The word Hindu is an exonym, and while Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, many practitioners refer to their religion as Sanātana Dharma (Sanskrit: ????? ????: "the Eternal Way"), which refers to the idea that its origins lie beyond human history, as revealed in the Hindu texts.
Hinduism is the world's oldest religion, according to many scholars, with roots and customs dating back more than 4,000 years. Today, with about 900 million followers, Hinduism is the third-largest religion behind Christianity and Islam.
Unlike Western Europe, in Central and Eastern European countries the proportion of Christians has been stable or even increased in the post-communist era. In 2017, a report released by St. Mary's University, London concluded that Christianity "as a norm" was gone for at least the foreseeable future.
For all of these reasons – psychological, neurological, historical, cultural and logistical – experts guess that religion will probably never go away. Religion, whether it's maintained through fear or love, is highly successful at perpetuating itself. If not, it would no longer be with us.
According to Jerusalem Post, In the United Kingdom and France, up to 100,000 people converted in the last decade in each country. According to Yedioth Ahronoth, Germany has up to 4,000 a year.
India. Islam is the fastest-growing religion in India. Growth rate of Muslims has been consistently higher than the growth rate of Hindus, ever since the census data of independent India has been available. For example, during the 1991-2001 decade, Muslim growth rate was 29.5% (vs 19.9% for Hindus).
Global. According to a study from 2015, Christians hold the largest amount of wealth (55% of the total world wealth), followed by Muslims (5.8%), Hindus (3.3%), and Jews (1.1%).
The state recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Catholicism, Daoism, Islam, and Protestantism. The practice of any other faith is formally prohibited, although often tolerated, especially in the case of traditional Chinese beliefs.
Christianity was introduced to Ethiopia in the 4th century, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (called Tewahdo in Ethiopia) is one of the oldest organized Christian bodies in the world.
Religion in the United States is diverse, with Christianity and specifically Protestantism being the majority religion, although declining at rapid pace. Various religious faiths have flourished within the United States.
Mandal also points out that the Christian population in India is either static or dwindling. He argues that the failure of Christianity in the early centuries in Kerala and elsewhere was because they confined themselves to converting Brahmins.
