Menu
In 2010, according to a Pew Research Centre survey, there were approximately 2,184 million Christians who made up 31.4% of the world’s population (Pew Research Centre, 2011). The Christian faith tradition is divided into three main branches: Catholics (1,095 million), Orthodox (260 million), and Protestants (800 million). In comparison, there are 1,600 million Muslims, who are the second-largest religious group in the world (23.2%). If estimates based on fertility rates are projected out to 2050, Christians will continue to make up 31.4% of the world’s population, while Muslims will increase from 23.2% to 29.7% (Pew Research Centre, 2015a).
Protestant Christianity is made up of a very heterogeneous group of 33,000+ denominations that include traditional Protestants (9,000 denominations), Independents (22,000 denominations), Anglicans (168 denominations), and non-traditional Christians (1,600 denominations) (Barrett et al. 2001). Traditional Protestants include groups such as Pentecostal, Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian/Reformed, Methodist, Seventh Day Adventist, etc. Independent Protestants are members of denominations such as African Independent, independent Apostolic and Charismatic groups. Full Gospel, Independent Baptist, independent Adventist, Orthodox, Fundamentalist, and many others. Anglican denominations include Anglo-Catholic, Central or Broad Church Anglican, Ecumenical, Evangelical Anglican, High Church Anglican, Low Church Anglican, mixed or plural Anglican, and others including the Episcopal Church (considered a group within the broad Anglican category). Non-traditional Christian denominations include Jehovah’s Witness, Mormon, Christian Science, Unitarian/Universalists, and other groups that do not adhere to the historical creeds and councils of traditional Christianity (i.e. Nicene, Ephesus, etc). Reasons for the many Protestant denominations are described by Bruce (1985). The main reason is the lack of institutional structure and tradition, particularly among conservative Protestants, which has allowed almost anyone to claim legitimate authority and attract a following (something that Catholicism with a long history of tradition is less vulnerable to).
The largest Protestant group in terms of membership worldwide are the Independents (including nondenominational Protestants) who make up 38.2% of all Protestants. Next are historically Pentecostal (10.8%), Anglican (10.6%), Lutheran (9.7%), Baptist (9.0%), United churches (various denominations) (7.2%), Presbyterian/Reformed (7.0%), Methodist (3.4%), Adventist (2.7%), and Congregationalist, Brethren, Salvation Army, and Moravian (1.4% total) (Pew Research Centre, 2011). Protestants make up the majority of Christians in the U.S., with the latest data (2014) showing they make up two-thirds of the 70.6% of the population with a Christian affiliation (Pew Research Centre, 2015b). There are more Protestants in the U.S. than in any other country in the world, with the Southern Baptist convention the largest U.S. Protestant denomination (Pew Research Centre, 2011).