send missionaries to Europe to convert the natives. Some Asian and African churches have so many members that pastors have to tell people not to come very Sunday, because there is not enough room in the pews.
In a way the new atheism in the West can be understood as an angry backlash against these developments. The new atheists once expected that with modernity religion would simply wither away. It hasn't happened. In fact, the most rapidly-modernizing countries like India and China are ones where religion is booming the most. Consequently the atheists have mobilized a ferocious attack against religion and specifically Christianity, attempting to stop its alarming growth.
The atheist campaign is aggressively and intelligently mounted, but it's not likely to succeed. Mainly this is because atheists have forgotten how to reproduce. What I mean is that the typical secular couple has one child while the typical religious couple in the West has two children and the typical religious couple outside the West has 3-5 children. Guess who is going to own the twenty-first century!
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 11)
1. I thnk, U poor IQ, in the Philippines there so many christian who converted to islam. the best thing U do is to search the total of Christian who was convert to Islam & then to be fair, search the Muslims who convert to Christian, and compare it. sorry if my English is wrong gramm, b'coz i'm not American (the real terrorist)... tanks & God bless America, the super power terrorist in the world..
i_macadato at 3:16AM on Feb 13th 2008
2. I'm in Islam..... Alhamdulillah.....
Islam is there Since Man Set Foot On the Earth.....
And Regarding the Fast are the Fastest Religion in the World..... is i can say of Mine... is Islam...
Because, Every one have to Understand/Read/Know What is Religion and what is the At Most to Follow....
In Christianity The Holy Bible... In Islam The Holy Qur'an.... such that we have to go through the Scriptures...... not on the Basics of the Human Knowledge.....then only we can come to the Real fact.... that WHO IS GOD..... and His POWER.....
In the Bible KJV, Jesus Says:-
Matthew 5:17 "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Matthew 5:18 "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled"
From the above Verses form the BIBLE we can Confirm the Jesus is Not GOD. He is the one of the Mightiest Messenger for the Almighty God (ALLAH). its given Clearly in the Bible and more are there........ Jesus is sent as a Messenger only for the People of Israel.....
Example, Jesus say in Matthew 15:24 "But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel"
Jesus Never Said Himself in the Whole Bible that Worship "Me" or “I AM GOD”........
Jesus Himself Clearly stated the Almighty God Is One :
Its Mentioned in Mark 12:29 “And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:”
But in his Second Coming, what he is going to do.... Nothing...... he’ll come in his Second Coming to prove that he is not Dead.... and to testify his people.....
Look the Clear Verses from the Bible....
Matthew 7:22 "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not Prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?"
Matthew 7:23 "And then will I profess unto them. I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity"
Did Jesus says these Words to Muslims... ????? Hindus.....????? no, to the Christians ........
He Clearly rejected to Call Him even a Simple Word as "GOOD". Its said in the Bible.....
Matthew 19:16 "And behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall i do, that I may have eternal life?"
Jesus answered him........
Matthew 19:17 "And said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
Matthew 19:18 "he Saith unto him, which? Jesus said. Thou shalt do not murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness."
In the Very First Chapter of Matthew itself its mentioned he is sent for a particular People……
In Matthew 1:21 “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his People from their sins.”
According to me its the Readers Misunderstanding..... The Almight had given us a Good Brain..... to Choose the Right things...... why the People is not Wise...
- Mohamed Jabbar
mohamed Jabbar at 1:15PM on Mar 3rd 2008
3. #119 - A reference for you is
http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Quran/Sources/Allah/moongod.html
though Mr. Zeh may not like what it has to say.
alan at 2:44PM on Mar 3rd 2008
4. Diana (#123) - I will ask again, please provide one purely Christian value upon which this country was founded. Because this country was founded on moral, but not Christian beliefs, you are free to hold whatever religious beliefs you desire. You are not free to tell me to leave if my beliefs differ from yours. That is one of the things that makes this country great.
alan at 2:50PM on Mar 3rd 2008
5. john (#144) - several possibilities. There are a small numbers of Jews in this country (relative to the other religions and perhaps to the number of atheists and agnostics) and all have better things to do. The argument here seems to be Islam vs. Christianity. No point in a good Buddhist, Jew, Shintoist, etc. sticking their noses in. Atheists and agnostics probably don't care until they are held up as a common evil.
alan at 3:04PM on Mar 3rd 2008
6. By the way, the recent Pew Report provides trends in religious beliefs in the United States. They report that the fastest growing religion in the US is unaffiliated. Some of these people are atheists or agnostics; others simply believe in a G-d, but not any particular religion.
alan at 3:11PM on Mar 3rd 2008
7. Christianity is one of the worst religions that dicreminate against humanity. In some countries one cannot find jobs just becos you are a muslim. What about that? I dont think chritianity is the fastest growing religion in the world. The followers only think like guineafowls.
ABDUL at 7:25AM on Mar 10th 2008
8. I cannot believe AOL is publishing this nonsense! Is this some sort of competition Mr. D'Souza?
Your last line says it all - "Guess who is going to own the 21'st century?"
In fact, you've provided no reference whatsoever to your claims. According to ALL major networks and news sources Islam officially became the LARGEST Religion in the World in the Spring of 2008, surpassing Catholicism (which you consider to be a distinct faith over your dozens of other denominations).
We cannot lay the burden of the crimes of Christians past on you, but very much contrary to the myth that "Islam was spread by the sword" -- it was Christianity that was spread by the evil of the Slave Trade, Colonialism, Imperialism and Occupation of Africa, Asia, and course, North and South America. There are established records in History that Muslims arrived in America before Christopher Columbus, yet they didn't automatically assume the dirty heathens, savage animals (what we now call Native Americans) were awaiting the blessing of the Spread of your Christianity, and as we now know, your Disease.
Adam at 1:40PM on Sep 22nd 2008
9. 100% agree with Somber. I couldn't have said it better (and wow, I bet we're not even followers of the same religion!)
Somber said:
... who cares?
If your nation is secularly based, it doesn't matter how many believers of X there are vrs how many believers of Y there are. Believe. Don't believe. The only people who will give a shit are the believers. To the secular nation it doesn't matter because the secular nation is dealing with far more pressing matters like economic opportunety, law enforcement, and social care... you know... dealing with real world problems that affect real people. You want to think that Christianity is growing faster than Islam. Sure. Have fun with that. You want to think that Atheism is on the run? Sure. Have fun with that too. As long as the government is religiously blind then the number of believers of X over Y doesn't matter.
Of course then there are those who think that the government shouldn't be secular. Of course to those people I like to ask if they would like to introduce the chance that they would one day be in the minority faith in places where the government gives perks to the majority faith.
Then the game's not nearly so much fun, now is it?
Lily at 5:57PM on Jan 2nd 2009
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cmuzlczjsr at 10:54AM on Jan 24th 2009
11. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU&e
just watch this video, it explains the truth
hana at 9:18PM on May 6th 2009
12. Mr. Dinesh, you may suffer from any one of the muslim, you should not accuse the whole muslim world, of course "Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world whether you accept it not not", you critisize islam with the proof, if you can.
faiz at 6:40AM on Jun 12th 2009
13. This is bullshit!
The only reason why Christianity is growing in Africa is because in order for the poor people to receive food they are told to convert first and then they receive food. Thats a shame muslims are always fair unlike Christians.
jake at 11:19PM on Aug 6th 2009
14. nobody believe this bullshit , i bet you yourself know well that this is not the raw truth . thousands are converting to islam every year. and i've heard that from many non-muslim europeans .and those who convert to christianity in africa are paid to do so . nobody can deny that islam is the fastest-growing religion
walaa at 6:47AM on Oct 12th 2009
15. It's funny reading all the Islamist here who can't accept that their religion is no longer the fastest growing.
Christianity is overlooked as the fastest growing religion since researchers are focusing on Catholics and Protestants, when instead, other Christian denominations are actually growing rapidly.
Th C.O. at 7:58PM on Oct 15th 2009