Data source: Gina A. Zurlo and Todd M. Johnson, eds., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2025).
| Glossary item | Definition |
|---|---|
| teacher | In Christian Science usage, one authorized to teach a class of not more than 30 pupils each calendar year. |
| telecast | A broadcast program over television. |
| telecenter | A church center equipped with a television receiver for use with classes and educational programs. |
| telephone ministries | Christian organizations in this area, significant at the national or wider levels, number over 200. |
| teleporting | The transmission of very large quantities of digitized data by telecommunication round through teleports (specialized ground stations handling huge volumes daily). |
| television | (TV). See under radio, broadcasting. |
| temple | An edifice dedicated to the worship of a deity in non- Christian religions, especially Hinduism and Buddhism; occasionally used of Christian buildings as in Mormon usage. |
| tent-making ministry | Aself-supporting ministry in which a Christian worker, often an ordained minister earns his livelihood in some secular occupation. |
| tent-making missionary | A self-supporting foreign missionary who is not supported by a foreign missionary society or local church. |
| terminology, religious | The technical or special terms or expressions used in the descriptive study of religion. |
| territory | In Salvationist usage, a country or region in which Salvation Army work is organized under a territorial commander. |
| testimony | A brief personal account or narrative by an individual Christian concerning how Christ has worked in his life. |
| thaumaturgic | Connected with or dependent on thaumaturgy (performing of miracles or magic). |
| thaumaturgicalist, thaumaturgist | A performer of miracles, a magician. |
| theatre, religious | See religious drama. |
| theist | A believer in theism, belief in the existence of one God transcendent and immanent. |
| theocracy | Government of a state by allegedly the immediate direction or administration of God. |
| theological college associations | Associations at national or wider levels number over 80. |
| theological colleges | See seminaries. |
| theological education | An intensive and structured preparation of men and women for their participation in the ministry of Christ in the world. |
| theological education by extension | (TEE). Organization specializing in this area number over 200 worldwide. |
| theology | The study of God and his relation to man and the world: apologetics, dogmatic theology, natural theology, practical theology, systematic theology, et alia. |
| theophany | A physical presentation or personal manifestation of a deity to an individual. |
| Theosophists | Persons and bodies holding to Theosophy, or synthesist views combining philosophy and religions. A small number, including Liberal Catholics (qv), are specifically Christian. |
| Theosophy | A syncretistic system following chiefly Hindu philosophies originating in the USA in 1875. |
Data on 18 categories of religion, including non-religious, by country, province, and people.
Data on all religions, Christian activities, and trends.
Membership data, year begun, and rates of change.
Population and religion data on all major cities & provinces.
Detailed information covering religion, culture, and geography.
A repository of historical data, including a chronology of Christianity from the 1st to 21st centuries.