Religion and Africa
A study conducted by the Washington-based Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life says that Africans are among the most religious people on Earth.[1] Africa has a high fertility rate and it is seeing a big population boom. According to the Institute For Security Studies: "Africa's population is the fastest growing in the world. It is expected to increase by roughly 50% over the next 18 years, growing from 1.2 billion people today to over 1.8 billion in 2035. In fact, Africa will account for nearly half of global population growth over the next two decades."[2]
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Rapid growth of Christianity in Africa
In recent years, Christianity has seen a rapid growth in Africa.[3] See: Global Christianity
See also: Christianity in Africa and Historical examples of the exponential growth of Christianity
In 2011, USA Today published an article entitled Study: Christianity grows exponentially in Africa which declared:
| “ | Meanwhile, the faith has grown exponentially in sub-Saharan Africa, from just 9% of the population in 1910 to 63% today. Nigeria, home to more than 80 million Christians, has more Protestants than Germany, where the Protestant Reformation began.
"As a result of historic missionary activity and indigenous Christian movements by Africans, there has been this change from about one in 10 (sub-Saharan Africans) identifying with Christianity in 1910 to about six in 10 doing so today," Hackett said.[4] |
” |
Between 2000 and 2020, the continent of Africa had more than 37,000 new Christians every day.[5]
For more information, please see: Study traces exponential growth of Christianity in Africa
General overview of religion in Africa
The dominant religion of Arabic-speaking north Africa, is Islam. It replaced Christianity in the 7th century and slowly spread west and south across the Sahara and into the equatorial zones. Today Islam includes about 41% of all Africans.
The Christian churches, based on missionary work of the 19th and 20th centuries,[6] claim 45% of the population, of whom 55% are Protestants. There are about 150 million Roman Catholics on the continent, led by 33,000 priests.[7] The Anglican Church includes about 5 million members in Nigeria, 2.4 million in South Africa, 2.2 million in Uganda, 1.5 million in Kenya, 1.0 million in Tanzania, and 2 million or so elsewhere in Africa.[8]
For statistical detail on each church see Adherent.com, which compiles membership data from many sources.
About 20-30% of the people follow traditional religions and animism.
In 2005, there were four times as many non-Western World Christians as there were Western World Christians.[10]
Evangelism - Christianity vs. Islam competition in Africa
See also: Evangelism - Christianity vs. Islam competition in Africa and Evangelism
In 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported:
| “ | Across sub-Saharan Africa, religion today is in ferment as different versions of Christianity and Islam vie for believers—a contest that is transforming both faiths and disrupting long-established terms of coexistence.
Owing to population growth and the intensity of their religiosity, Africans are now one of the more important constituencies of both Islam and Christianity worldwide, and sub-Saharan Africa is one of the world’s most active and contested religious markets. The region was 59% Christian and 30% Muslim in 2020, according to the World Religion Database. “There is a new scramble for Africa,” said Sheikh Ibrahim Lethome of Jamia Mosque in Nairobi, Kenya, drawing an analogy with the colonization of the continent in the late 19th century. “Christianity is growing, Islam is growing, and there is competition.” On a continent where indigenous religions dominated just a century ago, Christian missionary efforts, associated with European colonization, have borne fruit in massive conversions. By 2020, there were 643 million Christians in sub-Saharan Africa, a quarter of the world total, up from 7.4 million in 1900. By 2050, it is projected that there will be 1.3 billion Christians in the region, or 38% of all the Christians in the world.[11] |
” |
Western World atheists unwilling to endure hardship to globally spread atheism
The Freedom From Religion Foundation reported:
| “ | A new study conducted by the Washington-based Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life says that Africans are among the most religious people on Earth. The study, titled “Tension and Tolerance: Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa,” was based on more than 25,000 interviews conducted in more than 60 languages in 19 countries...
At least three out of 10 people across much of Africa said they have experienced divine healing, seen the devil being driven out of a person or have received a direct revelation from God. [1] |
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Africa has a high fertility rate and it is seeing a big population boom. According to the Institute For Security Studies: "Africa's population is the fastest growing in the world. It is expected to increase by roughly 50% over the next 18 years, growing from 1.2 billion people today to over 1.8 billion in 2035. In fact, Africa will account for nearly half of global population growth over the next two decades."[12] See also: Global desecularization
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Why so many Africans are religious: Leo Igwe
- ↑ Africa’s population boom: burden or opportunity?, Institute For Security Studies
- ↑ The African apostles: How Christianity exploded in 20th-century Africa
- ↑ 'Study: Christianity grows exponentially in Africa, USA Today, 2011
- ↑ Glenn Sunshine and Jerry Trousdale with Greg Benoi (March 15, 2020). Christianity is growing faster than any time in history. Why is the Church in Europe, America declining?. The Christian Post. Retrieved on March 16, 2020.
- ↑ There are remnants of much older Coptic Christian settlements in Ethiopia.
- ↑ Using projections based on data at Fides News Service
- ↑ See Anglican statistics
- ↑ The African apostles: How Christianity exploded in 20th-century Africa
- ↑ Is Christianity taking over the planet?
- ↑ The Competition for Believers in Africa’s Religion Market, Wall Street Journal, 2021
- ↑ Africa’s population boom: burden or opportunity?, Institute For Security Studies
