The World's Religions in Figures: An Introduction to International Religious Demography

Created by two of the field’s leading experts, this unique introduction to international religious demography outlines the challenges in interpreting data on religious adherence, and presents a contemporary portrait of global religious belief. Offers the first comprehensive overview of the field of international religious demography – detailing what we know about religious adherents around the world, and how we know it Examines religious freedom and diversity, including agnostics and atheists, on a global scale, highlighting trends over the past 100 years and projecting estimates for the year 2050 Outlines the issues and challenges related to definitions, taxonomies, sources, analyses, and other techniques in interpreting data on religious adherence Considers data from religious communities, censuses, surveys, and scholarly research, along with several in-depth case studies on the global Muslim population, religion in China, and the religious demography of recently created Sudan and South Sudan Argues against the belief that the twentieth-century was a ‘secular’ period by putting forward new evidence to the contrary Provides resources for measuring both qualitatively and quantitatively important data on the world's religious situation in the twenty-first century

Table of Contents:
List of Figures xiii List of Tables xiv Foreword xix Acknowledgments xxiv Introduction 1 Part I Overview 7 1 Global Religious Populations, 1910–2010 9 2 Regional Religious Populations, 1910–2010 81 3 Religious Diversity 93 4 Projecting Religious Populations, 2010–50 111 Part II Data and Methods 133 5 Defining Religion and Religious Identity 135 6 Religious Demography as an Emerging Discipline 143 7 Major Sources and Collections of Data 163 8 Analyzing Data on Religion 190 9 Dynamics of Change in Religious Populations 205 Part III Case Studies 227 10 Estimating Changes in the Global Muslim Population 229 11 Factors Driving Change in the Global Muslim Population 258 12 Estimating China’s Religious Populations 286 13 Assessing Religious Populations in the Sudans 313 14 Migration and Religious Diasporas 321 Conclusion 333 Appendix: World Religions by Country 337 Glossary 346 Index 360

About the Author :
Todd M. Johnson is Associate Professor of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity. He is Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs (CURA) at Boston University, where he co-edits the World Religion Database. Professor Johnson is the co-editor of the Atlas of Global Christianity (with Kenneth Ross, 2009) and co-author of World Christianity Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition (with David Barrett and George Kurian, 2001) and World Christian Trends (with David Barrett, et al, 2001). He is also the editor of the World Christian Database. Brian J. Grim is Director of cross-national data and Senior Researcher in religion and world affairs at the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life in Washington, D.C. Dr Grim is also Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs at Boston University, where he co-edits the World Religion Database. He is co-author of The Price of Freedom Denied: Religious Persecution and Conflict in the 21st Century (with Roger Finke, 2011).

Review :
“Todd Johnson and Brian Grim have produced a synthesis of statistics and commentary that will stand as a landmark in the quantitative study of world religions.”  (Journal of Contemporary Religion, 1 October 2014) “A very scholarly book with huge amounts of data included in it but with a major contribution to the methodology of taking forward religious demography as a discipline.  The World’s Religions in Figuresis strongly recommended for any library with a focus on religion, sociology or world politics.”  (Reference Reviews, 1 October 2014) “Todd Johnson and Brian Grim have produced a synthesis of statistics and commentary that will stand as a landmark in the quantitative study of world religions.”  (Journal of Contemporary Religion, 1 August 2014) “And in my opinion, this book is a must read for everyone interested in the field of international religious demography.”  (Journal for the scientific study of Religion, 10 June 2014) "This book is a comprehensive introduction to religious demography, both by way of method and by way of data and results.”  (International Journal for Religious Freedom, 1 October 2013) “It is a technical, critical volume.  For those who are seriously engaged in demographic studies and the manner in which international religious traditions have developed, and are now developing, this book will have value and significance.  It is a remarkable achievement.”  (Association for Mormon Letters, 1 September 2013)