BIBH 670 Issues in Global Christianity

The Handbook of Global Contemporary Christianity: Movements, Institutions & Allegiance traces how the largest religion in the world continues to be expressed in energetic global dynamic forms. In contemporary times Christianity is increasingly exposed to divisions, not only through its traditional channels – Roman Catholic, Protestant and the Orthodoxy – nor conservative and liberal streams, but numerous nuanced articulations. This is reflected in the roles of clergy and lay people, in organisational dynamics, sources of allegiance and articulations of the faith, movements of renewal and revivalism, syncretic modes, and broader relationships with wider cultural trajectories and changing social circumstances.

The Handbook of Global Contemporary Christianity: Themes and Developments in Culture, Politics, and Society maps the transformations, as well as the continuities, of the largest of the major religions - engaging with the critical global issues which relate to the faith in a fast changing world. International experts in the area offer contributions focusing on global movements; regional trends and developments; Christianity, the state, politics and polity; and Christianity and social diversity. Collectively the contributors provide a comprehensive treatment of health of the religion as Christianity enters its third millennium in existence and details the challenges and dilemmas facing its various expressions, both old and new. The volume is a companion to the Handbook of Contemporary Global Christianity: Movements, Institutions, and Allegiance.

The Oxford Handbook of Music and World Christianities investigates the role of music in Christian practice and history across contemporary world Christianities (including chapters focused on communities in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia). Using ethnography, history, and musical analysis, it explores Christian groups as sites of transmission, transformation, and creation of deeply diverse musical traditions. The book traces five themes: music and missions, music and religious utopias, music and conflict, music and transnational flows, and music and everyday life.

There are an estimated 600 million Evangelicals in the world today, crossing cultures, histories, languages, politics, and nationalities. Evangelicals Around the World: A Global Handbook for the 21st Century introduces the fastest-growing segment of the global Christian church to the world and to each other. Bringing together a team of multi-disciplined scholars, writers, activists, and leaders from around the world, this handbook provides a compelling look at the diverse group we call Evangelicals. In this guide, written by those who know the movement the best, the issues that divide and the beliefs that unite this global Christian movement are presented in a journalistic fashion.

Theological education is vital for the future of World Christianity--this conviction lies at the heart of this publication. Theological education has the potential to be the seedbed for the renewal of churches, their ministries, mission, and commitment to Christian unity.

Theology has a rich tradition across the African continent, and has taken myriad directions since Christianity first arrived on its shores. This handbook charts both historical developments and contemporary issues in the formation and application of theologies across the member countries of the African Union. Written by a panel of expert international contributors, chapters firstly cover the various methodologies needed to carry out such a survey. Various theological movements and themes are then discussed, as well as biblical and doctrinal issues pertinent to African theology. Subjects addressed include: * Orality and theology * Indigenous religions and theology * Patristics * Pentecostalism * Liberation theology * Black theology * Social justice * Sexuality and theology * Environmental theology * Christology * Eschatology * The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament The Routledge Handbook of African Theology is an authoritative and comprehensive survey of the theological landscape of Africa. As such, it will be a hugely useful volume to any scholar interested in African religious dynamics, as well as academics of Theology or Biblical Studies in an African context.

Named an Honor Book for Nonfiction by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association African American theology has a long and important history. With modern roots in the civil rights movements of the 1960s, African American theology has gone beyond issues of justice and social transformation to participate in broader dialogues of theological inquiry. The Oxford Handbook of African American Theology brings together leading scholars in the field to offer a critical and comprehensive analysis of this theological tradition in its many forms and contexts. Using an interdisciplinary approach, this Oxford Handbook examines the nature, structures, and functions of African American Theology.

This handbook explores the central theme of Christian faith from various disciplinary approaches and different contexts of black experience in the United States. The central unifying theme is freedom; an important concept both in American culture and Christianity. African American theology represents a Christian understanding of God's freedom and the good news of God's call for all humankind to enter life-true human identity and moral responsibility-in genuine and just community.

This Handbook of Theological Education in Africa is a fascinating witness to the explosive nature of theological education. The historical and regional surveys, among others, open our eyes and ears to see and hear how fast it has taken root historically, geographically, and ecumenically. The landscape of African theological education changed drastically during the final twenty to thirty years of the last century.

This impressive and comprehensive publication focuses on key resources for teaching about Christian unity and common witness in Asian contexts. This collection of articles reflects the ongoing need to wrestle both with the texts of biblical tradition and with contemporary contexts.

Handbook of Religion and the Asian City highlights the creative and innovative role of urban aspirations in Asian world cities. It does not assume that religion is of the past and that the urban is secular, but instead points out that urban politics and governance often manifest religious boundaries and sensibilities. In short, that public religion is politics. The essays in this book show how projects of secularism come up against projects and ambitions of a religious nature, a particular form of contestation that takes the city as its public arena. Questioning the limits of cities like Mumbai, Singapore, Seoul, Beijing, Bangkok, and Shanghai, the authors assert that Asian cities have to be understood not as global models of futuristic city planning but as larger landscapes of spatial imagination that have specific cultural and political trajectories.

Named by the International Bulletin of Missionary Studies as an Outstanding Book of 2014 for Mission Studies. Despite the ongoing global expansion of Christianity, there remains a lack of comprehensive scholarship on its development in Asia. This volume fills the gap by exploring the world of Asian Christianity and its manifold expressions, including worship, theology, spirituality, inter-religious relations, interventions in society, and mission.

Handbook of Latino/a Theologies explores the varied theological, ecclesiastical, spiritual, and cultural expressions associated with the term 'Latino/a or Hispanic theology.' There is no single definition of Hispanic/Latino theology, but rather a multiplicity of perspectives within the diverse Latino/a communities that articulate a distinctive and relevant Hispanic viewpoint. This collection of thirty-four essays surveys how Latinos/as understand and do theology within those varied contexts. It gives attention to the history, nature, sources, and development of Latinos/as theological expressions within the U.S. and their contribution to the overall theological discourse and to the individual groups that gave rise to them. Part I of the handbook presents essays on many traditional topics in Christian theology representative both of the individual authors and various beliefs found in Latino/a communities. Part II focuses on trends and contextual issues within the overall Hispanic/Latino theological conversation.

Latin American Christianity is too often presented as a unified story appended to the end of larger western narratives. And yet the stories of Christianity in Latin America are as varied and diverse as the lands and the peoples who live there. The unique political, ecclesial, social, and historical realities of each nation inevitably shaped a variety of Christian expressions in each. Now, for the first time, a resource exists to help students and scholars understand the histories of Latin American Christianity. An ideal resource, this handbook is designed as an accompaniment to reading and research in the field. After a generous overview to the history and theology of the region, the text moves nation-by-nation, providing timelines, outlines, and substantial introductions to the politics, people, movements, and relevant facts of Christianity as experienced in that nation. The result is an informative and eye-opening introduction to a kaleidoscope of efforts to articulate the meanings and implications of Christianity in the context of Latin America.

The United States is in the midst of a demographic revolution. It is estimated that by 2050 Latinx Americans will make up thirty percent of the nation's total population. Most Latinx Americans today are Christian. And while, historically, most of those Latinx Christians have been Catholics, that is changing as well, as more Latinx Americans embrace Protestantism or other traditions and practices. Even within the U.S. Catholic Church the demographic changes are being felt, as more than half of young American Catholics are Latinx. The Oxford Handbook of Latinx Christianities in the United States provides an introduction to U.S. Latinx Christianities, helping readers better understand the largest minority group in the United States. The chapters are written by specialists in U.S. Latinx Christianities from fields such as history, theology, and sociology and organized by theme.

By 2025, Latin America's population of observant Christians will be the largest in the world. Nonetheless, studies examining the exponential growth of global Christianity tend to overlook this region, focusing instead on Africa and Asia. Research on Christianity in Latin America provides a core point of departure for understanding the growth and development of Christianity in the "Global South." In The Oxford Handbook of Latin American Christianity an interdisciplinary contingent of scholars examines Latin American Christianity in all of its manifestations from the colonial to the contemporary period. The essays here provide an accessible background to understanding Christianity in Latin America. Spanning the era from indigenous and African-descendant people's conversion to and transformation of Catholicism during the colonial period through the advent of Liberation Theology in the 1960s and conversion to Pentecostalism and Charismatic Catholicism, The Oxford Handbook of Latin American Christianity is the most complete introduction to the history and trajectory of this important area of modern Christianity.