Christianity in East and Southeast Asia 9781474451628

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Christianity in East and Southeast Asia

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Editorial Team

Editors

Kenneth R. Ross Francis D. Alvarez sj Todd M. Johnson

Associate Editor

Albert W. Hickman

Managing Editor Julia Kim

Editorial Advisory Board Alexander Chow José Mario C. Francisco sj Septemmy Lakawa Julie Ma Peter C. Phan Kang-San Tan

Demographic Profile

Editor: Gina A. Zurlo Data Analyst: Peter F. Crossing Layout and Design: Justin Long Cartography: Bryan Nicholson

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EDINBU RGH COMPANIONS TO GLOBAL CHR ISTI ANIT Y

Christianity in East and Southeast Asia Edited by

Kenneth R. Ross, Francis D. Alvarez sj and Todd M. Johnson

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Edinburgh University Press is one of the leading university presses in the UK. We publish academic books and journals in our selected subject areas across the humanities and social sciences, combining cutting-edge scholarship with high editorial and production values to produce academic works of lasting importance. For more information visit our website: edinburghuniversitypress.com © editorial matter and organisation Kenneth R. Ross, Francis D. Alvarez sj and Todd M. Johnson, 2020 © the chapters their several authors, 2020 Edinburgh University Press Ltd The Tun – Holyrood Road 12 (2f) Jackson’s Entry Edinburgh EH8 8PJ Typeset in Palatino and Myriad by R. J. Footring Ltd, Derby, UK, and printed and bound in Poland by Hussar Books A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 4744 5160 4 (hardback) ISBN 978 1 4744 5162 8 (webready PDF) ISBN 978 1 4744 5163 5 (epub) The right of the contributors to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI No. 2498).

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Contents

Series Preface viii Volume Preface x Contributorsxiii

Introduction

A Demographic Profile of Christianity in East and Southeast Asia Gina A. Zurlo Christianity in East and Southeast Asia Francis D. Alvarez sj

Countries

3 15

Mainland China (Protestant) Manhong Melissa Lin

39

Mainland China (Catholic) Edmond Tang

51

Mainland China (House Churches)  David Ro

63

Hong Kong Fuk-tsang Ying

74

Macau87 Louis Ha Mongolia92 Bayarjargal Garamtseren Taiwan99 Yang-en Cheng North Korea Philo Kim

112

South Korea Meehyun Chung

119

Japan132 Akemi Kugimiya

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vi  Contents Myanmar145 Hrang Hlei Thailand155 Seree Lorgunpai and Sanurak Fongvarin Laos167 David Andrianoff Cambodia175 Barnabas Mam Vietnam187 Peter C. Phan Indonesia200 Sulistyowati Irianto Malaysia212 Hwa Yung Singapore  Violet James

225

Brunei238 Francis D. Alvarez sj and Kenneth R. Ross The Philippines Jayeel Cornelio

242

Timor-Leste254 Filomeno Jacob sj

Major Christian Traditions

Anglicans269 Ken Christoph Miyamoto Independents281 Editors Orthodox283 Nikolay Samoylov and Ambrose-Aristotle Zographos Protestants295 Timothy T. N. Lim Catholics310 Daniel Franklin E. Pilario cm Evangelicals  Kang-San Tan

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323

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Contents  vii

Pentecostals and Charismatics Julie Ma

Key Themes

335

Faith and Culture José Mario C. Francisco sj

351

Worship and Spirituality Wonsuk Ma

364

Theology375 Alexander Chow Social and Political Context Sebastian C. H. Kim

387

Mission and Evangelism Septemmy E. Lakawa

400

Gender413 Sharon A. Bong Religious Freedom Paul Marshall

425

Inter-religious Relations Sivin Kit

438

Migration451 Maruja M. B. Asis Colonial and Postcolonial Context Wai Ching Angela Wong

Conclusion

The Future of Christianity in East and Southeast Asia Mary Ho

Appendices

Christianity by Country Methodology and Sources of Christian and Religious Affiliation Todd M. Johnson and Gina A. Zurlo

463

479

495 501

Index518

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Series Preface

While a number of compendia have recently been produced on the study of worldwide Christianity, the distinctive quality of this series arises from its examination of global Christianity through a combination of reliable demographic information and original interpretative essays by indigenous scholars and practitioners. This approach was successfully pioneered by the Atlas of Global Christianity 1910–2010, published by Edinburgh University Press on the occasion of the centenary of the epoch-making Edinburgh 1910 World Missionary Conference. Using the same methodology, the Edinburgh Companions to Global Christianity take the analysis to a deeper level of detail and explore the context of the twenty-first century. The series considers the presence of Christianity on a continent-by-continent basis worldwide. Covering every country in the world, it maps patterns of growth and/or decline and examines current trends. The aim of the series is to comprehensively map worldwide Christianity and to describe it in its entirety. Country-specific studies are offered, all the major Christian traditions are analysed and current regional and continental trends are examined. Each volume is devoted to a continent or sub-continent, following the United Nations classifications. Through a combination of maps, tables, charts and graphs, each of the successive volumes presents a comprehensive demographic analysis of Christianity in the relevant area. Commentary and interpretation are provided by essays on key topics, each written by an expert in the field, normally an indigenous scholar. By the use of these various tools each volume provides an accurate, objective and incisive analysis of the presence of Christian faith in the relevant area. The projected volumes in the series are: 1. Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa 2. Christianity in North Africa and West Asia 3. Christianity in South and Central Asia 4. Christianity in East and Southeast Asia 5. Christianity in Oceania 6. Christianity in Latin America 7. Christianity in North America 8. Christianity in Western and Northern Europe

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Series Preface  ix



 9. Christianity in Eastern and Southern Europe 10. Compact Atlas of Global Christianity As series editors, we rely heavily on the regional expertise of the dedicated third editor who joins us for each volume. Furthermore, each volume has its own editorial advisory board, made up of senior scholars with authoritative knowledge of the field in question. We work together to define the essay topics for the volume, arrange for compilation of the required demographic data, recruit the authors of the essays and edit their work. Statistical and demographic information is drawn from the highly regarded World Christian Database maintained by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (South Hamilton, MA, USA) and published by Brill. For each volume, 35–40 authors are recruited to write the essays, and it is ultimately upon their scholarship and commitment that we depend in order to create an original and authoritative work of reference. Each volume in the series will be, we hope, a significant book in its own right and a contribution to the study of Christianity in the region in question. At the same time, each is a constituent part of a greater whole – the 10-volume series, which aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of global Christianity that will be groundbreaking in its demographic quality and analytical range. Our hope is that the Companions will be of service to anyone seeking a fuller understanding of the worldwide presence of the Christian faith. Kenneth R. Ross and Todd M. Johnson Series Editors

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Volume Preface

This volume combines two United Nations regions, Eastern and South­ eastern Asia. Together these span more than 16 million square kilometres. This is only 11% of the total land area of the planet, yet it is home to more than 2.3 billion people, almost one-third of the world’s population. Within this terrain are found breath-taking contrasts in such matters as wealth and poverty or war and peace. In East Asia, we have the economic juggernaut that is China. Japan has been a member of the Group of 7, the countries with the most advanced economies, since it was known as the Group of 5 in 1973. Yet right beside South Korea, the world’s eleventh largest economy by nominal gross domestic product (GDP) (as of 2018), is North Korea, where, according to a 2017 United Nations study, more than half of children under two years old and half of pregnant and breastfeeding women are mal­nourished. In Southeast Asia, the Credit Suisse Research Institute reports that in 2018 Singapore was home to more than 180,000 millionaires. According to US News and World Report, as of 2018, Hong Kong had 93 billionaires, ranking it seventh in the world. By contrast, in 2017, the entire GPD of Timor-Leste was less than US$3 billion. In the 2018 Global Peace Index, this part of the world had two countries in the top 10 (Singapore at number 8 and Japan at number 9). By contrast, the Philippines ranked 137th out of 163. Security analysts predict that in this and nearby countries, fundamentalist violence will increase before the situation gets better. Yet the Philippines also ranks in the upper half of all countries in the UN’s 2018 World Happiness Report. More than 1,800 languages are spoken in these regions, by adherents of Buddhism, Chinese folk religion, Islam and the fastest-growing belief system in the region, Christianity. The Christian faith itself is far from monolithic in East and Southeast Asia. Rather, it comes to expression in many different ways. How does one present the many facets of Christianity in a diverse expanse of ethnicities, histories, cultures and sensitivities? He Qi’s Adoration of the Magi has two versions: one in crayon and gouache, as reproduced on the cover of this volume; and the other in silk, the painstaking work of Chinese artisans who dyed individual silk strands and then wove them following He Qi’s design. Depending on where the viewer stands, the different hues in the tapestry take on a myriad of tones, tints and shades. Each viewpoint reveals a subtly different art piece. This

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Volume Preface  xi

volume presents Christianity in East and Southeast Asia from many points of view, from the diverse perspectives of our authors, and from a great variety of disciplinary, cultural and confessional standpoints. It is the fruit of a collaborative effort that has spanned every country in the two regions. In pursuit of understanding, the volume offers four angles of analysis. The first is demographic, using the methodology of the highly successful Atlas of Global Christianity (Edinburgh University Press, 2009) to present reliable statistical information in an attractive, user-friendly format. Maps and charts depict the status of Christianity regionally and in terms of the principal church traditions. This ranges from countries where Christians form a majority of the population to others where the Christian presence is marginal. It also varies from Christian communities that have been established for many generations to those formed by new movements of faith in the twenty-first century. The second angle of analysis is at the country level. Account is taken of the presence and influence of Christianity in each of the 19 countries and regions in East and Southeast Asia. Scholars who are either indigenous or have long experience of the region have contributed interpretative essays that offer a ‘critical insider’ perspective on the way in which Christi­ anity is finding expression in their context. Most countries are the subject of a dedicated essay, while China, in view of its size and population, is considered in three essays that examine each of its three main forms of Christianity, with a further two essays devoted to the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau. Thirdly, Christianity in East and Southeast Asia is considered in terms of its principal ecclesial forms or traditions. Four types of church are considered: Anglican, Orthodox, Protestant and Catholic. It is a distinctive feature of this volume that it does not include an essay on Independent churches. This respects the problematic nature of this category in the two regions, while an editorial note points to essays elsewhere in the volume that include consideration of this ecclesial type. In addition, the Evangelical and Pentecostal/Charismatic movements, which cut across ecclesial affiliation, are examined. Fourthly, selected themes are considered. Eight of these run right through the entire Edinburgh Companions series: faith and culture; worship and spirituality; theology; social and political context; mission and evangelism; gender; religious freedom; and inter-religious relations. A further two have been selected by the editorial board specifically for this volume on account of their salience in the context of East and Southeast Asia: migration; and colonial and post-colonial context. Each of these themes is examined on a region-wide basis, deepening our understanding of features that are definitive for Christianity in this part of the world.

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xii  Volume Preface As is evident from the short bibliography offered at the end of each essay, this book rests on the body of scholarship that has illumined our understanding of East and Southeast Asian Christianity, particularly the burgeoning literature of the early twenty-first century. Besides many detailed local studies, much insight has been derived from The Oxford Handbook of Christianity in Asia, edited by Felix Wilfred (Oxford University Press, 2014), which has become the standard reference work on Asian Christianity. An earlier valuable but now dated work is A Dictionary of Asian Christianity, edited by Scott Sunquist and David Wu Chu Sing (Eerdmans, 2001). A magisterial historical study is Samuel Hugh Moffett’s two-volume History of Christi­anity in Asia (Orbis, 1998, 2005). Robbie B. H. Goh’s Christianity in Southeast Asia (Institute of Southeast Asia Studies, 2005) offers a concise and helpful introduction. The three-volume Asian Christian Theologies: A Research Guide to Authors, Movements, Sources by John C. England, Jose Kuttianimattathil, John M. Prior, Lily A. Quintos, David Suh Kwang-sun and Janice Wickeri (Orbis, 2002, 2003, 2004) is comprehensive in its coverage and well geared to be a resource for theological research. While resting on the preceding scholarship, this volume breaks new ground through its reliable demographic analysis, its contemporary focus, the indigenous authorship of its essays and the originality of the analyses. The essay authors employ a variety of disciplinary approaches – historical, theological, sociological, missiological, anthropological – as appropriate to their topics. Taken together, the volume offers a deeply textured and highly nuanced account of Christianity in East and Southeast Asia, one that will reward the attention of any who wish to deepen their knowledge of this subject. Kenneth R. Ross Francis D. Alvarez sj Todd M. Johnson May 2019

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Contributors

Francis D. Alvarez sj, a Filipino Jesuit priest, is Assistant Professor of Biblical Theology and Religious Education at Loyola School of Theology in Quezon City, the Philippines. He also teaches theology at the Ateneo de Manila University. Christianity in East and Southeast Asia; Brunei David Andrianoff was raised in Laos by missionary parents and served there himself with World Concern from 1983 to 1992. He continues to visit Laos and church leaders there at least once each year. Laos Maruja M. B. Asis is Director of Research and Publications of the Scalabrini Migration Center, based in Manila, the Philippines. She is a sociologist who has been researching migration and social change in Asia. Migration Sharon A. Bong is Associate Professor in Gender and Religious Studies at Monash University, Malaysia. She is author of The Tension Between Women’s Rights and Religions (Edwin Mellen Press, 2006) and co-editor (with Pushpa Joseph) of Re-imagining Marriage and Family in Asia: Asian Christian Women’s Perspectives (Strategic Information and Research Development Centre, 2008). Gender Yang-en Cheng is Professor of Church History at the Taiwan Graduate School of Theology. A long-term participant in the ecumenical movement, he is currently a Central Committee member of the World Council of Churches, representing the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan. Taiwan Alexander Chow is Senior Lecturer in Theology and World Christi­anity at the School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh. He has written two books, most recently Chinese Public Theology: Generational Shifts and Confucian Imagination in Chinese Christianity (Oxford University Press, 2018), and is an editor of the academic journal Studies in World Christianity (Edinburgh University Press). Theology Meehyun Chung is an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK), Professor of Systematic Theology at the United

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xiv  Contributors Graduate School of Theology of Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea, and Chaplain to Yonsei University. She has served as Vice-President of the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians (EATWOT) and as head of the Women and Gender Desk at Mission 21, Switzerland (2005–13). South Korea Jayeel Cornelio is Associate Professor of Developmental Studies and Director of the Development Studies Program at the Ateneo de Manila University, the Philippines. A sociologist of religion, he is the author of Being Catholic in the Contemporary Philippines: Young People Reinterpreting Religion (Routledge, 2016) and the associate editor of the journal Social Sciences and Missions (Brill). The Philippines Sanurak Fongvarin is Director of the Research Institute for Thai Church Development and full-time Lecturer in Research Methods for Ministries at Bangkok Institute of Theology, Christian University of Thailand. Thailand José Mario C. Francisco sj, a Filipino Jesuit professor at the Ateneo de Manila University and Pontifical Gregorian University, explores the interface between cultural studies and theology in Asian and Philippine contexts. He is a member of the editorial boards of the International Journal of Asian Christianity and Asia Pacific Mission Studies. Faith and Culture Bayarjargal Garamtseren is Mongolian Standard Version project manager in the Mongolian Union Bible Society and a board member and Academic Committee Chair of the Mongolian Research Institute for Christianity. He pastors the Life Community Church in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and is married with four children. Mongolia Louis Ha is Director of the Centre for Catholic Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong. A Catholic diocesan priest, he is author of Foundation of the Catholic Mission in Hong Kong, 1841–1894 (Open Dissertation Press, 1998) and editor of the Hong Kong Journal of Catholic Studies (published by the Centre for Catholic Studies). Macau Hrang Hlei is Director of Christian Education and a pastor at Indiana Chin Baptist Church, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. An ordained American Baptist minister, he is the author of The Formation of Chin Immigrant Congregations in the United States: Discovering Their Ecclesiological Identities (Luther Seminary, 2015) and a former faculty member of the Myanmar Institute of Theology, Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmar

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Contributors  xv

Mary Ho is International Executive Leader of All Nations Family, a global missions organisation focused on igniting church-planting movements in more than 40 countries. She received her Doctor of Strategic Leadership degree from Regent University in 2016. The Future of Christianity in East and Southeast Asia Hwa Yung is Bishop Emeritus of the Methodist Church in Malaysia and taught theology for many years in Malaysia and Singapore. He has served on the Lausanne Board and on the Council for the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies. Malaysia Sulistyowati Irianto is Professor of Legal Anthropology at the Faculty of Law, University of Indonesia. She publishes books and articles focused on law, society and gender justice. Indonesia Filomeno Jacob sj is Associate Professor of Sociology and Cultural Anthro­ pology at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Pontifical Gregorian University. He was a cabinet member for the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) in 2001. Timor-Leste Violet James is chaplain at the Singapore Bible College, where she formerly served as Professor of Church History for more than 35 years, teaching Asian church history and Asian religions. Singapore Todd M. Johnson is Paul E. and Eva B. Toms Distinguished Professor of Mission and Global Christianity and co-Director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, USA. His most recent book is the World Christian Encyclopedia, 3rd edition (Edinburgh University Press, 2019). He also serves as a Series Editor for the Edinburgh Companions to Global Christianity (Edinburgh University Press). Methodology and Sources of Christian and Religious Affiliation Philo Kim is Associate Professor at the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies (IPUS), Seoul National University, South Korea. North Korea Sebastian C. H. Kim is Director of the Korean Studies Center and Professor of Theology and Public Life at Fuller Theological Seminary, California, USA. Previously, he held the Chair in Theology and Public Life in the Faculty of Education and Theology at York St John University, UK. He is the co-author (with Kirsteen Kim) of Christianity as a World Religion: An Introduction (Bloomsbury Academic, 2nd revised edition 2016). Social and Political Context

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xvi  Contributors Sivin Kit is Lecturer in Christian Theology and Religious Studies at the Malaysia Theological Seminary. He also serves as Director of the Centre for Religion and Society and is an ordained Lutheran pastor. Inter-Religious Relations Akemi Kugimiya is Professor at the Center for Catholic Education of Shirayuri University in Japan. She is the co-author of The Aspects of Christianity in Modern Japan (Oriens Institute for Religious Research, 2008), co-editor (with Masayuki Shimizu, Yoshio Tsuruoka and Naoki Kuwabara) of The Meaning of Life (Oriens Institute for Religious Research, 2017) and the editor of The Collected Works of Klaus Riesenhuber (Chisenshyokan, 2015). Japan Septemmy E. Lakawa is President of the Jakarta Theological Seminary, Indonesia (2019–23). Her research interests are in the areas of mission theology, trauma and theology, and feminist theology. Mission and Evangelism Timothy T. N. Lim is a Visiting Lecturer with the London School of Theology. Formerly, he was the Director of Chinese Research and Training at the Carey Baptist College (Auckland, New Zealand). He has published on ecclesiology, ecumenism and theological trajectories in Asia in addition to Ecclesial Recognition with Hegelian Philosophy, Social Psychology, and Continental Political Theory (Brill, 2017). Protestants Manhong Melissa Lin is Associate General Secretary of the China Christian Council and Academic Dean and Associate Professor of Christian Ethics at Nanjing Union Theological Seminary. She is ordained and the first woman PhD holder in the Protestant Church in Mainland China. Mainland China (Protestant) Seree Lorgunpai is General Secretary of the Thailand Bible Society and a member of the Committee on Translation Policy of the United Bible Societies. Thailand Julie Ma is Associate Professor of Intercultural Studies at Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. She is the author of When the Spirit Meets the Spirits: Pentecostal Ministry Among the Kankana-ey Tribe in the Philippines (Peter Lang, 2000). Pentecostals/Charismatics Wonsuk Ma, a Korean Pentecostal, serves as Dean and Distinguished Professor of Global Christianity at Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. He is the author of many publications and is series editor and publisher of the 35-volume Regnum Edinburgh Centenary Series (2009–17). Worship and Spirituality

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Contributors  xvii

Barnabas Mam is Asia Ministry Advisor of Ambassadors for Christ Inter­ national. He is a gospel songwriter and the author of Church Behind the Wire: A Story of Faith in the Killing Fields (Moody, 2012). Cambodia Paul Marshall is Wilson Professor of Religious Freedom and Research Professor of Political Science at Baylor University, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, and Senior Fellow of the Religious Freedom Institute and member of its South and Southeast Asia Action Team. Religious Freedom Ken Christoph Miyamoto is Professor of Christian Studies at Kobe Shoin Women’s University in Kobe, Japan. He received his PhD in Mission and Ecumenics from Princeton Theological Seminary, USA, and is the author of God’s Mission in Asia (Pickwick, 2007). Anglicans Peter C. Phan is the inaugural holder of the Ignacio Ellacuria Chair of Catholic Social Thought at Georgetown University, Washington, DC. A native of Vietnam, he has obtained three doctorates and authored and edited some 30 books and 300 essays on theology and the history of missions. Vietnam Daniel Franklin E. Pilario cm is Professor at St Vincent School of Theology – Adamson University, Quezon City, the Philippines. He is the author of Back to the Rough Grounds of Praxis: Exploring Theological Method with Pierre Bourdieu (Peeters, 2005). He belongs to the editorial board of Concilium and other philosophical and theological journals. As a member of the Congregation of the Mission, he ministers in a garbage dump parish in Manila. Catholics David Ro is Director of the J. Christy Wilson Center for World Missions at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Massachusetts, USA, and serves as Regional Director for the Lausanne Movement in East Asia. Mainland China (House Churches) Kenneth R. Ross is Professor of Theology at Zomba Theological College, Malawi. His most recent book is Mission as God’s Spiral of Renewal (Mzuni Press, 2019) and he serves as a Series Editor for the Edinburgh Companions to Global Christianity (Edinburgh University Press). Brunei Nikolay Samoylov is Professor and Head of the Department of Theory of Asian and African Social Development at Saint Petersburg State University, Russia, where he also serves as Director of the Center for Chinese Studies. He has published extensively on Russian interactions with China and Japan. Orthodox

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xviii  Contributors Kang-San Tan serves as General Director of BMS World Mission – the Baptist Missionary Society. Previously he was Director for Mission Research at Overseas Missionary Fellowship, Head of Mission Studies at Redcliffe College, UK, and Executive Director of AsiaCMS, a network for Asian mission movements based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Evangelicals Edmond Tang was Director of East Asian Christian Studies at the University of Birmingham, UK, before his retirement. He researched extensively on Asian theology and Chinese Christianity and was editor of the China Study Journal from 1990 to 2011. Mainland China (Catholic) Wai Ching Angela Wong is Vice President for Programs at the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia, having earlier served as Professor in the Department of Cultural and Religious Studies, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her latest works include Gender and Family in East Asia (Routledge, 2014), Sex/Gender Politics and the Local Movements (Commercial, 2015) and Christian Women in Chinese Society: The Anglican Story (HKU Press, 2018). Colonial and Post-Colonial Context Fuk-tsang Ying is Professor and Director of the Divinity School of Chung Chi College, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research focuses on state– church relations in China and the history of Protestant Christianity in China and Hong Kong. Hong Kong Ambrose-Aristotle Zographos (Song-Am Cho) is Metropolitan of the Orthodox Metropolis of Korea and Professor in Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul, South Korea. His publications include Gabriel of Thessalonica and the Unpublished Homiliarion Attributed to Him (in Greek; Kéntro Byzantinon Ereunon, 2007). Orthodox Gina A. Zurlo is co-Director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Massachusetts, USA. She is co-editor of the World Christian Database and Associate Editor of the World Religion Database. A Demographic Profile of Christianity in East and Southeast Asia; Methodology and Sources of Christian and Religious Affiliation

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Introduction

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A Demographic Profile of Christianity in East and Southeast Asia Gina A. Zurlo Majority Religion by Province, 2020

MAJORITY RELIGION

Agnostics

10% - 49% 50% - 74% 75% - 100%

Buddhists

10% - 49% 50% - 74% 75% - 100%

Ethnic religionists Hindus

10% - 49% 50% - 74% 75% - 100%

10% - 49% 50% - 74% 75% - 100%

Chinese folk

10% - 49% 50% - 74% 75% - 100%

Christians

10% - 49% 50% - 74% 75% - 100%

Muslims

10% - 49% 50% - 74% 75% - 100%

East and Southeast Asia are two of the most religiously diverse regions in the world. In 2020, they were home to significant percentages of Buddhists (22%), agnostics (22%), Chinese folk-religionists (20%), Christians (12%) and Muslims (12%). Of these large religions, Christianity experienced the fastest growth between 1970 and 2020 (3.1% per year). Religions in East and Southeast Asia, 1970 and 2020 Religion Buddhists Agnostics Chinese folk-religionists Christians Muslims Atheists Other Total

1970 Adherents 219,502,000 423,480,000 237,681,000 62,196,000 108,894,000 100,445,000 124,834,480 1,277,032,000

% 17.2 33.2 18.6 4.9 8.5 7.9 9.8 100.0

2020 Adherents 505,021,000 503,423,000 465,951,000 281,889,000 275,008,000 111,072,000 190,271,600 2,332,635,000

% 21.7 21.6 20.0 12.1 11.8 4.8 8.2 100.0

Source: Todd M. Johnson and Gina A. Zurlo (eds), World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill), accessed July 2019. Figures do not add to 100% due to rounding.

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4  Gina A. Zurlo

Christianity in East and Southeast Asia, 1970–2020 Christians by Country, 2020 282 Million Christians, 12.1% of Population

% Christian

3% 10% 50% 75%

MONGOLIA 2% CHINA 7%

NORTH KOREA