Data source: Gina A. Zurlo and Todd M. Johnson, eds., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2024).
| Glossary item | Definition |
|---|---|
| decision-makers | Those individuals, classes, groups or elites in any society who take initiatives, act as censors, and make decisions particularly with regard to new situations or innovations arising during times of rapid social change. They are usually estimated to number from 5% to 15% of the total population. |
| decisions | During evangelistic campaigns, enquirers or seekers who make professions or faith in Christ often for the first time, and usually by public profession and the signing of decision cards. |
| declared Christians | Professing Christians (qv). |
| declericalization | The process of ridding a society of clerical influence deemed to involve dogmatic and authoritarian control of religious matters by clergy. |
| deconfessionalization | The process of ridding a society of excessive adherence to confessionalism (qv). |
| defections | Individuals lost from a religion or religious body either to other religions or religious bodies or to no religion (agnosticism, atheism). |
| defections from the priesthood | Catholics leaving the priesthood: (1) secular: (1970) 1,848, (1991) 608, (1996) 714; (2) religious; (1975) 1,446, (1981) 359, (1996) 379. |
| degrees in religious studies | Academic degrees may be taken in over 2,500 departments of theology or religion in as many universities across the world. |
| deist | An adherent of deism, a rationalist movement based on natural religion, reason and morality, and belief in an otiose God. |
| Deliverance-Pentecostals | Perfectionist-Pentecostals (qv). |
| democratic rule | A measure of the extent to which all de facto political power is in the hands of the populace themselves. |
| demographer | A specialist in demography. |
| demographic | Relating to the dynamic balance of a population. |
| demographic audience | Total listening/viewing community including children, influenced regularly by Christian radio/ TV broadcasts. |
| demographic commitment profile | A graphical presentation showing the commitment to Christianity of all sections of a particular population. |
| demographic evangelization | The extent of evangelization among a large or sizeable population, or the spreading of the gospel through all types of evangelizing activity including the church’s evangelism. |
| demographic increase | An increase, or annual increase, in the size of a population due to secular or non-religious causes. |
| demographic inertia | The observable fact that large populations only change their basic characteristics, including religious characteristics, gradually or slowly over a period of years. |
| demographic statistics | The art of collecting and presenting statistical information about a population. |
| demographic time series | The values of a demographic variable over a period of time. |
| demography | The scientific and statistical study of human populations, primarily with respect to their size, structure, density, growth, distribution, development, migration and vital statistics. |
| demon | A pagan or unclean or evil spirit. |
| demonology | The systematized religious doctrine of evil spirits. |
| demonstration | In evangelization, the act of making the gospel known or evident by visible or tangible means; showing, manifesting, indicating, proving the merits of the gospel to others. |
| denomination | An organized Christian church or tradition or religious group or community of believers or aggregate of worship centers or congregations, usually within a specific country, whose component congregations and members are called by the same name in different areas, regarding themselves as an autonomous Christian church distinct from other denominations, churches and traditions. For totals, see under denominations. |
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.