Here are some. Highly religious countries (Barber, 2012): Are poorer. They are less urbanized. Have lower levels of education. They have less exposure to electronic media that increase intelligence (Barber, 2006). Experience a heavier load of infectious diseases that impair brain function. Suffer more from low birth weights. Have worse child nutrition. Do a poor job of controlling environmental pollutants such as lead that reduce IQ. Barber, N. (2005). Educational and ecological correlates of IQ: A cross-national investigation. Intelligence, 33, 273-284.
Jesus in the Rice Fields: China's Countryside Revival http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2011/may/growth-explosion-chinas-christianity-takes-root-/
CHINA, The Stunning Growth of Christianity The stunning growth of Christianity in China by The Economist ZHAO XIAO, a former Communist Party official and convert to Christianity, smiles over a cup of tea and says he thinks there are up to 130m Christians in China. This is far larger than previous estimates. The government says there are 21m (16m Protestants, 5m Catholics). Unofficial figures, such as one given by the Centre for the Study of Global Christianity in Massachusetts, put the number at about 70m. But Mr Zhao is not alone in his reckoning. A study of China by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, an American think-tank, says indirect survey evidence suggests many unaffiliated Christians are not in the official figures. And according to China Aid Association (CAA), a Texas-based lobby group, the director of the government body which supervises all religions in China said privately that the figure was indeed as much as 130m in early 2008. If so, it would mean China contains more Christians than Communists (party membership is 74m) and there may be more active Christians in China than in any other country. In 1949, when the Communists took power, less than 1% of the population had been baptised, most of them Catholics. Now the largest, fastest-growing number of Christians belong to Protestant "house churches". In a suburb of Shanghai, off Haining Road, neighbours peer warily across the hallway as visitors file into a living room, bringing the number to 25, the maximum gathering allowed by law without official permission. Inside, young urban professionals sit on sofas and folding chairs. A young woman in a Che Guevara T-shirt blesses the group and a man projects material downloaded from the internet from his laptop onto the wall. Heads turn towards the display and sing along: "Glory, Glory Glory; Holy, Holy, Holy; God is near to each one of us." It is Sunday morning, and worship is beginning in one of thousands of house churches across China. House churches are small congregations who meet privately--usually in apartments--to worship away from the gaze of the Communist Party. In the 1950s, the Catholic and main Protestant churches were turned into branches of the religious-affairs administration. House churches have an unclear status, neither banned nor fully approved of. As long as they avoid neighbourly confrontation and keep their congregations below a certain size (usually about 25), the Protestant ones are mostly tolerated, grudgingly. Catholic ones are kept under closer scrutiny, reflecting China's tense relationship with the Vatican. http://www.ministers-best-friend.com/LEADERSHIP-CHINA-stunning-growth-of-Christianity.html
Christians in China: Is the country in spiritual crisis? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14838749 Many of China's churches are overflowing, as the number of Christians in the country multiplies. In the past, repression drove people to convert - is the cause now rampant capitalism?
This is a very comprehensive and detailed statistic report on Christians in different regions of china - to the level of counties. How Many Christians Are In China? http://asiaharvest.org/index.php/how-many-christians-china-1/how-many-christians-are-in-china/ It puts the total Chistian population in China as of 2011 at 105,316,752, i.e., 7.71% of the total population. My home province (Hubei) has a Chritian population of 4.02%.
Chinese provinces with a Christian population of 10% or above: http://asiaharvest.org/wp-content/themes/asia/docs/christians-in-china/China.htm Zhejiang: 9,244,530; 18.54% Henan: 14,762,912; 14.75% Fujian: 5,360,810; 14.31% Anhui: 9,236,735; 14.27% Hongkong: 977,222; 13.69% Shanghai: 2,018,655; 11.22%
Chinese government looks to church to fill social care gap The Chinese government has welcomed the role of the Church in providing social care in the country. China's leaders have been holding a meeting this week in Beijing to discuss the economic and political agenda for the next decade, in which it seems the Church will play a vital role. "The governmentwelcomes the support of the Church," said government official Wang Xinhua at a recent Shanghai conference on the role of Christianity in China, sponsored by the Bible Society. "We lack the resources to meet all the needs that we face, so we need religious organisations in order to do so." Mr Wang said that the "beliefs" and "love" of the Church were an "advantage" to society. He added that China's charitable sector was facing "a crisis of confidence" due to corruption scandals, saying that the Church was a less corrupt partner to the government. Leading academic Prof Choong Chee Pang told the conference: "Many social problems have their root causes in social injustice, the abuse of power, inequality, the widening gap between the rich and the poor due to mismanagement of the resources, corruption and bribery." In an outspoken move, the Professor said that, as the Church took up the challenge of providing social care across China, particularly among the elderly and poor, it must not lose its prophetic role. "The Church needs to be a prophet and a servant," he said. "This is not a problem in afreeor democratic society, but in other societies it can be a sensitive issue. It is hard for the Chinese Church to play the role of a prophet especially with a critical voice." ... http://www.christiantoday.com/article/chinese.government.looks.to.church.to.fill.social.care.gap/34631.htm
This document expressed severe concerns over the three-self podiatrist movement in China. http://www.persecution.com/uploads/media/downloads/144_TheEmptyCross.pdf
外媒：中国将成全球基督教第一大国 http://www.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2014/04/201404230333.shtml#.U1clSfldUnk (博讯北京时间2014年4月23日 转载) 来源：中时电子报 素以无神论著称的共产中国，有越来越多的人开始寻求基督信仰。专家预测，再过15年、中国的基督徒人数将达2.5亿，超过美国和巴西，成为全球第一基督教大国。 英国《每日电讯报》报导，过去40年，中国基督徒人数大量成长。中国的基督徒人数到2010年已从1949年的百万人，快速增加到接近6千万人。报导引用美国普度大学社会学教授杨梵刚（译音）的数据估计，到2025年，中国基督徒人数将成长到1.6亿人，远超越美国；到2030年，中国基督徒人数，包括天主教徒在内，则将突破2.47亿人，超过南美墨西哥和巴西，跃升为世界第一基督教大国。 不过，报导说，即使基督教人数在中国快速成长，中国政府对宗教仍将采取严格控制。 _(网文转载) (博讯 boxun.com)
