Data source: Gina A. Zurlo and Todd M. Johnson, eds., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2024).
| Glossary item | Definition |
|---|---|
| Lutheran World Federation | (LWF). The major Lutheran world communion. |
| Lutheran/Reformed united churches | Some 18 denominations, with most members being in East Germany, belong to united churches of Lutheran and Reformed composition. |
| Lutherans | Followers of Martin Luther and the original German Protestant protesting tradition (16th century). |
| Macanese | Eurasians in Macao, of Portuguese-Chinese origin. |
| macro region | United Nations’ definition of continent, dividing the world into 6 such regions; previously named continental area now replaced by major area. |
| macro segment | A major population subgrouping which occupies a primary or significant place in a global taxonomy of populations, and which is used in detailing the remaining unfinished task. |
| macrodenomination | A Christian denomination in a country whose affiliated members number 10 million or more. |
| macro-ecclesiography | The descriptive and numerical analysis of the entire Christian church in the total world context. |
| macroevangelistics | The scientific study of the propagation of Christianity at the macroscopic or global level. |
| macro-evangelistics | The scientific study, at the global level, of the propagation of Christianity. |
| macro-missiography | The descriptive and numerical analysis of the entire Christian world mission set in and related to the total global demographic, ecological, secular and world religious, non-religious and anti-religious contexts. |
| macroreligion | A global or worldwide religion or family of religions, usually with from 20 to 100 million adherents. |
| macrozone | One of 10 global zones used in language classification. |
| magic | The attempt of man to govern the forces of nature directly, by means of a special lore; white magic has benevolent intent, black magic has malevolent intent. |
| magisterium | In Catholic usage, the church’s teaching power, function or office. |
| magnetic healing | A ministry claimed by some charismatic leaders of marginal Protestant bodies, especially Religious Science. |
| magnitude, general order of | See general order of magnitude. |
| Mahayanists | The Greater Vehicle school of Buddhists (qv), or Northern Buddhism (China, Japan, et alia). |
| mahdi | A Muslim leader who assumes a messianic role. |
| mail censorship | See censorship, religious. |
| mail evangelism | Postal evangelism (qv). |
| mail reliability | The proportion of Christian mail, expressed as a percentage, which gets through the postal systems of sending and receiving countries; the likelihood or probability of Christian mail getting through the postal services unhindered and uncensored. |
| mail survey | A postal survey (qv). |
| mail-order denomination | A body or organization claiming to be a church or denomination which is largely concerned with the sale by post of religious articles and or alleged academic degrees in theology and related subjects. |
| mainline Christianity | A term for mainstream Christianity. |
Data on 18 categories of religion, including non-religious, by country, province, and people.
Data on all religions, Christian activities, and trends.
Membership data, year begun, and rates of change.
Population and religion data on all major cities & provinces.
Detailed information covering religion, culture, and geography.
A repository of historical data, including a chronology of Christianity from the 1st to 21st centuries.