Christianity and Its Popularity
What is it about religion that draws people? Robert Hume states that "Religion is the
chief differentiating characteristic of man" (1). If as Mr. Hume says religion is what
differentiates us lets go a step further and ask why is it that Christianity is the most popular
religion practiced today?
As we begin to answer this question lets put the worlds major religions into perspective. Below
is a time line of the worlds major religions and information about each according to research
done for Mr. Hume.
Name Founder Deity Location Date started Number in millions*
Hinduism None Brahma India 1500 B.C. 322
Judaism Moses Jehovah Scattered 1200 B.C. 12
Shinto None Nature-gods Japan 660 B.C. 79
Taoism Lao-tze The Tao China 604 B.C. 50
Buddhism Buddha None, then The East 560 B.C. &nbs ...