Data source: Gina A. Zurlo and Todd M. Johnson, eds., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2024).
| Glossary item | Definition |
|---|---|
| annual family income | The average annual income earned by a family in a country; derived by multiplying the national income per person by the average household size (average number of persons living in a household or family). |
| annual letters | The total listeners’ letters received in the course of a year by a radio/TV station or program. |
| anonymous Christians | Nominal Christians (qv); unaffiliated Christians unknown to the churches who nevertheless accept Christian beliefs and values. |
| Anthroposophy | A spiritual and mystical doctrine that grew out of Theosophy and derives mainly from the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian social philosopher. |
| anti-conciliar | Anti-ecumenical; opposed or hostile to the conciliar or ecumenical movements. |
| Antioch | The third city in the ancient Roman empire where the disciples were first called Christians; in the 4th century, the 3rd patriarchal see of Christendom (after Rome and Alexandria); now the see of 5 rival patriarchs: Greek Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, Melkite, Maronite, and Syrian Catholic (Uniate). |
| Antiochene | The Antiochene or Western Syrian rite of the Catholic Church consists of 3 sub-rites: Malankarese, Maronite, and Syrian (qv). |
| Antiochian | Syro-Antiochian (qv). |
| anti-religious | Opposed or militantly opposed to all religion; irreligious, hostile to religions and religious persons. |
| anti-religious quasi-religionists | Adherents of anti-religions quasi-religions (atheism, Communism, dialectical materialism, Leninism, Maoism, Marxism, scientific materialism, Stalinism, et alia). |
| anti-trinitarian | A Christian tradition openly repudiating the doctrine of the Trinity, hence unitarian. |
| apartheid | (Afrikaans). The policy of segregation and political and economic discrimination against Non-Whites in the republic of South Africa. |
| apartment ministry | A pastoral type of ministry to dwellers in high-rise apartment buildings in densely-populated city areas. |
| apocalyptic | Prophetic, revelatory, predicting ultimate destiny or doom. |
| apocrypha | Quasi-scriptural non-canonical or deutero-canonical books of doubtful authorship or authority; especially, 13 books attached to versions of the Old Testament. |
| apologetics | That branch of theology devoted to the defense of the Christian faith and addressed primarily to criticisms originating from outside. |
| apostasy | The renunciation or abandonment of one’s previous religious profession of faith. |
| apostates | Former church members, especially Catholics, who have renounced or forsaken the Christian faith; backsliders, lapsed, disaffiliated (qv), dechristianized, post-Christians. |
| apostle | A messenger, one sent forth, one of the 12 disciples of Christ; one of certain early Christian missionaries or (Eastern Orthodoxy) one of the 70 disciples of Jesus; first prominent Christian missionary in any part of the world; one who has extraordinary success in mission; high or highest ecclesiastical official in numerous denominations especially in African indigenous churches. |
| apostle | A Christian worker sent out on a special, primary, or initiatory mission among non-Christians. |
| apostolate | In Catholic usage, the service of souls and spread of the Faith, discharged by bishops, priests, religious and laity. |
| apostolate | The office, duties, or period of activity of an apostle, or apostles, or of the whole body of the church in its mission to the world. |
| apostolate, persons dedicated to the | In Catholic usage, also called the apostolic force, and consisting of all bishops, priests, permanent deacons, religious brothers, professed women religious, committed lay workers (catechists, etc.), but excluding the lay apostolate. |
| Apostolatus Copiae | (Latin: official translation into English: Workforce for the Apostolate). In Catholic usage, the main statistical category for counting personnel (bishops, priests, deacons, monks, nuns, sisters, layworkers, catechists). |
| apostolic administration | (symbol AA). Temporary operating of a diocese when normal operation is impossible, e.g. due to state hostility. |
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.