Christians And Christianity

When we begin to discuss Christians, it becomes extremely compelling to also include

the doctrines of Christianity for a very simple reason - without Christianity, Christians would not exist. The term Christian comes from the name of the religion, meaning Christ-like. The first references to this term can be found the New Testament Acts 11:26. These days, anything associated to the religion of Christianity is termed as Christian. Looking in terms of popularity, almost 75 percent of the North American population is Christian. Throughout the world as well, Christianity remains as one of the most commonly recognized and identified religion, finding believers in almost every part of the earth.

Within the header of Christianity, several branches exist which can be differentiated on the basis of their beliefs. We can successfully divide these into five major segments - active Christians, professing Christians, private Christians, Roman Catholic (etc) and cultural Christians. Amongst these, only two segments are regular in visiting churches. Mentioned below is the population differentiation percentages based on the belief and following of the above branches by people of North America.

Only 19 percent population in North America can be termed as Active Christians. These people are regular in attending church, read bible, believe in Jesus Christ and accept leadership positions in church when asked. 20 percent population is of the belief that relationship with God and Jesus matter more than church. This segment of people is termed as Professing Christians. Another 16 percent of the population call themselves as Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran or Episcopalian. These believe in absolute power of church and church authorities and are extremely strict in visiting the church regularly. The next 24 percent of the population is considered as private Christians. These people don't usually read a bible, though they do believe in the power of bible and God. They believe in doing good deeds, though not out of fear of church. This one is the largest segment in terms of believers. Another 21 percent of the population believes themselves to be Christians though they do not believe in the religion or the theology itself. According to these people, Jesus is not quite essential in order to reach salvation.

In North America, owing to vast popularity of the religion, there are thousands of faith groups that serve Christianity. Some of the most famous such faith groups happen to be Roman Catholic church, Eastern Orthodox churches, Jehovah's Witnesses, Unification Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Christian Science and other conservative, mainline, liberal and progressive faith groups. Despite all of them professing the same religion, its ironic how these individual groups consider only their group members as being true Christians or following the religion in true sense.

Apart from the faith groups and sects described above, there is a large population of Americans who have not affiliated themselves with any particular sect and yet call themselves to be Christians. With such vastness and diversity, Christianity survives and makes for one of the most dominant religions on earth.

by: Jenny Middleton

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