"The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity" written by Dr. Philip Jenkins gives some interesting statements on this.
Despite the current focus on the growth of Islam worldwide, Christianity will still be the world's largest religion for the foreseeable future, but its center is shifting from Western Europe and North America to Africa, Latin America and Asia.
In the near future, a "typical" contemporary Christian may be a Nigerian village dweller or a woman in a Brazilian favela, with Southern beliefs and practices transforming Christian services worldwide.
According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, some two billion Christians today make up about one-third of Earth's population. The largest single bloc, about 560 billion Christians, is still to be found in Europe. Latin America, though, is close behind with 480 million, Africa has 360 million and Asia has 313 million. North America claims about 260 million believers.
Historically, Christianity changed when the religious movement founded in Jewish and Hellenistic settings moved into the Germanic lands of Western Europe during the early Middle Ages. In art and popular culture, Jesus became a blond Aryan with appropriate warrior attributes, and Christian theology was reshaped by West European notions of law and feudalism. European Christians reinterpreted the faith through their own concepts of social and gender relations. As Christianity moves southward, the religion will be comparably changed by the cultures of its host societies.
Members of a Southern Hemisphere-dominated church is likely to be among poorer people on Earth, in contrast to the older Western-dominated world. Southern Christians are far more conservative in both beliefs and moral teaching. The popular denominations are stalwartly traditional or even reactionary by the standards of industrialized nations. They retain a strong supernatural orientation and are far more interested in personal salvation than in radical politics. The newer churches preach deep personal faith and communal orthodoxy, mysticism and Puritanism, all founded on clear scriptural authority.
The two main centers of Christianity will be Africa and Latin America, but no common sense of identity currently unites the churches and believers of the two regions. They share so many common experiences, passing through similar phases of growth and independently developing similar social and theological worldviews. Both face similar issues of race and inculturation, and how to deal with their respective colonial heritages.
Despite the current focus on the growth of Islam worldwide, Christianity will still be the world's largest religion for the foreseeable future, but its center is shifting from Western Europe and North America to Africa, Latin America and Asia.
"Over the past five centuries or so, the story of Christianity has been bound up with that of Europe and European-derived civilizations, above all in North America. Until recently, the overwhelming majority of Christians have lived in White nations, allowing theorists to speak of 'European Christian' civilization."
In the near future, a "typical" contemporary Christian may be a Nigerian village dweller or a woman in a Brazilian favela, with Southern beliefs and practices transforming Christian services worldwide.
According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, some two billion Christians today make up about one-third of Earth's population. The largest single bloc, about 560 billion Christians, is still to be found in Europe. Latin America, though, is close behind with 480 million, Africa has 360 million and Asia has 313 million. North America claims about 260 million believers.
Historically, Christianity changed when the religious movement founded in Jewish and Hellenistic settings moved into the Germanic lands of Western Europe during the early Middle Ages. In art and popular culture, Jesus became a blond Aryan with appropriate warrior attributes, and Christian theology was reshaped by West European notions of law and feudalism. European Christians reinterpreted the faith through their own concepts of social and gender relations. As Christianity moves southward, the religion will be comparably changed by the cultures of its host societies.
"Also, Muslims will be transformed by the changing demographic events of the coming decades, with the population shift to the Southern Hemisphere. Muslim and Christian nations will expand next to each other, and often, Muslim and Christian communities will both grow within the same country. Based on recent experiences in Sudan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Nigeria, there will be intensified rivalry, struggles for converts and competing attempts to enforce moral codes through secular law."
Members of a Southern Hemisphere-dominated church is likely to be among poorer people on Earth, in contrast to the older Western-dominated world. Southern Christians are far more conservative in both beliefs and moral teaching. The popular denominations are stalwartly traditional or even reactionary by the standards of industrialized nations. They retain a strong supernatural orientation and are far more interested in personal salvation than in radical politics. The newer churches preach deep personal faith and communal orthodoxy, mysticism and Puritanism, all founded on clear scriptural authority.
The two main centers of Christianity will be Africa and Latin America, but no common sense of identity currently unites the churches and believers of the two regions. They share so many common experiences, passing through similar phases of growth and independently developing similar social and theological worldviews. Both face similar issues of race and inculturation, and how to deal with their respective colonial heritages.
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