THE WILEY BLACKWELL COMPANION TO WORLD CHRISTIANITY

EDITED BY Lamin Sanneh and Michael J. McClymond

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to World Christianity The Wiley Blackwell Companions to Religion The Wiley Blackwell Companions to Religion series presents a collection of the most recent scholar- ship and knowledge about world religions. Each volume draws together newly-commissioned essays by distinguished authors in the fi eld, and is presented in a style which is accessible to undergraduate students, as well as scholars and the interested general reader. These volumes approach the subject in a creative and forward-thinking style, providing a forum in which leading scholars in the fi eld can make their views and research available to a wider audience.

Recently Published The Blackwell Companion to Catholicism Edited by James J. Buckley, Frederick Christian Bauerschmidt, and Trent Pomplun The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity Edited by Ken Parry The Blackwell Companion to the Theologians Edited by Ian S. Markham The Blackwell Companion to the Bible in English Literature Edited by Rebecca Lemon, Emma Mason, John Roberts, and Christopher Rowland The Blackwell Companion to the New Testament Edited by David E. Aune The Blackwell Companion to Nineteenth Century Theology Edited by David Fergusson The Blackwell Companion to Religion in America Edited by Philip Goff The Blackwell Companion to Jesus Edited by Delbert Burkett The Blackwell Companion to Paul Edited by Stephen Westerholm The Blackwell Companion to Religion and Violence Edited by Andrew R. Murphy The Blackwell Companion to Christian Ethics, Second Edition Edited by Stanley Hauerwas and Samuel Wells The Wiley Blackwell Companion Practical Theology Edited by Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Religion and Social Justice Edited by Michael D. Palmer and Stanley M. Burgess The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Chinese Religions Edited by Randall L. Nadeau The Wiley Blackwell Companion to African Religions Edited by Elias Kifon Bongmba The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Christian Mysticism Edited by Julia A. Lamm The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Anglican Communion Edited by Ian S. Markham, J. Barney Hawkins IV, Justyn Terry, and Leslie Nuñez Steffensen The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Interreligious Dialogue Edited by Catherine Cornille The Wiley Blackwell Companion to East and Inner Asian Buddhism Edited by Mario Poceski The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Latino/a Theology Edited by Orlando O. Espín The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Ancient Israel Edited by Susan Niditch The Wiley Blackwell Companion to World Christianity Edited by Lamin Sanneh and Michael J. McClymond The Wiley Blackwell Companion to World Christianity

Edited by

Lamin Sanneh and Michael J. McClymond This edition fi rst published 2016 © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Registered Offi ce John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK Editorial Offi ces 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK For details of our global editorial offi ces, for customer services, and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com/ wiley-blackwell. The right of Lamin Sanneh and Michael J. McClymond to be identifi ed as the authors of the editorial material in this work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and authors have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifi cally disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fi tness for a particular purpose. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services and neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Sanneh, Lamin O., editor. Title: The Wiley Blackwell companion to world Christianity / edited by Lamin Sanneh and Michael J. McClymond. Description: Hoboken : Wiley, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifi ers: LCCN 2015038421 (print) | LCCN 2015039976 (ebook) | ISBN 9781405153768 (cloth) | ISBN 9781118554395 (ePub) | ISBN 9781118556047 (Adobe PDF) Subjects: LCSH: Christianity. | Church history. Classifi cation: LCC BR145.3 .W54 2016 (print) | LCC BR145.3 (ebook) | DDC 270—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015038421 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Cover image: Nativity scene from Ethiopic Bible, Gondar, late 17th century. © The British Library Board, Or. 481 Set in 10/12.5 Photina MT Std by Aptara Inc., New Delhi, India 1 2016 Contents

Notes on Contributors ix Abbreviations xxi 1 Introduction 1 Lamin Sanneh and Michael J. McClymond

I. Historical Section 19

A. The Roots (50–1750 ce) 2 Jewish and Hellenic Worlds and Christian Origins 21 John J. Collins 3 The “Triumph” of Hellenization in Early Christianity 32 Wendy Elgersma Helleman 4 Ancient Eastern Christianity: Syria, Persia, Central Asia, and India 43 Scott W. Sunquist 5 Christianity and the European Conversions 54 Tomás O’Sullivan 6 Byzantium and Islam in the Mediterranean World 67 James C. Skedros 7 The Medieval Synthesis: Religion, Society, and Culture 78 Joseph P. Huffmann 8 Early Modern Missions and Maritime Expansion 96 Felipe Fernandez-Armesto 9 Bibles, Printing, Books, Churches 107 Lori Ferrell vi Contents

10 The Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Reformation 119 Jeffrey Klaiber

B. Issues in the Modern Period (1750–2000 ce) 129 11 The Legacy of Christendom 131 Philip Jenkins 12 Slavery, Antislavery, and Christianity: Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean 142 Christopher Schmidt-Nowara 13 Medicine, Agriculture, and Technology in the Missionary Enterprise 153 Christopher H. Grundmann 14 Schools and Education in the Missionary Enterprise 166 Norman Etherington 15 Conversion, Converts, and National Identity 176 J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu 16 Church and State Relations in the Colonial Period 190 Brian Stanley 17 Ideologies, the Quest for a Just Society, and Christian Responses 200 Govert Buijs 18 The Ecumenical Movement: Why Violence, Why Not Peace? 218 Jan van Butselaar 19 Vatican II: Renewal, Accommodation, Inculturation 231 Peter C. Phan 20 Christian Revival and Renewal Movements 244 Michael J. McClymond

II. Thematic Section 263 21 Bible Translation, Culture, and Religion 265 Lamin Sanneh 22 Christianity and Interreligious Encounters 282 Martin Ganeri 23 Women in Church, State, and Society 302 Angelyn Dries 24 Worship, Liturgy, Sacraments 318 Geoffrey Wainwright 25 Freedom, Persecution, and the Status of Christian Minorities 330 John Witte, Jr. and M. Christian Green Contents vii

26 Christianity and “Western Classical” Music (1700–2000) 350 David Martin 27 Music in the Newer Churches 359 Brian Schrag 28 Visual Arts in World Christianity 368 Volker Küster 29 Church Architecture Worldwide since 1800 386 David R. Bains 30 Charismatic Gifts: Healing, Tongue-Speaking, Prophecy, and Exorcism 399 Michael J. McClymond 31 Changing Uses of Old and New Media in World Christianity 419 Jolyon Mitchell and Jeremy Kidwell 32 Global Evangelical and Pentecostal Politics 432 Paul Freston

III. Christianity Since 1800: An Analysis by Regions and Traditions 449 33 The Middle East and North Africa, I: Egypt and North Africa 451 George Berbary 34 The Middle East and North Africa, II: Christians in the Ottoman Empire and in Bilad al-Sham 458 Souad Slim 35 African Christianity: Historical and Thematic Horizons 468 Lamin Sanneh 36 Christianity in Western Europe 488 Simon Coleman 37 Russia and Eastern Europe 500 Scott M. Kenworthy 38 Latin America and the Caribbean 511 Stephen Dove 39 North America 523 Amanda Porterfield 40 South Asia 535 Chandra Mallampalli 41 China 546 Daniel H. Bays 42 Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and Southeast Asia 561 J. Nelson Jennings, Yong Kyu Park, and Antolin V. Uy viii Contents

43 Christianity in Australia and Oceania (ca. 1800–2000) 575 Stuart Piggin and Peter Lineham 44 The Historical Development of Christianity in Oceania 588 Manfred Ernst and Anna Anisi 45 Roman Catholicism since 1800 605 Thomas P. Rausch 46 Orthodoxy and Eastern Christianity 617 John A. McGuckin 47 Anglicanism 628 Kevin Ward 48 Protestantism 641 Alister McGrath 49 Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity 653 Allan H. Anderson 50 Indigenous and Vernacular Christianity 664 Michèle Miller Sigg, Eva M. Pascal, and Gina A. Zurlo

IV. Expansion and Secularization: A Demographic and Statistical Analysis 683 51 The Transmission of Christian Faith: A Reflection 685 Andrew Walls 52 The Demographics and Dynamics of the World Christian Movement 699 Todd M. Johnson 53 Christianity in Europe and North America: Decline, Transition, or Pluralization? 719 David Martin Index 733 Notes on Contributors

Allan H. Anderson is Professor of Mission and Pentecostal Studies at the University of Birmingham, England, where he has been since 1995. He is author of many articles, editor of three collections, and author of nine books on global Pentecostalism and African Christianity, the most recent being Spreading Fires (2007), To the Ends of the Earth (2013), and the second edition of An Introduction to Pentecostalism (2014).

Anna Anisi , PGDip Dev Studies, University of the South Pacifi c, Fiji, is a research assis- tant at the Institute of Research and Social Analysis of the Pacifi c Theological College, Suva, Fiji.

J. Kwabena Asamoah‐Gyadu, PhD, is Baeta‐Grau Professor of Contemporary African Christianity and Pentecostal/Charismatic Theology in Africa at the Trinity Theologi- cal Seminary, Accra, Ghana. His teaching areas include non‐Western Christianity and Theology and Media in Africa. Kwabena has served as visiting scholar to the Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard University (2004); Luther Seminary, Saint Paul (2007); and Senior Resident Scholar at the Overseas Ministries Study Center (2012). He is a member of the Lausanne Theology Working Group and a Trustee of the Oxford Center for Mission Studies, UK. Kwabena is author of: African Charismatics: Current Developments within Independent Indigenous Pentecostalism in Ghana (2005); Christian- ity, Missions and Ecumenism in Ghana (2009); Strange Warmth: Wesleyan Perspectives on Renewal, Ministry and Discipleship (2011); co‐editor with Frieder Ludwig of African Christian Presence in the West: New Immigrant Congregations and Transnational Networks in North America and Europe (2011); Contemporary Pentecostal Christianity: Interpretations from an African Context (2013); and many articles in international journals relating to his fi elds of research.

David R. Bains is Professor of Religion at Samford University. His current research includes Religious Capital: Building National Houses of Worship in Washington, DC. He is co‐chair of the American Academy of Religion’s Space, Place, and Religion Group. x NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS

Daniel H. Bays is Professor of History Emeritus at Calvin College, Grand Rapids. His major works include Christianity in China: From the Eighteenth Century until the Present , editor (1996); and A New History of Christianity in China (2012).

George Berbary is a priest in the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, the Archdiocese of Mount Lebanon. He was born in Beirut in 1968. He works as a researcher at the Insti- tute of History, Archaeology and Near Eastern Studies (IOHANES) at the University of Balamand. He studied theology at the University of Balamand, and Ecumenical Studies at the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey – the World Council of Churches. He contributed, with the university president, to the publication of two books on Patriarch Ignatius IV (Hazim). He is the publisher of Orthodox Historians’ Contribution in Historiography and has written numerous articles and studies on history and on manuscripts. He is part of a team currently working on the architecture of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch (ARPOA).

Govert Buijs studied political science, philosophy and theology at various institutions and currently holds the Abraham Kuyper Chair for political philosophy in relation to religion at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. His research interests concern the role of religion and morality in the interplay of politics, civil society and the market. Recent research focuses on the socio‐political impact of the Christian concept of agape/caritas.

Jan van Butselaar studied theology in Amsterdam (Free University) and Geneva (Bossey). He received his doctoral degree in Leiden, The Netherlands; his thesis was entitled “Africains, missionnaires et colonialistes. Les origines de l’Église Presbytérienne du Mozambique (Mission Suisse), 1880‐1896.” He has lectured at the theological col- leges in Butare, Rwanda, and Rikatla, Mozambique. Later, he became general secretary of The Netherlands Missionary Council and of the International Association of Mission Studies. He has also been a consultant for the mission department of the World Council of Churches.

Simon Coleman is Chancellor Jackman Professor at the Department for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto. He is an anthropologist who works on charismatic Christianity and pilgrimage, and has conducted fi eldwork in Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Nigeria. He is a former editor of the Journal of the Royal Anthropolog- ical Institute, and a current co‐editor of the journal Religion and Society: Advances in Research .

John J. Collins is Holmes Professor of Old Testament Criticism and Interpretation at Yale University. His books include The Apocalyptic Imagination (revised edition, 1998), Between Athens and Jerusalem. Jewish Identity in the Hellenistic Diaspora (revised edition, 2000), Beyond the Qumran Community (2010) and The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Biography (2012). He is editor of The Oxford Handbook of Apocalyptic Literature (2014) and co‐ editor of The Dictionary of Early Judaism (2010) and The Oxford Handbook of the Dead Sea Scrolls (2010). NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS xi

Stephen Dove is an Assistant Professor of History at Centre College in Danville. His current research project examines the interaction of local and foreign forces in the early development of Guatemalan Protestantism. He earned his PhD from the University of Texas at Austin and his MDiv from Fuller Theological Seminary.

Angelyn Dries is Professor Emerita, Department of Theological Studies, Saint Louis University, where she held the Danforth Chair in the Humanities. Her extensive pub- lications and university courses have focused on Missions History, World Christianity, and Women in Mission. Her book, The Missionary Movement in American Catholic History (1998), was the fi rst comprehensive history of Catholic missions to, within, and from the United States. She is a contributing editor for International Bulletin of Missionary Research .

Manfred Ernst, Dipl Pol PhD, University of Hamburg, is the Director of the Institute for Research and Social Analysis (IRSA) of the Pacifi c Theological College in Suva, Fiji. Doctor Ernst is a social scientist and has published several books, both as author, co‐author or editor on a variety of subjects, mainly related to socio‐economic politi- cal development issues, and sociology of religion. In Oceania he is best known for his research and publications on rapidly growing religious groups.

Norman Etherington, AM, is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of West- ern Australia and a Research Associate at the University of South Africa. A past pres- ident of the Australian Historical Association, he is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and the Royal Historical Society, UK. In 2012 he was made a member of the Order of Australia. He edited Missions and Empire (2007).

Felipe Fernandez‐Armesto joined the History Department at the University of Notre Dame in 2009, after occupying chairs at Tufts University and the University of London. Previously he taught at Oxford University, where he did his undergraduate and doctoral studies. He has had visiting appointments at many universities and research institutes in Europe and the Americas, and holds honorary doctorates from La Trobe University and the Universidad de los Andes. His books include: The Canary Islands after the Con- quest (1982), Before Columbus: Exploration and Colonization from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic 1229–1492 (1987), The Spanish Armada (1990), Columbus (1991), Millen- nium: A History of Our Last Thousand Years (1995), Reformation: Christianity & the World 1500–2000 (1996) (co‐authored with Derek Wilson), Truth: A History and a Guide for the Perplexed (1997), Civilizations (2000), Food: A History (published as Near a Thousand Tables in the United States/Canada) (2001), The Americas: A Hemispheric History (2003), Ideas That Changed the World (2003), Humankind: A Brief History (2004), Pathfi nders: A Global History of Exploration (2006), The World: A Brief History (2007), Amerigo: The Man Who Gave His Name to America (2007), 1492: The Year the World Began (2009), and Our America: A Hispanic History of the United States (2014).

Lori Ferrell is Professor of Early Modern British History and Literature in the School of Arts and Humanities, Claremont Graduate University. In addition to many articles and essays on the cultural history of the English Bible she is the author of The Bible and the xii NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS

People (2009) and the editor of Volume 11 of The Oxford Sermons of John Donne: Sermons Delivered at St Paul’s Cathedral (forthcoming).

Paul Freston is Chair in Religion and Politics in Global Context at the Balsillie School of International Affairs and Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada. He has worked on reli- gion and politics; evangelicalism in the global south; and religion and globalization. His books include: Evangelicals and Politics in Asia, Africa and Latin America (2001); Protes- tant Political Parties: a Global Survey (2004); and Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in Latin America (2008).

Martin Ganeri is Vice‐Regent of Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford. His research has focused on classical Indian religions and Christian theological engagement with non‐Christian thought. His recent publications include: “Free Will, Agency, and Self- hood in Ra-ma-nuja,” in Free Will, Agency and Selfhood in Indian Philosophy (2013) and “Hinduism and Natural Law” in the Journal of Comparative Law (2014).

M. Christian Green is Alonzo McDonald Family Senior Lecturer and Senior Research Fellow at Emory University School of Law, and an editor at the Journal of Law and Religion at Emory University Law School. She has been a researcher for the Religion, Culture, and Family Project at the University of Chicago, the Park Ridge Center for the Study of Health, Faith, and Ethics in Chicago, and the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory, and has taught in the areas of religion and ethics at DePaul University, Harvard Divinity School, and the Candler School of Theology at Emory. In 2010–2011, she was a visiting research fellow at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.

Christoffer Grundmann , is the John R. Eckrich University Professor in Religion and the Healing Arts at Valparaiso University. He is an ordained Lutheran pastor with extended intercultural experiences in Venezuela and India. He earned two theologi- cal doctorates (Dr.theol., Dr.theol.habil.) and has published widely in fi elds of medical missions, healing, and religion (URLhttp://faculty. valpo.edu/cgrundma). His book on medical missions Sent to Heal! (1992; 2005; 2014) became the classic reference work on the topic. Recently he published a study of inter‐religious dialogue, Beyond “Holy Wars” (2014).

Wendy Elgersma Helleman, MA Classical Languages, University of Toronto; PhD Ancient Philosophy, Free University of Amsterdam) served as Visiting Professor for Reli- gious Studies and Philosophy, University of Jos, Nigeria, from 2002, and taught in the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University, Russia (1995–2002), under the aus- pices of Christian Studies International, Canadian affi liate of Global Scholars, Kansas City. She taught in the Department of Classics of the University of Toronto from 1987 to 1995.

Joseph P. Huffman , Distinguished Professor of European History, Messiah College, Pennsylvania, is a Fulbright Fellow and author of numerous articles and books on aspects of medieval ecclesiastical, religious, diplomatic, socio‐economic, and cultural history, including The Social Politics of Medieval Diplomacy: Anglo‐German Relations NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS xiii

(1066–1307) (2000) and Family, Commerce, and Religion in London and Cologne: Anglo‐ German Emigrants c. 1000–c. 1300 (1998; paperback edition, 2002).

Philip Jenkins was educated at Cambridge University. From 1980 through 2011, he taught at Penn State University. In 2012, he became a Distinguished Professor of His- tory at Baylor University, where he also serves in the Institute for Studies of Religion. He has published 25 books, including The Next Christendom (2002), The Lost History of Christianity (2008), and The Great and Holy War (2014).

J. Nelson Jennings is Mission Pastor and Consultant at Onnuri Community Church in Seoul, Republic of Korea. Previously he was a church-planter in Nagoya, Japan; Assis- tant Professor of International Christian Studies at Tokyo Christian University; Pro- fessor of World Mission at Covenant Theological Seminary; and Executive Director at the Overseas Ministries Study Center. He has been editor of Missiology: An International Review and of the International Bulletin of Missionary Research.

Todd M. Johnson is Associate Professor of Global Christianity and Director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon‐Conwell Theological Seminary. He is co‐author of the World Christian Encyclopedia (2001) and The World’s Religions in Figures (2013), and co‐editor of the Atlas of Global Christianity (2009).

Scott Kenworthy is Associate Professor in the Department of Comparative Religion at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, and specializes in the history and thought of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. His monograph, The Heart of Russia: Trinity‐Sergius, Monasticism and Society After 1825 (2010), won the Brewer Prize of the American Society of Church History, and he is currently writing a biography of Patriarch Tikhon (Bellavin) and the Orthodox Church during the Russia Revolution.

Jeremy Kidwell, PhD, Theological Ethics, is a post‐doctoral research fellow at the Uni- versity of Edinburgh. He is currently involved in an interdisciplinary research project concerned with the way conceptions of time affect moral agency, particularly toward environmental crises. Prior to his academic work, Jeremy worked as an engineer and trainer in telecommunications and information technology. He continues to provide consulting services on network security, infrastructure, and the use of information technology in teaching and learning.

Jeffrey Klaiber is an American Jesuit priest teaching history at the Pontifi cal Catho- lic University of Lima in Peru. He specializes in Latin American religious and political history. He is the author of The Catholic Church in Peru, 1821–1985: A Social History (1992), Cristianismo y mundo colonial: tres estudios acerca de la evangelización de Hispano- américa (1995), The Church, Dictatorships, and Democracy in Latin America (1998), and The Jesuits in Latin America, 1549–2000: 450 years of Inculturation, Defense of Human Rights, and Prophetic Witness (2009).

Volker Küster is Professor of Comparative Religion and Missiology, Johannes Gutenberg‐University, Mainz. His research in contextual and intercultural theology xiv NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS evolves along two lines: dialogue, confl ict, and reconciliation and visual art and religion. He is author of The Many Faces of Jesus Christ (2001), A Protestant Theology of Passion: Korean Minjung Theology Revisited (2010), Einleitung in die Interkulturelle Theolo- gie (2011), and serves as the series editor for Explorations in Intercultural Theology .

Peter Lineham is Professor of History at the Auckland campus of Massey University in New Zealand. He is a graduate of the universities of Canterbury, New Zealand, and Sussex, and has written extensively on the religious history of New Zealand, and in eighteenth‐ and nineteenth‐century British religious history, and is widely consulted by the media on present trends in religiosity.

Chandra Mallampalli is a Professor of History at Westmont College in Santa Bar- bara, California, USA. He is the author of Christians and Public Life in Colonial South India (2004) and Race, Religion and Law in Colonial India (2011).

David Martin, FBA, Emeritus Professor of Sociology in the London School of Eco- nomics is author of some two dozen books and three hundred articles and chapters, treating secularization, Pentecostalism, and the religion/secular distinction. His work in the 1960s inaugurated the debate on secularization and its comparative historical analysis; his work from the 1980s placed Pentecostalism in the same historical and comparative frame. He has been a visiting professor at King’s College, London, Lan- caster University, Boston University, and Princeton Theological Seminary, as well as a visiting fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. He is past president of the Science and Religion Forum, the Religion Section of the British Sociological Associ- ation, the International Conference for the Sociology of Religion, and the United King- dom Committee for University Autonomy. He formerly served on the editorial advisory committee of the Encyclopedia Britannica and as editor for the religious studies section of the New International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. His books include: Pacifi sm: An Historical and Sociological Study (1965), A General Theory of Secularization (1979), Tongues of Fire: Conservative Protestantism in Latin America (1990), Does Christianity Cause War? (1997), Pentecostalism: The World Their Parish (2002), Sociology and The- ology (2004), On Secularization (2005), The Future of Christianity (2010), and he has co‐authored with his wife, Bernice Martin, Betterment from on High: Evangelical Lives in Chile and Brazil (2006).

Michael J. McClymond is Professor of Modern Christianity in the Department of The- ological Studies at Saint Louis University. He was educated at Northwestern University (BA), Yale University (MDiv), and the University of Chicago (MA in religion; PhD in theology), and has held teaching or research appointments at Wheaton College, West- mont College, the University of California–San Diego, Emory University, Yale University, and the University of Birmingham (UK). His written, edited, co‐written, and co‐edited books include: The Rivers of Paradise: Moses, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus, and Muhammed as Religious Founders (2001), Familiar Stranger: An Introduction to Jesus of Nazareth (2004), Embodying the Spirit (2004), Encyclopedia of Religious Revivals in America , 2 volumes (2007), and The Theology of Jonathan Edwards (2012). The last‐named work won the NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS xv

Book‐of‐the‐Year Award in the Theology/Ethics category from Christianity Today maga- zine. In 2012 he was Senior Scholar‐in‐Residence at the Overseas Ministries Study Center, and has served as Co‐Chair for the Evangelical Studies Group in the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and Co‐Chair for the Pentecostal‐Charismatic Movements Group. His forthcoming monograph is entitled, The Devil’s Redemption: An Interpretation of the Christian Debate over Universal Salvation .

Alister McGrath is Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford, having earlier been Oxford’s Professor of Historical Theology. Previously he served as Professor of Theology, Ministry, and Education at King’s College London and Head of the Centre for Theology, Religion and Culture; and as Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Oxford and Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He has also taught at Cambridge University. McGrath is an Anglican priest ordained in the Church of England. He holds three doctorates from the University of Oxford – a DPhil in Molec- ular Biophysics, a Doctor of Divinity in Theology, and a Doctor of Letters in Intellectual History. He is noted for his work in historical theology, systematic theology, the rela- tionship between science and religion, and Christian apologetics. He has written more than forty books. McGrath has a long‐standing interest in the historical development of Protestantism, and his books include Luther’s Theology of the Cross (second edition, 2004); The Intellectual Origins of the Reformation (second edition, 2002), and Christiani- ty’s Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution (2007).

John A. McGuckin is the Nielsen Professor of Early Christian History at Union Theolog- ical Seminary, and the Professor of Byzantine Christian studies at Columbia University in the City of New York. He is an Archpriest of the Romanian Orthodox Church and a widely published specialist in Early and Byzantine Christianity. He is the editor of the Wiley‐Blackwell Encyclopedia of Eastern Christianity (2011). McGuckin is the author of twenty‐three books of historical theology including: The Transfi guration of Christ in Scrip- ture and Tradition (1986); St. Cyril of Alexandria: The Christological Controversy (1994); At the Lighting of the Lamps: Hymns from the Ancient Church (1995); St. Gregory of Nazianzus: An Intellectual Biography (2000); Standing in God’s Holy Fire: The Spiritual Tradition of Byz- antium (2001); The Book of Mystical Chapters (2002); The Westminster Handbook to Patristic Theology (2004); Ancient Christian Doctrines, Volume 2: Patristic Christology (2006); The Orthodox Church: Its History and Spiritual Culture (2007); and The Ascent of Law (2011). Doctor McGuckin has served as visiting professor and guest lecturer in many universities and colleges in England, Ireland, Greece, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, Italy, and the United States. Working with co‐producer Norris Chumley in 2011 he completed a feature fi lm about monastic prayer life, entitled Mysteries of the Jesus Prayer . It was over eight years in the making with extensive fi lming in Sinai, the Egyptian desert, and the monasteries of Transylvania and Russia. It is now available in DVD format.

Jolyon Mitchell , PhD, is Professor of Communications, Arts and Religion, Director of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues (CTPI), and Academic Director of the Insti- tute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) at the University of Edinburgh. A former BBC World Service producer and journalist, his recent books include Promoting xvi NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS

Peace, Inciting Violence: The Role of Religion and Media (2012), and Religion and the News (2012). He currently directs a research project on Peacebuilding through Media Arts.

Tomás O’Sullivan, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Medieval Christianity at Saint Louis University. Originally from Bantry, Co. Cork, Ireland, he was educated in Ireland and the United States and received his PhD in 2011. His research interests include Early Christian Ireland, Anglo‐Saxon England, Merovingian and Carolingian Christianity, manuscripts studies, hagiography, and early medieval iconography.

Yong Kyu Park is Professor of Church History at the Presbyterian General Assembly Theological Seminary, Chongshin University, Seoul, South Korea (1991–present) and has been Director of the Korea Institute of Church History since 1997.

Eva M. Pascal is originally from the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras. She is cur- rently pursuing a PhD in the History of World Christianity and Mission in Boston Uni- versity’s Division of Religious and Theological Studies. Her research and writing focuses on the interaction between Christianity and other world religions in Asia. She has pub- lished on the topics of missionaries in Siamese political expansion and the rise of faith‐ based organizations in Southeast Asia. She is also working as a Research Assistant at the Center for Global Christianity and Mission at Boston University.

Peter C. Phan is the inaugural holder of the Ignacio Ellacuria Chair of Catholic Social Thought at Georgetown University. He has earned three doctorates and has been awarded two honorary doctorates. He has published a dozen books, edited some twenty‐fi ve volumes, and written over three hundred articles on various aspects of Christian theology. The Catholic Theological Society of America has given him the John Courtney Murray Award, the society’s highest honor in recognition of his outstanding achievements in theology.

Thomas P. Rausch, SJ, PhD, Duke, 1976, is the T. Marie Chilton Professor of Catholic Theology at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Author or editor of eighteen books, he is a specialist in ecclesiology, Christology, and ecumenism. Long involved in ecumenical dialogue, he is presently a member of the Anglican/Roman Catholic Con- sultation USA and co‐chairs the Los Angeles Catholic/Evangelical Committee and the Theological Commission for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Stuart Piggin is Director of the Centre for the History of Christian Thought and Expe- rience at Macquarie University, Sydney, and is Head of the Department of Christian Thought of the Australian College of Theology. He is a graduate of the universities of Sydney and London and of the Melbourne College of Divinity. He has written over a hundred articles for academic journals and seven books, mainly on the history of evan- gelicalism, revival, and missions.

Amanda Porterfi eld is the Robert A. Spivey Professor of Religion and Professor of History at Florida State University. She is the author of Conceived in Doubt: Religion NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS xvii and Politics in the Early American Nation (2012), Healing in the History of Christianity (2005), The Transformation of American Religion (2001), Mary Lyon and the Mount Holy- oke Missionaries (1997), and Female Piety in Puritan New England (1992). She is also co‐ editor of the quarterly journal Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture .

Lamin Sanneh was educated on four continents and holds degrees in History and Islamic studies. He taught in universities in Africa and the United Kingdom. He served on the Harvard faculty for eight years before coming to Yale in 1989 as the D. Willis James Professor of World Christianity and of History. He is a life member of Clare Hall, Cambridge University, Honorary Research Professor at the School of Oriental & Afri- can Studies in the University of London, and recipient of honorary doctorates from the University of Edinburgh and Liverpool Hope University. He has twice served as chair of Yale’s Council on African Studies. He was the recipient of the John W. Kluge Chair in the Countries and Cultures of the South at the Library of Congress. For his academic work Professor Sanneh was made Commandeur de l’Ordre National du Lion, Senegal’s highest national honor. He is the author of over two hundred articles in scholarly journals and of more than a dozen books on Islam and Christianity. His books have been translated into several languages, including Spanish, German, and Korean.

Christopher Schmidt‐Nowara is Prince of Asturias Chair in Spanish Culture & Civ- ilization at Tufts University. He is the author of Slavery, Freedom, and Abolition in Latin America and the Atlantic Worl d (2011) and has edited a special issue of Social History (August 2011) on “Caribbean Emancipations” and, with Josep M. Fradera, Slavery and Antislavery in Spain’s Atlantic Empire (2013). He is a contributor to the Cambridge World History of Slavery .

Brian Schrag, PhD, Ethnomusicology, is SIL International’s Coordinator of Ethnomu- sicology and Arts, and developed the World Arts program at the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics. He has performed protracted music‐related research and commu- nity service in central Africa.

Michèle Miller Sigg is currently pursuing a doctorate at the Boston University School of Theology in the History of World Christianity and Mission with a concentration in African Christianity. Her research focuses on French Protestant missionaries in Africa and she has published articles on African widows and on the role of women in the Fifo- hazana revival movement in Madagascar. Since 2000, she has served as the Project Manager for the Dictionary of African Christian Biography (www.DACB.org), a digital resource hosted by Boston University’s Center for Global Christianity and Mission.

James C. Skedros is the Michael G. and Anastasia Cantonis Professor of Byzantine Studies at Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Brookline. He received his undergraduate honors degree from the University of Utah in Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies (Arabic) and earned his ThD from Harvard Divinity School in the History of Christianity. His teaching and research areas include popular xviii NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS religious practices in late antiquity, Byzantine hagiography, and Christian–Muslim relations.

Souad Slim received a PhD in history from the Sorbonne IV (Paris) in 1984, and a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Birmingham in 2001. She has taught at the University of Balamand since 1989 and earned the rank of Professor in 2013. She is Director of IOHANES – the Institute of History, Archaeology, and Near Eastern Herit- age. Her publications include Partnership and Tax in Mount Lebanon during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries [Le métayage et l’impôt au Mont‐Liban aux XVIII et XIX siècles] (1987; 1993), Balamand: History and Heritage [Balamand: histoire et patrimoine] (1995), and The Greek Orthodox Waqf in Lebanon during the Ottoman Period (2007).

Brian Stanley is Professor of World Christianity and Director of the Centre for the Study of World Christianity, in the University of Edinburgh. His recent books include The World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh 1910 (2009), The Global Diffusion of Evan- gelicalism: The Age of Billy Graham and John Stott (2013), and (co‐edited with Judith Becker), Europe as the Other: External Perspectives on European Christianity (2014).

Scott W. Sunquist is the Dean of the School of Intercultural Studies and Professor of World Christianity at Fuller Theological Seminary. Previously he taught at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and at Trinity Theological College in the Republic of Singapore. He is author of A History of Presbyterian Missions, 1944–2007 (2008) and Understand- ing Christian Mission: Participation in Suffering and Glory (2013), co‐author (with Dale T. Irvin) of History of the World Christian Movement , 2 volumes to date (2001; 2012), and editor of A Dictionary of Asian Christianity (2001).

Antolin V. Uy , SVD, is Professor of Church History at the Divine Word Seminary, Tagay- tay City, Philippines (DWST). He has served as DWST Rector for two periods (1979– 1987 and 1999–2002) as well as Dean of the DWST School of Theology (1995–1996). Father Uy was born in San Miguel, Leyte, Philippines. He did his theological studies at the Pontifi cal Gregorian University where he obtained his Licentiate in Theology and then a Doctorate in Church History.

Geoffrey Wainwright holds ordination in the Methodist Church of Great Britain. Early in his career he served as a teacher and pastor in Cameroon, West Africa. For thirty years he was Professor of Christian Theology at Duke University, North Carolina. His chief scholarly interests have resided in systematic theology, where he emphasizes the liturgical dimensions of the Christian faith. He has written, edited, or co‐edited more than twenty books, including Doxology (1980), Eucharist and Eschatology (1981), For Our Salvation (1997), Worship with One Accord (1997), Is the Reformation Over? (2000), Lesslie Newbigin (2000), and Embracing Purpose (2007). He served as primary author of the landmark WCC document, Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry (1982).

Andrew Walls , OBE, MA, BLitt, DD, FSA Scot, served as Lecturer in Theology, Fourah Bay College, Sierra Leone (1957–1962) and Head of the Department of Religion, NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS xix

University of Nigeria, Nsukka (1962–1966). He taught in the University of Aberdeen from 1986, fi rst in the Department of Church History and then as Head of the Depart- ment of Religious Studies and Riddoch Lecturer in Comparative Religion, and Emer- itus Professor of Religious Studies since 1985. From 1986 to 1997 he was Director of the Centre for the Study of Christianity in the Non‐Western World (now Centre for the Study of World Christianity). He has held Visiting Professorships at the University of Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland, Yale University, Harvard University and Trinity College, Singapore, and Princeton Theological Seminary. Currently he also serves as Professor in the Akrofi ‐Christaller Institute, Akropong, Ghana; Professor of the History of Mission at Liverpool Hope University, Research Professor at Africa International Uni- versity, Nairobi, and Visiting Professor at the City Seminary of New York. With Lamin Sanneh, he is the Joint Convener of the Yale–Edinburgh Group on the History of the Missionary Movement and World Christianity. His publications include: The Missionary Movement in Christian History (1996), African Christianity in the 1990s, with Christo- pher Fyfe (1996), The Cross‐Cultural Process in Christian History (2002), and Christian Mission in the 21st Century, with Cathy Ross (2010). He was the founding editor of the Journal of Religion in Africa , contributing editor for International Bulletin of Missionary Research, bibliographical editor for International Review of Mission, and general editor for Methodist Missionary History Project .

Kevin Ward studied at Edinburgh University and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he obtained his PhD in ecumenical relations between Protestant Churches in colonial Kenya. He worked as a mission partner of the Church Mission Society from 1975 to 1991 in Uganda, where he was ordained as a priest of the Anglican Church of Uganda. After serving as a parish priest in the Church of England, in 1995 he was appointed as Lecturer (Associate Professor) in the University of Leeds. His research interests have centered on Christianity in East Africa, including a study of the East African Revival, and on debates about homosexuality in Africa. He is the author of A History of Global Anglicanism (2006).

John Witte, Jr. is Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law, Alonzo L. McDonald Distinguished Professor, and Director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion Center at Emory University. A specialist in legal history, marriage law, and religious liberty, he has pub- lished two hundred articles, fi fteen journal symposia, and twenty‐seven books. Recent book titles include: Sex, Marriage and Family Life in John Calvin’s Geneva , 2 volumes (2005; 2014); No Establishment of Religion: America’s Original Contribution to Religious Liberty (2012); From Sacrament to Contract: Marriage, Religion, and Law in the Western Tradition (second edition, 2012); Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment (third edition, 2011); Christianity and Human Rights: An Introduction (2010); Sins of the Fathers: The Law and Theology of Illegitimacy Reconsidered (2009); Christianity and Law: An Introduction (2008); The Reformation of Rights: Law, Religion, and Human Rights in Early Modern Calvinism (2007); Modern Christian Teachings on Law, Politics, and Human Nature , 3 volumes (2006); and God’s Joust, God’s Justice: Law and Religion in the West- ern Tradition (2006). Professor Witte’s writings have appeared in fi fteen languages, and he has delivered more than three hundred and fi fty major public lectures throughout xx NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS

North America, Europe, Japan, Israel, Hong Kong, Australia, and South Africa. With major funding from the Pew, Ford, Lilly, Luce, and McDonald foundations, he has directed twelve major international research projects on democracy, human rights, and religious liberty, and on marriage, family, and children. He edits two major book series, Studies in Law and Religion, and Religion, Marriage, and Family, and coedits the Journal of Law and Religion .

Gina A. Zurlo is a Doctoral Student at Boston University School of Theology focus- ing on world Christianity, international religious demography, and the history of American sociology. She is also the Assistant Director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon‐Conwell Theological Seminary (South Hamilton) as well as at Boston University’s Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs. She was the senior editorial assistant on the Atlas of Global Christianity (2009) and her demographic research contributes to the World Christian Database (2007) and World Religion Database (2008). Abbreviations

Where abbreviated, Scriptura and Apocrypha citations take the following form:

Book Name Abbreviation Genesis Gen. Exodus Ex. Leviticus Lev. Numbers Num. Deuteronomy Deut. Joshua Josh. Judges Judg. 1 Samuel 1 Sam. 2 Samuel 2 Sam. 1 Kings 1 Kgs. 2 Kings 2 Kgs. 1 Chronicles 1 Chron. 2 Chronicles 2 Chron. Nehemiah Neh. Esther Esth. Job Job, Psalm Ps. Proverbs Prov. Ecclesiastes Eccles. Song of Solomon Song Isaiah Isa. Jeremiah Jer.

(continued) xxii ABBREVIATIONS

Book Name Abbreviation Lamentations Lam. Ezekiel Ezek. Daniel Dan. Hosea Hos. Amos Amos Obadiah Obad. Jonah Jon. Micah Mic. Nahum Nah. Habakkuk Hab. Zephaniah Zeph. Haggai Hag. Zechariah Zech. Malachi Mal. Tobit Tob. Judith Jdth. Additions to Esther Add Esth. Wisdom of Solomon Wisd of Sol. Baruch Bar. Letter of Jeremiah Let Jer. Susanna Sus. Bel and the Dragon Bel. 1 Maccabees 1 Macc. 2 Maccabees 2 Macc. 1 Esdras 1 Esdr. Prayer of Manasseh Pr. of Man. Additional Psalm Add. Psalm 3 Maccabees 3 Macc. 2 Esdras 2 Esdr. 4 Maccabees 4 Macc. Psalms of Solomon Ps. Solomon. Epistle to the Laodiceans Ep. Laod. Matthew Mt. Mark Mk. Luke Lk. Romans Rom. 1 Corinthians 1 Cor. ABBREVIATIONS xxiii

Book Name Abbreviation 2 Corinthians 2 Cor. Galatians Gal. Ephesians Eph. Philippians Phil. Colossians Col. 1 Thessalonians 1 Thess. 2 Thessalonians 2 Thess. 1 Timothy 1 Tim. 2 Timothy 2 Tim. Philemon Phm. Hebrews Heb. James Jas. 1 Peter 1 Pet. 2 Peter 2 Pet. Revelation Rev. Book of Jubilee Jub. Qur’aˉn Q

Chapter 1 Introduction

Lamin Sanneh and Michael J. McClymond

he worldwide impact of Christianity that made it the religion of societies and cul- Ttures emerging outside the European heartlands came into greatest prominence in the post‐World War II and subsequent post‐colonial periods. The scale of this post‐ Western resurgence was surprising, as was its timing. The retreat of Europe from its colonial territories was not, contrary to prevailing predictions, accompanied by the decline of Christianity, while nationalist mobilization and its mixed fortunes in the post‐ independence aftermath failed to halt the religion’s momentum. Behind the forces of nation building and the integration into the community of nations, Christianity was expanding its reach and strengthening its appeal, thanks to the effects of vernacular Bible translation and the accompanying cultural adaptation that gave the religion the advantage of indigenous credibility. For the first time, societies and cultures that had been previously non‐Christian had their idioms and ways of life increasingly penetrated by Christian ideas and val- ues, commencing an internal process of reorientation and the recasting of the central symbols of worship, ethics, and the aesthetic life. These changes give new meaning to the pace and significance of numerical expansion. It is not simply that membership has increased, sometimes exponentially, but that the meaning of being a Christian has undergone radical change from its Western heartland connotation. In the setting of primal societies where old attachments and plural loyalties continued to carry weight, conversion created an intercultural process of ongoing reciprocal exchange. The old vocabulary was given new promise of meaning and purpose in a fast‐changing world, the kind of fulfillment that challenges and assures at the same time. This is not just the consequence of contemporary global developments since the pro- cess originated in the indigenous ferment of mother tongue engagement in Scripture, and in personal dispositions expressed in worship, prayer, dance, and music. Rather, it

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to World Christianity, First Edition. Edited by Lamin Sanneh and Michael J. McClymond. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 2 Lamin Sanneh and Michael J. McClymond is the demonstration of Christianity’s character as a world religion that is not tied to ­Western cultural delineations but that thrives in the multiple idioms of the adopted societies. These societies are not the heirs to Western Christendom in its Catholic and Protestant streams despite the legacy of colonial rule. Without abandoning what gives them their distinctive character, these societies have joined the Christian movement on terms amenable to their self‐understanding and aspi- rations, whatever the common overlapping themes with Europe’s own contested her- itage. The historical roots of Christianity in Palestine extended almost simultaneously to coalesce with diverse cultures in the Mediterranean world and beyond, with Jewish, Greek, and Roman influences converging with Coptic and Ethiopian materials to create a unique, expansive momentum. As a religion with a worldwide following, Christianity embraced from a very early stage a kaleidoscopic spectrum of peoples and tongues in Asia, Africa, and Europe, drawing from the urban ethos of Roman civilization as well as from the desert and hin- terland orientations of Egypt and Ethiopia a vision and an outlook that are worldwide in their scope. The formative period of Hellenization has its parallels in equally forma- tive movements of indigenization and adaptation elsewhere and in other times. Today, we see the religion adopted by communities stunningly diverse in their way of life and set in historical circumstances and conditions of life that defy any single uniform rule or standard. World Christianity as a rubric acknowledges this historical and cul- tural reality along with its resurgent contemporary expressions. We contend that these developments are not aberrations but constitutive of Christianity’s original intercultural impulse as well as with the modern missionary movement that was its primary impetus. Archbishop William Temple was a perceptive observer when he noted in 1944 that the worldwide appeal of Christianity was “the new fact of our time.” It was not how his Western contemporaries viewed the religion’s future. The ravages of war had taken a toll on morale, and Europe was in no mood to give any thought to the fortunes of a reli- gion that attenuated neither the causes of conflict nor prevented the disaster that fol- lowed. But the gospel is not simply a function or reflection of actions undertaken outside its scrutiny and beyond its constraint, and Archbishop Temple’s observation connects with the experience of the past and with growing evidence of the religion’s worldwide appeal. Christianity has not ceased to be a Western religion, but evidence shows that its future as a world religion is being decided and fashioned at the hands and in the minds of its non‐Western followers. A post‐Christian Europe now must contemplate in post‐Western societies an adapted and revitalized version of the faith that Hilaire Belloc boasted was once its distinguished patrimony. Given the pace at which social, cultural, political, and economic changes are occur- ring around the world, it should come as no surprise that religious change is occurring as well. What might be surprising, however, is the accelerating pace at which changes are occurring. In many parts of the world, today’s Christianity in its cultural scope dif- fers markedly from its early forms in the high imperial era between 1880 and 1920. Even researchers whose work is focused on these changes may find it difficult to keep up. Perhaps the most obvious change is the rapid growth of Christianity in global regions that a century ago had only a small Christian population, especially in sub‐Saharan Africa, Asia, and parts of Latin America, and the corresponding statistical stagnation Introduction 3 or decline in the traditional heartlands of Europe, Britain, North America, ­Australia, and New Zealand. In the twentieth century the two world wars in Europe, the spread of Communism, the rise of nationalism and the growth of secularism in Europe brought an end to the link between Christianity and Western culture. Following World War II Christian expansion picked up pace in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. With only 4 million Christians in 1949, China had an estimated 117 million Christians in 2013. Moreover, in 2013 conversions to Christianity in China were occur- ring at a rate of 3.3 million per year, or an average of 9,000 per day. In the twentieth century in sub‐Saharan Africa the Christian population mushroomed from about 9 mil- lion to 335 million – and the number is at present well over 500 million, with the pace not slackening. In Latin America, Evangelical Protestantism and Pentecostalism have competed credibly with Roman Catholicism as the dominant faith in many regions. Dur- ing the last generation, millions of Dalits in India have converted to Christianity. While in the year 1900 nearly 80% of all Christians were European and North American, by 2001 the figure had declined to 40%, and by 2013 the percentage had further dropped to 34.5. As a result of these developments, it is now no longer adequate to confine Chris- tianity to its old Western heartlands, or, indeed, to one geographical region. These recent developments have revealed even more starkly what is true of ­Christianity from its origin as a religion characterized by diversity of form, style, practice, and territorial spread. The first disciples accepted the mandate of the GreatCommission ­ in the terms that embraced the whole world (Mk. 16:15, 20) and all tongues (Phil. 2:11). The time of the final consummation shall be when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of Christ (Rev. 11:15). The Christian movement resembled what one scholar called “a patched wineskin filled with mixed wine.”T he religion bore the imprint of an eclectic cultural heritage. As the Epistle to Diognetus of the second century put it, “The difference between Christians and the rest of humankind is not a matter of nationality, or language, or customs. Christians do not live apart in separate cities of their own, speak any special dialect, nor practice any eccentric way of life . . . For them, any foreign country is a motherland, and any motherland is a foreign country.” Irenaeus, the second‐century Church Father of Lyons, declared that “as the sun remains the same all over the world . . . so also the preaching of the church shines everywhere.” Irenaeus pointed out that there were Christians among the Celts who professed the faith “without ink or paper.” In other words, their being illiterate was no barrier to conversion. Justin Martyr, a second‐century Palestinian born of settlers in what is now Nablus, assured his contemporaries that the Gospel can boast of witnesses in every race, ethnicity, and mode of existence in which prayer and devotion continue to be made to God in the name of Jesus Christ. The early Christians believed that Christianity is a worldwide faith from the outset, that it is not a faith bound by territorial limits or by language and race. The current surge gives every reason to make that claim more credible now. In the present post‐Western phase, Christianity’s worldwide impact has become more visible with the publication of statistical studies. That fact has taken time to show itself in the consciousness of the modern West. Much of the scholarly work on World Christianity is taking place in Western academic and research institutions even though Christianity’s center of gravity has shifted to societies beyond the West. From the perspective of the West the theatre of engagement remains where scholars are 4 Lamin Sanneh and Michael J. McClymond preponderant and resources available, which is the case in Europe and North America. However justified this attitude may be, it creates the optical illusion of scholarly pre- ponderance looming larger than the conversion momentum now prevailing in post‐ Western societies. As the early Christians contended, World Christianity is the movement of Chris- tianity as it takes form and shape in societies that previously were not Christian, societies too dynamic to capture with empty forms and ephemeral concessions. In Africa Cyprian, though brilliant in his own right, became bishop of Carthage at a time of restricted literacy. Political and civic leaders were untouched by the religion, a situation well expressed by the Russian proverb that says that the early church had priests only of gold and chalices of wood. In the world of the early church we catch a glimpse of what has been so characteristic of World Christianity in our day, namely, of ‘readers’ who could not actually read bound volumes but instead “use the eyes of the mind to better purpose than many use the eyes of the face.” Cyprian acknowl- edges the important role of illiterate converts, including illiterate clergy and even bishops in the church. Consequently, the “unnamed graves at Timgad or Souse move us more than the thrones of the mighty.”1 Along with persecution and repression, Christians had to contend with the challenging world of syncretism that surrounded them. A member of Augustine’s congregation admitted to him, “Oh, yes, I go to idols; I consult seers and magicians, but I do not abandon God’s church. I am Catholic.”2 The conclusion to be drawn from encounter with the church of the early centuries is that “Christianity, so far from being foreign, is grounded in the very lives and being of the people.”3 It behooves us, thus, to see World Christianity as being not one thing, but a variety of indigenous responses through more or less effective local idioms, and largely without the mistrust, doubt, and reservations of the enlightened mind, what one writer calls “our modern crown of thorns.” Without monasteries to hatch the faith, and monks and hermits to control demons and the supernatural world, and without the magistrate holding sway over Christian domain, as happened in late antiquity and beyond, Christi- anity has emerged in its contemporary phase without the instrument of political favor or legal enforcement. More often than not, it is political repression and persecution that has accompanied the rise of Christianity, a situation not too different from the condition of the first generation Christians. A word may be in order here about the expression “Global” Christianity that carries echoes of the root idea that Western economic hegemony is necessary to Christianity, that growing communities of professing Christians around the world are evidence of the political and economic power of the West, and that churches in Asia and Africa are the religious expression of what was once Europe’s political ascendancy, or else a reaction to it. Global Christianity as an expression also carries connotations of parallels with economic and the internet revolution that globalization has fueled, with the same forces of global trade and the electronic revolution leading the spread of a seamless environment of information and exchange without borders. The idea of “Europeandom” captures well the carry‐over echoes that have survived under the term “Global Christianity.” With the decisive shift today into native lan- guages, with the vernacular Scriptures and indigenous music as reinforcement, it is not