Victor Smirnov: Anton, as a simple reader, I am grateful to you for your work. Truth and law are on our side! I started thinking about the topic after accidentally reading Leo Taxil’s “Funny Bible.” But I, a techie, can’t do this.

Thanks to you (and V.M. Zaznobin - “We believe not in God, but in God...”) a lot began to become clearer. Numerous prophecies say that Russia will become the birthplace of a completely new religion of the future, which will unite many nations...

Nostradamus: The salvation of the world will occur due to the emergence of a new religion in Russia.

Vanga: A new teaching will come from Russia - this is the oldest and truest teaching - will spread throughout the world, and the day will come when all religions in the world will disappear and they will be replaced by this new philosophical teaching of the Fire Bible.

Alice Bailey: From Russia - the symbol of the world Arjuna in a very specific sense - a new magical religion will come.

Monk Ranyo Nero in the 14th century: In the Northern Country of the Hyperboreans - in Russia, a new universal religion of Fire and Light will appear... This religion of the Sun in the 21st century will experience a victorious march, and it will find support for itself in the northern Country of the Hyperboreans, where it will be revealed in its new quality.

Saint Theophan of Poltava: Something that no one expects will happen, Russia will rise from the dead and the whole world will be surprised... The Orthodoxy that was in Russia before will no longer exist, but the true faith will not only be reborn, but will also triumph...

What should be the basis of this religion?

A return to Vedism and Paganism is unrealistic. The sources are lost. Apparently we all have to cleanse the Bible of dirty Jewish garbage. There is no hope for employees in robes. They cannot even explain the meaning of the variety of types of domes on cathedrals (for example, the Trinity or Intercession Cathedral on Red Square. They are afraid of it and do not hold services). And the difference between the crosses on the domes is for them (and for us)" Chinese letter". By the way, there is a book about the great variety of Russian crosses, perhaps it will be useful to you. Download the book"Russian Cross" .

Anton Blagin: Thank you, Victor, for your letter, understanding and support. I also believe that a new Teaching will come from Russia to the world, which will change and heal our sick society.

As for your thoughts: " A return to Vedism and Paganism is unrealistic. The sources are lost. Apparently we all have to cleanse the Bible of dirty Jewish garbage.", I will answer like this:

When the Teachings of Christ are cleansed from the dirty Jewish garbage and revealed to the world, then everyone will see and understand that the Savior just preached Vedism, which is based on the oldest teaching on earth “About the spirit that is God”!

The teaching of Christ, as is known, also tells “About the spirit, which is God.” Only the adjective “Holy” was added to it. Ethis is the most ancient and true teaching! But now it is greatly distorted.

I outlined my thoughts on this matter and some parts of the future Teaching, which is destined to replace existing religions, in the book "Between Evil and Good". You can download it . The New Teaching will not be a religion in the traditional sense, it will simply awaken the mind in people and make them clairvoyant, spiritually sighted!

George Magic: Anton, thank you for your educational work. He opened his eyes and pulled him out of the swamp of obscurantism. It's easier to live and breathe. And believe in God...

In March 2012, as many already know, I initiated the creation of an international peacekeeping Union of Christians and Muslims. The name of this Union speaks for itself. His goal is to prevent anyone from plunging humanity into a new world war. If the fans of the “golden calf” bring down, as planned, the world financial system, this Union could solve the important task of countering chaos and disorder in the world and, on the contrary, promoting the establishment of justice and order in the world.

For almost a year, I received many letters from different people, both approving and perplexed. Some people sincerely do not understand and ask me how it is possible to “cross” a Russian hedgehog and an oriental snake? Could this symbiosis result in something like “barbed wire”? - they ask with a bit of humor.

One reader, a Christian, wrote me the following:

“Unfortunately, in Islam, as in Christianity, there are many different movements, and they are openly at odds with each other. Every religion is accompanied by hatred, although it is forbidden by the prophets. In addition, world religions often organize wars for faith, calling them “sacred”. Evidence of this is our entire history with its “ crusades" What kind of "Union" could it be? Submission to other people's dogmas? This is unacceptable for a Russian person.”

Another reader, Egor, a Muslim by faith, wrote me this.

“Anton, you write very correct things, I learned a lot from your articles, and a lot was confirmed from my personal judgments and experience. But what kind of Union are you talking about if the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said that there would be one religion on earth.

“Those Christians and Jews who do not accept Islam and my teachings will be at a loss...” - these are his approximate words. Why did the prophet say this? Probably because Islam is the oldest religion on earth. It was transmitted through the prophet Musa (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and was intended for all mankind. Evil people once distorted Islam and, having altered it to suit themselves, decided to build their own monoethical culture, basing their policy on deception and robbery of all other peoples of the planet. Who are these evil people? They call themselves Jews. They proclaimed themselves God's chosen people, thereby placing themselves above other nations. To correct this imbalance in relations between people and expose the lies of impostors who claim to become kings of nations, the Almighty once sent the prophet Jesus into the world with the word of Truth...

Muslims revere Jesus along with the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless them both) and believe in his prophecy about the coming of God's new messenger - the Mahdi ("Leader"), who will restore justice on earth. Jesus said so: after me, another messenger from the Almighty will come to earth... Muslims believe in the imminent arrival of the Mahdi and have no doubt that the new messenger will abolish all false religions, and then Islam will again become the unified religion of all peoples. Therefore, modern Christians as well as Jews, who truly believe in the Creator, will have to accept Islam in accordance with their reason, otherwise, as the Prophet Muhammad said, “they will be at a loss.”When the large Ummah of Muslims gathers, it will, Inshallah, defeat evil on this earth.”.

As you can see, opinions are very different, and it would seem that there is no way to reconcile these age-old contradictions between religions. However, this is not true.

Dear friends! I already wrote in one of my works that there are irreconcilable contradictions, but there are only apparent ones! Many people, due to their education, life experience and ability to analyze information, do not have sufficient knowledge about the world, and therefore classify apparent religious contradictions as irreconcilable. But many contradictions are easily eliminated, and misunderstandings disappear if you look at them from a different angle!

The same applies to all misunderstandings associated with the idea of ​​creating a Union of Christians and Muslims.

Sooner or later it will really happen that there will be only one Teaching about God the Creator left on earth, the true one. The fate of the rest, who contradict the true doctrine, is to disappear according to the principle: “When the light is turned on, the darkness goes away” .

If both the Prophet Muhammad and the Prophet Jesus pointed to this, shouldn’t we believe that this will happen?!

The Peacekeeping Union of Christians and Muslims can and should play the role of the first step on the path to the consciousness on earth of a single faith and a single family of peoples.

Billions of people today are blinded by various religious prejudices and contradictions, and this international Union could help believers free themselves from the burden of all the misunderstandings that have accumulated over the centuries. Thus, he could prepare the ground for the advent of the New Era of humanity.

Now I will name a number of arguments in favor of creating a peacemaking Union of Christians and Muslims and will try to eliminate the main psychological barriers that, for various reasons, arise among believers and prevent them from coming to unity for the sake of their own salvation.

Argument 1. According to the stories of Christ’s disciple John, the Savior often compared peace-loving people to sheep, and he called those who distorted the religion of the Prophet Musa and the Jews who fell to the devil wolves. Often he called the latter "wolves in sheep's clothing" for their ability to disguise themselves as respectable people.

In this allegory, Jesus introduced another character - a brave shepherd, a good shepherd, a fearless defender of the “sheep” from the “wolves.” He, of course, saw himself in this role, because that is what he really was.

Shortly before giving his life for his “sheep” in order to fulfill the will of the Most High, so that his death would become the reason for the appearance in the future of a new messenger from God, Jesus said words that were extremely important for all humanity: “I have other sheep which are not of this fold, and these I must bring, and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd...”

These words of Jesus eloquently testify that sooner or later on earth there will be one family of nations, one creed, and one Shepherd - the Heavenly Father, who is spirit .

This is how it is described in the Gospel of John, chapter 10.

7. Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

8 All of them, no matter how many of them came before Me, are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not listen to them.

9 I am the door: whoever enters through Me will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

10 The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.

11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

12 But a hired hand, not a shepherd, whose sheep are not his own, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf plunders the sheep and scatters them.

13 But the hireling flees because he is a hireling, and neglects the sheep.

14 I am the good shepherd; and I know Mine, and Mine know Me.

15 As the Father knows Me, [so] I also know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.

16 I have other sheep which are not of this fold, and these I must bring, and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

Argument 2. Muslims absolutely rightly believe in the coming of a new messenger from the Almighty - the Mahdi (“Man Guided by Allah”), because Jesus left a prophecy about the Second Coming. The Savior left him when he, quite consciously, in fulfillment of the will of the Almighty, went to martyrdom for his “sheep” - peace-loving and righteous people.

This is the situation in which this prophecy was spoken:

“I am the light, I have come into the world, so that whoever believes in Me will not remain in darkness. And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world” (John 12:46-47). “...I told you this so that when THAT TIME comes, you will remember that I told you about it.” “And now I go to Him who sent Me.” " It is better for you that I go, for if I do not go, the Comforter will not come to you, but if I go, I will send Him to you. And he, having come, will expose the world about sin, and about truth, and about judgment. About Sin, that they do not believe in Me. About the Truth, that I go to My Father, and you will no longer see Me. About the Judgment, that the prince of this world is condemned. I still have a lot to tell you, but now you can’t bear it. When He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth; for he will not speak from himself, but he will speak what he hears, and he will tell you the future.” “He will glorify Me, because He will take of Mine and proclaim it to you. Everything that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that he will take from Mine and tell it to you.” (John 16:4-15). “Truly I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the upper world will rejoice. You will be sad, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman gives birth, she suffers sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to a baby, she no longer remembers the sorrow for joy, because a man was born into the world.” (John 16:20-21).

Argument 3. According to traditional sources of Islam, the Messenger of the Almighty Mahdi will come during the Last Judgment (Qiyama) to save the world. The sign of the coming of the Mahdi will be the global domination of Evil on earth.

The threat of victory of the forces of Evil over the forces of Good will require the Coming of the last and final Savior.

Here are the views on this matter of a number of spiritual leaders of the Muslim world:

"The Mahdi will bring new Order, new Book, new Legislation and new Tradition. Other religions, also abandoned and distorted, will be restored to their Truth and Purity by the power of the Mahdi.”(Ibn Babin, 129, 1/161; Ibn-Ayyash Mugtad-ab).

“He will bring out the Torah and other Divine books from the caves, and will judge among the believers of the Torah according to the Torah, among the believers of the Gospel according to the Gospel, among the believers of the Koran according to the Koran. This is the universal initiation by the Imam of all people into the secrets of the emergence and beginning of their own religions, and this knowledge, without a doubt, is well described by the term “Mahdi” (“leading”), so named because He is the one who will lead us to the Truth.”(Al-Mu'mani, izb. pr., p. 342, "Qua"im (Mahdi))

“The Mahdi is the Imam who will create world order, he will make the ruling nations pay for crimes against society. He will bring benefit to humanity. He will find the hidden wealth of the earth and distribute it fairly among the needy. He will teach modest living and subtle reflection. He will make you understand that dignity is an internal state that lies in the middle between two extremes, and which is based on equality and justice. He will restore the teachings of the Holy Qur'an and the traditions of the Holy Prophet after the world has ignored them... He will protect science and higher knowledge and use them. His control over this will be complete. He will value higher knowledge and will always use it with reverence. His mind will be free from the desire to harm humanity. The highest knowledge with him will be like some property that was misused in the past, but which he now gives permission to reuse and correctly. At the very beginning he will be like a poor, inglorious stranger. And Islam will be in a hopeless and helpless state, like an emaciated camel with a drooping head and a limply swinging tail. But then he will establish the Kingdom of God throughout the world. He will teach everyone proof of God’s mercy - His Desire to give man Knowledge of the right life.”

Argument 4. I foresee that many Christians were horrified at the mere thought that I was suggesting they convert to Islam! What scares you, friends? Word "Islam"? Or the established dogma of Islam? Or its traditional image with its rites and rituals?

Let's figure it all out without panic, and I assure you that everyone will have to compromise for the sake of fulfilling the covenants of the prophets: both Muslims and Christians!

This compromise will affect dogma, traditions, and everything else that exists in world religions today. Moreover, Muslims themselves openly admit that the coming of the Mahdi will be marked by a New Order on earth, new Legislation and new Tradition. So is it worth taking this idea with hostility?!

I ask everyone to pay their attention first of all to this. The word "Islam" is translated from Arabic as “surrender to God”, “submission to the will of the Almighty.” I ask: doesn’t the teaching that Christ brought mean the same thing? “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)? This is it - surrendering oneself to the will and mercy of God in the covenant of the Savior!

Where should we look for the Kingdom of God? - Does everyone know today?

I quote the Gospel for those who have not yet understood this: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16).

What kind of “God’s truth” should we obey? And what is this truth? - do you know? I quote for you another passage from the Gospel: God “must be obeyed not only out of [fear of] punishment, but also out of conscience.” (Rom. 13:5). Thus, we come to understand the following:

If a person lives according to his conscience and does not harm anyone, this is already ISLAM, this already means "surrender to God"!

The ritual side of faith, like national cuisine, like national music, is nothing more than seasoning in a dish called “religion”!

Whether someone wants to use this “seasoning” liberally, or not to use it at all, should be a personal matter.

Jesus, for example, taught this: “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, stopping to appear before people... But when you pray, go into your room and, having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret ; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not say too much... for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Pray like this: Our Father who art in heaven! Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen"(Matthew 6:5-13).

Likewise, I believe there should be only one requirement for the clothes of believers - they should not shock, outrage, or offend the feelings of people around them.

I want to illustrate the above with an example from the Gospel of Luke:

Once a rich Jew, one of the number of politicians with whom the Savior happened to be together at the same table, strongly "was surprised to see that he didn't wash [his hands] before dinner." To which Jesus said to him: “Today you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and the platter, but your insides are full of robbery and wickedness.”(Luke 11:38-39). Thus, Christ made it clear that the outer side of a person is not as important as the inner. The same goes for clothes!

By the way, the previously mentioned Haddis from Abu Dawud (Argument 3) said very well on this occasion: “dignity is an internal state...” In this regard, I want to convey to all believers and all spiritual leaders the wisdom that once came to me in the form of a revelation: “the task of true religion is to teach people to hear the voice of their conscience and to protect them from the lies of those who have trampled on their conscience.” This is what religious teachers who will become participants in the international peacekeeping Union of Christians and Muslims will have to do.

Fortunately, many adherents of Islam are doing this everywhere today - they teach people to hear the voice of their conscience and protect them from the lies of those who have trampled on their conscience.

I can illustrate the above with an example: on October 13, 2012 in Ufa (Russia, Bashkortostan) at the IX Congress of the Central Spiritual Administration of Muslims, the Ambassador of Iran in Moscow, Reza Sajjadi, gave a short but vivid speech. He addressed the Muslims Russian Federation with the following words:

“True Islam is a religion of peace, peace and humanity. The Koran in Surah Al-Anbiya says about the prophet of Islam: “We sent you only so that you would be a source of mercy for all mankind.” The Koran does not say “for Muslims”, it says “for all mankind”. Those who commit cruelty in the name of Islam are not friends, but enemies of Islam, enemies of the Prophet. Since the Prophet is a source of mercy, then his followers should also be sources of mercy..."

The distinguished ambassador also considered it extremely important to speak at the congress of Muslims about those who fill our world with cruelty and vice. Following modern tradition, Iranian Ambassador Reza Sajadi called the enemies of Islam and peace with the term “Zionists,” linking this concept not with "the love of the Jews for their homeland", as they interpret, but with the term widespread in the twentieth century "Zion mafia", which is still commonly called today, living off the deception and robbery of other peoples.

"Today Zionism is a symbol of cruelty and an enemy of humanity and Islam. Don't think that Zionism is only in clothes Judaism. He also appears in the clothes of Christianity and Islam. Hosni Mubarak of Egypt was outwardly Muslim, but prevented food and medicine from being sent to Gaza. In fact, he was a Zionist. George Bush and Mitt Romney are outwardly Christians, but in reality they are Zionists. By and large, the backwardness of the Islamic world is the result of having leaders who only pretend to be Muslims, but in fact, are Zionists. The most important goal of Zionism is to create divisions: divisions among Muslims, divisions between Christians and Muslims, and divisions between nations.Today, everyone who takes the path of disagreement becomes a soldier of Zionism...

Our Prophet said: “Islam is based on two foundations: faith in God and unity (renunciation of contradictions).” Therefore, all religions and nations should try to put aside contradictions, drive out supporters of cruelty from their ranks and, like the Prophet Christ and the Prophet Mohammad (may the blessing of God be upon them!), become sources of mercy.”

I hope now everyone understands what true Islam is?

Argument 5. "Who is a believer and who is not"

I invite everyone to read the story of Valery Ivanovich Skurlatov, a Russian publicist, scientist, philosopher and politician. This story illustrates point 4 quite well.

“I often see in public transport how grannies cross themselves at every church we pass by. On TV they show the same grannies praying in church, often among them are bosses of various ranks with lit candles in their hands.

Are they believers? Not at all necessary. Often this is fashion, often just imitation, and often hypocrisy - piety for show. There are many “massed believers” who are inclined to expose people of other faiths and non-believers and even destroy them. At the same time, among those who call themselves “atheists,” there are often honest, moral, and decent people.

We need to understand what faith is. If a male or female granny imagines God as a kind of little man with a beard sitting on a cloud who can send down a freebie, you just need to ask Him well, or if the granny believes that some kind of “relic” or “belt” will bestow all sorts of benefits, you just need to to venerate it, then this is not “faith”, but superstition - vanity in vain. If a person believes that it is enough to perform rituals and honor priests, and then you will be awarded heaven beyond the grave, then this is also not “faith”, but an ape-like ritual belief. For God is not in a cloud and not in a “miracle” and not in an external ritual, but in the Spark of God that is within.

Both superstition and ritual belief are either antipodes of faith, or a lack of it. Superstitionists and ritualists cannot be considered believers.

How are believers different?

The German philosopher Immanuel Kant said that he was amazed at two things - the starry sky above and the moral law within. Believers are those who hear the message of this Higher superhuman moral will coming from the depths of the human being, that is, they hear their own conscience. Once he hears, it means he recognizes her against the background of the noise of existence and thereby makes sure of her knowledge and believes her.

Believing your own conscience means being a believer, no matter what cultural-linguistic-confessional environment you grew up in, regardless of these or those external rituals, “miracles,” prejudices and obscurantism.

And not every “atheist” who militantly denies ritual and miracle is an unbeliever, for if he has a conscience, then he obeys the highest principle of the world and man and thereby believes in Him. And even if this highest principle (Kant’s “categorical imperative”) is thought of as impersonal in the form of some higher program, the one who comprehends the highest in himself and thereby knows himself comes to the personality in himself as the highest prototype and ascends to the Supreme Personality in himself.

Thus, the criterion of faith is conscience. He who does not have a conscience is not a believer, no matter how much he imitates piety, even if he is the Pope himself or the Patriarch of All Rus'. And vice versa, someone who calls himself an “atheist,” if he has a conscience, is a true believer, although he usually opposes rituals and superstitions that lead away from the Highest Principle.”

Argument 6. We have already found out that true religion is everyday life according to conscience (in truth and according to the will of God), whose voice one must be able to hear and recognize in oneself against the background of the noise of existence.

Muslims, in order to hear the voice of Allah within themselves, try to do such a procedure as prayer every day. Christians usually practice communion with God while standing.

I foresee the question: will it be necessary to come to a “common denominator” when creating an international peacekeeping Union of Christians and Muslims?

I answer: I don’t see any point in this. In addition, some people have such a strong connection with God that they can do without the procedure of namaz or prayer in the temple.

Argument 7. Now I will tell you, friends, the most interesting thing.

Think about what goal religion sets for a person? After all, this is extremely important! If we are to one day come to unity, then through what faith?

Through Islam? Or maybe through Christianity? After all, Jesus clearly said: “I have other sheep which are not of this fold, and these I must bring, and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd...”

Unfortunately, few Christian believers have ever delved into what doctrine modern so-called “Christianity” is based on. And if they got into it, I think many would be very surprised and upset. As Herodotus once said, “In any case, you need to keep in mind its outcome, how it will end”. Also, believers need to know what their religion promises at the end of the journey.

Why is this necessary? And then, there is a very high risk of everyone falling into a deep hole if a blind guide or an outright enemy suddenly turns out to be at the head of the procession! This is exactly what, by the way, Jesus warned the Jewish believers - Jews with a small J, following the lead of the Pharisees - Jews with a capital J: “Leave them alone: ​​they are blind leaders of the blind; and if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” (Matt. 15:14).

I must say that the doctrine that modern so-called “Christianity” adheres to and the doctrine on which Islam is based are so different today that they can be considered diametrically opposed. I will say right away that they differ because once upon a time, a very long time ago, the meaning of Christian teaching was distorted by the enemies of Christ - the Jews. And this fact, fortunately, turned out to be recorded in the Koran. I quote the Holy Scripture of Islam: “Do not take Jews and Christians as friends: they are friends of one another. And if one of you takes them as friends, he is one of them!”(Sura 5: 56(51)).

Think about why the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) voiced these words?

Presumably, due to the fact that he knew about the substitution of truths in the teachings of Christ.

Firstly, under no circumstances could the Jews and should not have been among the friends of Christians, but they suddenly became friends of the Christian clergy! Steel! Despite Jesus' clear prohibition: "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship has righteousness with iniquity? What fellowship has light with darkness?"(2 Cor. 6:14).

Secondly, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) saw with his own eyes and heard with his own ears that the Jews (through friendship with Christian clergy) managed, unnoticed by the believing people, to replace the true goal of Christianity with a false one. And here's proof of that.

What does the Russian Orthodox Church, together with Catholicism and Protestantism, promise to believers today? Think about it!

Oh horror! The doctrine of modern Christianity is the expectation of the End of the World! This means the destruction of humanity by the forces of Evil, "end of earthly life". Evil will be able to defeat good, and all people will be destroyed, but this does not mean the death of the righteous, the false Christian priests reassure the people, then the righteous will be resurrected and will find an “afterlife.” But first everyone will die!

In a brief summary by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, it sounds like this: “We know when the End of the World will happen,- said the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on January 7, 2013 after the Great Christmas Vespers. - It will not happen from any collision of the Earth with an asteroid, nor from any cataclysm, - it will happen when there is more evil in the world than good, when no regulatory factors will be able to extinguish the reaction that intensifies evil to infinity, because society will cease be viable". .

This is the “pit” into which blind guides who call themselves followers of Christ the Savior are leading and want to drop all of humanity!

The Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church does not believe (!) that there will be a Second Coming!!! At the same time, he believes that “one day there will be more evil than good” and then “society will cease to be viable”!

But Jesus promised that the history of civilization would have a completely different ending. Judge for yourself. I quote the Gospel. “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world; the good seed are the sons of the Kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one; the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Therefore, just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of this age: the Son of Man will send His angels, and they will gather from His kingdom all who offend and those who practice iniquity, and will cast them into the fiery furnace; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth; then the righteous will shine like the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”(Matthew 13:37-43).

As we see, it was not for nothing that Jesus received the nickname Savior. He painted a perspective according to which the Son of Man (Mahdi in Islam) will send his Angels at the appointed hour and they will destroy "all temptations and workers of iniquity", will literally burn them in a “fiery furnace”, while “The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father”.

Thus, in accordance with the teachings of Jesus Christ, it is not Evil that will triumph over Good, but quite the opposite, Good that will triumph over Evil.

Obviously, one of the Jews managed very cleverly and a very long time ago to change the places of “white” and “black” in the Christian doctrine.

Now let us once again delve into the doctrine of Islam to see that it fully corresponds to the true teachings of Christ, or at least does not contradict the above prophecy.

“The Mahdi is the Imam who will create world order, he will make the ruling nations pay for crimes against society. He will bring benefit to humanity. He will find the hidden wealth of the earth and distribute it fairly among the needy. He will teach modest living and subtle reflection. He will make you understand that dignity is an internal state that lies in the middle between two extremes, and which is based on equality and justice. He will restore the teachings of the Holy Qur'an and the traditions of the Holy Prophet after the world has ignored them... He will protect science and higher knowledge and use them. His control over this will be complete. He will value higher knowledge and will always use it with reverence. His mind will be free from the desire to harm humanity. The highest knowledge with him will be like some property that was misused in the past, but which he now gives permission to reuse and correctly. At the very beginning he will be like a poor, inglorious stranger. And Islam will be in a hopeless and helpless state, like an emaciated camel with a drooping head and a limply swinging tail. But then he will establish the Kingdom of God throughout the world. He will teach everyone proof of God’s mercy - His Desire to give man Knowledge of the right life.”(Haddis from Abu Dawud, Najul Balagha, Khutba 141, 187).

That's all for now, friends!

I considered it my duty to tell you about my feelings and views, as well as about the essence of modern so-called “Christianity” and modern Islam. Next, choose for yourself which path best suits your worldview and your spirit.

However, whatever your decision, I am sure that you will agree with me: the creation of an international peacekeeping Union of Christians and Muslims should be an important step towards the salvation of humanity during the period of global domination of SATANISM on earth.

It is appropriate to add to all of the above that before Nikon’s church reform, which was carried out in the mid-17th century, Christianity in Rus' was called “orthodox.” That is, just some 360 ​​years ago, both Christians and Muslims TOGETHER were called TRUE BELIEVERS!!!

Today there is a compelling reason to once again restore our religious cooperation and interaction.

A couple of thoughts for atheists: from communication with different people and observing myself, I discovered an interesting pattern: if you don’t swear, don’t smoke or drink alcohol for 40 days, extinguish irritation and aggression in yourself (it’s 40 days or more that is important) - very good thoughts begin to come to mind. At the same time, conscience, which was previously dormant, awakens, intuition begins to work, which often acts as a guardian angel. For example, you completely forgot that you have to go to an important meeting, and suddenly a reminder comes to you, as if by itself, either in the form of a dream or in the form of a clear thought! I recommend everyone to try it! And then, you see, atheism will pass...

I repeat, I wrote this more than 3 years ago, and today I don’t have even a shadow of a doubt that "the salvation of the world will occur due to the emergence of a new religion in Russia", the foundation of which will be the oldest teaching on earth “About the spirit, which is God”! And even the science of Nature - physics - recognizes this Teaching as true!

Perhaps in the near future, believers will be able to join a new church that worships an artificial god.

"The Way of the Future"

In 2015, former Google and Uber engineer Anthony Lewandowski filed papers to create Future Path, a non-profit religious organization dedicated to the worship of artificial intelligence.

The church's mission, according to Backchannel, where the news first appeared, is to "develop and promote artificial intelligence-based deity, and through understanding and worship of it, contribute to the betterment of society."

It is known that Levandowski is the CEO and president of Path of the Future. Presumably there is no High Priest vacancy in the organization.

Author and religious studies scholar Candy Kann, who teaches comparative religion at Baylor University, says Lewandowski's spiritual initiative is not strange from a historical perspective.

“I think Lewandowski's idea sounds like a typical American religion,” Kann said. - Church of Jesus Christ of Saints last days(Mormons) and Scientology are distinctly American traditions that focus on very forward-thinking religious views. Mormons discuss other planets and extraterrestrial life, and Scientology emphasizes therapy and a psychological worldview, which is quite modern and forward thinking."

According to Kann, the concept of worshiping artificial intelligence even has some resonance with one of the world's major religions.

“From a comparative religion perspective, I think it's more like Hinduism, which has avatars of deities found on Earth,” she said. - Thus, artificial intelligence can become a reflection the best people who will begin to be worshiped."

Patent theft

Levandowski is accused of stealing patents while he was an engineer at Google and using them to build his own self-driving car, which was later acquired by Uber for $680 million. Uber denies any information about the alleged theft or about using Google technology to create its own car. Creators of Waymo, a self-driving car Google, filed a lawsuit against Lewandowski in February. Uber fired him in May, saying he was not legally affiliated with it.

AI Warnings

Levendowski's attempt to create a church that worships AI comes amid apocalyptic warnings from science and technology luminaries such as Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking about the dangers of artificial intelligence. Elon Musk, for example, stated several years ago that he was investing heavily in artificial intelligence largely to monitor its development, since it could become a potential threat to humanity.

“With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon,” said the founder of Tesla and SpaceX. - In all those stories where there is a guy with a pentagram and holy water... He seems confident that he can control the demon. But it doesn't work."

Lewandowski's motivation

Levandowski's former friend and colleague, quoted by Backchannel, gives us some insight into the potential church leader of the future's views on robots and artificial intelligence.

“He had this very strange motivation about robots taking over the world, as if they would have to do it in a military sense,” says the unidentified engineer and former friend of Lewandowski. “It seems like he wanted to be able to control the world, and AI is capable of doing that.”

But, as Kann notes, it is important to remember that any speculation about Lewandowski's motivation is based on only one document.

“To me, it's more like a new paradigm from which new religious practices can emerge,” Kann said. “It doesn’t sound much like a religion, or a religious worldview.”

18.09.11 The number of believers in the world - at least in developed, so-called civilized countries - is declining. And the number of people who openly declare themselves atheists is growing every year.

These results were obtained by a group of American scientists led by Daniel Abrams from Northwestern University and Richard Weiner from the University of Arizona, after analyzing statistical data over the last hundred years. The researchers reported this at the recent American Physical Society meeting in Dallas.

Statistical data was collected in the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and several European countries. It turned out that only atheists were steadily increasing in all of them. Most of them are now in the USA and Holland - about 40 percent. But the Czech Republic is the leader in this sense, with more than 60 percent of atheists.

To explain the phenomenon of growing anti-religiosity, scientists turned to dispassionate mathematics. And they tried to simulate the situation, armed with a simple hypothesis. It assumes: people strive to join the social group in which membership seems most beneficial to them. For example, someone becomes a believer by observing numerous representatives of this group and realizing that praying and worshiping God is very useful for one reason or another - spiritual or even material.

Weiner explained: In a similar way, people decide which language to speak if there are several options. Like, say, in Peru: in Spanish or in their native languages ​​- Quechua or Aymara. The latter are gradually dying out, since knowledge of them does not promise any serious benefits.

Some people resolve issues of party affiliation in much the same way. They simply choose the most influential one, and are not guided by faith in certain ideals. A similar situation arises with religion.

According to Abrams and Weiner, people believe that the benefits of religion are less and less. And in the foreseeable future, this will inevitably lead to the fact that there will be no believers left.

It is not only statistics that indicate the coming era of atheism. The forecast is supported by mathematical model(based on nonlinear dynamics), which shows almost complete correspondence with it - with statistics. That is, the theoretically calculated number of people who abandoned faith almost coincided with the real one.

However, scientists do not insist that the truth has been revealed to them. And they admit that the world around us may be more complex than the formulas that seem to fit it.

No... God is still needed

In 2008, the John Templeton Religious Foundation, which regularly supports scientists in the search for God and the scientific basis of faith, allocated 2 million pounds sterling (more than $3 million) to the search for the reasons why people become religious. Money is being mastered by the famous psychologist from Oxford University Justin Barrett and numerous colleagues from different countries.

The project with the simple name “Why do people believe in God?” was designed for three years. That is, this year, 2011, we can expect final conclusions. But preliminary ones already appear from time to time. And they contradict the atheistic mathematics of Abrams and Weiner. There is plenty of data that proves that religiosity is beneficial.

United by one faith are more tenacious

Canadian psychologists Ara Norenzayan and Azim Sharif from the University of British Columbia, working on the project with Barrett, believe that religious people are better equipped for life. Especially to her hardships. After all, faith unites them. And those who are united are strong through mutual assistance. This means they have a better chance of surviving difficult times. And, therefore, pass on your “religious genes” by inheritance.

As a result, evolution has led to the fact that almost every person has a belief in God. This is the opinion of scientists. They found it by conducting a comparative analysis of various closed communes and communities, of which many arose in the USA in the 19th century. Among them were both religious and secular, for example, based on the ideas of communism. And it turned out that religious communities lasted much longer on average (see diagram).

Religion, says Ara Norenzayan, unites people according to principles such as loyalty to the community and willingness to sacrifice personal interests for the sake of society. Moreover, the survival of religious (but not secular) communities depends directly on the strictness of the rules. The more restrictions the community imposed on its members and the more complex rituals they had to perform, the longer it existed. This is beneficial for evolution.

Worship of an invisible leader preserves order

French anthropologist Pascal Boyer of Washington University in St. Louis notes another specific feature human thinking, which makes us extremely susceptible to religious ideas. This is the ability to obey persons in at the moment absent. Without this, large organized groups would not be able to exist.

How can there be order in a hierarchically organized tribe if people perform their duties only in the presence of a leader or parent? - asks Dr. Boyer. - The ability to maintain a relationship with the “ideal image” of an absent person is a most useful adaptation that allows you to maintain order and follow the rules of the community.

In most cultures, otherworldly beings - deities - “monitor” people’s behavior. That is, they perform the function of an absent leader or parent.

TOTAL

Scientists show that religion is beneficial using examples from past societies. But we live in a different time, in which different trends have clearly emerged. People - especially in the Western world - are no longer seeing the meaning in religiosity. And they leave the faith. Do they thereby lose their cohesion? The ability to withstand difficulties? Are they losing to those whose faith is only growing stronger? Scientists have not yet given answers to these questions.

BY THE WAY

“Genes of faith in God” discovered in humans

Dean Hammer, director of the National Institute of Genetic and Cancer Control, questioned the religious premise that faith in God is fueled by spiritual enlightenment arising from the influence of divine power. And he announced that it was all about special electrical impulses in the brain. But especially in the genes that are responsible for them.

The scientist’s research has shown that deeply religious people have a gene in their bodies that they call VMAT2. But atheists do not have such a gene.

It turns out that atheists are mutants.

This shocking conclusion was made based on a study of more than 2,000 DNA subjects.

According to Hammer, it is possible that Christians could have inherited the “belief in God gene” from Jesus Christ himself, and Muslims from Muhammad. The doctor, however, also recalls the Prophet Muhammad, whose gene could be inherited by Muslims, and Buddha, who awarded the corresponding heredity to Buddhists. Although these respected individuals were not gods.

Following Hammer's logic, we must admit that Satanists inherited the genes of the devil, and those who believe in aliens inherited them from aliens. It seems like nonsense. Although it may turn out that this same VMAT2 has a universal property and awakens the desire for the spiritual and mystical in general.

“My research,” Hammer justifies himself, “does not undermine faith in the Almighty. On the contrary, the existence of the “belief in God gene” once again proves the genius of the Creator, who “gave” this gene to man.

Then what is happening now? Where does this gene disappear if the number of believers decreases? What is the cause of mutations? Is this not the machinations of hellish forces?

Strelnikov S.S.

Currently, there are several theories that explain the phenomenon of religion and determine the contours of its further development. The most famous is Marx's theory of the religious system as a superstructure over the economic system, which explains the need to legalize existing social inequality and perform the functions of consolation. Accordingly, building a society where there is no inequality in income distribution will lead to the disappearance of religion, since the need for it will disappear. It is believed that events such as the collapse Soviet Union and the collapse of economies Eastern Europe coupled with the strengthening of the role of Islam showed the inconsistency of this theory.

There are modern theories regarding the future of religion, in particular – the theory of the achievement of superintelligence. Representatives of this theory deduce the origin of religion from man’s inherent admiration for “superintelligence,” and postulate that the further evolution of man will lead to his own achievement of a state of superintelligence. If this happens, then several questions arise at once: which religions and how will they relate to this process, how will they transform. There is an opinion that several world religions will unite and come to new form- religions of co-creation, which in itself will bring humanity closer to achieving a state of superintelligence, the only question is what kind of religions they will be.

Sociologists and researchers of religion, when describing the present and future of religion, currently consider the interaction in society of secular and religious, one way or another, explaining the nature of the contradictions that arise.

According to T. Lukman, religion is now acquiring its fourth social form– structural privatization. The main meaning and message of this phenomenon is that social norms and attitudes have lost their religious context and meaning, and at the same time the social life of the individual in modern society lost its religious significance, and the influence of religious norms was limited only to the private sphere of each person’s life. At the same time, the modern view of the process of secularization does not exclude the mutual influence of the private religious and public spheres on each other. Of course, questions about the vectors, directions and degrees of this influence become relevant.

Another point of view, shared by American sociologists S. Warner, R. Fink and R. Stark, is that religion is a component of the reality around us, the same market operates in the religious sphere, and its actions can be characterized as the actions of a market subject . Notably, this market may also be subject to government restrictions and protectionism. Conventionally, such a model can be called theories of the market of religion. It is also characterized by the use of other market principles: religious communities compete, which means they improve to meet the needs of the consumer. Researchers also note the effect of the laws of marketing: if there is a set of religious offers, the individual is inclined to find an offer that is acceptable only to himself. In contrast, under a religious monopoly, there is the possibility of increasing dissatisfaction as individual needs change and cannot be satisfied. Where there are no alternatives, dissatisfaction with a single religious offering is more likely to cause consumer defection from the entire religious market.

Not everyone believes that an individual makes a conscious choice of religion for himself. Moreover, in Russia, according to K. Krylov, “virtually all citizens of the Russian Federation, with the exception of “traditional Muslims,” are a kind of hostages of the Russian Orthodox Church, which has not real rights over them, justified by actual “membership,” but “symbolic” rights. Therefore, the Russian Orthodox Church conducts “bargaining” on the price and forms of “redemption” not directly with citizens, but with the state, which, as it were, represents citizens precisely as an aggregate.” IN in this case the very fact that an individual chooses any religion on the religious market is not significant, since state-confessional relations in Russia are structured in such a way that the state, in shaping its attitude towards religion and religiosity, prefers to conduct a dialogue not with the church, as with the totality of citizens, and with the hierarchs of religious associations. In this case, the scope of interests and methods of protecting them, and most importantly, the totality of the population from which the church speaks, will be chosen by the hierarch himself. It is quite logical that the numbers of followers in this case are overestimated.

If we follow the theory of the market of religions, then it is advisable to ask the question - what are the barriers to entry into this market? It seems that the high degree of syncretism of a particular cult cannot be considered such a barrier - the active development of new religious movements since the mid-19th century proves this. An individual, in conditions of freedom of choice, can choose religion as a set of moral principles, considering them the most suitable for himself. However, the choice of religion may be influenced by the presence in one form or another of unacceptable attitudes - prohibitions, interpretations, etc. In this regard, a syncretic cult can satisfy consumer demand in the religious market, combining certain positive attitudes of different beliefs. Moreover, the use of religious attitudes to explain existing problems in society, life activities and solve personal problems can be carried out not only by religious organizations. Forms of such use of views of a religious nature of various origins in personal growth trainings are widely known, various techniques psychotherapies. It is assumed that this trend can take two forms: those who have resorted to psychotherapy can turn to one of those religions, elements of which are included in the course, or there will be a gradual transformation of the organization, it will begin to acquire more and more pronounced religious features. However, the legal status of this organization will remain the same. This seems characteristic feature of the present and future of Russia - an organization that has features of a religious one, but which is not registered as such.

If you follow the theory of mutual influence of religion and secular society, then in Russia you can find features of such interaction. An experiment is underway to introduce religious ethics training programs in schools, and the institute of military chaplains is being introduced in the army. On the other hand, in the church itself there are processes of struggle between conservative and liberal groups - discussions are being held on the issue of celebrating the civil New Year, on the language of church services, the church is actively exploring the media space. We can say that the modern Orthodox Church is faced with the task of preventing a new schism in relation to innovations.

On the other hand, individual forms confirming the economic model can also be traced. The work of the missionary department of the Russian Orthodox Church, in turn, many Protestant churches, in order to attract interest in their activities, hold various events and diversify their worship services.

The variety of approaches to the current status of religion and religious associations in society and the state, the diversity of views, sometimes subjectively colored, determines the different “shades” and direction of the trend of forecasts regarding their position in the future. Without a doubt, the prospect of correcting the legislative definition seems significant for Russia. religious association, apparently, there is a point in clarifying it, but this requires political will.

Bibliography

1. Miroljub Jevtic. Political science of religion // Politics and religion. - 2009. - N 2.

2. Bodyakin V.I. Contours of the religion of the future [Electronic resource] // Access mode: http://www.ipu.ru/stran/bod/relig_f.htm

3. Kargina I.G. New forms of sacralization of the secular and secularization of the sacred in Christian societies // Sociological Research. - 2010. - N 6.

4. Krylov K. State religion of the future // Otechestvennye zapiski. - 2001. - N 1.

Why is the share of Muslims in the world population growing faster than anyone else, while fewer and fewer are religiously unaffiliated?

The religious characteristics of the world are changing very quickly, which is primarily due to differences in birth rates and the size of the younger generation in the spheres of influence of the world's major religions, as well as the fact that people change religions. Over the next four decades, Christians will remain the largest religious group, but Islam will grow faster than any other major religion. These current trends will last until 2050...

— The number of Muslims is almost equal to the number of Christians in the world.

— Despite the fact that there will be more atheists, agnostics and other people who do not associate themselves with any particular religion in countries such as the USA and France, their share in the total number of inhabitants of the earth will decrease.

— The number of Buddhist adherents will remain approximately the same as in 2010, and there will be more Hindus and Jews than now.

— In Europe, the number of Muslims will be 10% of the total population.

— In India, Hinduism will still be the majority religion, however, its Muslim population will also become the largest in the world, overtaking the Muslims of Indonesia.

— In the United States, the number of Christians from three-quarters of the population in 2010 will drop to two-thirds in 2050, and Judaism will cease to be the largest non-Christian religion. There will be more Muslims than people who identify as Jews based on religion.

— Four out of every ten Christians in the world will live in sub-Saharan Africa.

These are some of the trends outlined by new population projections from the Pew Research Center. Projections are based on the current coverage and geographic distribution of the world's major religions, age differences, fertility and mortality rates, international migration, and patterns of religious transition.

As of 2010, Christianity was by far the world's largest religion, with an estimated 2.2 billion adherents, representing almost a third (31%) of the world's total population of 6.9 billion. Islam came in second place, with 1.6 billion adherents, or 23% of all people.

However, if the current demographic trend continues, Islam will almost overtake the leader by the middle of the 21st century. Between 2010 and 2050, the total world population is expected to grow to 9.3 billion, an increase of 35%. Over the same period, the number of Muslims - many of whom are, on average, young and contribute to the high birth rate - is projected to increase by 73%. The number of Christians should also increase, but more slowly, at approximately the same rate (35%) as the overall increase in the Earth's population.

As a result, the Pew Research Center projects that by 2050, the number of Muslims (2.8 billion, or 30% of the population) will be nearly equal to the number of Christians (2.9 billion, or 31%), perhaps for the first time in history.

With the exception of Buddhism, all world religions are poised for at least modest growth in absolute terms in the coming decades. The number of Buddhists worldwide is expected to remain roughly the same due to low birth rates and aging populations in countries such as China, Thailand and Japan.

The number of Hindus worldwide is projected to increase by 34%, from just over a billion to almost 1.4 billion, keeping pace with the average growth rate of the entire world population. Jews, the smallest religious group for which a separate forecast was made, are expected to grow by 16%, from just over 14 million worldwide in 2010 to 16.1 million in 2050.

Context

Islam is not like all religions

Globes 02/05/2017

Religion changed its mind about leaving Russia

Aftenposten 01/20/2017

Will Earthly Religions Adapt to Aliens?

Nautilus 11/30/2016

Three poles that are forming in the world

Česká Pozice 11/16/2016

Is France still a secular state?

Russian RFI service 10/04/2016

The number of adherents of various religions, including African traditional beliefs, Chinese folk beliefs, indigenous American and Australian aborigines, is projected to increase by 11%, from 405 million to almost 450 million.

However, despite the growth in the absolute number of adherents of folk religions, Judaism and “other religions” (the entire collective category as a single whole), they do not keep pace with the overall growth of the entire world population. Each of these groups is projected to make up a smaller percentage of the population in 2050 than they did in 2010.

Likewise, the share of religiously unaffiliated people in the total population of the earth will decrease, although their absolute number will increase. Censuses and surveys indicate that in 2010 there were about 1.1 billion atheists, agnostics and people who do not identify with any particular religion. By 2050, the number of unaffiliated people should reach 1.2 billion. But as for the percentage that will be allocated to them from the total number of people, by the middle of this century it is predicted to decrease from 16% to 13%.

At the same time, however, the proportion of religiously unaffiliated people is expected to grow in the population of much of Europe and North America. In the US, for example, the number of unaffiliated will grow from approximately 16% of the total population (including children) in 2010 to 26% in 2050.

The example of a group of religiously unaffiliated people shows how geographical differences will greatly influence the growth patterns of religions in the coming decades. One of the main factors determining future growth is where each group is currently concentrated geographically. Religions with large numbers of adherents in developing countries where fertility rates are high and infant mortality rates are gradually declining are likely to grow rapidly. The global growth of Islam and Christianity, for example, is predicted to be driven by sub-Saharan Africa. In contrast, religiously unaffiliated people are now heavily concentrated in low-fertility areas experiencing population aging, such as Europe, North America, Japan, and China.

Globally, Muslims have the highest fertility rate, with an average of 3.1 children per woman, well above the replacement level (2.1) required to maintain a stable population. Christians are in second place, with 2.7 children per woman. The Hindu birth rate is 2.4, about the same as the world average of 2.5. The world average birth rate among Jews is 2.3, which is also above the minimum replacement level. Fertility in all other groups is too low to support the population: folk beliefs 1.8 children per woman, other religions 1.7, religiously unaffiliated 1.7, and Buddhists 1.6.

In the coming decades, Christianity is expected to suffer the largest cumulative losses due to religious change. Overall, about 40 million people are projected to convert to Christianity, while 106 million are projected to abandon it, mostly choosing to join the ranks of the religiously unaffiliated (see chart above).

In total, the unaffiliated group would add 97 million people and lose 36 million people due to religious change, for a net gain of 61 million people by 2050. A modest “net profit” from changing religions is expected among Muslims (3 million), the group of folk beliefs (3 million) and the combined group of other religions (2 million). Jews will lose about 300,000 people due to change of religion, while Buddhists will lose 3 million.

International migration is another factor influencing the projected size of religious groups in different regions and countries.

Predicting future migration patterns is difficult because migration is often linked to the policies of world governments and international events that can change quickly. Therefore, many population projections do not include migration in their models. But in collaboration with researchers at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Laxenburg, Austria, Pew Research has developed an innovative method of using data on past migration trends to estimate the religious composition of migration flows for decades to come. (For more on how these projections are made, see Chapter 1.) .

© RIA Novosti, Alexey Agaryshev

The impact of migration can be seen in the examples shown in the graph on the right, which compares scenarios predicted with and without migration in regions where it has highest value. In Europe, for example, where migration must be taken into account along with other demographic factors such as birth rates and age as a cause of population change, the Muslim share is expected to rise from 5.9% in 2010 to 10.2% in 2010. 2050 Excluding migration, the proportion of Muslims in the European population is projected to be almost two percentage points lower (8.4%). In North America, if migration is included in the forecast model, the share of Hindus will almost double over the coming decades, from 0.7% in 2010 to 1.3% in 2050. Without accounting for migration, the share of Hindus in the region's population will remain virtually unchanged (0. 8%).

In the Middle East and North Africa, ongoing Christian migration to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Saudi Arabia) is expected to offset the exodus of Christians from other countries in the region . If migration were not taken into account in projections for 2050, by this time it is estimated that the share of Christians there would have fallen below 3%. Taking into account migration, it will be higher than 3% (down from 4% in 2010).

After 2050

This report looks at how the religious landscape of our planet will change if current demographic trends continue. From year to year, however, the possibility of unforeseen circumstances - war, famine, epidemics, technological innovation, political upheaval, etc. - that could change the size of a particular religious group does not decrease. Because of the difficulties associated with predicting events more than a few decades into the future, projections end at 2050.

Readers may wonder, however, what would happen if the demographic trajectories documented in the report were extended further into the second half of this century? Given the rate at which the proportion of Muslims in the world is projected to increase, will Muslims really outnumber Christians? And if so, when?

The answer depends on how the trend is likely to continue, as described in Chapter 1. If the basic projection model is extended beyond 2050, the share of Muslims in the world population will roughly equal the share of Christians around 2070, at about 32% for each group. After this, the number of Muslims will overtake Christians, but both religious groups will continue to grow at roughly the same pace, as shown in the graph above. By 2100, there will be approximately 1% more Muslims in the world (35%) than Christians (34%).

© AFP 2016, Amos Gumulira Girls from high school in Mchinji, Malawi

The predicted increase in the number of Muslims and Christians will be due in large part to the fact that Africa's population will continue to grow. Due to the high concentration of Muslims and Christians in this region with a high birth rate, the share of both groups in the total world population will increase. Together, these two largest religious groups will comprise more than two-thirds of the world's population (69%) in 2100, up from 61% in 2050 and 55% in 2010.

It must be reiterated, however, that many factors can alter these developmental curves. For example, if a large share of China's population were to convert to Christianity (a possibility discussed in this box), then this phenomenon alone could strengthen Christianity's current position as the world's largest religion. Or if the transition to non-affiliation becomes common in countries with large numbers of Muslims - as is now the case in countries with a large number Christians - this trend may slow or even reverse the growth of the Muslim group.

Forecasts at the regional and country levels

In addition to forecasts at the global level, this report talks about forecasts for religious changes affecting 198 countries and territories with a population of at least 100 thousand people, where 99.9% of the world's population lived in 2010. Demographic estimates for an additional 36 countries and territories are included in regional and global totals throughout the report. The report divides the world into six major regions and examines potential changes in the religious composition of each region that could occur from 2010 to 2050, based on the assumption that current migration and other demographic trends continue.

Driven largely by high fertility rates, sub-Saharan Africa's population is projected to experience its fastest growing period, rising from 12% of the world's population in 2010 to around 20% in 2050. The Middle East and North Africa region is also projected to grow faster than the world as a whole, expanding from 5% of the world's population to 6%. The continued growth of both regions will contribute to an increase in the proportion of the world's Muslim population. In addition, the Christian population of sub-Saharan Africa is expected to double, rising from 517 million in 2010 to 1.1 billion in 2050. The share of all Christians living in sub-Saharan Africa will increase from 24% in 2010 to 38% in 2050.

At the same time, the Asia-Pacific region's share of the world population will decline (53% in 2050 from 59% in 2010). This will lead to slower growth of religions concentrated in the region, including Buddhism and Chinese folk religions, as well as slower growth in the number of religiously unaffiliated residents of the region. The only exception would be Hinduism, which is predominantly concentrated in India, where the population is younger and birth rates are higher than in China and Japan. As stated earlier, Hinduism is projected to grow roughly in step with global population growth. India's large Muslim population is also poised to grow rapidly. Although India will continue to have a Hindu majority, by 2050 the country's Muslim population will be the largest in the world, overtaking Indonesia's.

© flickr.com, Christopher Michel

The remaining geographic regions' share of the world population will also decline, with Europe's share projected to fall from 11% to 8%, Latin America and the Caribbean from 9% to 8%, and North America from 5% to just under 5%.

Europe is the only region whose overall population will decline. In the coming decades, there will be 100 million fewer European Christians, with their number falling from 553 million to 454 million. While remaining the largest religious group in Europe, Christians are projected to cover less than two-thirds of the population, rather than the current three-quarters of the population. By 2050, almost a quarter of all Europeans (23%) are expected to be religiously unaffiliated, and the number of Muslims in the region is expected to increase from 5.9% in 2010 to 10%. Over the same period, the number of Hindus in Europe would almost double, from just under 1.4 million (0.2% of Europe's population) to almost 2.7% (0.4%), largely due to immigration. The same trend appears to be true for Buddhists, whose number is projected to increase from 1.4 million to 2.5 million.

In North America, Muslims and followers of “other religions” are the fastest growing groups. For example, in the United States, the share of the population belonging to “other religions” is projected to more than double, although starting from a very small base - from 0.6% to 1.5%. The number of Christians is projected to decrease from 78% of the US population in 2010 to 66% in 2050, while the share of the religiously unaffiliated will increase from 16% to 26%. And it looks like by mid-century there will be more Muslims (2.1%) than Jews (1.4%) in the United States.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, Christianity will remain the largest religious group, covering 89% of the population in 2050, down slightly from 90% in 2010. The religiously unaffiliated population in Latin America is projected to grow in both absolute numbers and percentages, from approximately 45 million or 8% in 2010 to 65 million or 9% in 2050.

Change in religious majority

Some countries are projected to have a different religious majority by 2050 than they were in 2010. The number of countries with a Christian majority is expected to decrease from 159 to 151, with Christians falling below 50% of the population in Australia , Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Macedonia and the UK.

© AP Photo, Boris Grdanoski Wedding celebration in Macedonia

Muslims are expected to make up more than 50% of the population in 51 countries by 2050, two more than in 2010, as they become the religious majority in the Republic of Macedonia and Nigeria. But Nigeria's Christian population will also remain very large. Moreover, by 2050, Nigerian Christians are projected to form the third largest group of Christians in the world, after the United States and Brazil.

As of 2050, the largest religious group in France, New Zealand and the Netherlands should be the religiously unaffiliated.

About these forecasts

While many have made predictions about the future of religions, these are the first official demographic projections based on data on age, fertility, mortality, migration and conversion for numerous religious groups around the world. Demographers at Pew Research in Washington and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IISA) in Laxenburg, Austria, collected input data from more than 2,500 surveys, surveys and population registers—a job that took six years and is still in progress.

These demographic projections cover eight major groups: Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Christians, Folklore, Other Religions, and Religiously Unaffiliated (see Appendix C: Definition of Religious Groups). Because censuses and surveys in many countries do not provide information on religious subgroups—such as Sunnis and Shiites in Islam, or Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox Christians—the projections treat religious groups as homogeneous. Data on the composition of the religiously unaffiliated group is also not available in many countries. As a result, it is not possible to model separate predictions for atheists or agnostics.

The forecasting model was developed in collaboration with researchers from the Age and Cohort Change project at IIASA, world leaders in demographic forecasting methodology. The model uses an improved version of the cohort-component method, which is commonly used by demographers to predict population growth. She begins her work with basic age groups, or cohorts, divided by gender and religious affiliation. For each cohort, a forecast is made by adding potential future adherents (immigrants and people who adopted that religion as adults) and subtracting possible losses (deaths, emigration, people leaving that religion) year by year. The youngest cohorts, ages 0 to 4 years, are created based on age-specific fertility categories for each female reproductive age group (15-49) and children are assigned to the mother's region. You can read more about this in the Methodology.

While collecting input data and developing a forecast model, the Pew Research Center published preliminary reports on the current size and geographic location of major religious groups, including Muslims (2009), Christians (2011), and data for several other faiths (2012). The original set of forecasts for one religious group, Muslims, was published in 2011, however, it did not take into account changes in faith.

Some social theorists have suggested that as countries develop economically, more and more of their inhabitants will refuse to identify with a particular religion. While this has been a major trend in some parts of the world, especially Europe, it is unclear whether this is a universal pattern. In any case, our predictions are not based on a theory that relates economic development with secularization.

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Instead, these forecasts develop current recorded trends in religious change in those countries for which such information was available (70 countries in total). In addition, the projections reflect the UN's expectation that in countries with currently high fertility rates, fertility rates will gradually decline over the coming decades as female education levels increase. Projections also suggest that life expectancy will gradually increase in most countries. These and other key inputs and assumptions are described in detail in Chapter 1 and the Methodology (Appendix A).

Since forecasts of religious change have never before been made on this scale, a few words of caution are necessary. Demographic projections are assumptions based on current population data and preliminary estimates of demographic trends, such as declining fertility rates and increasing life expectancy in specific countries. Forecasts are what will happen if current data and current trends continue. But many events—scientific discoveries, armed conflicts, social movements, political upheavals, and much, much more—can change demographic trends in unexpected ways. This is why the projections are limited to a period of 40 years, and in subsequent chapters of this report we will try to give an idea of ​​how different the results might have been if the key points had been different.

For example, China's population of 1.3 billion people (as of 2010) greatly influences global trends. Currently, about 5% of Chinese are Christians, and more than 50% are religiously unaffiliated. Because there is no reliable data on religious conversion in China, these projections do not include any assumptions about religious change in the world's most populous country. But if Christianity spreads to China in the coming decades, as some experts predict, then by 2050 the total number of Christians on earth could be higher than predicted, and the decline in the share of the world's religiously unaffiliated could be even more significant (more on the possible impact of religious change for China, see Chapter 1).

In conclusion, readers should keep in mind that within each major religious group there is a spectrum of degrees of belief and practice. The projections are based on the number of people who self-identify with a particular religious group, regardless of their level of compliance. Understanding what it means to be a Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jew, or any other faith can vary from person to person, country to country, and decade to decade.

Words of gratitude

These population projections were carried out by the Pew Research Center as part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project, which examines religious change and its impact on society around the world. Funds for the project were provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John Templeton Foundation.

Many staff members of the Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project participated in this difficult work. Conrad Hackett was the lead researcher on the project and the main author of this report. Alan Cooperman became editor-in-chief. Anne Shi and Juan Carlos Esparza Ochoa made the most significant contributions to data collection, storage, and analysis. Bill Webster created the charts, and Stacy Rosenberg and Ben Wormald oversaw the development of interactive data presentations and the Global Religious Futures website. Sandra Stencel, Greg Smith, Michael Lipka and Aleksandra Sandstrom assisted with editing. The report's figures were verified by Shea, Esparanza Ochoa, Claire Gecewicz and Angelina Theodorou.

Several researchers from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis's Age and Cohort Change project collaborated on the projections, providing invaluable expertise on advanced demographic modeling and input standardization. Marcin Stonawski wrote the pioneering software to create these forecasts and led the collection and analysis of the data for Europe. Michaela Potančoková standardized fertility data. Vegard Skirbekk coordinated the IIASA research. Finally, Guy Abel of the Vienna Institute of Demography helped construct the country-level migration flow data used in these projections.

Over the past six years, some former Pew Research Center employees have also played important roles in creating these population projections. Phillip Connor provided background information on migration, created descriptions of migration outcomes and pathways, and helped write sections on each religious group and geographic region. Noble Kuriakose was involved in virtually every phase of the project and helped develop the demographics and methodology section. Former intern Joseph Naylor helped with map design, and David McClendon, another former intern, contributed to the research. global trends change of religion. The original concept for this study was developed by Luis Lugo, former leader Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project, with the help of former lead researcher Brian J. Grim and visiting senior fellow Mehtab Karim.

Other Pew Research Center staff members who provided editorial and research advice include Michael Dimock, Claudia Deane, Scott Keeter, Jeffrey S. Passel, and D'Vera Cohn (D"Vera Cohn). Communication support was handled by Katherine Ritchey and Russ Oates.

We also received very helpful advice and feedback on parts of the report from Nicholas Eberstadt, Henry Wendt, political economy specialists at the American Enterprise Institute; Roger Finke, director of the Association of Religion Data Archives and professor emeritus of sociology and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University; Carl Haub, senior demographer, Bureau of Population Information; Todd Johnson, an expert on world Christianity and director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity; Gordon Conwell of Theological Seminary; Ariela Keysar, associate professor and associate director of the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture, Trinity College; Chaeyoon Lim, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Arland Thornton, research associate at the Population Research Center at Michigan State University; Jenny Trinitapoli, assistant professor of sociology, demography and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University; David Voas, Professor of Population Studies and Acting Director of the Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Essex; Robert Wuthnow, professor of sociology and director of the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University; and Fenggang Yang, professor of sociology and director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Chinese Society at Purdue University.

Because our consultants and experts led the data collection and methodology, Pew Research Center is solely responsible for the interpretation and reporting of the data.

Guide to the report

The rest of the report goes into more detail about the forecasts from different angles. The first chapter examines the demographic factors that shape projections, including sections on fertility rates, life expectancy, age structure, religious change, and migration. The next chapter examines in detail the projections by religious group, separately for Christians, Muslims, the religiously unaffiliated, Hindus, Buddhists, adherents of folk or traditional religions and followers of “other religions” (considered as a collective group) and Jews. The final article provides detailed forecasts for geographic regions, namely Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa.

InoSMI materials contain assessments exclusively from foreign media and do not reflect the position of the InoSMI editorial staff.