This report divides the world into five regions to take a closer look at the geographic distribution of Christians. (To view all the countries in each region, see the Interactive Maps.) The five regions are presented in descending order of Christian population, with the region with the highest number of Christians (the Americas) appearing first […]
No Signs of Growth in Alienation or Support for Extremism Washington, D.C. — As the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approaches, a comprehensive public opinion survey by the Pew Research Center finds no indication of increased alienation or anger among Muslim Americans in response to concerns about home-grown Islamic terrorists, controversies about the building […]
The Government Restrictions Index (GRI) measures limits imposed by governments on religious beliefs and practices. The 10-point index is based on 20 questions used by the Pew Forum to gauge the extent to which governments at any level – national, provincial or local – try to control religious groups or individuals, prohibit conversions from one […]
The Social Hostilities Index (SHI) measures hostile acts by private individuals, organizations and social groups that restrict religious beliefs and practices. The 10-point index is based on 13 questions used by the Pew Forum to gauge the level of hostilities both between and within religious groups, including mob or sectarian violence, crimes motivated by religious […]
Restrictions on religious beliefs and practices rose in 23 of the world’s 198 countries (12%), decreased in 12 countries (6%) and remained essentially unchanged in 163 countries (82%) between mid-2006 and mid-2009, a new Pew Forum report shows. More than 2.2 billion people – nearly a third of the world’s population – live in the 23 countries with increasing government restrictions or social hostilities involving religion.
In December 2009, the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life published its first report analyzing the extent to which governments and societies around the world impinge on religious beliefs and practices. The report found that about 70% of the world’s population was living in countries where governments imposed high restrictions on religion […]
There is strong consensus among the global evangelical leaders on methods and strategies for evangelization. Eight-in-ten (80%) think the focus of evangelization efforts should be on changing individual hearts, not social institutions. There is also widespread agreement that evangelizing people who are not religious should be a top priority. A. Frequency of Sharing Faith About […]
Relations between evangelicals and other religious groups do not appear to be a major concern to most evangelical leaders surveyed. A majority report that conflict between religious groups is either a small problem or not a problem in their country. The Lausanne leaders also report positive relations with a range of Christian groups, including Catholics, […]
The Lausanne leaders consider evangelicalism to be at odds with secularism and some other aspects of modern life. Majorities living in both the Global North and the Global South see a natural conflict between being an evangelical and living in modern society. Furthermore, there is widespread agreement among the evangelical leaders that secularism, materialism, and […]