1
The Christian Revolution

• Philip Jenkins, Ch. 46, pp. 379-386

2
The Transformation of Christianity

• Christianity, long identified as religion of West
  or Global North, of white nations, of "the
  haves," is declining in North America/Europe, but
  expanding in the Global South

3
The New Face of Christianity

• The typical contemporary Christian is in a
  Nigerian village or Brazilian favela (shantytown
  or slum)
• Many of fastest-growing countries in world are
  predominantly Christian or have very sizeable
  Christian minorities
• Traditionally Christian states in the West/North
  have declining birthrates
• Extrapolating statistics to the year 2025, there
  would be about 2.6 billion Christians, of whom
  633 mil would live in Africa, 640 mil in Latin
  America, and 460 mil in Asia
• Europe, with 555 mil, would slip to third place
• Africa and Latin America will together account
  for half of the Christians in the world

4
A New Christian Synthesis?

• A new synthesis, uniting Christians in the Global
  South with those in the West/North, is unlikely,
  considering the critical differences between
  their social bases
• Future members of Southern dominated church are
  likely to be poorer, leading some Western
  Christians to expect a growth in liberation
  theology
• liberation theology fervently liberal, activist
  revolutionary vision of Christianity that looks
  to liberate the poor through political action,
  it grew enormously in Brazil in the 1960s
• Southern Christians are far more conservative

5
Christianity in Global South vs. North (Europe
North America)

• Southern Christians are far more Conservative in
  terms of belief and moral teaching
• Roman Catholics, of a traditionalist kind,
  radical Protestant sects, evangelical or
  Pentecostal
• Strong supernatural orientationmore interested
  in personal salvation than radical politics
• Adapting Christian belief to local traditions,
  groups have titles like "African indigenous
  churches"
• Newer churches preach deep personal faith and
  communal orthodoxy, mysticism and Puritanism, all
  founded on clear scriptural authority
• Preach visions that seem simplistically
  charismatic, visionary and apocalyptic
• In this thought world, prophecy is an everyday
  reality
• It has much in common with those of medieval or
  early modern European times

6
Researchers have missed these trends, too focused
on political movements like fascism communism

• Meanwhile, Pentecostalism is flourishing, and may
  be considered the most successful social movement
  of the past century
• Pentecostalism and related charismatic movements
  represent one of the fastest-growing segments of
  global Christianity. At least a quarter of the
  world's 2 billion Christians are thought to be
  members of these lively, highly personal faiths,
  which emphasize such spiritually renewing "gifts
  of the Holy Spirit" as speaking in tongues,
  divine healing and prophesying. Even more than
  other Christians, Pentecostals and other
  renewalists believe that God, acting through the
  Holy Spirit, continues to play a direct, active
  role in everyday life.
• And there are even more Catholics than
  Pentecostals

7
Medieval Parallels A New Christendom?

• Medieval Europe was considered an age of faith,
  passionate spirituality, based on unity that
  transcended kingdoms or empires
• Laws of nations lasted only as long as nations
  themselves, while Christendom offered a higher
  set of standards, which alone could claim
  universality
• Christianity was a primary form of cultural
  reference

8
Ultimately, Christianity collapsed in the face of
secular nationalism

• A connection between religion and political order
  was no longer assumed

9
By 21st century, the nation-state, the whole
Westphalian system, came under challenge

• Technology played a key role
• In Europe, loyalty to nation is being replaced by
  identification with larger entities (Europe) or
  smaller (regions or ethnic groups)
• Decline of states in face of globalization has
  parallels with the cosmopolitan world of the
  Middle Ages, leading some to expect the emergence
  of some supranational movement or ideology

10
Christianity in context -- different meanings of
Christianity in Global South vs. North

• Globalization may not signal American imperialism
  but a new Christendom, based in the global South
• Although Latin America and Africa are separated
  geographically and differ in terms of
  institutional structures, both confront similar
  colonial legacies, fundamentally separating the
  experiences of Northern and Southern churches
• Christians in the South read the Bible in a way
  that makes Christianity look like a wholly
  different religion from the faith of prosperous
  advanced countries of Europe and North America
• Responding to wholly different social conditions,
  Christians in the global South are comfortable
  with biblical notions of the supernatural and
  prophecy and with martyrdom, oppression and
  exile
• The meaning of the text is shaped by social
  context