According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, the global Christian population totals 2.5 billion people. To help in the comprehension of that number, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary’s Center for the Study of Global Christianity (@CSGC) has compressed it into this graphic as if 100 Christians represented all of global Christianity:
- 67 would live in Asia, Africa, Latin America or Oceania
- 33 would live in Europe or Northern America
- 65 would live in urban areas
- 35 would live in rural areas
- 16 would speak Spanish as their first language
- 10 English
- 8 Portuguese
- 5 Russian
- 3 Mandarin Chinese
- 64 would be between the ages of 15–64
- 26 would be under 15
- 11 would be illiterate
- 35 would have little to no access to secondary education
- 53 would have access to the internet
- 14 would have no access to safe water
- 5 would have malaria
- 79 would live in countries with moderate to high corruption
- 35 would live in countries with low development
- 63 live on $10–100 a day
- 34 would have inadequate access to doctors
According to these statistics, the typical Christian today is a non-white woman living in the global South, with lower-than-average levels of societal safety and proper health care. This represents a vastly different typical Christian than that of 100 years ago, who was likely a white, affluent European.
Read the Bible Gateway Blog posts:
- Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, Infographic: The Status of Christianity Around the World
- Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, The Bible and the Spread of Christianity: An Interview with Brian Stiller
- Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, The Biography of Christianity: An Interview with Ian Shaw
- Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, The Unexpected Christian Century: An Interview with Scott Sunquist
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