From the archive is a series of posts highlighting content previously posted on this blog that may be new to some readers or helpful to revisit: This post looks at the growth of Christianity in non-western cultures via a news article from the Canadian Nation Post, and the book ‘Whose Religion is Christianity’.

The original post was published on 31st December 2006 and can be found here

World-Changing Christianity

A while back I read the book Whose Religion is Christianity by Lamin Sanneh, a difficult but rewarding look at the explosion of Global Christianity in the non-western (post-secular) world. I never got round to posting my thoughts on the subject, but this article from the Canadian National Post echoes a lot of what Sanneh is saying in the book.

The book explores in great detail the reasons and causes for this global surge in the faith while exploring what it means for The Church in western and non-western cultures, where the article focuses more on the facts and figures of this “surprising” outbreak of a religion that many thought “would have long been shuffled off the main stage of history, relegated to the purely private sphere. There would still be religious believers, but religion would cease to be a major force shaping culture. It would be more akin to a hobby.”

Like it or not, the west is realising that Christianity is still a world-changing force. If this article peaked your interest in the global picture of 21st Century Christianity, I strongly suggest getting hold of Sanneh’s book. It’s a tough read, but well worth it.

I orignally found the book through Jonny Baker. Here’s a link to his post on the book.