Roman Catholics 255,000,000
Pagans 227,000,000
Buddhists 482,000,000
Unclassified 51,050,000
Concerning the very small proportion of this number classed in the list of Christians, Bishop Foster has very aptly said:—
“There are some who too fondly anticipate a millennium. There is a lack of information on the progress of Christianity. The facts are misstated daily in pulpits all over the country. Ministers hesitate to present the worst side for fear of causing discouragement, and they create hopes that are never realized. We are not at the dawn of a millennium. Compared with the work to be done, the past is nothing. Our children's children for ten generations to come must labor harder than we are doing, to accomplish the conversion of the world. The world's population is 1,500,000,000. Of these, Christians number less than a third; and half of that third belongs to the Roman Catholic Church. The Protestants number 114,000,000. They are divided into 500 sects. And this number of their strength includes, also, all the thieves, ex-convicts, the debased, besotted, and the speckled and streaked in Christendom.”—Northwestern Christian Advocate of Dec. 2, 1885.
Farther on in the same article the Bishop said:—
“Before us we have the great problem—the 1,100,000,000 of pagans to convert to Christianity. That is the solid rock that looms up in our path. Look at it; see what work has been done in 1800 years, and how much is yet to be accomplished. In India, after more than a hundred years of mission work, we have 600,000 native converts and 2,000,000 Christians among 260,000,000 heathen. Can we remove that solid boulder that is as old as the hills?... Our Methodist Church we think the most divine and ineffable. We boast that we are going to conquer [pg 086]the world, and come from our palaces and princely farms to subscribe fifty cents a head for the undertaking! It is a burning disgrace that excites pity and disgust.”
And as to the prospects for universal peace, the following recent statement of the armament of Europe does not indicate that the nations are really contemplating such a happy consummation:—
Russia: 1,519,810 men, 181,000 horses, 2,084 cannon