Data source: Gina A. Zurlo and Todd M. Johnson, eds., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2024).
| Glossary item | Definition |
|---|---|
| probationer | In Methodism, an intending new member who is put on probation for a period of time to demonstrate his commitment to full membership. |
| proclaim | To declare openly or publicly, make widely known in speech or in writing, announce, show, demonstrate, publish, extol; especially of the gospel and of Christ. |
| proclamation | The action of proclaiming, the condition of being proclaimed, something proclaimed; especially of the gospel. |
| professed | Monks or nuns who have taken the vows of a religious order. |
| professing | Declaring, stating, confessing, self-identifying. |
| professing Christians | Persons publicly professing (confessing, declaring, stating, self-identifying) their Christian preference or adherence in a government census or publicopinion poll, hence known as Christians to the state or society or the public. |
| professing Christians | Persons publicly professing, confessing, declaring, stating, self-identifying themselves as followers of Christ, usually in censuses or public-opinion polls. |
| profession, religious | See religious profession. |
| professional | One engaging in a particular pursuit, study, or science for gain or livelihood (as contrasted with an amateur); one with authority or practical experience in an area of knowledge. |
| professionals’ associations | Christian organizations for workers or professionals, significant at the national or wider levels, number over 400. |
| professions | See decisions. |
| programmed learning | (PL), programmed instruction (PI). A teaching technique and device in which material to be taught is presented, the student providing his answers and immediately comparing them with correct answers; based on the concept of immediate reinforcement of correct answers as a way of impressing information on a learner. |
| progressivist | In Catholicism, a progressive tendency or emphasis or attitude favoring reforms and activism, as opposed to more traditionalist attitudes. |
| projection | The carrying forward of a present trend into the future; an estimate of future possibilities based on current trends. |
| pro-nuncio | The diplomatic envoy of the Catholic pope to a foreign country where Catholics are in a minority. |
| Propaganda | Sacred Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (qv). |
| prophecy | In modern usage in the charismatic renewal, an utterance in public by any Christian which purports to be direct speech by God concerning particular issues. |
| prophesying | Prophecy (qv). |
| prophet | (1) A Biblical, especially Old Testament, revealer, spokesman or seer. (2) An official or office-holder in some pentecostal churches. (3) A charismatic leader of a new religious movement of any sort. |
| prophet movement | An indigenous Christian movement led by a charismatic prophet figure, which usually results in a Non-White indigenous church (qv). |
| proselyte | One who has been converted from one religious faith to another, usually by questionable or dubious methods. |
| proselytism | A manner of behaving, contrary to the spirit of the gospel, using dishonest methods to attract men to a community, e.g. by exploiting their ignorance or poverty. |
| protest, movements of | See prophet movement, secession, schism. |
| Protestants | Christians in churches originating in, or reformulated at the time of, or in communion with, the Western world’s 16th-century Protestant Reformation in European languages usually called Evangéliques (French), Evangelische (German), Evangélicos (Italian, Portuguese, Spanish), though not usually Evangelicals (in English). Includes many traditions such as Anglicans, Lutherans and Baptists (any of whom may be Charismatic) and denominational Pentecostals, but not Independent traditions such as Independent Baptists nor independent Charismatics. |
| province | In Catholic usage, any of the principal ecclesiastical divisions of a country forming the jurisdiction of an archbishop or a metropolitan; a territorial division of a religious order. In Anglican usage, the term has 7 different meanings, including autonomous church, internal province within an autonomous church, or a group of dioceses which for some purposes act in association under a common constitution. Whilst provinces retain their full meaning in contemporary Anglicanism, in contemporary Catholicism they have ceased to have meaning since the meaningful unit is now the nation-wide (local) church, or (in large nations) the newer apostolic regions. |
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.