The emergence of Christianity.
Christianity originated in the first century in Palestine, in the Jewish environment in the context of Messianic movements of old Testament Judaism. Already in Nero’s time Christianity was known in many provinces of the Roman Empire.
According to the new Testament text of the Acts of the apostles (acts. 11: 26), the noun “Χριστιανοί” – Christians, adherents (or followers) of Christ, first came into use to refer to supporters of the new faith in the Syrian-Hellenistic city of Antioch in the first century.
Initially, Christianity spread among the Jews of Palestine and the Mediterranean Diaspora, but already from the first decades, especially thanks to the activities of the Apostle Paul, it has gained many followers among other peoples (“pagans”). Until V century the spread of Christianity was happening mainly in geographical limits Roman Empire, and also in sphere its cultural influence (Armenia, East. Syria, Ethiopia), later (mainly in the 2nd half of 1-
among the Germanic and Slavic peoples, later (by the XIII—XIV centuries.) – also among the Baltic and Finnish peoples. In modern and modern times, the spread of Christianity outside Europe was due to colonial expansion and the activities of missionaries.
Population. Currently, the number of adherents of Christianity worldwide is about 2.35 billion, including:
in Europe-according to various estimates from 400 to 550 million,
in Latin America-about 543 million,
in North America-231 million:
US-160-225 million,
Canada – 25 million,
in Asia-about 350 million,
in Africa-475 million,
in Australia and Oceania-24 million.
Approximate number of adherents of various Christian denominations:
Catholics — about 1.2 billion, including:
about 17 million Eastern Catholics;
Protestants-according to Britannica about 420 million (experts Britannica does not include Protestantism Anglicans (86 million) and independent churches (371 million)), according to the Pew Research Center, which includes Protestantism Anglicans and the so-called “independent churches” – about 800 million, including:
279 million Pentecostals;
about 88 million Anglicans;
about 75 million Presbyterians and close to them currents;
70 million Methodists;
70 million Baptists;
64 million Lutherans;
16 million seventh-day Adventists;
Orthodox about 300 million;
adherents of the ancient Eastern churches (“non-Chalcedonian” churches and the Assyrian Church of the East) — about 70-80 million, including:
there are about 9 million followers of The Armenian Apostolic Church.