100,000 Christian martyrs?

Summary

More or Less: “100,000 Christian martyrs?”

BBC Radio 4 • Hosted by Ruth Alexander • Broadcast: November 2, 2013

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Overview

This episode investigates the often-cited statistic that 100,000 Christians are killed every year because of their faith—an alarming figure repeated in media, religious circles, and advocacy campaigns. Host Ruth Alexander, with help from Wesley Stevenson, fact-checks this claim, examines the underlying data, and considers how such numbers are constructed, interpreted, and misused.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Origin and Spread of the 100,000 Martyrs Statistic

• Source: The number originates from the Centre for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, which estimated that about a million Christians died as martyrs from 2000 to 2010, yielding an annual average of 100,000.
  • [01:35] Wesley Stevenson:

    “…they've estimated the number of Christians who've died as martyrs between the year 2000 and the year 2010, which is about a million by their reckoning. And they've divided that number by 10 to get an annual number of 100,000, which they're still using today.”

• The statistic has been repeated in international forums, such as a Vatican radio address to the UN Human Rights Council.
  • [01:07] Quoting Archbishop Silvano Mario Tomassi:

    “Credible research has reached the shocking conclusion that every year an estimate of more than 100,000 Christians are killed because of some relation to their faith.”

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2. Questionable Data: Civil Wars and Methodological Issues

• Congo as the Main Contributor:
  • The majority of deaths in the estimate come from civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), not explicitly religious persecution.
  • [02:17] Thomas Schirmacher:

    “The largest number comes from the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And they take about 20% of those people having killed died as martyrs. And that means that 90% of the number, 100,000, actually are people that died in Congo.”

• Religious Motivation Lacking:
  • Both sides in Congo and Rwanda civil wars were predominantly Christian. Deaths were largely not due to faith but due to political, ethnic, and social conflict.
  • [03:38] Ian Linden:

    “The genocide in Rwanda was based on the systematic killing of an ethnic group in an attempt to completely wipe them out... it had nothing to do with the beliefs or the worship of the people who were killed... very difficult to describe any of that killing as creating martyrdom.”

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3. Debating Definitions of Martyrdom

• Expansive vs. Narrow Definitions:
  • John Allen, author of “The Global War on Christians,” uses an expansive definition, considering deaths that occur in "situations of witness."
  • [04:33] John Allen:

    “They will tell you that their standard is a death that occurs in what they define as a situation of witness. That is, somebody was doing something on the basis of their faith that put them in the firing line... is that anti Christian violence or isn't it?”

• The panel discusses the legitimacy and consequences of such broad definitions, with Ruth Alexander and others noting the lack of precision.

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4. Statistical Weaknesses and Acknowledged Limitations

• Estimating Without Hard Evidence:
  • Many numbers used are estimates, not the outcome of systematic research.
  • [07:33] Thomas Schirmacher:

    “One has to see there is no scientific number in the moment, it has not been researched, and all experts in this area are very hesitant to give a figure. We are starting a research project... we start with a guess of 7 to 8,000 Christians killed as martyrs each year.”

• Inflated by Outdated Events:
  • Much of the tally comes from civil wars that are no longer ongoing, so using the same annual rate is misleading.
  • [06:25] Todd Johnson:

    “Even in the DRC, things are not as intense as they were 10 years ago. That every year now it probably should go down, but then I've got to keep my eyes open for other situations around the world. So it's probably decreasing year by year right now. But the method is not exact enough to be doing that.”

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5. Sensationalism and the Real Issue of Persecution

• Smaller, Still Concerning Numbers:

  • Excluding Congo, the number drops dramatically to about 10,000 “martyrs” per year, and possibly as low as 7-8,000.

• Misleading Attribution:

  • Claims that Christian deaths are primarily caused by Muslims are false for the 100,000 figure, as most killings happened in conflicts between Christians.
  • [02:35] Ruth Alexander:

    “So we can say right away that the Internet rumours of Muslims being behind the killing of 100,000 Christian martyrs a year. Nonsense. The Democratic Republic of Congo is a Christian country. In the civil war, Christians were killing Christians.”

• Persecution Is Still a Problem:

  • John Allen emphasizes that Christian persecution does exist and is significant, even if the numbers are lower.
  • [08:07] John Allen:

    “They live in dangerous neighborhoods. They are often poor. They often belong to ethnic, linguistic and cultural minorities, and they are often at risk. And ultimately, I think making that point is more important than being precise about the deaths.”

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• [01:35] Wesley Stevenson, on the calculation:

  “They've estimated the number of Christians who've died as martyrs between the year 2000 and the year 2010, which is about a million by their reckoning. And they've divided that number by 10 to get an annual number of 100,000.”

• [02:17] Thomas Schirmacher, on Congo deaths:

  “The largest number comes from the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo... 90% of the number, 100,000, actually are people that died in Congo.”

• [03:38] Ian Linden, on the meaning of martyrdom:

  “Very difficult to describe any of that killing as creating martyrdom.”

• [06:25] Todd Johnson, on the future of the statistic:

  “So it's probably decreasing year by year right now. But the method is not exact enough to be doing that. So I've just kept it at 100,000 the last couple of years, but I'm likely going to have to lower it unless something comes to our attention.”

• [08:07] John Allen, on the broader point:

  “Ultimately, I think making that point is more important than being precise about the deaths.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:31 — Recent high-profile violent attacks against Christians
• 01:02–01:30 — The statistic as used by religious and political leaders
• 02:17–02:35 — Source of most deaths: DRC civil war
• 03:38–04:25 — Ian Linden: Why these deaths aren’t true martyrdom
• 04:33–05:16 — John Allen: Broad definitions and case examples
• 06:25–06:55 — Todd Johnson: Problems with ongoing use of the statistic
• 07:33–07:55 — Thomas Schirmacher: Realistic current estimates
• 08:07–08:46 — John Allen: Importance of understanding global Christianity
• 08:46–09:01 — Ruth Alexander: Conclusion on the unfounded nature of the statistic

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Conclusion

The episode thoroughly debunks the claim that 100,000 Christians are killed each year for their faith. The figure is based on broad definitions, deaths not primarily due to religious motives, and outdated/conflict-driven numbers. Though persecution still occurs and is concerning, the real number of “martyrs” is likely much lower—a few thousand per year by cautious expert estimates. The show highlights the complexities, potential for misuse, and importance of careful statistical scrutiny in discussions of religious persecution.

Transcript

[Ruth Alexander]

This is the short edition of More or Less, first broadcast on the BBC World Service. Thank you for downloading from the BBC. For details of our complete range of podcasts and our terms of use, go to bbcworldservice.com podcasts hello and welcome to More or Less on the BBC World Service. I'm Ruth Alexander. This week are Christians by far the most persecuted religious body on the planet?

[Wesley Stevenson]

Police in Pakistan say at least 75 people have been killed in a double suicide bombing at a church in Peshawar.

[Ruth Alexander]

Three people, including an eight year old girl, were killed in the Egyptian capital Cairo, when gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on a wedding party outside a Coptic Christian church. These two attacks hit the headlines within just a month of each other and they're by no means isolated incidents. Earlier this year, Vatican spokesman Archbishop Silvano Mario Tomassi made a radio address to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

[John Allen]

Credible research has reached the shocking conclusion that every year an estimate of more

[Ruth Alexander]

than 100,000 Christians are killed because of some relation to their faith. More than 100,000 Christians killed because of their faith every year. This statistic has been repeated many times in news reports on the Internet. It's taken on a life of its own, popping up all over the place, sometimes with an additional detail that these lives are taken by Muslims. Well, listener C. Collingridge asked us to do some fact checking, which Wesley Stevenson has been helping me with.

[Wesley Stevenson]

And the number comes from the Centre for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in the United States. To get this figure of 100,000, they've estimated the number of Christians who've died as martyrs between the year 2000 and the year 2010, which is about a million by their reckoning. And they've divided that number by 10 to get an annual number of 100,000, which they're still using today.

[Ruth Alexander]

On one level, this seems like a reasonable calculation, but when you dig into the figures, you see that the majority of the million Christian martyrs they've counted died in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Now, Professor Thomas Schirmacher from the International Society for Human Rights has been interrogating these numbers.

[Thomas Schirmacher]

The largest number comes from the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And they take about 20% of those people having killed died as martyrs. And that means that 90% of the number, 100,000, actually are people that died in Congo.

[Ruth Alexander]

So when you hear that 100,000 Christians are dying for their faith, you need to keep in mind that the vast majority, about 90,000, are people who were killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo. So we can say right away that the Internet rumours of Muslims being behind the killing of 100,000 Christian martyrs a year. Nonsense. The Democratic Republic of Congo is a Christian country. In the civil war, Christians were killing Christians. But the fact this number is largely based on deaths from this civil war is puzzling because this was not a war about religion. Looking at previous calculations made by the Centre, it has in the past included in its estimates of martyrs deaths which occurred during the Rwandan genocide. And again, this is puzzling. R Rwanda wasn't a conflict about religion. It was Hutus killing Tutsis. Both sides were Christian. Ian Linden, associate professor in the study of religion at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and author of the book Church and Revolution in Rwanda, can give us some context.

[Ian Linden]

The genocide in Rwanda was based on the systematic killing of an ethnic group in an attempt to completely wipe them out. And. And it had nothing to do with the beliefs or the worship of the people who were killed. The civil wars in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were the consequences of a failed state disintegrated military force. So that militias had almost full power because of the weapons they had. They were indiscriminately killing and raping and plundering. And it's very difficult, difficult to describe any of that killing as creating martyrdom.

[Ruth Alexander]

Someone who disagrees with that is John Allen, author of a book called the Global War on Christians, in which he uses the 100,000 statistic.

[John Allen]

Well, I think that begs the question of what definition of being killed because you're a Christian, do you want to adopt? If you go to the center for the Study of Global Christianity, which is where that figure comes from, they will tell you that their standard is a death that occurs in what they define as a situation of witness. That is, somebody was doing something on the basis of their faith that put them in the firing line. Let me give you a specific case. A female catechist in Congo who is having success persuading young people in her area not to sign up with the militias. And she is killed by one of those forces because they don't want to see their sources of recruits dried up. Now, is that anti Christian violence or isn't it?

[Wesley Stevenson]

It doesn't seem unreasonable to count that woman as a martyr.

[Ruth Alexander]

And Ian Linden did also make the point that there were Hutus in Rwanda who wouldn't leave their Tutsi colleagues because of their Christian faith and who were therefore slaughter and could be called martyrs.

[Wesley Stevenson]

But do we know there were 900,000 such people being killed in the name of their faith in the Democratic Republic of Congo?

[Ruth Alexander]

No, it's just an estimate. The man behind the number at the Centre for the Study of Global Christianity, Todd Johnson, told me that he's estimated that 20% of the people who died in the Congo died as martyrs because that's how many people there are thought to be practicing Christians. This is based on research published in an early 1980s edition of the World Christian Encyclopedia, which estimated that usually 20 of African populations were actively practicing Christians. Todd has taken that number and applied it to the death toll in the Democratic Republic of Congo, although he says this statistic is something they've abandoned in their other work. Now there's another issue with including the Congo civil war deaths in the annual count of Christian martyrs, Much of the violence there has now ended. So how can it be forming the main basis for the number of Christian martyrs this year? Todd Johnson.

[Todd Johnson]

That's a weakness of this approach because Even in the DRC, things are not as intense as they were 10 years ago. That every year now it probably should go down, but then I've got to keep my eyes open for other situations around the world. So it's probably decreasing year by year right now. But the method is not exact enough to be doing that. So I've just kept it at 100,000 the last couple of years, but I'm likely going to have to lower it unless something comes to our attention.

[Ruth Alexander]

And by the way, if you think this 100,000 number's big, the Centre publishes enormous numbers for the martyrs it says will be made around the year 2050. Why is that? Well, for the sake of their martyr estimates, that's the year they've taken to be the end of the world. I don't expect the Vatican to be quoting those statistics. So back to the more tangible presentation. If you take out the 90,000 deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo, that leaves 10,000 martyrs. And that Thomas Schumacher from the International Society of Human Rights reckons is probably about the actual number of Christians who are killed because they are Christian each year.

[Thomas Schirmacher]

One has to see there is no scientific number in the moment, it has not been researched, and all experts in this area are very hesitant to give a figure. We are starting a research project with several universities worldwide on this topic, and there we start with a guess of 7 to 8,000 Christians killed as martyrs each year.

[Wesley Stevenson]

But to some extent, this number crunching is beside the point. For John Allen, author of the Global War on Christians, we asked him if it matters whether the number of Christian martyrs is in the order of 10,000 or 100,000.

[John Allen]

I think it would be good to have reliable figures on this issue, but I don't think it ultimately matters in terms of the point of my book, which is to break through the narrative that tends to dominate discussion in the west that Christians can't be persecuted because they belong to the world's most powerful church. The truth is, 2/3 of the 2.3 billion Christians in the world today live outside the West. They live in dangerous neighborhoods. They are often poor. They often belong to ethnic, linguistic and cultural minorities, and they are often at risk. And ultimately, I think making that point is more important than being precise about the deaths.

[Ruth Alexander]

It may be impossible to be precise about this important issue, but the one thing that is clear is that the idea that 100,000 Christians have been killed because of their faith every year over the past decade is unfounded.

[Wesley Stevenson]

If there are any numbers you'd like us to investigate or explain, then do please email us. Our address is more or lessbc.co.uk and

[Ruth Alexander]

you can also sign up for a free download of this program at our website, bbcworldservice.com more or less There are dozens of different podcasts now available from the BBC, including news, documentaries, science, business, arts and sports. For details of them all, go to bbcworldservice.com podcasts.