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 humanitySingle greatest division is between Eastern and Western ChristianityEach of which is even further divided

Western Divisions

Initially id’ed with Rome & the Latin-speaking areaSplintered with the Protestant breakaway of the 1400’s and 1500’s.Roman Catholic church alone accounts for over 1/6th 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 regionsSouth – called the Bible Belt, Baptist and other conservative fundamentalist demoninations dominateUtah – Mormon realmLutheran Belt – stretches from Wisconsin westward thru Minnesota and the Dakotas.Roman Catholics – SO. LA, southwestern borderlands, and heavily industrialized areas of the NEMidwest – 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 faithCoptic Church – Egyptians, EthiopiaMaronites – LebanonNestorians- mtns of Middle East and India’s Kerala state

Eastern Christianity

Eastern Orthodoxy split into a variety of national churchesSuch as Russian, Greek, Ukrainian, SerbianAll with a collective membership of 214 million