Data source: Gina A. Zurlo and Todd M. Johnson, eds., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2024).
| Glossary item | Definition |
|---|---|
| Polish/Slavonic | Eastern Orthodox liturgical tradition using Polish and Slavonic in the liturgy. |
| political parties | See Christian political parties. |
| political prisoners | Persons in custody or imprisoned for alleged political offenses; numbering in AD 2000 several millions across the world. See prisoners of conscience. |
| poll | An opinion inquiry taken at a single point in time, from a very small carefully-constructed sample (usually around 1,500-2,500 adults) representative of the entire adult population, to solicit answers to carefully-formulated questions, in order to derive information applicable to that entire population. |
| polyandry | Marriage of one wife to several husbands simultaneously. |
| polygamy | Marriage of one person to several persons simultaneously. |
| polyglot | (1) Multilingual. (2) An edition of the Bible containing parallel text in 2 or more languages. |
| polygyny | Marriage of one husband to several wives simultaneously. |
| Polynesian | A Pacific ethnolinguistic family, with over 100 languages. |
| polytheism | Belief in or worship of a plurality of gods. |
| polytheist | One who believes in or worships a plurality of gods. |
| polytheists | Ethnoreligionists (q.v.) who worship several or many gods and deities. |
| pope | The title of the spiritual head of each of several large Christian churches and non-Christian religions including: the Bishop of Rome as head of the Catholic Church; the Eastern Orthodox and Coptic patriarchs of Alexandria; the heads of Maria Legio of Africa and other ex-Catholic African indigenous churches; the head of the Cao Daist Missionary Church; the head of Taoism; et alii. |
| popular piety | Popular expressions of Christian (especially Catholic) faith widely held by the masses, to some extent infiltrated by superstition and non-Christian values; including devotion to the Crucified Christ, devotion to the Madonna, cults of saints, etc. |
| popular religion | Term covering all widespread or popular expressions of religion held by the masses including non- Christian expressions and folk religion as well as christianized popular religiosity (qv) and popular piety (qv). |
| popular religiosity | Christianized but deviant popular expressions of religion widely espoused by the masses, especially by the poor in Latin American countries, the most widespread groupings being Christo-pagans (qv) and Spiritist Catholics (qv). |
| popular-religionists | Practitioners of popularized versions of Christianity often combined with non-Christian features or superstitions. |
| population | For an area, the total of all inhabitants or residents of that area; or occasionally, the total number of persons who spend or spent the night in the area. |
| population census | A government survey to obtain information about the state of the population at a given time. |
| population density | The average population to one square mile or kilometer. |
| population explosion | A popular term for the ultra-rapid expansion of population in Third-World countries since 1950 |
| population increase | See natural increase. |
| population parameter | Any numerical value that characterizes a population. |
| population projections | Calculations showing the future development of a population based on certain assumptions and present trends. |
| portions | In UBS usage, separately-bound single gospels or other complete single books of the Bible averaging over 48 pages in length. |
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.