Christianity in Europe
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According to a 2010 study by the Pew Research Center, 76.2% of the European population identified themselves as Christians.[3]
As of 2010,
Since at least the legalization of Christianity by the Roman Emperor
Historically, Europe has been the center and "cradle of
History
Early history
Historians believe that
The Record of Saint Dorotheus (Bishop of Tyre) is that the Church at Tyre sent Aristobulus (of the seventy) to Britain as bishop in AD 37. The Church seems to have been begun by him around the Bristol Channel area and 150 years later we have names of bishops recorded. By AD 550 there are recorded 120 bishops spread throughout the British Isles.[citation needed] Before they were a recognized religion in Europe, Christians faced punishment and persecution for their first centuries in Europe, especially during the first. They were targeted by Emperor Nero who is rumored to have ordered the colossal fire in Rome, destroying the city in AD 64. The reasons for their persecution vary. Many believe Christians to have been scapegoats, when the real issues were local or political.
From the Middle Ages onwards, as the centralized Roman power waned in southern and central Europe, the dominance of the Catholic Church was the only consistent force in Western Europe.[4]
Movements in
East–West Schism and Protestant Reformation
The
According to Scholars, in 2017, Europe's population was 77.8% Christian (up from 74.9% 1970),
Cultural influences
Though Western culture contained several polytheistic religions during its early years under the Greek and Roman empires, as the centralized Roman power waned, the dominance of the Catholic Church was the only consistent force in Europe.[4] Until the Age of Enlightenment,[24] Christian culture guided the course of philosophy, literature, art, music and science.[4][25] Christian disciplines of the respective arts have subsequently developed into Christian philosophy, Christian art, Christian music, Christian literature etc.
Christianity had a significant impact on
Although the
Denominations
- Catholic Church: European countries with significant or majority Catholic populations are Andorra, Austria, Belarus (western), Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina (central and southwestern part), Croatia, France, Germany (western and southern regions), Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Latvia (the Latgale region), Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands (eastern and southern regions), Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland (central and southern regions), Ukraine (western part) and Vatican City.[42] There is also large Catholic minority in Albania (10–15%).[43] In the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom, Catholics comprise roughly 10% of the population. In Serbia and Romania, Catholics constitute over 5% of the overall population.
- Eastern Catholic Churches are found mostly in Ukraine (western), Italy (southern), Slovakia (eastern), Romania and Hungary. Small numbers of adherents exist in Russia, Serbia, Poland, France (especially Corsica), North Macedonia, and Greece. Most Catholics in Scandinavia are the result of immigration from other countries in Europe (primarily Italy and Poland) and elsewhere.[citation needed]
- North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine, and the European part of Kazakhstan.[42] Eastern Orthodox Christians form large minorities in Albania and Estonia.[a] Small minorities of Eastern Orthodox Christians live in Finland (especially Karelia), Lithuania, Armenia, and eastern Poland.
- Oriental Orthodox Christianity: Armeniahas a large Oriental Orthodox majority.
- Protestantism: European countries or areas with significant Protestant populations are Denmark, Finland, Germany (central, eastern and northern regions), United Kingdom, Iceland, Netherlands (central and northern regions), Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland (except the southern part).[42] There are significant Protestant minorities in Estonia, Latvia, France, the northeastern Piedmont region of Italy, Slovakia, the western and southern parts of Germany, eastern Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia, and Romania.
- Scotland,[42] Spain and Portugal. Communities also exist throughout Europe, particularly in large cities and other regions with British expatriate communities (see Diocese in Europe). The US-based Episcopal Church has long had a presence in Western Europe (see Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe).
- Ireland and Malta.
- Hungarians), Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
- Note that most Calvinist and Lutheran churches in mainland Europe have merged to united Protestant churches (e.g. in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland). Exclusive Lutheranism still prevails in the Nordic countries.
- Methodism is an important minority denomination in Great Britain (especially Wales) and parts of Northern Ireland.
See also
- Antemurale Christianitatis
- Catholic Church in Europe
- Church attendance
- Conference of European Churches
- Islam in Europe
- Religion in Europe
- Religion in the European Union
- Christianity by country
- Catholic Church by country
- Protestantism by country
- Religion in North America
- Religion in South America
- Irreligion in Europe
- List of religious populations
- Major world religions
References
- Pew Forum, Religious Composition by Country, 2010-2050
- ^ "Europe". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
Most Europeans adhere to one of three broad divisions of Christianity: Roman Catholicism in the west and southwest, Protestantism in the north, and Eastern Orthodoxy in the east and southeast
- ^ a b c d e Christianity in Europe Archived 2012-01-04 at the Wayback Machine, including the Asian part of Russia, excluding the European part of Turkey
- ^ ISBN 978-0-88489-298-4.
- ISBN 978-0-8132-1683-6.
- ISBN 9781139484138.
..for the Jews in twentieth-century Europe, the cradle of Christian civilization.
- ISBN 9781108486095.
..for the Jews in twentieth-century Europe, the cradle of Christian civilization.
- ISBN 9780141954714.
Europe is historically the cradle of Christian culture, it is still the primary center of institutional and pastoral energy in the Catholic Church...
- ISBN 9781317606307.
Europe is historically the cradle of Christian culture, it is still the primary center of institutional and pastoral energy in the Catholic Church...
- ISBN 978-0521676519.
- ISBN 9780857457271.
- ISBN 9781315297927.
Christianity has undoubtedly shaped European identity, culture, destiny, and history.
- ^ "After Benedict: who will be the next Pope?". Speroforum.com. 12 February 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-02-15. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
- ^ Quoted in Robin Lane Fox, The Unauthorized Version, 1992:235.
- ISBN 978-1-60136-000-7
- ISBN 978-0-13-948266-3
- ISBN 9780884892984.
- ISBN 9780884892984.
- ISBN 9780813216836.
- ISBN 90-5589-248-3, pages 7-9
- ^ ISBN 9789004346307.
- ISBN 9781443891592.
- ISBN 9780813216836.
- ISBN 978-0-88489-298-4.
- ISBN 978-0-8132-1683-6.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Archived 2014-11-01 at the Wayback Machine Forms of Christian education
- ISBN 0-521-36105-2, pp. XIX–XX
- ISBN 286847344X. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ISBN 0691128073, p. 68.
- ISBN 0-89526-038-7.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Archived 2015-05-03 at the Wayback Machine Jesuit
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Archived 2008-05-14 at the Wayback Machine Church and social welfare
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Archived 2013-09-26 at the Wayback Machine Care for the sick
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Archived 2020-05-07 at the Wayback Machine Property, poverty, and the poor,
- ^ Weber, Max (1905). The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Archived 2014-11-05 at the Wayback Machine Church and state
- Banister Fletcher, History of Architecture on the Comparative Method.
- ^ Buringh, Eltjo; van Zanden, Jan Luiten: "Charting the 'Rise of the West': Manuscripts and Printed Books in Europe, A Long-Term Perspective from the Sixth through Eighteenth Centuries", The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 69, No. 2 (2009), pp. 409–445 (416, table 1)
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Archived 2013-09-26 at the Wayback Machine The tendency to spiritualize and individualize marriage
- ^ Karl Heussi, Kompendium der Kirchengeschichte, 11. Auflage (1956), Tübingen (Germany), pp. 317-319, 325-326
- ^ Regional Distribution of Christians Archived 2013-07-23 at the Wayback Machine Pew Research Center
- ^ a b c d Predominant Religions
- ^ Summary of Religious Bodies in Albania Archived 2013-05-30 at the Wayback Machine (Source: World Christian Encyclopedia, 2001, Oxford University Press. Vol 1: p. 51)
Notes
- ^ As the denomination surpass Lutheranism in its country, since the early 2010s