Data source: Gina A. Zurlo and Todd M. Johnson, eds., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2024).
| Glossary item | Definition |
|---|---|
| Chicano | Latin American Mestizo (Spanish/Amerindian). |
| child, children | Persons who have not yet attained puberty; defined here as ages 5-14 years, i.e. the school-age population. Often used inclusively to cover infants (defined as under 5 years old, or the pre-school population). |
| children | Term describing all persons under 15 years old, though often a distinction is made between infants (0-5 years old) and children proper, 5-14 years old. |
| children’s organizations | In this field there are over 240 significant Christian organizations. |
| Chinese | An Asian ethnolinguistic family and people. |
| Chinese folk-religionists | Followers of indigenous religions of China, representing an amalgamation of beliefs and practices that can include: universism (yin/yang cosmology with dualities earth/heaven, evil/good, darkness/light), worship of ancestors/gods/goddesses/spirits, divination, sacrifices, and elements from Taoism, Confucianism, neo-Confucianism, and/or Buddhism. |
| choirmaster | The director of a choir. |
| chorepiscopus | (Greek, Latin). (1) In the Early Church, bishop of a country district. (2) In the 20th century, sub-bishop in certain Orthodox and Uniate churches, especially the Coptic Orthodox Church. |
| chorten | A stupa (qv). |
| Christ Groups | A term coined by the World Literature Crusade for the large number of congregations of converts which have emerged through WLC ministry over the last 20 years in isolated areas or towns with no existing churches. |
| Christadelphians | A premillennial Protestant group rejecting the Trinity. |
| Christendom | The traditional portion of the world in which Christianity prevails or which is governed principally under Christian institutions. |
| Christian | One who believes in, or professes or confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, or is assumed to believe in Jesus Christ; an adherent of Christianity. |
| Christian | Followers of Jesus Christ as Lord, of all kinds, all traditions and confessions, and all degrees of commitment. |
| Christian approaches to other faiths | There are over 100 significant organizations in this field worldwide. |
| Christian Brethren | Protestant tradition begun 1828; ex Church of England; also called Open Brethren; independent fundamentalist/dispensationalist. |
| Christian cultures | A Christian culture is defined here as a culture related to a specific ethnolinguistic people or tribe among whom affiliated church members make up at least 60% of the population. |
| Christian education | Organizations in this field, significant at the national or wider levels, number over 280. |
| Christian Era | (CE). Used by Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims and other non-Christians to replace Anno Domini, The Year of Our Lord (AD). |
| Christian Greek Scriptures | The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ term for the New Testament. |
| Christian institutions | See institutions, Christian. |
| Christian literature | In this field organizations significant at the national or wider levels number over 300. |
| Christian political parties | In a number of countries, in Western Europe in particular, certain political parties claim to have a Christian philosophy and basis and have long had close links with Catholics or Protestants. |
| Christian safety index | An index, 0-100, with 100 as the safest, measuring the relative safety of Christians living in a particular country. The index measures a country’s human suffering, murder rate, and religious liberty. |
| Christian Scientist | A believer in Christian Science organized under the official name of the Church of Christ, Scientist. |
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.