The Next Christendom
I first read a taste of Philip Jenkins in The Atlantic Monthly a few years ago. Christianity is undergoing a massive geopolitical shift and Jenkins has been writing extensively about it. Christianity is dynamic and lately I've been thinking: just whose Christianity do I practice? My friend Donny sent me a full review1 of Jenkin's book which seems to promise some big changes in how Christians consider "missions2" and doctrine. Donny is a PhD Philosophy student at Claremont.
In his The Next Christendom, Philip Jenkins offers a fascinating look at the rapid expansion of contemporary Christianity. In describing what he styles Southern Christianity, Jenkins dispels stereotypes and methodically details Christianity's growth in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. A common misunderstanding among Northern Americans and Western Europeans is that Christianity belongs solely to middle-class whites. Christianity is anything but; it is the religion of the poor and non-white, a fact made poignant by the inroads the faith has made among India's class of Untouchables. Jenkins also rejects that Christianity among the poor is more akin to liberation theology, the view entailing God's preference for the poor and oppressed and his preference for them in class struggle. This too is false. While Christianity claims the allegiance of countless poor Latin-Americans and Africans, these people are less likely to see Christianity as an ideology to support social revolution (liberation theology), than simply as a religion specifically addressing spiritual needs and offering hope for the future. And, although these ideas can be found, particularly in Latin American, southern Christianity is strikingly more conservative than its northern counterpart. This more conservative streak can be seen in the stance many southern Christians take on contemporary social issues. Homosexuality is openly disdained by, and the emphasis on gender equality in the U.S. and Europe is viewed as a northern export. Interestingly, the conservative leanings of southern Christians do not exclude women from leadership roles, since many renowned prophetesses in Africa and Latin America are at the center of several successful Christian movements.
Midway through the book, one realizes that Christianity is larger than one could have imagined. The sheer number of Christians in countries outside the U.S. and Europe is staggering. By the year 2050, only one Christian out of five will be non-Latino and white. Jenkins goes on to examine the rise and popularity of Christianity in heavily populated and quickly-growing countries as China, Nigeria, and India. As their populations swell, so will their number of Christian adherents. The rapid expansion of Christianity becomes apparent when looking at the rate of population growth in third-world countries. It should be noted that Jenkins employs the loosest definition of 'Christian', one which encompasses Evangelicals, Roman Catholics, Pentecostals, and what some would consider fringe groups such as Mormonism, Jehovah's Witness, and Christian groups with more than a little sprinkling of indigenous influence. Nevertheless, the number of even a subgroup of Jenkins 'Christians' is considerable; besides, Evangelicals may be the only group that sees Jenkins' use of Christianity as a set back.
Jenkins does more in his book than lucidly reveal Christianity's burgeoning development; he shows that its rise in the Southern Hemisphere will very likely provoke religious wars, similar in intensity to those of medieval Europe. As Christianity and Islam expand, often side by side, and as they compete for converts, confrontation appears inevitable. Countries have already and will continue to erect specifically Christian or Muslim states. Several countries in Africa and Asia have already blurred the boundaries separating politics and religion, imposing specifically Christian or Muslim laws on their citizens, the consequences of which has sparked intense fighting in places such as Sudan and Indonesia.
The ascendancy of southern Christianity generates several amusing ironies. The first is a role reversal in who evangelizes whom. Southern Christians have and will continue to make significant missionary inroads into the increasingly secular United States and thoroughly secular Western Europe. The Brazilian based Igreja Universal do Reino (Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, or, IURD) and the Nigerian based Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) are only two of the growing number of southern movements that have firmly entrenched mission enterprises in a number of U.S. and European cities.
Another irony is what Jenkins cleverly styles "White soldiers following Black and Brown generals," that is, northern clergy seeking ordination and authority from southern Christians. Why? This is seen particularly in the Anglican and Episcopalian Churches, where the tide of liberalism has significantly eroded traditional gender roles and views on homosexuality. By now, several U.S. bishops have been granted ordination from African and Southeast Asian archbishops. Since an archbishop in either denomination is free to ordain whomever he pleases in his province, the U.S. bishops are bishops of provinces outside of the U.S. and missionaries to America. Jenkins says this trend stems from the mounting sense of isolation felt by conservatives within American and European denominations, an isolation assuaged by powerful overseas friends. Of course, these denominations draw "White soldiers" because of the vast number of their constituents, and because those constituents tend to be theologically conservative.
All in all, Jenkin's work is part statistical research, part apocalyptic vision. One finds objectively derived numbers and the solid methodology expected of a religious studies professional; one also encounters an interesting projection of what all that data means for the future of Christianity. This book is a must-read for missionaries and students of religion seeking to better understand the complexity and the ever-increasing diversity of Christianity.
1Send me your book reviews and I will post them.
2You'd be surprised how for some this is still jungles and underbrush.
7:10:11 AM 
|
|
