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Line 1: − Concerning the future of [[evangelicalism|evangelical Protestantism]] in Europe, in a paper entitled ''Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth?: Demography and Politics in the Twenty-First Century'', Professor [[Eric Kaufmann]] wrote: + − {{cquote|What of European [[Christianity]]? The conventional wisdom holds it to be in free fall, especially in Western [[Europe]]. (Bruce 2002) This is undoubtedly correct for Catholic Europe, while Protestant Europe already has low levels of religious practice. Yet closer scrutiny reveals an increasingly lively and demographically growing Christian remnant. Several studies have examined the connection between religiosity - whether defined as attendance, belief or affiliation - and fertility in Europe. Most find a statistically significant effect even when controlling for age, education, income, marital status and other factors... − − Moving to the wider spectrum of European Christianity, we find that fertility is indeed much higher among European women who are religious... − − Today, most of those who remain religious in Europe wear their beliefs lightly, but conservative Christianity is hardly a spent force. Data on conservative Christians is difficult to come by since many new churches keep few official records. Reports from the World Christian Database, which meticulously tracks reports from church bodies, indicates that 4.1 percent of Europeans (including Russians) were evangelical Christians in 2005. This figure rises to 4.9 percent in northern, western and southern Europe. Most religious conservatives are charismatics, working within mainstream denominations like Catholicism or Lutheranism to ‘renew’ the faith along more conservative lines. There is also an important minority of Pentecostals, who account for .5% of Europe’s population. Together, charismatics and Pentecostals account for close to 5 % of Europe’s population. The proportion of conservative Christians has been rising, however: some estimate that the trajectory of conservative Christian growth has outpaced that of Islam in Europe. (Jenkins 2007: 75). − − In many European countries, the proportion of conservative Christians is close to − the number who are recorded as attending church weekly. This would suggest an − increasingly devout Christian remnant is emerging in western Europe which is more − resistant to secularization. This shows up in France, Britain and Scandinavia (less − Finland), the most secular countries where we have 1981, 1990 and 2000 EVS and 2004 − ESS data on religiosity... − − Currently there are more evangelical Christians than Muslims in Europe. (Jenkins 2007: 75) In Eastern Europe, as outside the western world, Pentecostalism is a sociological and not a demographic phenomenon. In Western Europe, by contrast, demography is central to evangelicalism’s growth, especially in urban areas. Alas, immigration brings two foreign imports, Islam and Christianity, to secular Europe.<ref>[http://www.sneps.net/RD/uploads/1-Shall%20the%20Religious%20Inherit%20the%20Earth.pdf ''Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth?: Demography and Politics in the Twenty-First Century'' by Eric Kaufmann]</ref>}} − − In 2010, Kaufmann reported that the rate of secularisation flattened to zero in most of Protestant Europe and France.<ref>[http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/shall_the_religious_inherit_the_earth/ Shall the religious inherit the earth]</ref> Line 54:
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no edit summary
Evangelical Protestantism is growing in Europe. Below is some statistics regarding its growth in various European countries plus some projections for the growth of evangelical Protestantism in Europe in the 21st century by the demography/religious/political scholar [[Eric Kaufmann]].
== Growth of British evangelical Christianity ==
== Growth of British evangelical Christianity ==
On March 17, 2014, the news website ''Deutsche Well'' reported that evangelical Christianity has doubled in Germany in the last 10 years.<ref>[http://www.dw.de/ghanaian-pastor-seeks-to-re-christianize-germany/a-17501259 Ghanaian pastor seeks to 're-Christianize' Germany]</ref>
On March 17, 2014, the news website ''Deutsche Well'' reported that evangelical Christianity has doubled in Germany in the last 10 years.<ref>[http://www.dw.de/ghanaian-pastor-seeks-to-re-christianize-germany/a-17501259 Ghanaian pastor seeks to 're-Christianize' Germany]</ref>
Concerning the future of [[evangelicalism|evangelical Protestantism]] in Europe, in a paper entitled ''Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth?: Demography and Politics in the Twenty-First Century'', Professor [[Eric Kaufmann]] wrote:
{{cquote|What of European [[Christianity]]? The conventional wisdom holds it to be in free fall, especially in Western [[Europe]]. (Bruce 2002) This is undoubtedly correct for Catholic Europe, while Protestant Europe already has low levels of religious practice. Yet closer scrutiny reveals an increasingly lively and demographically growing Christian remnant. Several studies have examined the connection between religiosity - whether defined as attendance, belief or affiliation - and fertility in Europe. Most find a statistically significant effect even when controlling for age, education, income, marital status and other factors...
Moving to the wider spectrum of European Christianity, we find that fertility is indeed much higher among European women who are religious...
Today, most of those who remain religious in Europe wear their beliefs lightly, but conservative Christianity is hardly a spent force. Data on conservative Christians is difficult to come by since many new churches keep few official records. Reports from the World Christian Database, which meticulously tracks reports from church bodies, indicates that 4.1 percent of Europeans (including Russians) were evangelical Christians in 2005. This figure rises to 4.9 percent in northern, western and southern Europe. Most religious conservatives are charismatics, working within mainstream denominations like Catholicism or Lutheranism to ‘renew’ the faith along more conservative lines. There is also an important minority of Pentecostals, who account for .5% of Europe’s population. Together, charismatics and Pentecostals account for close to 5 % of Europe’s population. The proportion of conservative Christians has been rising, however: some estimate that the trajectory of conservative Christian growth has outpaced that of Islam in Europe. (Jenkins 2007: 75).
In many European countries, the proportion of conservative Christians is close to
the number who are recorded as attending church weekly. This would suggest an
increasingly devout Christian remnant is emerging in western Europe which is more
resistant to secularization. This shows up in France, Britain and Scandinavia (less
Finland), the most secular countries where we have 1981, 1990 and 2000 EVS and 2004
ESS data on religiosity...
Currently there are more evangelical Christians than Muslims in Europe. (Jenkins 2007: 75) In Eastern Europe, as outside the western world, Pentecostalism is a sociological and not a demographic phenomenon. In Western Europe, by contrast, demography is central to evangelicalism’s growth, especially in urban areas. Alas, immigration brings two foreign imports, Islam and Christianity, to secular Europe.<ref>[http://www.sneps.net/RD/uploads/1-Shall%20the%20Religious%20Inherit%20the%20Earth.pdf ''Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth?: Demography and Politics in the Twenty-First Century'' by Eric Kaufmann]</ref>}}
In 2010, Kaufmann reported that the rate of secularisation flattened to zero in most of Protestant Europe and France.<ref>[http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/shall_the_religious_inherit_the_earth/ Shall the religious inherit the earth]</ref>
== See also ==
== See also ==