Awards

• Winner of *Choice* Outstanding Academic Book 2007.

Overview

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.

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9780195300659

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Reviews

This book by Jenkins... show[s] that Christians of the South are ripe for arriving at many new and vibrant readings of the Bible, Howard Peskett, ANVIL [He] has done it again...Turn a new page by reading Philip Jenkins, as someone who expertly canvasses all our ifs and buts. Revd Dr David Martin, Church Times In this compelling sequel, Jenkins probes more deeply the differences between northern and southern Christianity, examining various elements that characterize Christian life, especially belief in the Bible,...Jenkins's prescient religious histories offer brilliant insights on the state of modern Christianity. Publishers Weekly This fascinating book is a masterly look at what makes Third World Christians tick. It is urgently needed...a real classic: a compelling and important read...a delight to behold. Contemporary Review

This book by Jenkins... show[s] that Christians of the South are ripe for arriving at many new and vibrant readings of the Bible, Howard Peskett, ANVIL [He] has done it again...Turn a new page by reading Philip Jenkins, as someone who expertly canvasses all our ifs and buts. Revd Dr David Martin, Church Times In this compelling sequel, Jenkins probes more deeply the differences between northern and southern Christianity, examining various elements that characterize Christian life, especially belief in the Bible,...Jenkins's prescient religious histories offer brilliant insights on the state of modern Christianity. Publishers Weekly This fascinating book is a masterly look at what makes Third World Christians tick. It is urgently needed...a real classic: a compelling and important read...a delight to behold. Contemporary Review

Author Information

Philip Jenkins, one of the world's leading religion scholars joined Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion as Distinguished Professor of History and Co-Director for the Program on Historical Studies of Religion.

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