World

Philippines has the world's most devoted Christians, says report

The Philippines came first and Japan came last in a global survey that aimed to establish which country has the most committed Christians.

By Jahnabi Barooah

Published: May 02, 2012 05:17 AM GMT

Updated: May 06, 2021 11:51 AM GMT

A new report measures the strength of people's belief in God in 30 countries around the world*, and how those beliefs have changed over time. “Beliefs About God Across Time And Countries,” conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, asked the following question to determine the nature of belief or unbelief in God:

Please indicate which statement comes closest to expressing what you believe about God:
1. I don't believe in God.
2. I don't know whether there is a God and I don't believe there is any way to find out.
3. I don’t believe in a personal God, but do believe in a Higher Power of some kind.
4. I find myself believing in God some of the time, but not at others.
5. While I have doubts, I feel that I do believe in God.
6. I know that God really exists and I have no doubts about it.
7. Can’t Choose
8. No Answer

Respondents were categorized as atheists (option 1), agnostics (option 2), deists (option 3), waivers (option 4), weak believers (option 5) and strong believers (option 6) depending on their answer choice. The researchers found the Philippines to have the highest and Japan to have the lowest number of strong believers, with close to 84 percent of respondents in the Philippines, and 4.3 percent of respondents in Japan indicating that they know God really exists and that they have no doubts about it. *The data from this survey came from 30 countries in which surveys about belief in God have been taken, in some cases, since 1991. It did not include Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu majority countries. Full Story: Belief In God: University Of Chicago Report Measures Countries With Highest And Lowest StrengthSource:Huffington Post Religion

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