I understand that from the perspective of those who take the Bible literally, the global flood took place about 2400 B.C. and that the world began about 4000 B.C., giving 1600 years of human population growth. So, what was the estimated population at the time of the flood? In other words, how many people incurred the judgment of God in the flood? Please answer according to the perspective of those who take the Bible literally and historically.

Where can I find a world map where I can click on each country and find out the number of Orthodox, Catholic, Pentecostal, Baptist Christians, etc.?

The [2020 PhilPapers Survey](https://survey2020.philpeople.org/survey/results/4842) includes the following result: # God: Atheism or Theism? As shown, the majority of philosophers are non-theists, with only 18.93% accepting or leaning toward theism. From a purely statistical perspective, it seems that engaging in philosophy is more likely to lead one away from theism than toward it. **Does Christianity consider philosophy a threat to the faith?** --- **Question:** > Were the total number of respondents 1,770? That's literally that the website says. Screenshot below: --- **Question:** > Did the target group include all 30 plus branches of philosophy? The target population is described [here](https://survey2020.philpeople.org/survey/design/population) : > ## Target Population > > The Survey's target population includes 7685 philosophers drawn from > two groups: (1) From Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, > and the US (6112 philosophers): all regular faculty members > (tenure-track or permanent) in BA-granting philosophy departments with > four or more members (according to the [PhilPeople > database](https://philpeople.org/departments)) . (2). From all other > countries (1573 philosophers): English-publishing philosophers in > BA-granting philosophy departments with four or more > English-publishing faculty members. An English-publishing philosopher > is defined as someone with one or more publications in the [PhilPapers > database](https://philpapers.org/) in a wide range of English-language > venues, including English-language journals and book publishers. > > For meaningful longitudinal comparisons, we also designated a > [100-department target > group](https://survey2020.philpeople.org/survey/design/comparison-departments) > in the same regions as the 2009 survey, based largely on rankings (all > Ph.D.-granting departments with a 2017-2018 Philosophical Gourmet > Report score of 1.9 or above, plus two leading departments with MA > programs and a selected group of European departments based on expert > recommendations). This group of 2407 philosophers was used only for > longitudinal comparisons. > > We also allowed any PhilPeople user to take the survey, regardless of > whether they were in the target populations. These populations cannot > be considered controlled, but results for all respondents and for > graduate students are given in some tables on this site. > > > Lists of departments > * [Target departments for the survey](https://survey2020.philpeople.org/survey/design/target-departments) > * [2020 departments used for longitudinal comparison](https://survey2020.philpeople.org/survey/design/comparison-departments) > * [2009 departments used for longitudinal comparison](https://survey2020.philpeople.org/survey/design/comparison-departments?old=true)

A tenet defended by many advocates of classical theism, intelligent design, and natural theology is that the universe provides crystal-clear evidence of design, leaving everyone without excuse, as Christians commonly assert by quoting passages such as Romans 1 or Psalm 19. However, statistics suggest that scientists, especially physicists and biologists, may not necessarily see things that way. The following quote comes from [Leading scientists still reject God - Nature](https://www.nature.com/articles/28478) : > Our chosen group of “greater” scientists were members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Our survey found near universal rejection of the transcendent by NAS natural scientists. Disbelief in God and immortality among NAS biological scientists was 65.2% and 69.0%, respectively, and among NAS physical scientists it was 79.0% and 76.3%. Most of the rest were agnostics on both issues, with few believers. We found the highest percentage of belief among NAS mathematicians (14.3% in God, 15.0% in immortality). **Biological scientists had the lowest rate of belief (5.5% in God, 7.1% in immortality), with physicists and astronomers slightly higher (7.5% in God, 7.5% in immortality)**. Overall comparison figures for the 1914, 1933 and 1998 surveys appear in Table 1. > > This other quote comes from [Scientists and Belief - Pew Research Center](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2009/11/05/scientists-and-belief/) : > The Pew Research Center poll of scientists also found that levels of religious faith vary according to scientific specialty and age. For instance, chemists are more likely to believe in God (41%) than those who work in the other major scientific fields. Meanwhile, younger scientists (ages 18-34) are more likely to believe in God or a higher power than those who are older. > Lastly, the following quote comes from [Eminent scientists reject the supernatural: a survey of the Fellows of the Royal Society](https://evolution-outreach.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1936-6434-6-33) : > Fellows of the Royal Society of London were invited to participate in a survey of attitudes toward religion. They were asked about their beliefs in a personal God, the existence of a supernatural entity, consciousness surviving death, and whether religion and science occupy non-overlapping magisteria (NOMA). Overwhelmingly the majority of Fellows affirmed strong opposition to the belief in a personal god, to the existence of a supernatural entity and to survival of death. On 'NOMA’, the majority of Fellows indicated neither a strong disagreement nor strong agreement. We also found that while (surprisingly) childhood religious upbringing and age were not significantly related to current attitudes toward religion, scientific discipline played a small but significant influence: biological scientists are even less likely to be religious than physical scientists and were more likely to perceive conflict between science and religion. > > > > If the universe provides crystal-clear evidence of design, how is it that physicists, who study the fundamental laws underlying everything, and biologists, who deal constantly with the complexity of biology, largely fail to believe in a designer God? How is it that something supposedly so obvious turns out not to be obvious for the vast majority of scientists? **I'm interested in published Christian explanations of why so many scientists are not theists.** --- NOTE: people who want to debate about design vs. non-design hypotheses should take it to chat, either [here](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/156039/discussion-between-dcleve-and-matthew) , [here](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/156073/discussing-romans-120-scientifically) , or [here](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/134852/creationism-vs-materialism-naturalism) .

I once heard that so many priests, monks and nuns left their vocations and returned to lay state immediately after Vatican council II ended. Is this true? I also heard that so many convents and monasteries shutdown. I know now that churches across Europe continue to shutdown and Christianity dwindle. But is there any official trustworthy statistics or records for all this? Is there a good reference that talks about these issues? **Update 1:** I found the following SSPX research paper Fruits of Vatican II : But I need more guidance in evaluating it (how valuable it is and what other research exists in this are, especially books treating this matter). **Update 2:** Another resource I found is a blog article by the same title by Patrick Hawkins, a [contributor to One Peter 5](https://onepeterfive.com/author/pfhawkins/) (a website for restoring Catholic Tradition). But again, I am looking for a trustworthy interpretation of this data in the form of a book. **Update 3:** Another is a book list on Second Vatican Council by [Dr. Peter and Julian Kwasniewski](https://bookshop.org/shop/tradition-sanity-list).

This obviously varies massively between denominations and even within denominations. I am trying to assess what percentage of Christendom takes early Genesis absolutely literally (six-day creation within the last 10,000 years, Noah's global flood, Adam and Eve as the first humans, etc.) as opposed to allegorically.

Wikipedia claims that ~8 million Jehovah's Witnesses are engaged in evangelism, and their annual memorial of Christ's death has ~20 million attendees. But it doesn't exactly answer the question of how many members that Church has. My uninformed guess is that if there are 20 million attendees to the celebration, there could be up to 40-60 million witnesses (under the assumption that many of them not really actively practicing their faith). So, how many Jehovah's Witnesses are there? Is there any official statistic? Who counts as a "member"?

Demographics-wise, **has the number of global Christians in communion with the Bishop of Rome** (called "Catholics" for convenience in this Q) **been always the majority in *every* generation since the church in Rome was established**, compared to the number of Christians of all ["Great Church"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Church)-compatible denominations? **Criteria for the accepted answer**: - References to scholarly estimates / reputable statistics are needed in the answer. - If the answer is no, then the statistics need to include a historic trend line with a point showing the years when the number lost majority. - If the answer is no, then please consider answering a related question of whether the "Catholic" percentage has always been greater than the percentages of other 4 major groups: Protestants, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Churches of the East + Nestorian Asian churches. ### Method of calculation and the rationale "Majority" is defined as more than 50% share of all Christians who subscribe to the key doctrines of the Great Church. The purpose for this answer is to figure out whether in light of post-Nicene schisms, **the numbers of adherents that remained in communion with Rome** from the time of the [Great Church](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Church) until today ("Great Church" understood as the mainstream that survived various pre-Nicene heresies) **can be interpreted to indicate that the Holy Spirit ***also*** assisted the ecclesial leadership of the Bishop of Rome by numerical strength**. That is why the criteria below excludes Christian movements that are outright incompatible with the key doctrines of the Great Church. This question may not be as straightforward to answer because at one point in the history of global Christianity, the Nestorian Eastern churches were very active in evangelism, widespread, numerous, and consisted of hundreds of bishoprics that mostly have perished and forgotten (except in the academia). See a fascinating 2009 book by historian Philip Jenkins [The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia--and How It Died](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0061472816) . ### Criteria for group inclusion **For the sake of identifying who **ARE** "Catholics"** (the numerator of the ratio): - The only criteria is **the number of Christians in full communion with the [Bishop of Rome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope)** throughout history. In the modern period, a good starting point would be all the churches listed in the [Pontifical year book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annuario_Pontificio) . - Protestant congregations who started afresh OR who broke communion with Rome (such as the [Church of England](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_England)) should *NOT* be counted. - Eastern Orthodox adherents are counted before the [1054 Great schism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East%E2%80%93West_Schism) , but not afterwards. - [Oriental orthodox churches](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_Orthodox_Churches) churches (such as the [Armenian Church](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Apostolic_Church)) are counted before they broke off from the Great Church. - [Eastern *Catholic* churches](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Catholic_Churches#List_of_Eastern_Catholic_churches) in communion with Rome (both Eastern / Oriental Orthodox) such as the [Armenian Catholic Church](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Catholic_Church) SHOULD be counted **starting at the year of their recognition by Rome**, so should ex-Protestant churches who are recognized by Rome such as parishes wishing to be part of [Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Ordinariate_of_the_Chair_of_Saint_Peter) . - [Church of the East](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_East) are counted, but not *after* the [Nestorian schism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestorian_schism) . - [Ancient churches in Asia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Asia#Early_spread_in_Asia) (some of them Nestorian) are counted, but not after losing contact with the Great Church since after the AD 325 Nicene council. - Historic Arian factions (before 8th century) SHOULD be counted because (as far as I know) the centuries-long dispute was resolved without schism (see [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arianism#Struggles_with_orthodoxy)) . Similarly, during the 4th-5th century [Donatist controversy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donatism) Donatist dioceses should *also* be counted because (as far as I know) Rome never break communion with them (but *they* were the ones who broke from Rome because of their stricter doctrine). - A [rough historical schema](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Christian_denomination_tree) of the major schisms and reconciliations is shown below. **Only the solid gray and red lines are counted**, plus those not in the picture such as the Personal Ordinariate. **For the sake of identifying who **ARE** "Christians":** (the denominator of the ratio): - All of the numerator (Christians in full communion with either the Great Church or the Bishop of Rome) - All Nicene and Chalcedonian Protestants - All Eastern Orthodox churches - Historic [Non-Chalcedonian Christians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Chalcedonian_Christianity) (such as [Coptics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptic_Orthodox_Church) , [Syriac](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriac_Christianity) , other Oriental Orthodox churches, [Nestorians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestorianism) , etc.) who trace their roots to *before* c. AD 500 **ARE** included because: - they were *organic* schisms of the Great Church: they affirmed the common heritage except certain aspects of Christology - they never denied the divine hypostasis of Christ but disagreed only on the relation between the divine nature and the human nature of Christ (see [Christological comparison chart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestorianism#/media/File:Christological_spectrum-o2p.svg)) - they baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - Non-Nicene or non-Chalcedonian [restorationist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restorationism) movements that started *after* c. AD 500 such as LDS, Jehovah's Witnesses, Unitarians, Oneness Pentecostals, are **NOT** included because unlike Protestants (who also started after AD 500), they repudiated the core beliefs of the Great Church in one or more of the following ways: - deny the orthodoxy of the Great Church by labelling it the "Great Apostasy" which they dated to happen very early (1st to early 2nd century): [LDS reason](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/the-restoration/the-great-apostasy?lang=eng) , [JW reason](https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1101993005) - deny the divine hypostasis of Jesus (see the [Unitarian narrative](https://afkimel.wordpress.com/2017/08/02/once-upon-a-time-there-was-a-unitarian-god/)) - baptize [only in the name of Jesus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptism_in_the_name_of_Jesus) ([Oneness Pentecostal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oneness_Pentecostalism#Baptismal_formula)) ### Criteria for individual inclusion Considering [this congregation involvement statistics](https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/11/16/church-involvement-varies-widely-among-u-s-christians/) (thanks to @OneGodTheFather for the discussion), why are non-practicing Catholics included while the high-involvement JW/LDS members do not even count in the denominator? This is because the purpose of this Q is to measure whether the Latin Church (later known as the Roman Catholic Church) has always been the church **which most orthodox Christians choose to teach the most "correct" doctrines** about Christianity compared to other valid descendants of the Great Church. The numbers should approximate the number of those who would answer "Yes" to this survey question: > Regardless of your level of faith in Jesus, your participation in church, the church in which you were baptized, how certain you are of the correctness of your church's doctrines, or the church you are attending (eg. if you are attending the church for family reason, not out of conviction), **which denomination would you *choose* as the one that teaches the most correct Christianity**? Most non-practicing Catholics and C & E Catholics don't go to church more often out of laziness, backsliding, or agnosticism. They don't outright deny the authority of the Catholic church to teach the right doctrines even though they may not agree 100%. That is why they are included in the numerator. Most non-practicing Christians and most of the "Nones" also don't go to church for the same reason, but when asked "which denomination would you most trust to teach the right doctrines of Christianity should you be a practicing Christian again" would STILL be able to choose one of the denomination as the one they would most likely trust over the others, even though they could be in the process mulling over whether to go to another religion. *Until they decide* to practice a non-orthodox form of Christianity (by going LDS, for example) or to practice another religion, they are still included in the denominator.

I don't know if there are statistics on this, or if the answer depends on the denomination, but are Christians usually consciously aware of the first time they received the Holy Spirit? Is the reception of the Holy Spirit for the first time an unmistakable, life-changing, [self-evident](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-evidence) experience/event that most Christians can easily remember, the date of which they can easily pinpoint on a calendar? I'm interested in an **overview of Christian viewpoints** on these questions. ____ Related denomination survey questions: - https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/79507/50422 - https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/91868/50422 Related hermeneutical question: - [Is Paul implying in Acts 19:2 that the reception of the Holy Spirit for the first time is a self-evident experience for the new believer?](https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/q/77330/38524)

The [Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annihilationism#1900s_onwards) regarding Annihilationism states: "Annihilationism seems to be gaining as a legitimate minority opinion within modern, conservative Protestant theology since the 1960s, and particularly since the 1980s." This sentence condenses a lot of information. What does it mean exactly? How small or big is this minority? Does it look different in progressive theologies (whatever that would be)?

I'm looking for a report that shows religious affiliation change in the past 5 years. The kind of report I'm looking for should have details similar to the [2014 Pew Religious Landscape Study](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/) that at least has [net gains and losses by tradition](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/05/12/chapter-2-religious-switching-and-intermarriage/) like Catholicism, Evangelical, mainline Protestants, other religions, nones, etc. The scope of the report can be worldwide, by continent, or specific to a country. Here's the change from 2007 to 2014 for USA only:

Which set of doctrines is accepted and believed by the vast majority of Christians? To get started, I think the doctrine "God exists" must surely be the least controversial of all. **Note**: This is essentially the polar opposite to my recently asked (and closed) question https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/86318/50422 **EDIT**: a probably more on-topic polar opposite question: https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/86324/50422

I am looking for some statistics of how many evangelical churches are Reformed, Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, Pentecostal, etc. - Historical data would be great, but I'm more interested in current numbers. - World-wide scope is fine, but preferably North America, or better yet, by country. - Statistics can be by number of churches or number of members. Both would be great.

To me, it seems Canon Lawyers are hard to come by. In fact, I've never met one and 19 out of 20 times I see the phrase "canon lawyer" it is usually in the form "I am not one". It seems becoming a Canon Lawyer is probably one of the largest educational undertakings in existence. That would explain their scarcity. However, with such a vital role in the Church's governance, how available are they really to the dioceses that need them? What about the laity? It seems like you can *hire* them , which I did not expect when I first looked into this, and their prices are about what you'd expect for a lawyer . But are there currently enough Canon Lawyers to effectively serve the Church in the USA? What about the rest of the world? --- The question title asks for a number, but you're not going to get the green check mark that easily. I'm looking for some analysis on their distribution and if that is enough to be effective. Your own opinion on if that is enough is not really what I'm looking for. --- I just want to highlight a great resource on what exactly a Canon Lawyer is and what they do and don't do: canonlaw.info .

I read that there are over 30,000 denominations. At the same time, I have read that this number is a gross exaggeration. How many Christian denominations are there?

It is often said that there are up to 40 thousand Christian denominations. What is the original source of this claim, and how are the denominations classified?

What percentage of US Christians are dispensationalists? I think it has a serious impact on American policy in the Middle East. > **Dispensationalism** is a religious interpretive system and metanarrative > for the Bible. It considers Biblical history as divided by God into > dispensations, defined periods or ages to which God has allotted > distinctive administrative principles. Source

What percentage of all Christians, who believe in pre-millenial Rapture of the Church hold pre-tribulation, respectively post-tribulation view? As far as I know, majority of Christians hold pre-tribulation view. But can anybody tell the percentage?

When hearing about the civil war in Syria often religious (and ethnic) minorities are mentioned. There are for example different kinds of muslims, Yazidis, different kinds of Eastern Orthodox Christians, different kinds of Eastern Catholic Christians. My question is: How are these minorities spread over the country? I am not interested in statements like "Christians live in the North", but "There are whole provinces with nearly only Orthodox Christians with some scattered Eastern Catholic villages." or "The minorities live unseperated. In each village you will find one of each minority." My focus is on Christians and esp. on how Eastern Rite Catholics are distributed among the Orthodox. Mentioning other minorities is good too. I am interested in answers for before todays mobility (maybe 100 years ago) and for now (or before the war).

I would like to know what percentage of Christians globally belong to denominations which accept evolution of humanity by natural selection (including "theistic evolution"). I can try to calculate these numbers by crossreferencing numbers at Wikipedia "List of Christian denominations by number of members" and "Acceptance of evolution by religious groups", but I'd rather see a published figure somewhere. I can see a lot published about the percentage among American Christians, but I think this is skewed by fundamentalists in America who are out of step with the global church on this issue. I want to say: X% of global Christians belong to a church which accepts evolution. This would include all Catholics and Orthodox, all Methodists, no Southern Baptists, etc. Just how many is that?