RELIGIOUS CULTURE REGIONS DO WE HUMANS POSSESS RELIGIOUS “MENTAL MAPS?”

CHRISTIANITY World’s largest, both in area and in number of adherents, claiming 1/3 of humanity Single greatest division is between Eastern and Western Christianity Each of which is even further divided

Western Divisions Initially id’ed with Rome & the Latin- speaking area Splintered with the Protestant breakaway of the 1400’s and 1500’s. Roman Catholic church alone accounts for over 1/6 th of humanity, has remained unified

Western Christianity Protestanism tended to divide into a rich array of sects, with a total membership today of approx. 416 million. American frontier was a breeding ground for new religious groups. Today we find about 2000 different religious demoninations and cults in the USA alone

USA Christian regions South – called the Bible Belt, Baptist and other conservative fundamentalist demoninations dominate Utah – Mormon realm Lutheran Belt – stretches from Wisconsin westward thru Minnesota and the Dakotas. Roman Catholics – SO. LA, southwestern borderlands, and heavily industrialized areas of the NE Midwest – is a mixed zone with Methodists the largest single demonination

Eastern Christianity Dominated the Greek world from Constantiople (Istanbul) Armenian Church – the oldest in the Christian faith Coptic Church – Egyptians, Ethiopia Maronites – Lebanon Nestorians- mtns of Middle East and India’s Kerala state

Eastern Christianity Eastern Orthodoxy split into a variety of national churches Such as Russian, Greek, Ukrainian, Serbian All with a collective membership of 214 million