World Christian Encyclopedia : A Comparative Survey of Churches and Religions in the Modern World (2 Volume Set)

Rating:
Summary: Second Time Around
Review: Almost 20 years ago the initial edition of the WCE was a great advanbce in religious information and statistics. The second edition (now 2 volumes) reflects much of the change in the religious scene in the last 2 decades and that alone is worthwhile. What is interesting is that the projections made 20years ago for the year 2000 have often turned out to be 'spot on' and this adds to the value of the work. I commend this latest effort w/o reservation and look forward to updates more frequently. Religion is one of the things that everyone shares-we all have it. This book should be in every library-esp. religious ones.As a priest who follows and studies and interacts with this world I can recommend it most heartily!

Rating:
Summary: A monument of religious demographics for Christians
Review: David Barrett and Todd Johnson at the World Evangelization Research Center in Richmond, Virginia have just completed the 2nd edition of the World Christian Encyclopedia. This 2,400 page, 2-volume reference set tells the status of Christianity and of evangelization in great detail for every country, people, language, city, and province in the world -- together with a trove of other information, statistics, and resources for the decision-makers in the world of missions. A companion CD, the World Christian Database, is planned to follow. This particular work, when complete, will help facilitate the analysis now missing from this monumental enterprise, a truly impressive work of religious, especially Christian, demographics. There is really nothing like it in terms of sheer raw data.

Rating:
Summary: A must-have for any Church Org. engaged in evangelization!
Review: The data is very detailed and comprehensive indeed.

However, I found that the secular data, AD2000 on Thailand is a bit out of date, especially concerning the Government, the Legislature and the Political divisions (which should be 73 provinces instead of the 7 provinces published)

I also found the number of Christians in Thailand a bit too exagerated, especially the number of crypto-Christians (at 570,000 in mid-2000), Independent Christians (at 735,801) and Protestants (at 303,000).

The number of Catholics (at 255,000) and Anglicans (at 465) in Thailand in mid-2000 are quite accurate.

There should also be more frequent updates.