The number of those who call themselves Christians in China is growing so steadily and rapidly that by the year 2030 it could have more churchgoers than the world’s current most numerous Christian country in the world, the United States.
The People’s Republic of China, a communist country, is officially atheistic, but that is shifting fast as Christian congregations have boomed since churches began reopening after Chairman Mao died in 1976. That leads some today to believe that China is on pace to become the world’s most numerous Christian nation.
“By my calculations China is destined to become the largest Christian country in the world very soon,” said Fenggang Yang, a professor of sociology at Purdue University and author of Religion in China: Survival and Revival under Communist Rule.
“It is going to be less than a generation. Not many people are prepared for this dramatic change.” Source
In 1949 Protestants in China numbered only one million, but today have passed Brazil (40 million) and South Africa (36 million), according to the Pew Research Center.
Professor Yang predicts that by 2025, that number will increase to around 160 million, likely putting China ahead of the United States, which had around 159 million Protestants in 2010 with numbers currently declining. Using Professor Yang’s numbers, by 2030 China’s total Christian population, including Catholics, would be at least 247 million, giving it the largest Christian population on earth.
Do you think the number of Christians in China will pass the United States? Is China moving in the right direction while America is losing its faith? Sound off in the comments below.