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Over the last 500 years, Christianity has gained more new followers than any other religion, usually replacing local indigenous religions. Its origins in the Middle East notwithstanding, by 1450 Christianity had become almost exclusively a white European religion. Then, because of advances in navigation, it moved out to traverse the world. It has always been a missionary religion (the Apostle Paul was its first major missionary figure), with explicit missionary teachings within its scriptures and within the tradition of the faith. Organizations within Christianity, like Islam, place a structural and financial emphasis upon taking their message to other peoples, as well as to non-practicing members of their own faith. Christianity has three major branches. The Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Church, originally the eastern and western wings of the same Church, finally split into two sections in 1054. Differences over interpretation of authority and theology brought out tensions between the newer, Eastern Roman Empire based on Constantinople and the older Western Roman Empire based on Rome. The 16th century Protestant revolution reacted against Roman Catholicism and created new denominations. Some, such as Lutherans and Anglicans, essentially continued the old style of Church with bishops and other Catholic practices, but made kings head of the Church, rather than the Pope. Over time, other Protestant denominations developed which rejected bishops and the Catholic theology of the state churches. Presbyterians, Congregationalists or Quakers all sought to develop models of leadership and theology that they believed were those practiced by the early church. —Source Acknowledgement: Joanne O’Brien and Martin Palmer, The State of Religion Atlas, 1993 Demographics. Worldwide: the largest religion with almost two billion adherents, and along with Islam, fast growing. —Source: The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1994 United States: According to the 2001 ARIS study, 76.5 percent of the U.S. population claims this faith. Table U.S. Demographic Map: Baptist, Catholic, Methodist/Wesleyan
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