# Is Judaism still a major world religion?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-judaism-still-a-major-world-religion/701253
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [October 14, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-judaism-still-a-major-world-religion/701253 "2014-10-14T00:20:57Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@IMfez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IMfez)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-judaism-still-a-major-world-religion/701253/1 "2014-10-14T00:20:57Z")
What is your opinion? Still a major religion, or well past its prime on the world stage?
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### Author:  [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2014, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-judaism-still-a-major-world-religion/701253/2 "2014-10-14T00:37:12Z")
Say what you understand by “major religion”, and then some answer to your question may be possible.
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### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-judaism-still-a-major-world-religion/701253/3 "2014-10-14T00:52:26Z")
It _never has_ been a major world religion. It’s been historically important in the West and Middle East, but not because it’s “major”.
[EDIT](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaism):
> [@](#):
>
> The Jews are an ethnoreligious group[21] and include those born Jewish and converts to Judaism. In 2012, the world Jewish population was estimated at about 14 million, or roughly 0.2% of the total world population.
That’s pretty tiny, on a world scale.
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-judaism-still-a-major-world-religion/701253/4 "2014-10-14T01:05:27Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#):
>
> It _never has_ been a major world religion. It’s been historically important in the West and Middle East, but not because it’s “major”.
>
> [EDIT](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaism):
> That’s pretty tiny, on a world scale.
That’s what the Illuminati _want_ you to think!
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### Author:  [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2014, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-judaism-still-a-major-world-religion/701253/5 "2014-10-14T02:18:33Z")
It’s estimated that [in the early centuries of the Common Era the total world population was around 200-250 million](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population_estimates), and that [total Jewish population around that time was maybe 3-5 million](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Jewish_population_comparisons), or up to about 2% of the total.
By the end of the 19th century there were about 1.6 billion humans, of which at most about 10 million were Jews, or about 0.6% of the total.
So I think it’s safe to say that Jews have never made up more than a few percent of the human population even at their most numerous, and for most of their history haven’t exceeded a few tenths of a percent.
The “major religion” status of Judaism is perhaps somewhat akin to that of Jainism, another group that’s comparatively insignificant as far as demographics alone are concerned. There are only a few million Jains in the world, but their cultural/social impact on the closely related religion of Hinduism, with nearly a billion adherents, has made their religion far more noticeable on a global scale than the mere numbers would suggest.
Likewise, the global impact of Judaism has “coattailed” on that of its much more prolific and influential offspring, Christianity.
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### Author:  [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2014, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-judaism-still-a-major-world-religion/701253/6 "2014-10-14T02:38:16Z")
> [@Kimstu](#):
>
> . . . Likewise, the global impact of Judaism has “coattailed” on that of its much more prolific and influential offspring, Christianity.
And Islam.
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### Author:  [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-judaism-still-a-major-world-religion/701253/7 "2014-10-14T02:45:42Z")
> [@Kimstu](#):
>
> There are only a few million Jains in the world, but their cultural/social impact on the closely related religion of Hinduism, with nearly a billion adherents, has made their religion far more noticeable on a global scale than the mere numbers would suggest.
And that’s before you take into account the disproportionate Jain influence in Hollywood.
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### Author:  [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2014, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-judaism-still-a-major-world-religion/701253/8 "2014-10-14T03:29:47Z")
> [@UDS](#):
>
> And Islam.
True.
> [@andros](#):
>
> And that’s before you take into account the disproportionate Jain influence in Hollywood.
Yes, though of course Jain influence in Hollywood, which AFAIK has only started having a detectable impact in the last few decades, is not a significant contributor to cultural perceptions of Jainism as a “major religion”.
The big reason that Jainism is far more recognized as a “major religion” than, say, the Persa Pen clan deity/ancestor spirit worship of India’s Gond tribal people (even though there are about as many Gonds as Jains) is that the Jains have had a hugely disproportionate influence on the historical, cultural, and intellectual developments within the Hindu-majority larger society.
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### Author:  [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2014, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-judaism-still-a-major-world-religion/701253/9 "2014-10-14T04:20:15Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#):
>
> It _never has_ been a major world religion. It’s been historically important in the West and Middle East, but not because it’s “major”.
>
> [EDIT](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaism):
> That’s pretty tiny, on a world scale.
Some things can be measured in more than one way. Being historically important for so long IS major.
Even if we restrict ourselves to the present day, having the biggest, most powerful nations on the planet decide to have a large part of their foreign policy revolve around either you or your enemies is pretty major. Having essentially the whole world argue over what should be done with your ancient capitol city is major.
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### Author:  [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2014, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-judaism-still-a-major-world-religion/701253/10 "2014-10-14T04:40:36Z")
> [@Flyer](#):
>
> Even if we restrict ourselves to the present day, having the biggest, most powerful nations on the planet decide to have a large part of their foreign policy revolve around either you or your enemies is pretty major. Having essentially the whole world argue over what should be done with your ancient capitol city is major.
I don’t think anybody is arguing that modern-day Israel isn’t a major _nation-state_ in current world affairs. But the state of Israel != the religion of Judaism. If all Israeli Jews decided to relocate to Montana tomorrow, Judaism would still be demographically tiny but historically and culturally significant on a global scale.
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### Author:  [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2014, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-judaism-still-a-major-world-religion/701253/11 "2014-10-14T11:33:44Z")
> [@Kimstu](#):
>
> The “major religion” status of Judaism is perhaps somewhat akin to that of Jainism, another group that’s comparatively insignificant as far as demographics alone are concerned. There are only a few million Jains in the world, but their cultural/social impact on the closely related religion of Hinduism, with nearly a billion adherents, has made their religion far more noticeable on a global scale than the mere numbers would suggest.
It was rather influencial to the development of Buddhism. Siddhartha used to practice Jainism.
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### Author:  [@filmstar-en](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmstar-en)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2014, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-judaism-still-a-major-world-religion/701253/12 "2014-10-14T12:50:04Z")
Judaism is not a proselytising religion like Islam or Christianity, you can’t easily join, so the number of adherents will always be limited. So if you measure just by numbers of adherents, then it never was regarded as major.
If you mean influential, well Christianity arose from Judaism and western culture is regarded as a product of both religious influences, so it that is pretty major. If you mean a religion established by a nation state, then there is only one country that has this, so not very major compared to Christianity or Islam.
The question is not very clear.
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### Author:  [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2014, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-judaism-still-a-major-world-religion/701253/13 "2014-10-14T13:01:21Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#):
>
> It was rather influencial to the development of Buddhism.
And vice versa: both seem to have been descended (along with extinct religions such as Ajivikism) from a complex of beliefs and practices sometimes known as “Greater Magadha religion” that blended with Indo-European deity worship to produce what’s now known as Hinduism.
But of course, Buddhism’s undeniable status as a “major religion” nowadays depends primarily on its spread and influence beyond India.
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### Author:  [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2014, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-judaism-still-a-major-world-religion/701253/14 "2014-10-14T13:12:35Z")
> [@filmstar-en](#):
>
> Judaism is not a proselytising religion like Islam or Christianity, you can’t easily join, so the number of adherents will always be limited.
As I understand it, though, it seems unlikely that that’s always been the case; early Common-Era Judaism did [actively recruit converts from non-Jews](http://www.johndickson.org/uploads/2/3/8/8/23884833/missioncommitment_chap1.pdf) in some circumstances. Possibly one of the factors that made conversion to Judaism less attractive than conversion to Christianity was the circumcision requirement.
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### Author:  [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-judaism-still-a-major-world-religion/701253/15 "2014-10-14T13:43:15Z")
> [@IMfez](#):
>
> What is your opinion? Still a major religion, or well past its prime on the world stage?
IMHO it is a major religion on the world stage, not on it’s own so much but the major religion of Christianity pay much respect to its Jewish roots and recognizes it as a valid in it’s ‘God given existence’ as itself. There is a link between the 2, that perhaps Judaism (or some of it) would rather not be there, but in much of Christianity those under Judaism are take as God’s blessed and chosen people.
I do not know if Islam does the same.
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-judaism-still-a-major-world-religion/701253/16 "2014-10-14T15:43:26Z")
Like I said in the previous thread, it’s a little weird that Christians essentially preface their entire religion by saying _everything the Jews said in the Old Testament is true, with Adam and Eve and the Tower of Babel and Noah’s Ark and Samson’s superstrength and the miracles of Elijah and Elisha; every word, from Moses to Solomon to David and Goliath. \ And then, years later. some other stuff happened._
That gives Judaism an odd piggyback status.
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### Author:  [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-judaism-still-a-major-world-religion/701253/17 "2014-10-14T17:26:17Z")
Sorta goes by what you count as a “major religion”.
Does “major religion” go strictly by number of adherents? Then it never was one. It was always a small minority of the world’s population.
Does “major religion” go by influence on the world’s culture? Then it clearly qualifies - it ‘punches far above its weight’ both in historical influence (Christianity and Islam), and in current contributions to the arts and sciences by members.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-judaism-still-a-major-world-religion/701253/18 "2014-10-14T17:43:16Z")
> [@Malthus](#):
>
> … it ‘punches far above its weight’ both in historical influence (Christianity and Islam), and in current contributions to the arts and sciences by members.
The latter seems like a pretty odd measure.
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### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2014, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-judaism-still-a-major-world-religion/701253/19 "2014-10-14T17:46:02Z")
> [@Malthus](#):
>
> and in current contributions to the arts and sciences by members.
While agreeing with the general gist of your post, that part above would refer more to _Jews_ punching above their weight, rather than _Judaism_. A lot of that art and science was accomplished by atheists ;).
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-judaism-still-a-major-world-religion/701253/20 "2014-10-14T17:50:09Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#):
>
> A lot of that art and science was accomplished by atheists ;).
… and even [Hindu Jews](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Robert_Oppenheimer).
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