ChristianToday.com reports: “Amid ongoing reports of spiritual renewal and revival across parts of the world, a major new global study paints a more sobering picture of Christianity’s current trajectory.
While churches in some regions speak of growing youth movements and renewed fervour, data from a respected US research institute suggests that Christianity is experiencing one of the steepest rates of decline among the world’s major religions.
According to research published last week by the Pew Research Center, Christians are now among the most likely to disaffiliate from the faith they were raised in.
Drawing on data from 117 countries and territories, covering 92 per cent of the global population, the study found that only 83 per cent of those brought up as Christian continue to identify as such in adulthood. This retention rate is significantly lower than that of Muslims and Hindus, both of whom retain 99 per cent of their followers. Only Buddhists fare worse, with a retention rate of 78 per cent.
The study highlights the growing phenomenon of religious ‘switching’ – individuals changing their religious identity from that of their childhood – but notes that most who leave Christianity are not joining another faith. Instead, they are choosing to abandon religion altogether. Around 17 per cent of those raised Christian now identify as atheist, agnostic, or simply ‘nothing in particular’…”
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