The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South

The Future of Christianity Trilogy

by Philip Jenkins

Named one of the top religion books of 2002 by USA Today , Philip Jenkins's phenomenally successful The Next Christendom permanently changed the way people think about the future of Christianity. In that volume, Jenkins called the world's attention to the little noticed fact that Christianity's center of gravity was moving inexorably southward, to the point that Africa may soon be home to the world's largest Christian populations. Now, in this brilliant sequel, Jenkins takes a much closer look at Christianity in the global South, revealing what it is like, and what it means for the future.
The faith of the South, Jenkins finds, is first and foremost a biblical faith. Indeed, in the global South, many Christians identify powerfully with the world portrayed in the New Testament--an agricultural world very much like their own, marked by famine and plague, poverty and exile, until very recently a society of peasants, farmers, and small craftsmen. In the global South, as in the biblical world, belief in spirits and witchcraft are commonplace, and in many places--such as Nigeria, Indonesia, and Sudan--Christians are persecuted just as early Christians were. Thus the Bible speaks to the global South with a vividness and authenticity simply unavailable to most believers in the industrialized North.
More important, Jenkins shows that throughout the global South, believers are reading the Bible with fresh eyes, and coming away with new and sometimes startling interpretations. Some of their conclusions are distinctly fundamentalist, but Jenkins finds an intriguing paradox, for they are also finding ideas in the Bible that are socially liberating, especially with respect to women's rights. Across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, such Christians are social activists in the forefront of a wide range of liberation movements.
It's hard to overstate how interesting, how eye-opening, how frequently surprising (and sometimes disturbing) Jenkins' findings are. Anyone interested in the implications of these trends for the major denominations, for Muslim-Christian conflict, and for global politics will find The New Faces of Christianity provocative and incisive--and indispensable.

Genres: Theology, Christianity, Christian, Church History, Nonfiction, Religion, History

252 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

John Philip Jenkins was born in Wales in 1952. He was educated at Clare College, in the University of Cambridge, where he took a prestigious “Double First” degree—that is, Double First Class Honors. In 1978, he obtained his doctorate in history, also from Cambridge. Since 1980, he has taught at Penn State University, and currently holds the rank of Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of the Humanities. He is also a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion.

Though his original training was in early modern British history, he has since moved to studying a wide range of contemporary topics and issues, especially in the realm of religion.

Jenkins is a well-known commentator on religion, past and present. He has published 24 books, including The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South and God's Continent: Christianity, Islam and Europe's Religious Crisis (Oxford University Press). His latest books, published by HarperOne, are The Lost History of Christianity and Jesus Wars (2010).

His book The Next Christendom in particular won a number of honors. USA Today named it one of the top religion books of 2002; and Christianity Today described The Next Christendom as a “contemporary classic.” An essay based on this book appeared as a cover story in the Atlantic Monthly in October 2002, and this article was much reprinted in North America and around the world, appearing in German, Swiss, and Italian magazines.

His other books have also been consistently well received. Writing in Foreign Affairs in 2003, Sir Lawrence Freedman said Jenkins's Images of Terror was “a brilliant, uncomfortable book, its impact heightened by clear, restrained writing and a stunning range of examples.”

Jenkins has spoken frequently on these diverse themes. Since 2002, he has delivered approximately eighty public lectures just on the theme of global Christianity, and has given numerous presentations on other topics. He has published articles and op-ed pieces in many media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, New Republic, Foreign Policy, First Things, and Christian Century. In the European media, his work has appeared in the Guardian, Rheinischer Merkur, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Welt am Sonntag, and the Kommersant (Moscow). He is often quoted in news stories on religious issues, including global Christianity, as well as on the subject of conflicts within the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, and controversies concerning cults and new religious movements. The Economist has called him “one of America's best scholars of religion.”

Over the last decade, Jenkins has participated in several hundred interviews with the mass media, newspapers, radio, and television. He has been interviewed on Fox's The Beltway Boys, and has appeared on a number of CNN documentaries and news specials covering a variety of topics, including the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, as well as serial murder and aspects of violent crime. The 2003 television documentary Battle for Souls (Discovery Times Channel) was largely inspired by his work on global Christianity. He also appeared on the History Channel special, Time Machine: 70s Fever (2009).

Jenkins is much heard on talk radio, including multiple appearances on NPR's All Things Considered, and on various BBC and RTE programs. In North America, he has been a guest on the widely syndicated radio programs of Diane Rehm, Michael Medved, and James Kennedy; he has appeared on NPR’s Fresh Air, as well as the nationally broadcast Canadian shows Tapestry and Ideas. His media appearances include newspapers and radio stations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Brazil, as well as in many different regions of the United States.

Because of its relevance to policy issues, Jenkins's work has attracted the attention of gove

Reviews

[J.L. Neyhart · Rating 2 out of 5]

TL:DR – Hey, Philip Jenkins, your conservative bias is showing.

I had to read this for a seminary course and interact briefly with each chapter. So here is what I wrote:

Chapter 1: What stood out to me in this chapter was that Jenkins’ seemed to be praising the “conservative themes” running through African and Asian Christianity: “These include a much greater respect for the authority of scripture, especially in matters of morality; a willingness to accept the Bible as an inspired text and a tendency to literalism; a special interest in supernatural elements of scripture, such as miracles, visions, and healings; a belief in the continuing power of prophecy; and a veneration for the Old Testament, which is considered as authoritative as the New” (4). And Jenkins seems to be dismissive of “liberals” who would take issue with that kind of literalism when he writes, “Liberals might indeed discern all the elements of that unholy trinity identified by Peter Gomes—bibliolatry, culturism, and literalism—a religion of the letter rather than the Spirit, one that worships the text rather than God” (10). But I think I would fall into the so-called “liberal” camp here because I am extremely wary of bibliolatry and literalism at this point.

Chapter 2: I do like the emphasis on hearing scripture read aloud in a communal setting and not being relegated to a private, individual task all of the time. (page 25)

Chapter 3: There was an interesting example about people in Uganda who loved the story of Solomon and all of his wives pushing back on what the missionaries were telling them about polygamy being wrong. The people said “didn’t you tell me everything in the Bible was true?” and then the missionary had to explain “that words in the Bible, while all true and divinely inspired, are true to varying degrees” (Jenkins, 42). But I agree that we have to understand that “true” doesn’t always mean “fact”. So we have to dig deep into what do we mean by “Is the Bible true?” We cannot and should not put the Old Testament on the same level as the New Testament. Doing so contributes to a flat reading of the text that is not helpful, at best, and leads to really bad theology, at worst.

Chapter 4: I think this is an important takeaway from this chapter: “What the North reads in moral or individualistic terms remains for the South social and communal. (79). I think those of us in North America could learn a great deal and be impacted a great deal from learning how to think and read the Bible in less individualistic ways and move towards more communal ways of living and understanding the Bible.

Chapter 5: I think there can be a tendency for some people to see the work of Satan where it’s just sinful people or it’s just a natural disaster that may or may not be the result of the way we humans have treated our planet. An example is given about the tsunami in 2004. The leader of one Nigerian independent church said: “the Holy Bible shows that Satan is responsible for the troubles that afflict the world” (99). But I just don’t think I buy that explanation.

Chapter 6: I liked the commentary on applying Psalm 23 – “Global South Christians use Psalm 23 in familiar devotional ways, but they also understand it as a stark rejection of unjust secular authority” (127).

Chapter 7: I feel very strongly about women’s rights and women’s equality. I was raised in the conservative Christian Church (Restoration Movement) where women were not allowed to preach/teach/lead men. I wrestled with that teaching and pushed back against it until I finally came to understand that it was NOT, in fact, the only way to interpret those key passages in the New Testament. So when I read about how in the global South, women are still viewed as objects or possessions with no rights, it infuriates me. And I am glad that Christianity is actually opening the door to giving them freedom and power to speak up: “It is especially from the texts dealing with women that readers discover the full radicalism of the Christian message” (177).

Chapter 8: I’m really tired of seeing/hearing people, including Jenkins, use “liberal” and “liberalism” as a negative descriptor: “The contrast seems worrying: new orthodox churches hew to authentic scripture; old churches fall prey to liberalism and succumb to fiction and speculation” (186). Part of the problem with tossing around the word “liberal” and “liberalism” comes down to defining our terms. Is someone a liberal Christian if they don’t believe the worldwide flood actually happened? What if they don’t believe God really told the Israelites to commit genocide, or that the battle of Jericho might not have actually happened the way it is recorded in the Old Testament? These things come down to different interpretations of scripture and I would argue that this does not equate someone not being faithful to God’s word.

[Cole Rogers · Rating 1 out of 5]

Where is the locus of power in Bible interpretation? If it’s in its application to specific cultures then this guy is dead on. If it’s in the author’s intent, then his entire argument falls apart.
Yes, Christianity is not a Western religion and we would do well to remind ourselves of that— it’s global.
But there is intended meaning in Scripture. In order to find that intent, I need to venture into the context of biblical times. While Global South interpretation is interesting, it lacks spiritual power for application if it’s outside of the bounds of authorial intent.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

The majority of Christians today live south of the equator. The growth of Christianity in parts of the South has been astounding, Philip Jenkins points out in this intriguing book. In Africa, the number of Christians grew from 10 million to 360 million between 1900 and 2000, from 10 percent of the population to 46 percent.
"If that is not, quantitatively, the largest religious change in human history in such a short period, I am at a loss to think of a rival," he writes.
This is reflected, in a small way, in the Covenant denomination I'm a part of, which I've been told has more members in the Democratic Republic of Congo than it does in the United States.
And the disparity is only likely to change in favor of the South. Jenkins points out that 50 percent of the world's population is 24 or younger, but that 90 percent of those younger than 24 live in the Global South.
"The New Faces of Christianity" discusses how Christianity in the South differs from Christianity in the North. In doing so, Jenkins isn't strictly geographical. What he really means by the North is Western Europe and North America, the former core of Christianity. By the South, he mostly means Africa and Asia, with some references to Latin America. For instance, he includes Korea as part of his "Global South," although Korea is far north of the equator.
One of the differences that emerges is that Christians in the Global South tend to place more reliance on the Bible, and on more of it, and they take it more literally, than in the North. Jenkins suggests one reason may be that people in much of Africa and Asia are living closer to biblical times than are most of the rest of us:
Across Africa and Asia, millions of modern readers know roads where a traveler is likely to be robbed and left for dead, without much hope of intervention by official agencies. They relate to accounts of streets teeming with the sick. They understand that a poor woman who loses a tiny sum of money would search frantically for coins that could allow her children to eat that night.
A topic such as this requires generalization, and often when Jenkins discusses what Euro-Americans think, I know it's not what all of us think. A little example: Westerners today scoff at the notion of demons, he writes. Well, I believe in demons, and I know many other believers who share that belief. We may not talk about it, we may not even act like we believe it, but push us to the wall and we'll say that: Yes, it's in the Bible, and -- like our brothers and sisters in Africa and Asia -- we believe it.

[Nathaniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book serves more of a contemporary Christian anthropology rather than a theology. That being said, Jenkins' research proves quite interesting. The true low point of his study is that he never defines what exactly he means by Christian, thus bringing the rest of his research into question. As he is quoting numbers and statistics of believers in the global south as apposed to the north the simple question of "who exactly does this represent" looms close in mind.

I also expected Jenkins to be unreasonably harsh to "fundamentalist" (or those who read the bible literally). Surprisingly, he is fair to northern liberals and southern fundamentalists. Overall, an interesting and though provoking read.

[Justin Leitch · Rating 2 out of 5]

The geographic center of Christianity is trending southward, and has been for the last 100 years. What does this mean? Christians in the South (especially Africa in this book) take the Bible more literally and are generally much more conservative than the north. That could be the future of Christianity.

Christians in the North have much to learn about reading the Bible from people whose world is much more similar to the Biblical world than ours. Southern Christians can help us read the Scriptures with fresh eyes.

Not the best book or most enjoyable read - wouldn’t recommend unless you are very interested in the contours of the growing church in Africa.

[Drake Hyman · Rating 5 out of 5]

In light of the widespread adoption of Christianity in the global South (referring primarily to Africa and Asia), and the ways in which these new perspectives on the Christian faith are shaping the religion of much of the majority world’s population, Western Christians must ask themselves many important theological questions. In seeking to formulate and answer these questions, Dr. Philip Jenkins PhD, Professor of History at Baylor University and Professor Emeritus of Humanities at Pennsylvania State University, proves to be uniquely and thoroughly equipped for the task. He has written extensively over a thirty-year period on a wide range of topics, including, but not limited to, Abrahamic religions, American history, global military conflicts, social hierarchies, criminal justice and Christian history.

In his present work The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South, Jenkins demonstrates his broad familiarity with non-Western Christian theological literature by incorporating hundreds of references and allusions to African, Asian and Latin American figures and their writings. These voices deserve serious attention given the unprecedented rate at which Christianity has spread in these regions over just the past century. Thus, in this fascinating collection of case studies, Jenkins challenges his readers to consider the implications of the geopolitical shift of the center of Christianity from the West towards the Global South. For Western Christians living in liberal, ever-secularizing societies, the “largely conservative traditions prevailing in the global South matter ever more” (p. 1). The primary challenge for the Christian West, then, is to consider “What, in short, is Christianity, and what is merely Western?” (p. 178), or in other words, “whose Christianity is normal now? And whose will be in fifty years’ time?” (p. 17) Answering these questions requires a careful comparison of early biblical Christianity to its various manifestations around the globe today.

Jenkins sifts through these vast differences by organizing them into chapters centered around theological issues. He first investigates how the Global South views and interprets the Bible. Jenkins demonstrates that the majority of global South Christians may be deemed as biblical fundamentalists, but not in the common derogatory sense. Rather, global South evangelicals may be distinguished from conventional American fundamentalists since they do not “always interpret the Scripture literally without regard to context…”, but in contrast “believe in grammatical and historical exegesis” (p. 11). They are fundamentalists in the sense that they reject much of the scholarship of textual criticism conducted in Europe and America during the modern era, choosing not to ignore the arguments of these methodologies, but simply to reject them outright in favor of biblical authority. This is not to say Southern Christians do not bear any biases when approaching biblical hermeneutics. Jenkins explains that the presence of animism and paganism in much of African and Asian cultures effects interpretation in much the same way that Western Christians are predisposed to scientific, materialistic or deterministic presuppositions. The difference, says Jenkins, is that the Bible is regarded with profound veneration, in part due to the high value placed on literacy and written texts in much of the worlds poorest areas. This is not to say that new adopters of the faith accepted every word of the Bible without asking questions, but rather that “the ability to read the Bible [became] an act of self-assertion, confidence, and potentially resistance.” (p. 23) In other words, these texts became important tools of social change from within once the transformative power of the Bible took root. Jenkins points to this as evidence that the Christianity which developed in the Global South is not just an obsequious clone of Western missionary efforts, but rather a vibrant, orthodox offshoot of authentic, biblical Christian faith.

Jenkins observes that African and Asian Christians possess several potential advantages over their western counterparts. First, given their proximity to conservative Muslim communities, their shared reverence of Scripture, and the shared emphasis on Abrahamic history, Southern Christians may be better equipped for evangelism in these areas often deemed by the West as unreachable. Second, given the importance of oral tradition and memory in these societies, Southern Christians are generally more capable of scriptural memorization than highly literate Westerns, for whom memorizing large portions of scripture is difficult. Jenkins points to the usage of songs in Africa, such as the beloved Tukutenderesa Yesu, as effective oral tools for memorization. Indeed, hymnody has likewise played a large role in the memorization of Scripture throughout Western church history.

The second theological topic Jenkins addresses is the distinction between the Old and New Testaments. Many modern African Christians, he says, “readily claim direct continuities from Judaism”, insomuch that they view themselves as the “new Jews” (p. 49). Part of the reasoning for this, he observes, is the relationship between the ancient, pagan cultures described in the Old Testament and those of modern day Africa and Asia. Much of what is recorded in the Old Testament is simply more relatable to Global South cultures than to the modern West, which explains in part why the Old Testament retains “much greater veneration…as a living source of authority” than it does for Euro-American churches (p. 53). Jenkins also observes that some biblical topics are either more inherently relevant to the societal issues of the Global South, such as poverty, persecution and interfaith relations, or take more precedence in the life of the church. The latter is evidenced by the greater role that prophecy plays in Southern church culture and explains in part why many of the Old Testament prophets, whose messages appear alien to a wealthy, self-dependent Western culture, are of much more relevance in Africa and Asia. Jenkins also observes that certain New Testament books like James “encapsulate the issues facing the global South churches today” (p. 60), arguing that the biblical author acutely emphasize the importance of community righteousness in the face of spiritual and physical suffering. Southern Christians read this book as a command to social activism, rather than simply as justification for it or a call to higher personal piety.

In quite a natural transition, Jenkins moves onto the topic of the poor and rich. He opens this section with a powerful quote from Musimbi Kanyoro, President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women: “Those cultures which are far removed from biblical culture risk reading the Bible as fiction.” (p. 68) Indeed, many of the biblical stories and parables prove difficult to relate to for Western Christians, who find themselves so far removed from the agrarian society of the Ancient Near East. A perfect example is the parable of the sower, which references Psalm 126:5: “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” He demonstrates that for the West, this passage is best explained as relating to resurrection, which Paul expounds upon in 1 Corinthians 15. For Jenkins’ West African friends, however, this passage may additionally allude to a literal time of famine in which farmers painfully forego eating grain in the present in order to yield greater supply in a later harvest. In such cases, “the social background of global South readers allows them to see dimensions of the text that have been largely lost in a postindustrial world” (p. 72). Hence, says Jenkins, the Psalms and other wisdom literature prove to be popular in the Global South because of these cultures’ understanding of the transience of life.

On the same topic, Jenkins observes that dangerous teachings like the Prosperity Gospel have also taken root in the global South, to which Northern Christians have reacted negatively since it appears to demote personal responsibility in favor of divine intervention. Jenkins observes that wealthy Westerners simply cannot understanding the fragile economic and social conditions of their southern Christian brethren. He then challenges his readers to ask themselves whether or not faith and prayer are absolutely unconnected from material realities. After all, Jesus came and began His church among the poor and the destitute who recognized their own profound need of divine favor.
Another distinction Jenkins highlights between Northern and Southern Christianity is in terms of identity as Christians. For Westerners whose history is steeped in Christian tradition and thought, viewing oneself as a religious minority has only recently become an issue. For the rest of the world, says Jenkins, being of a minority faith helps explain the “deep conservatism of global South churches on moral issues.” (p. 84) Southern Christians, given their deeper appreciation of the Old Testament prophetic warnings, understand a nation’s existence to be dependent upon God’s favor, and thus view moral integrity and communal righteousness as unopposable facets of their faith. Understanding this may provide a rationale to Western Christians who struggle to maintain biblical positions in an ever-shifting moral landscape.

This leads Jenkins to the next theological topic of good and evil, wherein he addresses spiritual warfare, perhaps one of the aspects of the global South most unrelatable to Western Christians. With their recent animistic and pagan history, African Christians are often battling against the forces of Satan and of fear. Indeed, says Jenkins, “the African Christian is fearful: fear of the environment, fear of the neighbors, fear of sorcerers. Only Jesus Christ can free Him.” (p. 111) Of great encouragement to the Western reader unfamiliar with the topic is the fact that Christianity is leading an “epochal cultural revolution” (p. 99) which is transforming Africa and Asia. These cultures which have been bound to witchcraft, ancestor worship, and other superstitious rituals throughout history are now experiencing genuine spiritual freedom and physical healing by the power of the Holy Spirit. In fact, says Jenkins, the cultural transformation that is occurring in Africa may well prove relevant for Western societies which possess “an ineradicable substratum of irrationality and ritualistic behavior, which accounts for the persistent quest for solutions in cults and fringe religions, fads and superstitions.” (p. 127)

In addressing the next issue, persecution of Christians in the global South, Jenkins first describes a melancholy state of affairs among the Dalits in India. This group of people is considered by their culture to be at the absolute bottom caste of the social hierarchy, and to accept Christianity means denying any form of government assistance or job placement. In essence, to be Christian is to choose to be virtually nothing in the eyes of society. Such miserable conditions would emit outcry even among liberal social justice advocates in the West for its blatant religious discrimination. Jenkins observes that such scenarios, particularly in Latin America, lead to the formation of liberation theology in the 1960s. “In this view, Christians are required to struggle against unjust social and political regimes, which should be replaced with a just order.” (p. 132) For Westerners with a long tradition of church and state separation, and particularly for Americans who have grown comfortable with the moniker of Christian governmental values, such a theology may appear heretical. Jenkins concludes this section by stating that “the Bible lends itself to different shades of politics, left and right” (p. 157), perhaps subtly suggesting that Westerners far-removed from social issues of the global South should avoid making hasty judgment calls.

The next issue he discusses is the role of women and men in the church. As he demonstrates, Western Christians are not the only ones who have had to deal with the feminist social revolution. The increasing demand in the West to eradicate Christian values as relics of the historical Patriarchy is echoed in the words of Korean leader Hyun Kyung, who has argued that the Bible is essentially the result of male-dominated history. Jenkins observes that in the global South, the situation is actually quite the opposite. Since Christianity was not a significant part of the history of these peoples, Africa and Asia prove to be excellent objects of study for how Christian values have influenced women’s’ rights in these regions in modern times. In these neoliterate communities, he says, access to and the ability to read the Bible is associated with an increase in power and social status. Thus, especially for women and young people, “knowledge of the Bible can be an effective weapon for asserting status.” (p. 165) Indeed, Christians around the world can find that the Bible places great value on women, as evidenced in examples like Mary Magdalene, a privileged disciple at the feet of Jesus, and Jesus’ own female ancestors, a fact that challenges much of the male-oriented ancestor worship of Eastern cultures.

[Leandro Dutra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wiſh I could give 4½ ſtars — I would take out half a ſtar becauſe ðe auþor puts on ðe ſame footiŋ wiþ Evangelicaliſm broadly defined (I include in it all baſically orþodox Proteſtantiſm, eßentially what I call Chriſtianity proper) every kind of hereſy, from Romaniſm, þeological Liberaliſm & Greek iconoduliſm to neopentecoſtaliſm & oðer ſyncretic ſects. But oðer ðan ðat, it is a very intereſtiŋ take on how ‘Global Souþ’ Chriſtianity not only is takiŋ ðe place numerically at ðe top of Chriſtendom from its European forefaþers, but also in takiŋ ðe Bible at leaſt notionally seriouſly. Ðis ſure, deſpite ðe auþor’s caveats, give hope to us embattled conſervative deſcendants of Europe.

[Justin Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is what I thought its predecessor, 'The Next Christendom,' would be: an actual depiction of Christianity in its new heartlands. Jenkins is particularly good on resisting the academic urge to paint post-colonial people as liberationists; he doesn't ignore the liberatory strands in African or Asian practices, but also frankly admits that the Christianities found around the world are only rarely the kind you find in north-east American Episcopalianism. I don't like that, but it seems to be a fact, so better to know about it than pretend every African bishop is a womanist eco-warrior.

[Josh Starr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have very mixed feelings about this book. Reading it was encouraging as it went through the very serious way Christians across the world are interacting with and trusting the Word of God. On the other hand Jenkins elevates these Christians’ reading of Scripture above the West because of cultural similarities to the ANE. This smacks of liberation theology and is constantly disproven with his many stories of Southern Christians getting the Bible wrong because of their cultural assumptions. All in all, an interesting read.

[Jacob Reed · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an ok read if one is interested in knowing more about the Christianity that exists in the Global South. This is an important study as the majority of Christians live in the Global South. It looks at topics such as men and women, persecution, poor and rich, and a variety of other topics. If any Christian is moving to a southern nation, this would be a good book to read. It does seem to be a bit dated as it was written in 2006. Overall, I would not recommend it to everyone but it is good for those interested in that topic.

[Doug Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this enlightening and inspiring sequel to The Next Christendom , Philip Jenkins looks at the important role that the Bible plays in the vibrant new churches of the global south. With the Bible often has come the gift of literacy; deliverance from despair, sickness, and supernatural forces of evil; freedom from fear and from pagan traditions; and empowerment of women. Jenkins also reflects on lessons that northern Christians might learn from the experiences of their brethren in the south.

[J. Alfred · Rating 3 out of 5]

A remarkable book, nearly as much so in the readable ease of the author's language and style as in the astonishing nature of its contents. If you were not aware that there has been for the last fifty years and continues to be now an enormous, world-history-altering shift toward Christian faith and practice all over Africa and Asia, please be informed of that fact. If you want to know particulars, especially in hermeneutics, read this book.

[Jeff Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book serves as an introduction to how Christians around the world interact with Scripture. It is a bit prone to generalization, as any book of this scope would be. On the whole, many of the things he said resonated with personal experience in East Africa, which showed me that he's done his homework, but also made the book a bit boring.

[Scott Sheppard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides a comparison of many current issues as viewed from the global South (Africa primarily, but also Asia, India, and South America) and the global North (Western Christianity). It is a dense book with chapters heading main categories. Every few pages, a new section addresses a new topic and looks at how people in other areas of the world approach Scripture and the issue at hand.

[David Doel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting book although uneven. I think it offers some interesting ideas that trace to the newer Christians on the planet. Their enthusiasm is something we can wish for in Europe and America, where Christianity is tired and seemingly nationalistic.

[Jonathan Fletcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was glad I could learn about the modern-day church in the Global South, but Jenkins's way of writing was at times repetitive and, at other times, hard to follow.

[Ptaylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this one for the Academy of Spiritual Formation. It wasn't hard to read.

[Daniel Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really cool book about the how Christianity actually works in the Global South.

Caveat - "Global South" here means "Africa and Asia - mainly Protestants". In contemporary Christianity, "Global South" exists in tension with a "Global North". This doesn't really work for Catholicism, since the center of gravity is overwhelmingly the Americas rather than Europe or the new Christian countries. This also doesn't work for Orthodoxy, since that is basically confined to Eastern Europe and the Middle East. The second caveat is that the author's sources are mysteriously all from Commonwealth countries; you will not find much about Christianity in the DRC here.

That being said, the author does a great job at exploring what ordinary Christians actually believe. This isn't another horrible book of academic theology. This is sociology, focusing on people in the pews, pastors, ordinary people talking about what Christianity means for them in Kenya and Taiwan and Trinidad. The author also makes an important point not to essentialize North and South - that this is a spectrum rather than a chasm, focusing on what elements tend to get more emphasis in different regions. The devil is in the details, and the author dives into details with lots of case studies. I highly recommend.

"Sugirtharajah, himself a distinguished postcolonial scholar, writes scathingly of the appropriation of “third world theologies” by Western academics, who overemphasize those currents they find attractive, while ignoring others they find less palatable or sensational. Liberation theology in particular has been thoroughly “colonized.” Citing some of the celebrity writers in this genre, he comments, “While espousing and retaining grass roots interest, the theologies of [Gustavo] Gutiérrez, [Leonardo] Boff and [Jon] Sobrino largely fall within the Western academic syntax, which makes them easy to incorporate.” He quotes a dismissive comment that the Kairos document, a legendary product of South African liberation theology, “is better known in Germany than to Zulus.” (p. 7)

[Laura Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars?

I was excited to read this book, a sweeping overview of trends in Biblical interpretation in the global South, and it presents a lot of material that will be new to most Christians in the global North, and does so in a very readable manner.

I was annoyed that I didn't realize until I bought the book he (mostly) left Latin America out of his analysis. And then I was annoyed again when he brought it in selectively when he felt it supported the points he wanted to make. I was willing to be convinced by his claim in the introduction that Christianity in Africa and Asia is different in important ways because it is growing in large numbers in inter-religious contexts, but I felt it was inconsistent to then include it sporadically.

I also thought he could have done a better job of distinguishing between "currents" or "trends" that might have very different political, social, and theological orientations. If he wanted to argue that the interpreters he is looking at read the Bible in similar ways despite theological differences, he could have done so, but I felt that more often they were just lumped together.

That said, I probably would have felt this was a worthwhile addition to my collection for the bibliography alone, and it does manage to cover a LOT of countries and churches and theologies, and finds some interesting points of convergence.

I think it would be good for North American Christians interested in learning how other modern Christians approach the Bible.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Important book about the locus of the church today which is being shaped by the new global south- Africa and Asia-not the West.

[Tait Sougstad · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main thesis of the book is that the the Christian demographic is shifting ever southward into the Majority World, and is consequently experiencing (and will continue to experience) a shift in the way the Bible is used, interpreted, and applied. He provides a thorough survey of examples to demonstrate how worldviews, economic situations, gender roles, social systems, and a host of other cultural conditions shape one's acceptance, understanding, and practice of Christianity. These are not as clear-cut as liberal-conservative, pre- or post-modern, developed or developing, but all of these contribute to a reading of the Christian Scriptures that the northern hemisphere might find confusing, or even contradictory.

The New Faces seems to be a good flash-introduction to contemporary, global, Christian theology. Some of the terms and concepts might be obtuse to those unfamiliar with historical theology or philosophy, but if you are interested in this book, chances are that you will do fine.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book focuses on the growth of Christianity in the developing world, as well as explaining how developing world Christians perceive their faith. The author emphasizes how today's developing world resembles the world of the Bible, and how people living in such a world draw strength from the teachings of their faith. At times, the author contrasts this world with that of Christianity in Europe and North America, but he doesn't go in to very many details. He also claims that there is a great deal of diversity in the beliefs of global North and global South Christians, but again, no details. I would definitely recommend the book to anyone wanting to learn more about Christianity in South America, Africa, or Asia.

[Debbie Blane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wide ranging book. I thought it was well written and thought provoking. Good discussions of what is meant by the belief that the African church is more conservative than the Western church. Also gives a new perspective on theology. No longer is Western theology a given, other theologies are becoming mainstream. We will know that there is a real difference when we see books on "North American theology".

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christianity is growing rapidly in Africa, southeast Asia, and in general throughout the Global south. Jenkins investigated this growth in his previous book "The Next Christendom" and in this well-done follow-up he focuses on the nature of these churches in terms of belief and practice.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the western Church vacillates on just about every issue imaginable and the culture basically goes off into outer darkness, God is raising up a people who are hungry for the word of God. This book will encourage the faithful.

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wake up call for pretty much everybody in the liberal church who does not want to wake up.

[Winnie Thornton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this after The Next Christendom. Jenksins is still eye-opening.

[Brittany Petruzzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like I keep copying Gwen, but yeah. Just as eye opening as The Next Christendom, if not more.

[Eric Molicki · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very disappointed in this work. Needed some serious editing and his theological convictions that differ with Biblical convictions lead to a constantly unhelpful slant.

[Dan Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This work exposes the European and North American Christian to how believers in other regions of the world read the scripture. Top notch work.