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{{Short description|Conversion of a previously non-Christian person to Christianity}}
{{use dmy dates|cs1-dates=ly|date=September 2023}}
[[File:Conversion on the Way to Damascus-Caravaggio (c.1600-1).jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|right|''[[Conversion on the Way to Damascus]]'' (1601) by [[Caravaggio]] ([[Santa Maria del Popolo]], [[Rome]]) depicts the [[Conversion of Paul the Apostle|conversion of Paul the Apostle to Christianity]] according to the events narrated in the [[Acts 9|ninth chapter]] of the [[Acts of the Apostles|Book of Acts]] (Acts 9:
'''Conversion to Christianity''' is the [[religious conversion]] of a previously non-Christian person that brings about changes in what sociologists refer to as the convert's "root reality" including their social behaviors, thinking and ethics. The sociology of religion indicates religious conversion was an important factor in the emergence of civilization and the making of the modern world. Conversion is the most studied aspect of religion by psychologists of religion, but there is still very little actual data available. Neurological studies have determined that conversion is not the result of pathology.
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Different [[Christian denominations]] may perform various different kinds of rituals or ceremonies of [[initiation]] into their community of believers. The primary ritual of conversion is [[baptism]], while different denominations differ with regards to [[confirmation]].
According to a 2001 study by religion professor David B. Barrett of [[Columbia University]] and historian [[George Thomas Kurian]], approximately 2.7 million people were converted to Christianity that year from another religion, while approximately 3.8 million people overall were converting annually.{{sfn|Barrett|Kurian|Johnson|2001|pp=4, 360}}{{sfn|Rambo|Farhadian|2014|p=59}} In the first decades of the twenty-first century, [[Pentecostalism]] is the largest and fastest growing form of Christianity
== Individual conversion ==
James P. Hanigan writes that individual conversion is the foundational experience and the central message of Christianity, adding that Christian conversion begins with an experience of being "thrown off balance" through cognitive and
In examples of conversion from the New Testament, such as [[Saint Peter|Peter's]] conversion<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|5:1-11}}, {{bibleverse|Matt.|4:18-22}}</ref> and [[Apostle Paul|Paul's]],<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|9}}</ref> Hanigan perceives this same common "death and rebirth" experience. He says these individuals did not respond out of a sense of guilt, but from awe, reverence, and holy fear of what they perceived as God's presence.{{sfn|Hanigan|1983|pp=25-28}}
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==Theology==
According to sociologist Ines W. Jindra, there is
Religious historian David W. Kling's ''History of Christian Conversion'' lists nine broad themes common to conversion narratives.{{sfn|Kling|2020|pp=20-23}} Jindra describes the first theme as
There are aspects of both "movement and resistance" in conversion. Christianity has, from its beginnings, been an evangelical mission oriented religion which has spread through conversion. However, people naturally tend toward inertia, toward the familiar, unless otherwise motivated toward change, making conversion the exception not the rule in history.{{sfn|Kling|2020|p=21}}
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While conversion is the most studied aspect of religion by psychologists of religion, there is little empirical data on the topic, and little change in method since William James' classic ''Varieties of Religious Experience'' in 1902. {{sfn|Scroggs|Douglas|1967|pp=204-206}} James Scroggs and William Douglas have written on seven current concerns in the psychology of conversion.
1) ''Definition''. Calling this the "oldest issue in the field",
2) ''Pathology''. Freud saw religion as a pathology, and those who follow his school of thought have continued to do so.{{sfn|Scroggs|Douglas|1967|pp=208-210}} Empirical studies indicate religion is associated with good mental health among women, that it aids with depression and overcoming serious problems like heroin addiction, and that generally, there are significant links between religion and spirituality and good physical and mental health.{{sfn|Ng|Shek|2001|loc=abstract}}{{sfn|Hill|Pargament|2008|loc=abstract}}{{sfn|Shaver|Lenauer|Sadd|1980|loc=abstract}} In Scroggs and Douglas's view, which view a psychologist takes depends on their training and personal commitment to faith or non-faith.{{sfn|Scroggs|Douglas|1967|p=208}}
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Kelly Bulkeley in ''The Oxford Handbook of Religion Conversion'' has written that, as of 2014, no neuro-scientific research focused specifically on religious conversion has been done.{{sfn|Bulkeley|2014|p=240}} Nor is there a single consensus on how the brain/mind system works, and researchers take many different approaches. {{sfn|Bulkeley|2014|loc=Reading the Cognitive Neuroscience Literature}} There is controversy over the [[Mind–body problem|mind/body problem]], as well as whether the brain is simply modular (composed of separate parts), or if that is too limited an explanation for what Bulkeley calls the complex, "global, synthetic, whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts aspects of brain function".{{sfn|Bulkeley|2014|loc=Conceptual Polarities and Methodological Challenges in Cognitive Neuroscience}} There is disagreement over determinism vs. free will, the use of brain imaging, first-person reports of conversion, and the applications of quantum physics.{{sfn|Bulkeley|2014|loc=The Mind/Body Problem}}{{sfn|Bulkeley|2014|loc=The value of introspection}}
The phenomenon of conversion is based on the belief that humans have the ability to change the way they mentally perceive and experience the world. Research on the plasticity of the brain has shown that the brain's ability to create new neural
Studies on prayer and meditation show they alter the brain's functioning in measurable, material, ways. {{blockquote|"Several implications flow from that basic finding. One is that at least some aspects of religion are not generated by pathological brain functioning. Current [cognitive neuroscience] research refutes the idea that religion ... stems from faulty brain/mind processes. The best available scientific evidence indicates that people who engage in religiously motivated contemplative practices have normal, healthy brains. Perhaps other forms of religion can be more directly tied to neuropathology, but in the case of meditation and prayer the CN literature supports a pragmatic appreciation of the effectiveness of religious practices in shaping the healthy interaction of brain and mind".{{sfn|Bulkeley|2014|loc= Vision and Meditation}}}}
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Social Anthropologist Juliette Koning and sociologist Heidi Dahles of [[Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam]], agree there has been a "rapid expansion of charismatic Christianity from the 1980s onwards. Singapore, China, [[Hong Kong]], [[Taiwan]], Indonesia, and Malaysia are said to have the fastest-growing Christian communities and the majority of the new believers are "upwardly mobile, urban, [[middle-class]] Chinese". Allan Anderson and Edmond Tang have reported in their book ''Asian and Pentecostal: The Charismatic Face of Christianity in Asia'' that "Asia has the second largest number of Pentecostals/charismatics of any continent in the world, and seems to be fast catching up with the largest, Latin America."{{sfn|Anderson|Tang|2005|p=2}} The ''World Christian Encyclopedia'' estimated 135 million in Asia compared to 80 million in North America.{{sfn|Anderson|Tang|2005|p=2}}
It has been reported also that increasing numbers of young people are becoming Christians in several countries such as [[China]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2018/05/01/chinese-government-targeting-young-christians-229592|title=Why the Chinese government is targeting young Christians in its latest crackdown|date=14 May 2018|publisher=America magazine|quote=A study of the religious lives of university students in Beijing published in a mainland Chinese academic journal Science and Atheism in 2013 showed Christianity to be the religion that interested students most and the most active on campuses. It concluded there was a "religious fever" in society and "religious forces were infiltrating colleges." With the support of "overseas religious forces," it said, there was a rapid growth in Christianity among university students. It said Christian fellowships on campus mostly refused to succumb to the leadership of the state-backed churches and thus posed "a problem" in the government's administration of religious affairs.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://trainingleadersinternational.org/jgc/76/conversions-to-christianity-among-highly-educated-chinese|title=Conversions to Christianity Among Highly Educated Chinese|date=14 May 2018|publisher=Training leaders }}</ref>
The [[Council on Foreign Relations]] says the "number of Chinese Protestants has grown by an average of 10 percent annually since 1979".{{sfn|Albert|2018|p=n/a}} Award-winning historian of Christianity, Todd Hartch of [[Eastern Kentucky University]], has written that by 2005, around 6 million Africans were converting annually to Christianity.{{sfn|Hartch|2014|p=1}} According to Iranian historian Ladan Boroumand "Iran today is witnessing the highest rate of Christianization in the world".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/iranians-turn-away-from-the-islamic-republic/|title=Iranians Turn Away from the Islamic Republic|date=20 January 2020|publisher=Journal of Democracy}}</ref>
[[File:The gospel in South India - or the religious life, experience, and character of the Hindu Christians (1880) (14586684050).jpg|thumb|The gospel in South
While the exact number of [[Dalit]] converts to Christianity in India is not available, religion scholar William R. Burrow of [[Colorado State University]] has estimated that about 8% of
Since the 1960s, there has been a substantial increase in the number of conversions from Islam to Christianity, mostly to the [[Evangelical]] and
==Methods of conversion==
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[[Infant baptism]] was controversial for the [[Protestant Reformers]], and remains so for some Protestants, but according to Schaff, it was practiced by the ancients and is neither required nor forbidden in the [[New Testament]].{{sfn|Schaff|1882|p=470}}
The mode of baptism often depends on the denomination one enters, and in some cases, personal choice. Many Anglicans and Lutherans baptize by affusion. Presbyterians and Congregationalists accept baptism by pouring or sprinkling. Steven W. Lemke writes that the Presbyterian [[Westminster Confession]] says,
===Denominational switching===
Switching from one Christian denomination, such as Presbyterianism, to another Christian denomination, such as Catholicism, has not generally been seen by researchers as conversion to Christianity. Mark C. Suchman says this is because most sociologists and other scientists have defined conversion as "radical personal change, particularly change involving a shift in one's sense of 'root reality'."{{sfn|Suchman|1992|p=S15}} However, in Suchman's view, this produces a form of 'selection bias' within the research.{{sfn|Suchman|1992|p=S16}} He writes that the study of "everyday" religious mobility is not a substitute for analyses of "true conversion," but the denominational switching that he refers to as "religious mobility" can be seen as an aspect of conversion.{{sfn|Suchman|1992|pp=S16-S17}}
Suchman describes six types, or causes, of "religious mobility" as a supplement and complement to the more traditionally limited concept of conversion.{{sfn|Suchman|1992|pp=S17-S18}} He draws on theories from the sociology of deviance where there is some recognition that "a change of religious affiliation generally represents a break with previous norms and a severing of social
Theories of deviance define what can be considered as the variables and determinants involved and what kind of mobility can be seen as random.{{sfn|Suchman|1992|pp=S18-S19}} "Strain theory" argues that those who are unhappy in their religious affiliation will generally "engage in deviance" from that group.{{sfn|Suchman|1992|pp=S19-S20}} Those who are not well integrated in their religious social group, those who become enmeshed in social relations outside the group with participants in deviant cultures, and those whose ethnicity and traditional background differs from their current affiliation are candidates for switching.{{sfn|Suchman|1992|pp=S20-S21}} Intermarriage, with partners of different religions and/or denominations, is also associated with religious switching.{{sfn|Suchman|1992|p=S21}}
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Theologian Knut Alfsvåg writes that [[confirmation]] was first introduced by Pope Innocent I in the 5th century as part of the unified sacrament of baptism, chrismation (confirmation) and first communion that was commonly accepted by the 12th century. It was formally designated a sacrament in 1274 by the Council of Lyon.{{sfn|Alfsvåg|2022|pp=1, 6}}{{sfn|Warnke|1971|p=n/a}} Baptism, along with the declaration and instruction involved in confirmation, and the Eucharist, have remained the essential elements of initiation in all Christian communities, however, Alfsvåg writes that confirmation has differing status in different denominations.{{sfn|Alfsvåg|2022|p=1}}
[[File:(1918) Cape Mount, Confirmation Class.jpg|thumb|Confirmation class of 1918 at Cape Mount|alt=photo from 1918 of African children all dressed in white for confirmation at Cape Mount]]
Some see baptism, confirmation, and communion as elements of a unified sacrament
In Western churches that practice infant baptism
To be fully in communion with the Catholic Church
The practice of confirmation was criticized during the Reformation by those who do not consider confirmation a condition for conversion to Christianity or being a fully accepted member of the church.{{sfn|Alfsvåg|2022|pp=1, 7}} Luther saw confirmation as
==See also==
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* [[Conversion of the Jews (future event)|Conversion of the Jews]]
* [[Credo]]
* [[Engel
* [[Forced conversion]]
* [[List of converts to Christianity]]
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