(Part V) Islam's Vision for the World: Differential Birth Rates

Where you are born largely determines what you believe. If you were born in Saudi Arabia, for instance, it is unlikely that you would grow up to become a Christian. Demography, to a large degree, decides one's religion. This phenomenon informs us of the importance of population in determining religious belief. A robust birth rate is essential to the survival and success of a religion. Declining birth rates put religious belief at risk. This is not just a numbers game. It is the reality of religious dominance.

The religion of Islam since the 7th century has understood and used demography and birth rates to their advantage. Having multiple wives each bearing multiple children who will be raised, tutored, and immersed in Islamic culture gives Islam a decided advantage over other rival religions such as Christianity. For the most part, Christians have long ago surrendered to the culture regarding family planning, and contraception.

The most successful method of evangelism is procreation. Theologians refer to this as covenant succession. It is the practice of passing on your faith to your children from generation to generation. In this way, the propagation of children is at once and the same time the propagation of the faith.

Philip Jenkins has correctly recognized that demography has played a crucial role in the rise and fall of religions... In the Middle East, higher education and better access to contraception have resulted in Christian communities having much lower birthrates than Muslim neighbors, so that Christians have progressively lost there share of population.

While it is encouraging to see the number of Muslims converting to Christianity in North Africa and the Middle East, it is going to take more than conversion to shift the tide of religious dominance enjoyed by Islam. Covenant Succession must accompany conversion if these nations are ever going to recover their rightful Christian heritage as the intellectual and theological capital of the christian world.

Equipping Pastors International teachers pastors, Christian leaders, and their wives about marriage and the family. We believe that healthy marriages and healthy families make healthy ministries. Covenant succession is part of this training. It is our conviction that covenant succession must accompany conversion if Christianity is going to return to its majority status in what is now the Islamic world.

*I am indebted to Philip Jenkins in general for many of the ideas in this series, and in particular for much of what has been said in this post. See his book The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia--and How It Died.