ARMIES OF CHRISTENDOM

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4800, 21 June 1939, Page 6

ARMIES OF CHRISTENDOM

STILL OUTNUMBERED BY THE HEATHEN. What is the force of Christendom in the modern world by comparison with the populations of the five continents? asks a writer in the London “Daily Mail.” It is a subject of supreme importance. And a review of the actual figures of the various faiths may come as a surprise to many.

The whole Christian community, including the Roman Catholics, the various Protestant Churches, and the Orthodox Church total 681,000,000. There are 331,000,000 Roman Catholics, 206,000,000 Protestants of all denominations, and 144,000,000 members of the Orthodox Church. At the same time, there are nearly 1,200,000,000 non-Christians in the world.

The figure of 144,000,000 members of the Orthodox Church, can be described only as a rough guess because of the difficulty of obtaining exact details from Russia. But there are vast numbers of the Orthodox faith who live outside Russia, in the Levant and parts of Southern Europe. The Orthodox faith is a direct sequel to the establishment of the Church in the East after the disruption of the Roman Empire. It carries on many of the ordinances of the early councils, and its government differs from Rome in that each Patriarch is supreme in his own diocese, whereas the Pope is supreme ruler on earth over his 331,000,000 followers.

The Reformed Churches are to be found in the British Empire, the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Scandinavia and Holland. In Germany the dominant sect is Lutheran, the name given at first in contempt to the supporters of Martin Luther. Before the Nazi regime the Lutheran community numbered 58 per cent, of the total German population, the rest being mainly Roman Catholics. There are also Lutheran State Churches in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The Protestant Church in Great Britain (and in America) is divided into many sects. Methodism is easily the largest English-speaking religious Protestant community. It is almost impossible to find out the exa-"t numbers of the Church of England, for there are only the most elastic checks on membership. The Presbyterian Church of Scotland has 1,250,000 in its communion. There are 4738 Congregational Churches in England and Wales, and 4243 Baptist chapels. Then, in England and America, there are many more denominations of which the Society of Friends, the Unitarians, the Latter Day Saints, the Four Square Gospellers, the Seventh Day Adventists, the Peculiar People, and even the Buchmanites, are but a few.

Altogether, Protestants number 206,000,000 in all parts of the world; 75,000,000 in the United States; about 40,000,000 in Germany, and the rest scattered for the most part over the British Empire and certain of the smaller European countries.

So far as the Jewish faith is concerned, it is estimated that it has 16,000 adherents. The largest religious group in the world comprises the Taoists and the Confucians. There are more than 350,000,000 of them, just topping the 331,000,000 Roman Catholics. The great mass of the Confucians live in China. They follow the teaching of the great philosopher Confucius, who lived 551 to 479 B.C. Confucius taught that common folk should fulfil their duty to society and their betters in a spirit of meek submissiveness. Their sole religion must be obedience to their parents and their rulers. And he expressed himself in his golden rule: “What you do not like when done to yourself do not do to others.” The Hindus of India constitute the next largest non-Christian community with a total of 230,000. It is impossible in a short space to define the various aspects of this age-long creed with its three deities, known as the Hindu Triad.

Brahma is the chief god. Legend says he was born from the “golden mundane” which floated on the water at the beginning of time, and that he was the first of all living creatures. Hinduism has many conceptions in common with Christianity. The Hindu believes that if a man wants to find his peace he must turn away from the world and dedicate his soul to God. Next great religion is Mahommedanism, the mighty militant religion which is predominant in the Middle and Near East. The faithful of Islam number 209,000,000, and they are to be found from the coast of Morocco in almost continuous occupation of the north of Africa, and in that part of Asia which culminates in the mountains of the Persian border.

The founder was Mahomet, who was born in A.D. 580 (570 is the traditional date).

Moslem worship depends on five rules—faith, prayer, fasting, almsgiving' according to the law, and pilgrimages. The confession is the formula, “There is no divinity but Allah, and Mahomet is the messenger of Allah.”

Next in order of numbers is Buddhism, with 150,000, mostly scattered in various parts of Asia, but with 180,000 practising their faith in the United States. Some scholars maintain that Buddha was an imaginary being. In theory, Buddha is reincarnated from time to time to preach true religion. Buddha’s teaching condemns excess of the passions as well as the practice of ignoble and unprofitable asceticism. It urges its followers to take the middle path of right views, right mindfulness, right livelihood and right rapture. Another great non-Christian religion may be said to be Animism, the obscure, material faith which is followed by the native tribes in Africa and in many parts of the East Indies and the South Seas. It embraces in its many and various forms some 135,000,000, of whom 90,000,000 live in Africa south of the Sahara. Its almost common factor is the belief that almost everything in the world, whether animate or inanimate, has the power of reason and volition, just the same as the human race. Japan has its distinctive religion of Shintoism, with something like 35,000,000 followers. It reaches its highest perfection in the worship of the Emperor as a divinity during his life and after his death. It was instituted in its present form in 1868.