40 SEMINARY STUDENT JOURNAL 2 (SPRING 2016)
labels. The decline of Christianity in the Netherlands and the UK represents the
reality on the European continent as a whole.?
North America is following the same general pattern. In North America, the
number of Christians grew from 79 million mn 1900 to 211 million in 1970, and
then to 286 million 1n 2010; here, the number of Christians is projected to reach
333 million by 2050.23 Although that growth may sound strong, Christianity’s
status 1s more precarious than it may first appear. The general population of
North America, unlike that of Europe, 1s projected to continue growing beyond
the 2025 mark.>* And although the number of Christians 1s expected to increase
by 47 million in the four-decade period from 2010-2050, this 1s as compared to
the increase of 75 million in the previous four decades, 1970-2010. So, while the
general population will have increased by 28.5 percent, the number of Christians
will have increased by only 16.4 percent within the same time period.
Like Europe, North America 1s also becoming less and less Christian and more
increasingly without religion. Recent studies and reports have consistently shown
this to be the case. For mstance, mn 1990, 86 percent of Americans called
themselves Christian. Twenty years later, the number of people in North America
who identify as Christian has fallen to 75 percent. As 1s the case with Europe, the
decrease in Christians in North America seems to give way to an increase in
individuals who belong to no religion. Considering these prevailing trends in
both Europe and North America, it seems unlikely that these two regions will be
able to reclaim their reputation as the regions of the world with the largest
number of Christians—the reputation they enjoyed for a long time.
22Pew Research Center data, presented by the Wall Street Journal, highlights the degree
to which the European population reports no religious affiliation: France (28%),
Germany (24.7%), Italy (12.4%), Netherlands (42.1%), and the United Kingdom (21.3%).
World Christian Database, http://www.worldchristtandata-base.org/wed (accessed
May 14, 2015).
The projections show that the population of North America will increase to 401
million mn 2050, an mcrease of about 50 million habitants from 2025. See “10 Projections
for the Global Population mn 2050,” http://www.pewresearch.org/ fact-tank/2014/02/03
/10-projections-for-the-global-population-in-2050/ (accessed May 14, 2013); “United
States of America 2025,” http://populationpyramid.net/united-states-of-america/2025/
(accessed May 14, 2015).
“Christianity Faces Sharp Decline as Americans Are Becommg Even Less Affiliated
with Religion,” http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/05/12/
christianity-faces-sharp-decline-as-americans-are-becoming-even-less-affiliated-with-
religion/ (accessed May 14, 2015).