Secular survey may succeed where Christian advocates have failed to convince the world of widespread conversions in the Islamic republic.
Missiologists have long spoken of the explosive growth of the church in Iran.
Now they have data to back up their claims—from secular research.
According to a new survey of 50,000 Iranians—90 percent residing in Iran—by GAMAAN, a Netherlands-based research group, 1.5 percent identified as Christian.
Extrapolating over Iran’s population of approximately 50 million literate adults (the sample surveyed) yields at least 750,000 believers. According to GAMAAN, the number of Christians in Iran is “without doubt in the order of magnitude of several hundreds of thousands and growing beyond a million.”
The traditional Armenian and Assyrian Christians in Iran number 117,700, according to the latest government statistics.
Christian experts surveyed by CT expressed little surprise. But it may make a significant difference for the Iranian church.
“With the lack of proper data, most international advocacy groups expressed a degree of doubt on how widespread the conversion phenomenon is in Iran,” said Mansour Borji, research and advocacy director for Article 18, a UK-based organization dedicated to the protection and promotion of religious freedom in Iran.
“It is pleasing to see—for the first time—a secular organization adding its weight to these claims.”
The research, which asked 22 questions about an individual’s “attitude toward religion,” is sponsored by the Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation, which Borji describes as a reputable human rights organization. And GAMAAN is run by professors associated with the respected Dutch universities of Tilburg and Utretch.
The general presumption of doubt riskedinfluencingasylumapplications by Iranians seeking resettlement …