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The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South Paperback – November 12, 2008

by Philip Jenkins (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 80 ratings
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Named one of the top religion books of 2002 by USA Today, Philip Jenkins' phenomenally successful The Next Christendom permanently changed the way people think about Christianity in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. 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, 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. 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 them with a vividness and authenticity 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. 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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  1. Print length
    252 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  4. Publication date
    November 12, 2008
  5. Dimensions
    8.7 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0195368517
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0195368512
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"[A] witty, erudite, and provocative reflection on popular (as opposed to academic) biblical interpretation ... The New Faces is a most illuminating and inspiring book--a must read." --Catholic Historical Review

Book Description

A breathtaking sequel to the highly influential book The Next Christendom, illuminating the beliefs of Christians in the global South.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (November 12, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 252 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0195368517
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0195368512
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.3 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.7 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 80 ratings

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Philip Jenkins

Philip Jenkins

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Philip Jenkins is the author of The Lost History of Christianity and has a joint appointment as the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of the Humanities in history and religious studies at Penn State University and as Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University. He has published articles and op-ed pieces in The Wall Street Journal, The New Republic, The Atlantic Monthly, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe and has been a guest on top national radio shows across the country.

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4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
80 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

David G Muller Jr
5.0 out of 5 stars New Knowledge on a Critical Topic
Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2007
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Jenkins' treatment of the emerging shape of Christianity in Africa and Asia (not much on Latin America) is a major contribution in several respects:
- Following on his previous book, The Next Christendom, it's an eye-opener on the astonishing growth of Christianity in the global South. Many think that Christianity is nearly unique to the Americas and Europe: there is much more happening, and it is encouraging.
- Theologically, the book provides insights on the Bible as it is read in Africa and Asia that provide rich new perspectives for our own Bible study in the West. New insight into the universality of the biblical message.
- One must ask what are the implications for Christian missions launched from the West. Do Africa and Asia still need us to teach them the Word? They are well on their way, and indeed are evangelizing in Europe and America themselves.

Tremendously thought-provoking and worthwhile. A major contribution to the field.
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M. Durrett
5.0 out of 5 stars A Glimpse of the Christian Future
Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2007
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Philip Jenkins is for my money one of the real superstars of contemporary Christian studies. He writes about what is, not what he wishes were the case, that is he is not an ideologist. His "Hidden Gospels" was tremendous for cutting through the Jesus Seminar claptrap & its many offshoots, long before many other good things came out in response to the DaVinci Code. Jenkins is especially valuable for seeing American Christianity as it is, and this book helps us by pointing the way to understanding the American church, NOT in the fashionable way of looking for signs of its demise, but rather seeing it in the whole sweep of the church's tremendous explosion of growth & vitality around the globe. His book is an answer to that question of why American churches MUST be engaged in ministries, trips & mission endeavors that connect us to the gospel's life beyond our own borders: the answer is so that WE can be in touch with Christ's living work & power & ministry. If it ever was the case that we needed to go out to others for their good, now we must do it for exactly the opposite reason -- for re-connecting ourselves to this Spirit that lives in mission & in gospel planting. Jesus calls us. . .
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N. Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling Description of Global Christianity
Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2011
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The New Faces of Christianity does a wonderful job of portraying the diversity - in faithfulness, maturity, and traditions - within global Christianity. There are many weaknesses, many deep and troubling problems in the churches in Asia and Africa. (Though, as Jenkins is quick to point out, there are plenty of problems in the Western church as well.) At the same time, there are large and growing expressions of historic Christian orthodoxy - often as a result of many of these cultures not suffering the effects of the Enlightenment. The global church never thinks to doubt the supernatural, communal, and public aspects of the Christian faith. Jenkins paints compelling pictures of the churches in Africa, for example, giving a central place to church community, to the public reading of Scripture, and to the implications of the Christian faith for all of life.
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Douglas Groothuis
4.0 out of 5 stars Imporant and interesting survey of how the global south is reading the Bible
Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2007
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Philip Jenkins, Distinguished Professor of History and Religious Studies at Pennsylvania State University, is a prolific author and a clear, engaging writer who has addressed a host of different topics in his many books. Recently, however, he has captured the attention of many evangelicals because of two of his recent works. In 2001 he published Hidden Gospels, a blistering attack on revisionist interpretations of Jesus. He convincingly argues that headline-making scholars of the Jesus Seminar sort traded far more heavily on novelty and sensationalism than on critical and judicious scholarship. In 2002 he made even more waves with the publication of The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity, which brought acclaim from many sources, evangelical and otherwise. The thesis of that book--that Christianity is exploding in unprecedented and often heterodox ways outside of Europe and North America (that is, in "the global south")--is further elaborated in this fascinating and important book on how these new expressions of Christianity are appropriating the Bible for themselves, often apart from Western influences. Jenkins is a Roman Catholic whose own theological perspective is fairly muted throughout the book. He writes more as a chronicler than as a theologian or philosopher, although his own take on the global south's engagement with Scripture does come to surface in several places, as I will note below.

Jenkins begins by noting that African Anglicans are far more conservative than the bulk of their American counterparts. While American Anglicans (Episcopalians) may tolerate or endorse homosexual behavior, abortion, and other liberal shibboleths, African Anglicans take the Bible in a more straightforward way. Bishop Benjamin Nzimbi of Kenya says, "Our understanding of the Bible is far different from them. We are two different churches." Generally speaking, those in the global south--African or otherwise--approach the Bible without the secular influences that have pressed down on Western forms of Christianity. These Christians are thus far more open to the supernatural reports of Scripture--given the spiritual worldview of their native cultures--and take the Bible to have a supernatural power of its own not often considered by Western Christians, even of a more conservative bent.

After considering the more conservative theological approach of Christian movements in the global south in the chapter, "Shall the Fundamentalists Win?" Jenkins presents chapters on the basic view of those in the global south on the efficacy of Scripture, the understanding of the Old Testament in light of the New, the understanding of poverty and wealth, the engagement of good and evil, their theology of persecution and vindication, the struggle between good and evil, and the relationship of women and men. He concludes with reflections on the global south's understanding of Scripture can challenge American Christians.

Each chapter is richly illustrated with stories and ideas from Christians in Africa, South America, Korea, and elsewhere. Jenkins realizes that he must simplify and generalize considerably to speak of the global south's take on the Bible, since these many Christians do not all speak with one voice. However, he does discern common themes and finds areas in which Western Christians can learn from these other believers. Jenkins is not romantic in his exposition, however. While his editorial voice is generally soft, he does highlight areas of concern for those in the West. For example, a pressing ethical question for Christians in much of Africa is polygamy. Besides the occasional headline in the United States about Mormon-influenced polygamists, this seldom gets our attention, and practically stimulates a protracted debate. When I participated in an apologetics question-answer session with a small group at Denver Seminary in 2004, the first question was asked by a student from Ghana. What should be done with a man who converts to Christianity who already has several wives? In my many years of teaching ethics, I had never spoken on that topic and had never been asked about it. The answer I gave, however, was far different from that given by many native Africans who read the stories of the polygamous patriarchs and find justification for polygamy as an ongoing institution. (Jesus speaks against this in Matthew 19:4-6 where he recognizes the monogamy as the original and blessed order of creation.)

While Jenkins seems skeptical of the realities of the demonic and the need for direct spiritual engagement with these realities, many in the global south see the situation very differently. In this sense, they are far closer to a biblical worldview than most American Christians who somehow read over or relativize the many biblical passages that speak to the realities of the struggle between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of darkness and which declare the cosmic victory of Jesus Christ (see Acts 13:1-12; Ephesians 6:10-18; Colossians 2:13-15, and so on). As Jenkins writes, "...precious little is left of the New Testament after we purge all mention of angels, demons, and spirits. Shorn of healing and miraculous cures, the four gospels would be a slim pamphlet indeed" (99). Jenkins reports that one Western Christian leader was surprised to find that upon his arrival in Africa he was expected to cast out demons, something with which he had no familiarity. While Jenkins' handling of this material on the engagement of the supernatural is uneven (he does not fathom very clearly the dynamics of the occult world), a reader more deeply rooted in the inspiration, authority, and inerrancy of Scripture should come away with a more profound respect for the workings of the spiritual world.

This important book deserves much more discussion, since Jenkins covers so much ground so provocatively. Jenkins is not, however, without his faults. For example, he makes several summary statements about Islam in relation to Christianity that reveal both his lack of awareness of Islam's utter incompatibility with Christianity and Islam's intrinsically militant nature. (For a better informed and insider perspective in Christianity and Islam see Mark Gabriel, Islam and Terrorism [Lake Mary, FL: Frontline, 2005].) Nevertheless, the book provides a needful cartography of the new, sprawling, global, Christian landscape. Given the expansion of Christian faith in the global south and its waning influence in the West, the global south's perspective on Scripture should be of central concern to Christians who take the Bible seriously as the epistemological foundation for their faith. What can these sisters and brothers teach us? How might we help correct and instruct them? Where has their interpretation of Scripture fallen prey to syncretism? Where has ours fallen prey to secularism and its anti-supernatural prejudices?

Jenkins does not straightforwardly consider the objective authority and meaning of Scripture, although he mercifully does not adopt a postmodernist approach that dissolves every text into endless social contingencies. It is not clear whether he thinks that the Bible has a determinate meaning that is ascertainable through proper study (exegesis). However, if this is not the case, the danger is that Scripture becomes a wax nose that can be twisted into many different shapes. Scripture itself warns against this (Jeremiah 8:8; Matthew 15:1-4; 2 Peter 3:16). Therefore, in learning how nonwestern Christians approach the Bible, Western Christians should consider whether their interpretations and appropriations truly fit the objective meaning of the text. (On the philosophy of hermeneutics, see William Klein, Craig Blomberg, and Robert Hubbard, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation: Revised and Expanded. [Nashville: Nelson Reference, 2004].) This engagement should be neither a call to unthinking conservatism ("We've got all the truth already, thank you.") nor to unanchored liberalism ("It's all up for grabs, since orthodoxy is what you make it."). Rather, as a Puritan of old put it, "There may yet be more truth to break forth from God's word." Notice the emphasis on "truth" in that statement. The inspired truth has always been there; however, it may have gone unrecognized because of our cultural blinders. However, we will also find errors, ignorance, and turpitude in the global south, since they, too, "see only a reflection as in a mirror" (1 Corinthians 13:12). But By considering how those in the global south are reading, believing, and applying the Bible, we may be able to find more truth in Scripture than we might have otherwise. (Consulting the new Africa Bible Commentary, Tokunboh Adeyemo ed. [Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006], which is edited and written by Africans with a uniformly high view of the Bible, can assist us to this end as well.)
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John Broussard
5.0 out of 5 stars the future of Christianity
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2018
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A quality work indeed.
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Karen
5.0 out of 5 stars The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the ....by Philip Jenkins
Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2014
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Actually exciting to wonder/wander through. The person who reads through this work will come across information which will seem unbelievable, yet informs a deep hope in the words of the Master that the Church Will last.
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Derek King
3.0 out of 5 stars Good not great
Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2016
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Good not great. Read this for class. Enjoyed some parts, uninterested in some parts, disagreed with some parts. But if you need it for a class, this copy should get the job done.
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krakus
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book
Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2013
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It is the best presentation on the development of Christianity that takes place in the South. It gives the reader a lot of new ideas, inspiring one's own faith and a new look at the biblical stories. Must read.
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Top reviews from other countries

San Patch
4.0 out of 5 stars North versus South?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 28, 2009
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I bought The New Faces of Christianity after I had read his two other books, God's Continent and The New Christendom. Professor Jenkins, in the spirit of the other books, does not disappoint in The New Faces: his analysis is encyclopaedic, nuanced and fresh.

He argues that the centre of gravity of Christianity is moving inexorably from the North (Europe and North America) to the Global South (The Third World). This shift will have profound implications for the `face' of Christianity and the impact that it will have on social, economic and political issues. To illustrate this point, Jenkins examines how the `Southern' Christian denominations - in Africa and Asia - read the Bible, and how much authority they give to the Holy Writ. Southern Christians, who live in rapidly modernising - and sometimes agrarian - societies identify closely with the imagery and the social world of both the Old and New Testaments. Therefore, they have used the Bible to challenge and sometimes reinforce traditional values in their societies.

One example of challenging traditional values is the reading of the role of women in the Church. In many Southern Churches from Zimbabwe to India, women have read the stories of women in the Bible such as Rahab, Deborah, Sarah and Ruth to seek inspiration: Rahab, for example, a harlot was saved by Yahweh and eventually become an ancestor of Christ speaks to the power of Christianity to outcasts. Also, Ruth, a model of fidelity and virtue becomes for some Southern Christians a symbol of colonial oppression (Ruth, a Moabite, only `found' salvation when she abandoned her heritage and became Hebrew).

Apart from the way in which Southern Christians read the Bible, the most profound difference between North and South is the credibility that is accorded to demons and the supernatural. Jenkins argues that while there is an `ineradicable' substrate of superstition even in the advanced West, the credence given to the supernatural in African and Asian Christianity marks them distinctly from Northern Christians. Jenkins does not make light the African belief in the cosmic embodiments of evil. Instead, he argues that African Christianity has had to subsume pre-Christian animist beliefs in order to gain adherents among Southern populations.
Indeed, many white missionaries failed to convert Africans in the nineteenth century precisely because they (the missionaries) tended to downplay the African belief in the supernatural.African Independent Churches, in contrast to the European missionaries, co-opted African pre-Christian spirituality into Christianity. Therefore, they were able to win more converts to Christianity. (Many early African converts considered Jesus to be more powerful than any evil ancestral spirit) and succeeded beyond the missionaries' wildest dreams.

What does the shift to the South mean for Christianity? Jenkins argues that Third World issues will increasingly dominate the Church's agenda. However, he is more taciturn about the implications for `Northern' issues such as separation of Church and State; the Culture Wars; and the self-conscious definition of Christianity: who is a Christian and how is he/she different from a Muslim or a Jew? Only time will tell.

In conclusion, I enjoyed reading The New Faces; it is packed with page after page of personal accounts of the encounter between Northern academics and Southern stories and has an extensive bibliography. It was personal reflection on my childhood, growing up as a second-generation Christian in Lagos, Nigeria. Jenkins clinically captures the conflict between Southern spirituality and Northern rationality and left me wondering, "How does a Professor from the University of Pennsylvania have such remarkable insight into the religious world of my youth?" I could only conclude that modern scholarship is a beautiful thing for which Jenkins' The New Faces deserves 4 stars.
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Peter Stone
4.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 15, 2007
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Another great book by Philip Jenkins re the state of Christianity today and about it's shift South. While I would fully endorse this book as good, informative and of journalistic quality I would have to disagree with the title. The Title talks about the Global south which includes Latin America, Africa and Asia, but Philip deals mostly with Africa. A better title would have been "The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in Africa" If it wasn't for this I would have given 5 stars. Still worth a read all the same to get a view of what African Christianity is like today.
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