Introduction:
The world's principal religions and spiritual traditions may be
classified into a small number of major groups or world religions.
According to the 2005 survey of Encyclopædia Britannica, the vast
majority of religious and spiritual adherents follow Christianity (33% of world
population), Islam (20%), Hinduism (13%), Chinese folk religion (6.3%) or
Buddhism (5.9%). The irreligious and atheists make up about 14%, and about 4%
follow indigenous tribal religions.
These spiritual traditions may be either combined into larger super-groups, or separated into smaller sub-denominations. Christianity, Islam and Judaism (and sometimes the Bahá'í Faith) are summarized as Abrahamic religions. Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism are classified as Indian religions (or Dharmic religions). Chinese folk religion, Confucianism, Taoism and Shinto are classified as East Asian religions (or Far Eastern, Chinese, or Taoic religions).
Conversely, the major spiritual traditions may be parsed into denominations:
Beliefs: The Problem or Solution
Beliefs starting with religious beliefs affect all life on earth and what
people do and why the do what they do. It is the basis of their decisions that
we all make.
It is out of the collision of beliefs that war is created, because both sides
believe they are correct in what they are doing and why the are doing it.
All beliefs are the result of the condition of the heart and all beliefs because of the condition of the heart have the ability to have great power, because of the heart and the Adamic Covenant. God created Adam in God's very image. It is also written that God created everything in six days, not with His hands, but with His words. He gave that power to Adam and in that same covenant we all have the ability to create things out of the power of our words in what we speak. What is in our hearts becomes a filter and is usually based on our needs. Our hearts control what we say or what we write or hear or how we even see things. Our hearts as the diagram below shows all has the ability to create life or destruction by what we speak.
It is because of this power people are even able to bring life or destruction or to even heal. Jesus Himself said if you believe you can cast out demons and heal the sick. He didn't say one had to believe in Him, but He said that anyone that believed they had the power to cast out demons and heal the sick, it would be done. Obviously there are many choices to choose from in religion. Religion takes us on one of two paths, either on a path to equality in the ability to walk with God as an equal as Adam did or it takes us to a place of inequality. Only in equality can there ever be freedom and with freedom comes the power to choose and in freedom can come respect not only for ones self, but for others. Religions are beliefs that are created out of the condition of the heart. All power comes from God, it is His gift to all to have what we focus on and to bring healing such as in Reiki. It only takes the belief and acceptance to have the power of God, but it depends on the condition of the heart in how the power is used.
The heart controls what we speak or what we say or even write. It controls how we view things or see things in life or even what we hear. These things become beliefs and religion which does not bring unity, but brings division and inequality, because one is right and one is wrong which is why people belong to one religion rather than others, because they believe they are right. It is a path of knowledge. The other path is from the tree of life in walking with God and people out of love and equality, where no one can tell another what to do.
Beliefs as they are of the heart have great power and we either have to go to someone to receive this power or we already have it. It is much like seeing the glass of water as either being half full or half empty.
TKoh Model for Change©
Addiction Defined: A compulsive behavior that results in Short term rewards and long term destruction!
*Needs: Survival, Loved and be loved, Variety & Purpose
In the Kingdom of Hearts it is about the condition of the persons heart so
people can walk today in the Kingdom of God. Here no one is over another. This
ministry is just as much yours as it is ours or anyone else's. Here we teach
that God created Adam in God's own image and as a result was a carbon copy of
God's Spirit and as such had the power of God to do many great things on earth.
While man was created for God Eve was created for man, but Adam had a choice to
either have Eve understand all that he did and even have Eve walk with God as
Adam did or choose not to let her know all that they had been given, which is
why Eve was tempted to begin with.
God created all as equal and never one over the other. We are all leaders and we
are all ministers and each of us is either part of the problem or part of the
solution by walking in equality with all, first of the truth about what God did
give us and secondly Jesus ministry on earth. The power of God is not the focal
point here, because God gives everyone His power. Jesus eve said that if you
believe you will cast out demons and heal, not because of Jesus but because they
believe they can, because of what had already been established through Adam.
Here we are all equal and the only way one can be free is if all are equal and
in freedom there can be respect for self and others which is how we can love our
neighbors as ourselves. In equality everyone understands the same things and
there are no secrets in equality. Division is created by mans desire to be
called something and set himself apart from others because one may know more
than the other which is why man creates organizations and build church
buildings, because it separates himself from others and that was never intended
and sends people in the direction of the tree of knowledge instead of the tree
of life where all are equal.
Jesus did not come to start a new religion called Christianity, but a way that
all had access to God if they so choose. Here we are all ambassadors, priests
and all ministers as was originally intended. We may have different gifts and
callings but here the least is the greatest in the kingdom of God and the
greatest is the very least in the kingdom which is what brings equality. Man
often seeks rules to live by, but women move out of the heart and bring life
which makes women very important to all things and need to be respected as such
and was ordained by God for women to bring new life. Man may be able to cast his
seed, and that seed is either good or bad, but it is through women that make
that seed come to life and that seed is either of God or it is of man, which
will define how that child is raised to either be of God or of man and if of man
becomes part of the problem instead of the solution. A woman brings life to man
or God's children by the seed that was cast if it is
good seed. Only through
acceptance of Jesus can this change where this child, family or person can walk
with God on the path or red road with God, which is what salvation is. Here we
cannot say we love God and not love all as equal.
A good woman that is married and has accepted her mate for life and gives to
that mate her heart and being to that person which, becomes a mirror of that person. A
good woman has no will, besides the will of her mate as she does not live for
herself, but lives for her mate. She represents what ever that mate is, either
good or bad and brings increase either good or bad because of her mate. To a
good woman marriage is a very spiritual thing and when consummated, not by sex,
but of giving her heart to her mate, it is eternal. It becomes her life force
and being. It is a love that goes beyond comprehension. If she really has given
her heart fully to her mate she cannot take it back as she is tied to that
person. She may leave that person, but she still is very tied to that person.
We
are called to walk the red road or the path and what we understand, out of love
we are to invite all to walk that road or path and we on that path are all
equal. As we walk that path together we need to be in agreement and the only way
for their to be agreement is by God's very Spirit and if we say we love God then
we must love all others as all life comes by the breath of the Spirit of God for
without His Spirit there is no life. Through agreement whatever we set our hand
to and agree upon will be done. We are here not to create another organization,
but to invite all to walk that path. We have the power of God through love and
agreement to change everything on earth and by all of us walking that path
together as equal have more power to change everything around us.
We all have come to the conclusion that there is nothing good in anyone of us
and the only hope for any of us is God and us as His people walking that path in
love, unity and equality. It is not us that make us equal to God, it is that God
lifts His people up to walk with Him so His will can be done on earth as it is
in heaven. The way we become born again is to give up our lives and desire to
walk that path because we have come to realize there is no hope unless we do
walk with God and each other. Here Jesus is our brother and we are His bride and
as such by His love He cares for His provide and provides for His bride. Jesus
provided us with the truth so we can be set free, because the lack of truth puts
people in bondage when one is over the other.
Here we all go up the mountain to commune with God. We do so because if we do
not we wander in the desert and as such cannot move by faith in His will. Here
the kingdom of God is at hand and one chooses to be part of the system of the
world where Satan is the God of this world or we walk that path or red road with
God. The road is red, because we give our lives and our will and blood to
walk that road with Jesus as a brother. To lay down our will and lives for the
will of he Father who sends us all. We have come to the conclusion that we would
rather walk that path with God or be in and of the world.
We do not say these things lightly, but with the deepest respect out of love for
people and we pray that you take it as such. I do ask you to pray about
everything and seek the truth about anything that is said, so you will know that
it is of God or not and ask that you always share with us whatever God may show
you or speak to you and we wait for God to speak to you about walking with us on
this path.
Do they help us get ahead or hold us up?
Our hearts, belief and our needs
motivate us. For example what we do in life in how we make money or what we do
in our personal relationships or even and most important how we raise our
children as they are our future. Certainly if the condition of the parent’s
heart is not very good then it is little wonder why our children are having
difficulties in relationships with other, school and even future goals. Most
children don’t even see a hope of a future, which is why the do what they do and
adopt an attitude of “live for today for tomorrow we die.”
One major problem with being motivated by beliefs alone is that our beliefs are
just that, beliefs, which are not facts but a set of beliefs thinking what we
know is true, instead of what we do know is true. In other words often our
beliefs to us as individuals are more important than the facts and if fact then
it is the truth. One example and its an old saying, “if it looks like a duck and
sounds like duck, then its probably a duck.” That is a true statement, it’s
probably a duck, but that’s the key word, “probably,” but that’s not an
absolute, it’s a belief that it is a duck. It’s an assumption, which is a
belief.
Some assumptions are good and fine, while others are not good. For example for
the longest time no one could break the four minute mile. The reason was people
thought it impossible to run any faster, until someone had a different belief,
one that was more important than believing it was impossible to run the mile
faster then in four minutes. This person that believed they could run faster,
did break the world record and not only did he, but others have since then.
This should prove that beliefs can often be obstacles that keep a person from
doing better. In this case the belief kept everyone from doing better. The fact
is someone else with a different belief proved that the mile could be run in
less time. The point of all of this is where were learn for the most part is
from our cognitive years of our lives, from the ages usually from three to seven
or eight and our greatest sphere of influence at that point is usually our
parents, who may have had it together and knew everything there was to know
about life or may not.
That’s well and good but if we as adults are still making decisions based on
what we learned from 3-8 we are in serious trouble if the information or beliefs
have not been updated. When we are motivated by these beliefs that we hold, then
it is easy to prejudge what we hear or see or speak. This is called prejudice
and keeps people from learning. We all know that prejudice hurts everyone, but
prejudice seems to continue despite the fact everyone knows its wrong and it
hurts others and even ourselves.
Can beliefs get out of hand?
Most
assuredly! On September 11, 2001, the heart of New York City was devastated
after terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center. The twin
towers, a prominent symbol of American financial might, were the first buildings
to collapse. Four hijacked passenger jets have crashed in the US, destroying the
World Trade Center in New York and damaging the Pentagon in Washington.
Thousands of people were killed. Suspected hijackers on flight 11 have been
named by the FBI as Waleed M Alshehri, Wail Alshehri, Mohamed Atta, Abdulaziz
Alomari and Satam Al Suqami. The FBI named the supected hijackers flight 175 as
Marwan Al-Shehhi, Fayez Ahmed, Mohald Alshehri, Hamza Alghamdi and Ahmed
Alghamdi. Suspected hijackers on flight 77 were named by the FBI as Khalid Al-Midhar,
Majed Moqed, Nawaq Alhamzi, Salem Alhamzi and Hani Hanjour. The hijacker who
piloted the jet may have been Hanjour. Investigators believe they herded the
passengers into the rear of the planeand switched off the transponder in the
cockpit preventing the plane from being tracked. Air force jets were alerted -
but they arrived after the plane had crashed. On flight 93 it is believed the
hijackers were armed with knives and a box they claimed was a bomb. The FBI
named them as Ahmed Alhaznawi, Ahmed Alnami, Ziad Jarrahi and Saeed Alghamdi.
Investigators discovered Alghamdi and Alnamihad both previously lived in an
apartment in Delray Beach, Fla.
We are not picking on anyone or religion, but the fact remains all of the
hijackers believed that they were not only good people but doing god a service
and everyone else a service in bringing down an evil nation or at least an evil
financial institution. Although this may be an extreme of beliefs but it does
show that beliefs motivated the hijackers. The beliefs came from teachings they
learned where in order to be godly people they were to destroy evil people.
Logic would tell us that all in the towers destroyed were not evil people.
Perhaps some where, who can say, but it was a belief that created a situation
and tragedy that people will not soon forget. We all have beliefs good and bad,
but there needs to be a rational balance in those beliefs.
It should be obvious that the people responsible did not seem to know the truth
and their lives where wasted as well as others. Its a graphic example of not
knowing the truth and wasted lives, but if we are working on beliefs and half
truths, then it is also a tragic waste of not only our lives, but those we
influence including our families lives and our children's lives.
Motives: What Motivates us is a Condition of
our Hearts
Motives move us all to do anything. After all why do anything if we are not
motivated into doing something. Everyone has needs that often motivate us as
human beings. Some are motivated by one or all of the following: Need to love or
be loved. We all need love and we all need to give it. Survival or need for
security or protection. Perhaps we look to others for our security financially.
It’s a known fact many women yet today marry not because of love, oh they may
love the person, but the deep need or desire is to have a financially secure
future. The other motive we may have is having a purpose in life. Our purpose
often times in our belief system brings us value or a perceived value. The
problem with this is, often if we think we do not have a value unless to please
others or live for a particular reason and that reason is gone, then there is no
reason to go on. This often times happens with parents that try to stay together
and live for the purpose of raising their children. Once the children are gone
so is their purpose in life. The other major motivator is a need for variety.
Life is dull if doing the same things over and over without variety.
Now here is the problem with being motivated by needs. Most needs are temporary
and blow like the wind, so if we are making life changing decisions based on our
needs then we cannot work to build sound relationships or a sound future and
also impossible to reach our individual goals in life and in family. If the core
of our being is need, then the core of or being is self and the only thing that
can be produced is a self centered or shallow person that will use and abuse to
get their individual needs or fantasy met. Motives and needs bring an end result
good or bad.
Good Questions:
So one question is, “do we like life the way it is and if not is there anything
we can do about life?” Do we like crime, our homes broken into or terrorist
attacks, drug addiction and or alcohol and drug abuse, which is often the root
cause of a host of other abuses? What type of legacy do we leave our children?
Is there hope? Today as you read this there are some 14,000 that will starve to
death and it happens each day. You might ask “what that has to do with you as an
individual?” These are certainly good questions and each of us should ask
ourselves, “why this is happening and who is responsible for what is happening,
not just across the globe but even in our own back yards, in our streets and
neighborhoods?” Is it possible to be free or be autonomous while these things
continue to plague us?
There is a cost for all of this even though you may not see it. The cost in part
besides a decaying society is higher taxes to pay for more government and more
people to do something about what is happening. That may sound like a good
solution, hiring others to take care of the needs or the problems, but what
happens is instead of people really being helped more people are hired and costs
go up for labor, buildings, office furniture, telephones and computer equipment,
all of which has little to do with helping people, but it’s a belief that tells
us these things are important to help someone.
The reason this all happens is because of a condition of the heart to either
deal with the needs and problems or to pass the needs and problems to others and
a high cost. It is a condition of the heart either way to either accept what is
happening and the responsibility for what is happening or to pass that
responsibility to someone else. The problem with passing the responsibility to
others is not only the high cost of actually helping someone, we also give up
our freedom to have others deal with problems and needs because it has to be
paid for and that comes from higher taxes, which do not free us but enslaves us.
It’s estimated just in America for example, that 45% of what we earn goes to
higher taxes to pay for all of this. To me that does not sound like freedom but
a form of slavery.
After reading this you may desire to throw up your hands and wonder what is the
solution and the solution you will find is much closer than what you may realize
or been led to believe. The solution to it all is a result of the condition of
our hearts to either decide to do something about what is happening or decide
not to do anything. That is a condition of the heart to start with and it gets
deeper.
Process of Change:
TKoh Model for Change©
Addiction Defined: A compulsive behavior that results in Short term rewards and long term destruction!
*Needs: Survival, Loved and be loved, Variety & Purpose
The first step to fixing anything in
life is to accept responsibility for what is happening. We teach our children
this but doesn’t work to well if we are trying to dodge the responsibilities in
our lives, because after all children listen to what we say, but they really
watch what we do and most come out thinking parents are hypocrites. The facts
are whether we like them or not, is that we as individuals are responsible…..
When anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help, to either help them or reject them.
If we reject them and their needs it is because we judge them not worthy of our
help and if we begin to judge then we are not open minded, but closed minded and
we become critical of others and stop learning, making things in life worse and
not better for ourselves and our families. We all lead by example whether we see
it or even agree with it or not. Each of us influences each other in a positive
or negative way.
So you may after reading that and understanding that come up with “who cares?”
It’s a natural and normal response, but what happens is it shows a lack of love
and concern for others. The reason that is important is because in our personal
relationships we either lover or love conditionally and if loving conditionally
it becomes a selfish love. Who cares?
When we start adopting attitudes of who cares others see it and usually those
closest to us and makes it next to impossible to build long term and lasting
relationships with others, because we have an attitude of “who cares” and if we
do it shows and others have an opportunity to use us. Victimization can be an
endless cycle. In order to end the cycles in life we have to have a desire to do
something different. Insanity defined is to continue to do the same things over
and over and expect different results in our lives, in our work, relationships
at home and our children’s lives.
Had enough? Ready to do something different and perhaps new concepts and then
learn how to apply these concepts to your life, which become principles and
wisdom? If so we can help.
The Kingdom of Hearts, Core Values
Value #1: Caring for Self and Others Believing in the worth and dignity of
individuals and caring for self and others.
Value #2: Promoting Ethical Practice Ethical practice starts as a condition of
the heart and proceeds to our homes, children and our work place.
Value #3: Respecting Diversity Recognition of the importance of respecting and
encouraging different perspectives and valuing the contributions of all
cultures, groups, and individuals.
Value #4: Encouraging Positive Change Beliefs that change in people,
organizations, institutions and society can be facilitated in a positive manner.
Value #5: Acquiring and Using Knowledge Commitments to the importance of being
open to listening to new concepts that when used become principles and wisdom
that make our own lives better and everyone around us that we influence.
Knowledge is power. Our words to others either have power or not. If not it is
because our words are shallow and have little value.
Value #6: Encouraging and Enhancing Leadership Willingness to mentor and nurture
leaders who will advocate for positive change on behalf of the people we meet in
life. We all lead by example more than what we say. People see in us things that
work or don’t work and are influenced by what they see.
Value #7: Promoting Collaboration Working in a collaborative manner: We are not
alone and no one is an island unto themselves that is unless we do not respect
others.
The Kingdom of Hearts offer several programs that are designed to help you as an
individual get ahead in life and achieve the goals you desire in life. In a
word, we have programs that have been developed and proven to help you run the
mile faster than in four minutes as these programs help to get rid of obstacles,
which defeat us.
This program will help you in life in understanding what is happening and why
and what can be done to change things, but also teaches you in a step by step
method how to make an above average income, all while helping others. Sound too
good to be true? That’s back to beliefs once again. What makes this different?
It’s not selling you a course or a book, but actually walking with you step by
step and you learning from those that have succeeded. You are able to meet with
people that are succeeding and have succeeded and they are willing to mentor you
and help you in your road in life. This can and will if applied help you make an
income to help you and your family, so you can have more quality time to do what
you want or that is in your heart to do.
What do you have to gain or loose?
Simple, your time and your life either way! The cost of this program $25 and the
time it takes you to learn, but if learned and applied, can bring you wealth and
happiness.
The
Kingdom of Hearts: What is it?
To some it is about building a kingdom. To some it is a business, while to
others it is completely something that may on the surface seem intangible, but
very tangible.
The Kingdom of Hearts is about every individual’s heart and the condition of
every individual’s heart. You may wonder why that is important in the scope of
life and paying bills, but our individual hearts, control what we see or what we
hear. Scientists used to think for example, that we hear with our ears or speak
from our mouths or see with our eyes, but have learned that where we really
speak, hear and see from is our minds and our minds are controlled by our hearts
as individuals.
Contents
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The concept of "world religion" is historically based on a subjective perception of temporal or theological importance, usually from a Western, "Christian" (or at least "Abrahamic") perspective.
Early Christian scholars, the earliest known classifiers of major religions, recognized two "proper" religions, Christianity and Judaism, besides heretical deviations from Christianity, and idolatrous relapse or paganism. Islamic theology recognizes Christians and Jews as "People of the Book" rather than idolaters, however, Christians are criticized for believing in Christ as God incarnate, rather than considering Christ as one prophet and/or messenger along with others (especially Muhammad in particular). The Christian view long classified Islam's rejection of Christ's divinity as one heresy among others. The concept of the Trinity is often seen as a fundamental conflict between Islam and some interpretations of Christianity to this day.
Attempts to identify and classify additional religions expanded during the Enlightenment however, and by the 19th century Western scholars considered the five "world religions" to be Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. These remain the classic "world religions."
Modern classifications typically list major religious groups by number of adherents, not by historical or theological notability. Most dramatically, this affects Judaism, which holds the position of "world religion" as the foundational tradition of the "Abrahamic" group, but which in terms of adherents ranks below 0.25% of world population, behind Sikhism.
The remaining four classic world religions, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, are the largest contemporary religions by far. They each have more than 300 million adherents, more than ten times the number of the next largest organized religion (Sikhism, ca. 19 million per the Christian Science Monitor source cited below).
A person is typically considered an adherent or follower of a particular religion if the person would self-identify the religion as the primary characterization of their religious perspective. Similarly, a religion is typically considered to fall within a larger religious category (e.g., Protestantism falling within Christianity) if the followers of the religion self-identify that classification as appropriate.
An example of a modern listing of "world religions" is that of the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, listing twelve "long established, major world religions, each with over three million followers", alphabetically:
The Adherents.com list of "twelve classical world religions" is nearly identical, but replaces Vodou with Zoroastrianism.
The "World's Major Religions" list published in the New York Public Library Student's Desk Reference omits Vodou and Zoroastrianism, as well as Jainism and Sikhism, but lists the Eastern Orthodox Church, Protestantism and Roman Catholicism as separate religions.
The Christian Science Monitor, in a 1998 article "Top 10 Organized Religions in the World," provides a listing of the largest "organized religions":
| # | Religion | Number of Adherents |
| 1 | Christianity | 1.9 billion |
| 2 | Islam | 1.1 billion |
| 3 | Hinduism | 781 million |
| 4 | Buddhism | 324 million |
| 5 | Sikhism | 19 million |
| 6 | Judaism | 14 million |
| 7 | Bahá'í Faith | 6.1 million |
| 8 | Confucianism | 5.3 million |
| 9 | Jainism | 4.9 million |
| 10 | Shinto | 2.8 million |
In comparison with the Ontario Consultants list above, the Christian Science Monitor omits Taoism and Vodou as "non-organized."
Other "major religions" listed by Adherents.com (2007), not found on the above lists, are:
Religious traditions fall into super-groups in comparative religion, arranged by historical origin and mutual influence. Abrahamic religions originate in the Middle East, Indian religions in India and Far Eastern religions in East Asia. Another group with supra-regional influence is African diasporic religions, which have their origins in Central and West Africa.
Demographic distribution of the major super-groupings mentioned is shown in the table below (with number of followers estimates from Adherents.com for groups having such figures available there):
| Name of Group | Name of Religion | Number of followers | Date of Origin | Main regions covered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Abrahamic religions 3.4 billion |
Christianity | 2.1 billion | 1st c. | Worldwide except Northwest Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and parts of Central, East, and Southeast Asia. |
| Islam | 1.5 billion | 7th c. | Middle East, Northern Africa, Central Asia, South Asia, Western Africa, Indian subcontinent, Malay Archipelago with large population centers existing in Eastern Africa, Balkan Peninsula, Russia, Europe and China. | |
| Judaism | 14 million | 1300 BCE | Israel and among Jewish diaspora (live mostly in USA and Europe) | |
| Bahá'í Faith | 7 million | 19th c. | Dispersed worldwide with no major population centers | |
|
Indian religions 1.4 billion |
Hinduism | 900 million | no founder | Indian subcontinent, Fiji, Guyana and Mauritius |
| Buddhism | 376 million | Iron Age (1200–300 BCE) | Indian subcontinent, East Asia, Indochina, regions of Russia. | |
| Sikhism | 23 million | 15th c. | India, Pakistan, Africa, Canada, USA, United Kingdom | |
| Jainism | 4.2 million | Iron Age (1200–300 BCE) | India, and East Africa | |
|
Far Eastern religions 500 million |
Taoism | unknown | Spring and Autumn Period (722 BC-481 BC) | China and the Chinese diaspora |
| Confucianism | unknown | Spring and Autumn Period (722 BC-481 BC) | China, Korea, Vietnam and the Chinese and Vietnamese diasporas | |
| Shinto | 4 million | no founder | Japan | |
| Caodaism | 1-2 million | 1925 | Vietnam | |
| Chondogyo | 1.13 million | 1812 | Korea | |
| Yiguandao | 1-2 million | c. 1900 | Taiwan | |
| Chinese folk religion | 394 million | no founder, a combination of Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism | China | |
| Ethnic/tribal 400 million |
||||
| Primal indigenous | 300 million | no founder | India, Asia | |
| African traditional and diasporic | 100 million | no known founder | Africa, Americas | |
| Other each over 500 thousand |
||||
| Juche | 19 million | 20th century | North Korea | |
| Neopaganism | 1 million | |||
| Unitarian-Universalism | 800,000 | |||
| Rastafarianism | 600,000 | |||
| Scientology | 500,000 | 1951 |
One way to define a major religion is by the number of current adherents. The population numbers by religion are computed by a combination of census reports and population surveys (in countries where religion data is not collected in census, for example USA or France), but results can vary widely depending on the way questions are phrased, the definitions of religion used and the bias of the agencies or organizations conducting the survey. Informal or unorganized religions are especially difficult to count.
There is no consensus among researchers as to the best methodology for determining the religiosity profile of the world's population. A number of fundamental aspects are unresolved:
This listing includes both organized religions, which have unified belief codes and religious hierarchies, and informal religions, such as Chinese folk religions. For completeness, it also contains a category for the non-religious, although their views would not ordinarily be considered a religion.
Since the late 19th century the demographics of religion have changed a great
deal. Some countries with a historically large Christian population have
experienced a significant decline in the numbers of professed active Christians.
Symptoms of the decline in active participation in Christian religious life
include declining recruitment for the
priesthood and
monastic life,
as well as diminishing attendance at
church. At the same time, there has been an increase in the number of people
who identify themselves as
secular humanists. In many countries, such as the
People's Republic of China, communist governments have discouraged religion,
making it difficult to count the actual number of believers. However, after the
collapse of communism in numerous countries of Eastern Europe and the former
Soviet
Union, religious life has been experiencing resurgence there, particularly
in the forms of
Neopaganism and
Far Eastern religions.
Within the world's four largest religions, Christianity currently has the greatest growth by numbers and Islam has the fastest growth by percentage. Following is some available data based on the work of World Christian Database and its predecessor, the World Christian Encyclopedia:
| 1970-1985 | 1990-2000 | 2000-2005 |
|---|---|---|
| 3.65% - Bahá'í Faith | 2.65% - Zoroastrianism | 1.84% - Islam |
| 2.74% - Islam | 2.28% - Bahá'í Faith | 1.70% - Bahá'í Faith |
| 2.34% - Hinduism | 2.13% - Islam | 1.62% - Sikhism |
| 1.67% - Buddhism | 1.87% - Sikhism | 1.57% - Hinduism |
| 1.64% - Christianity | 1.69% - Hinduism | 1.32% - Christianity |
| 1.09% - Judaism | 1.36% - Christianity | |
| 1.09% - Buddhism | ||
| The annual growth in the world population over the same period is 1.41%. |
While controversial in some respects, the results have been studied and found "highly correlated with other sources of data" but "consistently gave a higher estimate for percent Christian in comparison to other cross-national data sets" according to one study.
A 2002 Pew Research Center study found that, generally, poorer nations had a larger proportion of citizens who found religion to be very important than richer nations, with the exception of the United States.