Shusaku Endo’s Silence and Christianity (4)
Shusaku Endo’s Silence and Christianity (4) One may think that Christianity is the best religion in the world because it has the largest number of believers. I would like to show that this understanding is wrong. Why has Christianity spread so widely in the world? This question needs to be answered in two steps, first historically and second economically. I want to consider the second step leaving the consideration of the first to historians. That question can be answered by applying the theory of network externalities. This theory can be understood easily if an example is given. It is beneficial to have a telephone when most others are telephone users. It is not beneficial to have a telephone when only one out of ten thousand people are telephone users. People become telephone users because many others are telephone users. Similarly, it is beneficial to become a Christian when most others are Christians. It is hard for non-Christians to live in a