Data source: Gina A. Zurlo and Todd M. Johnson, eds., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2024).
| Glossary item | Definition |
|---|---|
| Dyophysites | Eastern Orthodox, Chalcedonian. |
| E | A computed estimate of the percentage of persons in a particular population segment (world, country, people, city) who have become evangelized, by or at a particular date. |
| Early African | One of the 13 ethnic regions of mankind, speaking 57 languages. |
| Early Fathers | The Apostolic Fathers (qv). |
| East Syrians | Assyrians, Nestorians, Syro-Chaldeans. |
| Easter | Annual church celebration commemorating Christ’s resurrection. |
| Easter attender | A church member who attends church at Easter. |
| Easter communicant | A church member who receives communion at Easter. |
| Eastern Church | A collective term for Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian (Nestorian) Eastern-rite Catholic and other churches east of the Mediterranean. |
| Eastern Orthodox | Chalcedonian Christians, sometimes collectively referred to as Greek Orthodox and excluding Oriental Orthodox (qv). |
| Eastern rite | (Oriental-rite) Catholics. All Catholics or Catholics in communion with the Church of Rome who follow rites other than the Latin rite (totaling 28 rites and sub-rites). A full listing is given in Table 1-5. |
| Eastern Syrians | East Syrians (qv). |
| ecclesia | (NT Greek). A church; in particular, a local congregation of the Christadelphians. |
| ecclesial communion | In Catholic usage, collegiality or co-responsibility (qv). |
| ecclesial community | A basic community (qv). |
| ecclesiarch | A high church official or ruling prelate. |
| ecclesiastic | A person in holy orders or consecrated to the service of the church: a clergyman |
| ecclesiastical | Relating to the church as a formal and established institution. |
| ecclesiastical crime | Term relating especially to embezzlements of church funds by top custodians. Global total (in 2000): $16 billion per year. |
| ecclesiastical crime | Criminal activity on the part of church officials; restricted in scope here to embezzlements of church funds by their top custodians (treasurers, presidents, et alii). |
| ecclesiastical name | A new Christian name taken on election by popes, patriarchs and other high ecclesiastics, usually one in a series down the centuries. |
| ecclesiastical province | A group of dioceses territorially contiguous, forming an ecclesiastical unit; so termed because originally coincident with the Provinces of the Roman empire. (See under province). |
| ecclesiastical territories | In Catholic usage, circumscriptions or jurisdictions (qv). |
| ecclesiastical tradition | A church’s or denomination’s main tradition, family, rite, churchmanship, etc., with which it is most closely connected historically. Global total of all major traditions: 300, including 27 Catholic rites and sub-rites. |
| ecclesiastical tradition | See tradition. |
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.