This next Christendom is moving southwards, flourishing in the non-Western regions of Latin America, Africa and Asia. I would like to begin with an example of not just a prophecy but a prophecy that is empirically verifiable. The thesis, or main theme, of The Next Christendom by Philip Jenkins is the projection of Christianity's expansion in … "Gracefully written and skillfully argued, The Next Christendom shows the many changes Christianity has undergone and its capacity to survive." He claims that this revolutionary change has and will continue to allow Christianity unprecedented growth. Literarily engaging, well researched, and jolting, The Next Christendom has justly received wide acclaim. Jenkins predicts in his book The Next Christendom that in the year 2050 the world will observe a form of global Christianity. Next Christendom: Philip Jenkins (9780199767465): Free Delivery at Eden.co.uk THE NEXT CHRISTENDOM. 10), Jenkins argues that the new Christendom of the South is not a mirror image of the North. "-Mark Noll, Books & Culture MARK your calendar. “The Rise of the New Christianity” (chap. Paper, $15.95. New York: Oxford University Press. The US American ‘us’ is already far more diverse than Jenkins elsewhere in the book seems to acknowledge. Asking whose culture will fashion the form of future Christianity, he responds that “Northern views on religious matters should become less and less significant as the new century develops” (p. 119). The following is an analytical book review of Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom. --Russell Shaw, Crisis "If the times demand nothing less than a major rethinking of contemporary global history from a Christian perspective, The Next Christendom will be one of the significant landmarks pointing the way." Nor has the globalization of Christianity--and the enormous religious, political, and social consequences it portends--been properly understood.Philip Jenkins' The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity is the first book to take the full … --Russell Shaw, Crisis "If the times demand nothing less than a major rethinking of contemporary global history from a Christian perspective, The Next Christendom will be one of the significant landmarks pointing the way." The thesis of this book is that the center of Christianity has shifted southward to Africa, Asia, and Latin America (Location 36). 6), Jenkins debates whether Southern expressions of faith reflect true Christianity or syncretism. Although the center of Christianity is shifting south, the center of Christian thought seems to be staying in the same location – the western world. The Next Christendom is chillingly realistic about the relationship between Christianity and Islam. Word Count: 191. Dr. Horrell has been a missionary and theologian in various world cultures, in addition to evangelism and church-planting with World Team, InterVarsity, and Youth with a Mission (YWAM). Filed Under: Books, Church Multiplication, Multiethnic Ministry Tagged With: Asian Church, christendom, Christianity, Church, Church Multiplication, global christianity, history of christianity, Missional, Religion, thoughts, Western Church, world christianity, […] Jenkins, I agree with Daniel Im in that the growing revival in the South should be the norm and influence the American and European […], http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/j/p/jpj1/vita.htm, The Average Christian: A Black Pentecostal | Holy Spirit Activism. Throughout the book the litmus test for success seems to be quantity more than quality, which is understandably more difficult to discern, especially when a broad definition of Christianity is accepted. Fourth, Jenkins’s appraisal of Christian movements in the South seems to be overly pragmatic. Literarily engaging, well researched, and jolting, The Next Christendom has justly received wide acclaim. The Next Christendom is chillingly realistic about the relationship between Christianity and Islam." In fact, his early work consists of history, criminology, and pedophilia. If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. First, the author does an exceptional job in educating the average reader in the West regarding the changing face of Christianity. In chapter 9, “Coming Home,” the author discusses the great gulf between the liberal Christianity of the North and the more traditional Christian theology and practice of the South. "A Review of The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity by Philip Jenkins" published on 01 Jan 2005 by Brill. “The Next Crusade” (chap. This has prompted leading religious figures in the global South to be involved in politics, government, and a variety of social causes. God, please protect my heart and keep me humble, with my eyes continually focused on you. Philip Jenkins, the author of 24 books, and 120 book chapters and refereed articles, has been on the faculty of Pennsylvania State University since 1980, and in 2007, he was appointed as the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of History and Religious Studies. 4) examines the stunning growth in nearly all Christian churches—both mainstream and independent—except for its suppression in the Islamic world. --CHOICE "Philip Jenkins is a prolific writer...The book is well written and carries its reader along...This is an excellent book for theologians, missiologists, and pastors of multicultural congregations. Rather it is distinct and developing, requiring the reader to view Christianity through new lenses. Along with cofounding and editing a leading Latin American theological journal, he has written several books in Portuguese and English. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. After elaborating on that point, Jenkins begins to paint a picture of the history of Christianity and how it has expanded across the world. DTS Voice offers biblically-centered articles, stories, podcasts, and points of view from the DTS family designed to encourage and equip the church for gospel transformation. The point of chapter 7, “God and the World,” is that, unlike much Christianity present in the North, Southern Christianity assumes that God is active in all spheres of life, private or public. Missiology 2004 32: 2, 242-243 Download Citation. Philip Jenkins, the author of 24 books, and 120 book chapters and refereed articles, has been on the faculty of Pennsylvania State University since 1980, and in 2007, he was appointed as the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of History and Religious Studies. Readers will be surprised to learn that in A.D. 1200 over half of those claiming Christian faith may have lived in the Middle East and Asia—in spite of Muslim domination (pp. A Book Review on The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity. This book offers the first in-depth examination of the globalization of Christianity and discusses the implications for Christian worship, liturgy, culture, and political life. Drawing upon the extensive new scholarship that has appeared on this topic in recent years, he asks how the new Christianity is likely to affect the poor, among whom it finds its most devoted … As a result, in spite of the seeming decline of Christianity in the western world, Christianity is actually growing and flourishing in most areas around the world (Location 992). What would happen if the western world began learning from their theologians, pastors, and Christians? 5) observes demographic trends and the population explosion of the South that will play a key role in Christian expansion in the twenty-first century. At a moment when public attention is focused on the conflict between militant Islam and a largely post-Christian West, Jenkins reminds us that over the past century Christianity has expanded, … Get insight to help you lead and thrive in life from Daniel Im—author of multiple books, pastor at Beulah Alliance Church, and podcast co-host of the IMbetween Show and … The story of the Lambeth fracas is one of the better anecdotes adorning Philip Jenkins's admirable and timely new book The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity. All Content © 2021 Dallas Theological Seminary. In the end, I give this book 4 stars out of 5. “Standing Alone” (chap. Throughout the book, Jenkins is subtly asking the reader to consider how this shift of Christianity should affect how one lives out one’s faith. It is precisely because of this that I love being a part of the M.A. It was not until his publication of The Next Christendom that his reputation as an expert on global Christianity came to the forefront. As a result, I pray that I would never be so prideful to think that I can only learn from the celebrity pastors and theologians of North America, while ignoring the work that anonymous Christians are doing in some place I have never heard of. By Philip Jenkins. in Global Leadership. In “Coming to Terms” (chap. He then examines the re-expansion of Christianity through Catholic and Protestant missions, highlighting its failures and successes in becoming the first truly global religion. August 22, 2011 By Daniel Im. 270 pp. His book, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity, won the 2003 Christianity Today Book Award, the Gold Medallion Book Award, and the Theologos Book Award for the best academic book. And, this is an updated edition which changes content based on a decade or so of history. Since then, he has spoken widely around this topic of global Christianity (http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/j/p/jpj1/vita.htm). He then moves to explain how Christianity is flourishing in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, using many illustrations and case studies to prove his point. Howard A. Snyder. 8) discusses the real and potential conflicts that exist or could well exist in a world that is becoming increasingly polarized by religion in the Southern Hemisphere, particularly between Islam and Christianity. He began as an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice in 1980. "-Russell Shaw, Crisis "If the times demand nothing less than a major rethinking of contemporary global history from a Christian perspective, The Next Christendom will be one of the significant landmarks pointing the way. Third, while the author excels in making the reader aware of the dynamic acceleration of Christianity in the South, Jenkins’s open definition of Christian faith may alarm some. The explosive southward expansion of Christianity in Africa, Asia, and Latin American has barely registered on Western consciousness. "Gracefully written and skillfully argued, The Next Christendom shows the many changes Christianity has undergone and its capacity to survive." Several evaluations are in order. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click on download. The Coming of Global Christianity. In “Seeing Christianity Again for the First Time” (chap. If, as Philip Yancey states, “God goes where he’s wanted” (Location 215), then should the western world not learn from the contexts that God is clearly blessing and moving in? The following is an analytical book review of Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom. $28. By revisiting the history of Christianity, Jenkins shows that the explosive growth of Christianity in the non-North Atlantic world is not a Western incursion but is instead a return to a global faith. What may seem to be oddities in third-world churches may in fact be the result of taking the Bible more literally than churches do in the West. Philip Jenkins argues that what we are seeing is no less than the creation of a new Christendom, which, for better or worse, will play a major role in world affairs. This is a major undertaking completed for a second time in one man's lifetime. Targeting particularly the liberal Westerner, the author establishes his case with an arsenal of historical and contemporary data to support his claim that the conservative, contextualized forms of “Southern Christianity” will define “the next Christendom.”. I do pray that I would never lose sight of the fact that God is not tied to one land or one people, but that he is a God of all peoples and transcends any location. The following is an analytical book review of Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom. In chapter two Jenkins builds a case that, contrary to popular belief, Christianity has never been synonymous with the North Atlantic nations, having regularly sustained a fairly worldwide perspective, if not presence. 276 pp. The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity – Analysis Eliza … Berrien Springs, Michigan de n i S ka i S e r Jenkins, Philip. --CHOICE "Philip Jenkins is a prolific writer...The book is well written and carries its reader along...This is an excellent book for theologians, missiologists, and pastors of multicultural congregations. Perhaps following the footsteps of southern Christianity with a deeper and more personal faith, more emphasis on “communal orthodoxy, mysticism, and puritanism, all focused on clear scriptural authority” would cause Christianity to shift and transform in the western world (Location 120)? He is the author of many books and articles, including the acclaimed The Future of Christianity Trilogy, consisting of The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity, The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South, and God's Continent: Christianity, Islam, and Europe's Religious Crisis. Book Review: The Next Christendom – Philip Jenkins. Book Review: The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity. The Next Christendom is chillingly realistic about the relationship between Christianity and Islam." Last Reviewed on June 19, 2019, by eNotes Editorial. Perhaps this is because that is where the money and the publishers are. Christianity can no longer be seen as the religion of the West but must be appreciated for what it has become, a global reality that is increasingly affected by the characteristics, beliefs, and actions of the people of the South. In either case, if Christianity is flourishing and growing abundantly in the south, whereas it is stagnant and declining in the western world, then would it not make sense to learn from the south? Philip Jenkins, the author of 24 books, and 120 book chapters and refereed articles, has been on the faculty of Pennsylvania State University since 1980, and in 2007, he was appointed as the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of History and Religious Studies. With that set of credentials it’s hard simply to sweep aside the rather astonishing central theses of […] A brief survey of Christian history shows that it was a full thousand years after the fall of the Roman Empire before Christianity became confined mainly to Europe. Will the global north change at all? The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity, by Philip Jenkins; Oxford University Press, 2007 (revised edition), $32.95. 1. 3) Jenkins articulates the nationalization of Christianity by indigenous leaders. --Mark Noll, Books & Culture The Next Christendom begins with an elaboration of the thesis by challenging the myth that Christianity is actually declining and disappearing in the world. In chapter one, “The Christian Revolution,” Jenkins energetically contends that, although ignored by North Atlantic media and academic studies, it is the huge religious migration—the shift in the center of gravity in the Christian world from the North to the South—that was the most significant religious event of the twentieth century. Throughout the book the litmus test for success seems to be quantity more than quality, which is understandably more difficult to discern, especially when a broad definition of Christianity is accepted. Since “Christianity is flourishing wonderfully among the poor and persecuted, while it [is] atroph[ying] among the rich and secure” (Location 3012), what needs to change in the western world for Christianity to once again flourish here? I RVIN A Review of The Next Christendom 279 I would point to one more place where the distorting lens of Western Christendom and the shadow of the European Enlightenment seem to me to be at work in these pages. Thesis Statement. Though he correctly asserts that Christianity should not be defined too narrowly, he includes “for the purposes of this book” a breadth of Christendom that seems to minimize historical doctrines such as the bodily resurrection of Christ and the Trinity (p. 88). This book advances a fascinating thesis, that even whilst the Western world heads towards post-Christendom, Christianity is actually growing and expanding as a worldwide phenomenon. Book Review The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity (Revised and Expanded Edition), by Philip Jenkins Philip Jenkins is Distinguished Professor of History and Religious Studies at Penn State; the book is published by Oxford University Press. Despite the view of many in the West which 1 Church History II Response Paper April 29, 2015 The Next Christendom Dennis Conroy viewed the missionary enterprise as “a cynical arm of ruthless, racist, colonial exploitation,” or the “manifestation of ignorant paternalism,” Many missionaries have “attracted deep respect and even veneration” from their fields. 23–24). This review was published in Quadrant, March 2008 Religion resurgent WHAT IS THE MOST successful social movement of the twentieth century? about the trends in Europe are recommended to consult this book. He makes a point to paint a picture of how Christianity was closely tied with the western imperial expansion. View Next Christendom Book Review_Hist 372.docx from HIST 372 at Regent University. By nearly all standards this is an extraordinary volume. Jenkins correctly indicts the West for ignoring this revolutionary change in the world. Jenkins, distinguished professor of history and religious studies at Penn State University, argues that the astounding growth of Christianity in the Southern Hemisphere over the last century is indicative of both the true global character of Christianity and the central role that the church in the global South will play in the future. Jenkins ascribes this successful Southern growth in part to economic circumstances that have allowed the church to be a refuge to estranged, suffering people during decades of social change. Second, Jenkins demonstrates that at no time in history did the West have a monopoly on the Christian faith. There are aspects of the book that are hard for me, as a conservative Christian, to swallow. He especially loves to orient students to a global understanding of Christian faith and the implications of the triune God for all of life. The Next Christendom: The Coming Global Christianity, 3d ed. Future of Christianity Trilogy. Acclaim for the 1st Edition:Named one of the Top Religion Books of 2002 by USA TodayNamed One of the Top Ten Religion Books of the Year by Booklist (2002)Winner of the Christianity Today Book Award in the category of 'Christianity and Culture' (2002)In this new and substantially expanded Third Edition of the The Next Christendom, Philip Jenkins continues to illuminate the … The New York Times Book Review "If the times demand nothing less than a major rethinking of contemporary global history from a Christian perspective, Philip Jenkins's The Next Christendom will be one of the significant landmarks pointing the way. He completed his undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral work all at the University of Cambridge, but it is not his work in global Christianity that got him on the faculty of Penn State. The Next Christendom is an award-winning work in contemporary “world” Christianity- by this we mean non-western Christianity. By marshalling a wealth of historical and demographic evidence (at certain points questionable), he demonstrates that the future of Christianity almost certainly lies in the South. Contemporary Christianity has shifted south, and its preponderant weight has gone pear-shaped, which is the gist of Philip Jenkins’ remarkable and disturbing synthesis, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity .The bare facts may be old news, but few have spelled out the trouble they portend for the cultural empire of the liberal establishment of the … Southward expansion of Christianity by indigenous leaders review of Philip Jenkins, Next! 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