Data source: Gina A. Zurlo and Todd M. Johnson, eds., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2024).
| Glossary item | Definition |
|---|---|
| Third World | A term, based on political non-alignment, for those developing nations which are non-aligned with either the Western (Capitalist) world or the Communist (Marxist) world, and so form a third bloc. For an economic and social analysis see The Third World: problems and perspectives, ed. A. B. Mountjoy (London: Macmillan, 1978). |
| Third World | Developing nations not politically aligned with either the Western (Capitalist) world (the First World) or the Communist/Marxist-related world (the Second World). The term is purely chronological (like ‘third child’) and has never carried connotations of inferiority (as ‘third-rate’ does). It is the standard term to use for the nonaligned world and should be used instead of popularized alternatives like ‘Two-Thirds World’, a noncomparative term based only on population size. |
| Third-Wavers | Believers who have experienced baptism in the Holy Spirit but who do not affiliate with First-Wavers or Second-Wavers but instead join Neocharismatic/Postdenominational congregations. |
| Third-World foreign missionaries | Citizens of Third-World nations who serve as foreign missionaries in other countries. |
| Third-World indigenous Christians | See Non-White indigenous Christians. |
| three (3) tier schema | A stylized schematic representation in which, to enhance the understanding of world evangelization, the globe is divided into 3 slices or tiers or worlds, and given the names World A, the Unevangelized World; World B, the Evangelized Non-Christian World; and World C, the Christian World. |
| threefold ministry | In Anglicanism, the orders of bishop, priest and deacon. |
| Tibeto-Burmese | An Asian ethnolinguistic family, with over 300 languages. |
| time lag | In church statistics, the delay incurred between the collecting of statistics at grass-roots level and their eventual publication at denominational or nationwide level; usually 2, 3, 4, 5 or even 6 years depending upon the size and complexity of the denomination concerned. |
| time level | The exact date, year or time to which particular data, especially statistical data, apply. |
| time series | The values of a variable over a period of time. |
| titular bishops | Catholic bishops each with the title of, but without jurisdiction in, a defunct see; bishops in partibus infidelium. |
| toleration, religious | See religious toleration. |
| tongues | Glossolalia (qv). |
| total | Aggregate, sum, amount, whole. |
| total Christian community | The total of a church’s or denomination’s affiliated Christians (qv) or church members, who are part of the churches’ corporate life, community and fellowship; of all ages and varieties including children, infants and persons under instruction; also called inclusive membership. |
| total church member community | Affiliated Christians (qv). |
| total church membership | Affiliated Christians (qv). |
| total community | The total of all persons affiliated to a particular denomination or religion, for the churches, affiliated Christians (qv). |
| total mobilization evangelism | See in-depth evangelism. |
| totalitarian | Authoritarian, dictatorial, despotic. |
| tourism | Travelling for recreation; touring. In this field, Christian ministries and organizations significant at the national or wider levels number over 150. |
| tourists | Persons travelling from place to place for pleasure or culture, defined as those who stay overnight usually at a hotel or inn. |
| tract | A pamphlet or leaflet containing a religious exhortation, doctrinal discussion or proselytizing appeal. |
| Tractarians | Anglo-Catholics (qv). |
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.