中西文明选读第3章 Rligion.ppt

As of the early 21st century, Christianity has approximately 2.2 billion adherents. Christianity represents about a third of the world’s population and is the world’s largest religion. Christianity is the state religion of several countries. Among all Christians, 37.5% live in the Americas, 25.7% live in Europe, 22.5% live in Africa, 13.1% live in Asia, 1.2% live in Oceania and 0.9% live in the Middle East. Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of sub-Saharan African and Western civilization. 3.3.1 Christianity I. Australia According to the 2001 census, 67% of citizens considered themselves Christians, including 26% Roman Catholics and 20% Anglicans. About 15% of Australians consider themselves to have no religion, an increase of over 35% from 1991. Less than 0.03% of those responding claimed to practice aboriginal religions. A 1996 census indicated that almost 72% of Aborigines practiced some form of Christianity while 16% subscribed to no religion; the 2001 census did not provided comparable updated information on. By 2002, increased immigration from southeast Asia and the Middle East resulted in growth in the numbers of those practicing Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism. 3.3.2 Religion in some Major Western Countries II. Austria About 78% of the people are Roman Catholics; 5% belong to the Lutheran Church (Ausburger and Helvetic Confessions); and 17% belong to other or no religious groups, including Islam (2%). The Jewish community stands at about 0.09% of the population; Eastern Orthodox (Russian, Greek, Serbian, Romanian, Bulgarian) at 1.5%; the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) and the New Apostolic Church, 0.2% each; the Syrian Orthodox Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Methodist Church of Austria, and the Buddhist community, all under 0.1% each. These are the only religions that are officially recognized. About 2% claim membership in non-recognized faiths. More than 8% of Austr