The Stranger

The Stranger September 16, 2003

Below are some notes for a talk I’m giving at the University of Idaho campus tomorrow evening (September 17). Apologies for the formatting. There’s some material here that is relevant only to the local situation, but the general thrust would be relevant to any Christians in a university town or any town with a significant foreign population. ( Notes continued in the next entry . . . . )

The Stranger

I. I want to talk about a few related things this evening:
A. first, I want to talk about the state of global Christianity: if you’ve been in my theology class: read Jenkins; also if you’ve talked with Brendan in the last year: you’ve heard about this: this is important information if we’re going to understand our period of church history and our place in it; another way to say this: Moscow is no t the center of the Christian universe
B. second, I want to talk about the fact of international students in our area: this is a great opportunity for us to have some effect on the direction of Christianity in other nations, where Christianity is developing most rapidly and is most vibrant
C. third, I want to make the point that this is not just a strategy or a tactic, but a basic demand of Christian charity: Israel was judged by how they treated strangers and sojourners and aliens in their midst: and so will we be
D. finally, I want to suggest some practical things you can do

II. the state of world Christianity
A. we tend to look back longingly to the Reformation as one of the great periods of church history: and it was in many respects: but in terms of the global reach of Christianity, Christianity has rarely ever been confined to so contracted and small an area since its inception:
1. in the fourth century, Christianity encircled the Med: still strong in Palestine: Jerusalem was a largely Christian city for many centuries; dominant in N Africa, from Egypt to Carthage and beyond; it was taking hold in N Europe; and there were Christian missionaries being sent around Europe from the out-back of Europe, Ireland
2. the rise of Islam pushed Christianity back, into a largely European area: out of Palestine and Arabia, out of N Africa; Spain was contested for centuries, and Islam threatened to overrun Western Europe
3. in the Reformation era: Christianity had become European: “During the second half of the fifteenth century, Christianity became increasingly a European religion. Islam had launched a jihad against Christianity several centuries earlier. By about 1450, as a direct result of its military conquests, Islam was firmly established in the southwestern and southeastern parts of Europe. Although Christian communities continued to exist outside Europe (most notably in Egypt, Ethiopia, India, and Syria), Christianity was becoming geographically restricted” (McGrath, Historical Theology , 214)
B. over the last several centuries, the church has witnessed unprecedented growth and expansion:
1. McGrath: “One of the most dramatic developments to take place during the last few centuries has been the recovery of Christianity from this crisis. By the twentieth century, Christianity was firmly established as the dominant religion in the Americas, Australasia, southern Africa, and throughout many of the island nations of the South Pacific”
C. This is the thrust of Philip Jenkins’s book, The Next Christendom : though his focus is on the last century or so:
1. p 1: “over the past five centuries or so, the story of Christianity has been inextricably bound up with that of Europe and European-derived civilizations overseas, above all in North America. Until very recently, the overwhelming majority of Christians have lived in White nations, allowing theorists to speak smugly, arrogantly, of ‘European Christian’ civilization . . . . It is self-evidently the religion of the haves”
2. p 2: “Over the past century, however, the center of gravity in the Christian world has shifted inexorably southward, to Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Already today, the largest Christian communities on the planet are to be found in Africa.”

Notes continued in the next entry . . . .


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