ABSTRACT

Today Christians, or at least persons of Christian religious background, number over two billion, about a third of the world’s overall population. This figure is up from a half-billion at the beginning of the twentieth century. At that time, the religion also represented about a third of the world’s people-up from a fourth around 1800but with a significant difference. In 1900, it was overwhelmingly European and Euro-American in its constituency and centers of power. Now its membership is predominantly persons of color in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and its centers of real strength are rapidly moving to that part of the world. This is due to both population growth and growth by conversion, including (as we will see) the appearance of dynamic innovative forms of Christianity in lands new to it.1