Michael Patton at Reclaiming the Mind has some nice charts showing the breakdown of the world’s religions (numbers and percentages), as well as the breakdown of Christian traditions.
November 6, 2009
Charting the Numbers: Religions and Christian Sects Worldwide
Posted by jasondulle under Religions[7] Comments
November 6, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Concerning the chart I wonder if “Pentecostals” are only Trinitarian Pentecostals or OP’s and TP’s?
November 6, 2009 at 2:07 pm
I’m not sure. We may not be in charts 5&6 if he considers OPs to be a cult (in which case we’d be represented in chart 4). I’ll ask.
Jason
November 9, 2009 at 4:28 pm
The only thing that is important about your worship is whether or not it is acceptable to our Creator. The only place to verify your worship is through God’s Word the Bible. The only person that can explain God’s Word to you is God’s Word, Jesus. That is why every knee shall bow to him. Anything else and you are in the company of the Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ time. World religions are just like political divisions, divisive and the offspring of man’s machinations and greed.
November 9, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Grant,
I agree with you that the Bible is the ultimate authority for faith and practice. But to claim that only Jesus can explain the Word of God is not a Biblical concept. If that were true, why did Jesus appoint the office of teacher in the body of Christ? Why do Christians hold to different understandings of Scripture if Jesus is interpreting it for each of us? I am not excluding the role of the Spirit to help illuminate the meaning of Scripture for us, but there is a lot more going on in interpretation besides the role of the Spirit. There is our own pre-understandings, our own bias, and our own epistemic limitations about the language in which the Bible was written in, and ancient near-Eastern customs.
Jason
November 10, 2009 at 2:52 am
Jason: I am not surprised to hear that from anyone nor am I surprised at how hard it is to get people to understand the truth. Eversince the Garden of Eden mankind has tried to put someone between itself and God,ie Satan, when the only one God will allow between himself and us is his Word who now also carries the human name of Jesus. Why should I expect to prove this to mankind when God has been unsuccessfully trying since the beginning of our existence?
November 10, 2009 at 3:06 am
further to that, the reason we have so much confusion is really quite simple. Mankind! As long as men try to fit the bible into their life instead of fitting their life to the Bible you will get as many mis-understandings as there are men in the world. Allow no man to be your teacher but keep checking what they teach against God’s Word. Throw out what does not coincide with the scriptures and seek ONLY God’s truth. In other words believe the Bible over EVERYTHING else.
November 10, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Grant,
Of course we should compare what we are being taught to the Scripture. Scripture is the ultimate authority. But that is different from saying that only Jesus interprets Scripture for us. That seems to exclude the role of teachers that God has placed in the body of Christ for the purpose of helping others understand His Word. They are not infallible, but neither are you and I. We are all struggling to properly understand what God has revealed in His Word, and we all do so imperfectly to one degree or another.
Jason