Can "White" People Be Saved?: Triangulating Race, Theology, and Mission (Missiological Engagements Book 12)

by Willie James Jennings

According to Lamin Sanneh, Christianity is not a garment made to specifications of a bygone golden age, nor is it an add-on whimsical patchwork rigged up without regard to the overall design. Rather, Christianity is a multicolored fabric where each thread, chosen and refined at the Designer’s hand, adds luster and strength to the whole.4 This has always been an integral part of the ebb and flow of world Christianity. The universality of the gospel calls for multiple voices and perspectives. From its inception, Christianity has flourished because of its universal character. In light of its innate polycentrism, Christianity cannot develop a phobia for such a subject as controversial and vast as race. Christianity is not a religion of cultural conformity. In its expansion, it has vigorously demonstrated that it belongs to all races and cultures.