The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity

The Future of Christianity Trilogy

by Philip Jenkins

The explosive southward expansion of Christianity in Africa, Asia, and Latin American has barely registered on Western consciousness. Nor has the globalization of Christianity--and the enormous religious, political, and social consequences it portends--been properly understood.
Philip Jenkins' The Next The Coming of Global Christianity is the first book to take the full measure of the changing face of the Christian faith. Jenkins asserts that by the year 2050 only one Christian in five will be a non-Latino white person and that the center of gravity of
the Christian world will have shifted firmly to the Southern hemisphere. Within a few decades Kinshasa, Buenos Aires, Addis Ababa, and Manila will replace Rome, Athens, Paris, London, and New York as the focal points of the Church. Moreover, Jenkins shows that the churches that have grown most
rapidly in the global south are far more traditional, morally conservative, evangelical, and apocalyptic than their northern counterparts. Mysticism, puritanism, belief in prophecy, faith-healing, exorcism, and dream-visions--concepts which more liberal western churches have traded in for
progressive political and social concerns--are basic to the newer churches in the south. And the effects of such beliefs on global politics, Jenkins argues, will be enormous, as religious identification begins to take precedence over allegiance to secular nation-states. Indeed, as Christianity grows
in regions where Islam is also expected to increase--as recent conflicts in Indonesia, Nigeria, and the Philippines reveal--we may see a return to the religious wars of the past, fought out with renewed intensity and high-tech weapons far surpassing the swords and spears of the middle ages.
Jenkins shows that Christianity is on the rise again, and to understand what that rise may mean requires a new awareness of what is happening in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The Next Christendom takes the first large step towards that new awareness.

Genres: Religion, History, Christianity, Theology, Christian, Nonfiction, Church History

270 pages, Hardcover

First published March 31, 2002

About the author

John Philip Jenkins was born in Wales in 1952. He was educated at Clare College, in the University of Cambridge, where he took a prestigious “Double First” degree—that is, Double First Class Honors. In 1978, he obtained his doctorate in history, also from Cambridge. Since 1980, he has taught at Penn State University, and currently holds the rank of Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of the Humanities. He is also a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion.

Though his original training was in early modern British history, he has since moved to studying a wide range of contemporary topics and issues, especially in the realm of religion.

Jenkins is a well-known commentator on religion, past and present. He has published 24 books, including The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South and God's Continent: Christianity, Islam and Europe's Religious Crisis (Oxford University Press). His latest books, published by HarperOne, are The Lost History of Christianity and Jesus Wars (2010).

His book The Next Christendom in particular won a number of honors. USA Today named it one of the top religion books of 2002; and Christianity Today described The Next Christendom as a “contemporary classic.” An essay based on this book appeared as a cover story in the Atlantic Monthly in October 2002, and this article was much reprinted in North America and around the world, appearing in German, Swiss, and Italian magazines.

His other books have also been consistently well received. Writing in Foreign Affairs in 2003, Sir Lawrence Freedman said Jenkins's Images of Terror was “a brilliant, uncomfortable book, its impact heightened by clear, restrained writing and a stunning range of examples.”

Jenkins has spoken frequently on these diverse themes. Since 2002, he has delivered approximately eighty public lectures just on the theme of global Christianity, and has given numerous presentations on other topics. He has published articles and op-ed pieces in many media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, New Republic, Foreign Policy, First Things, and Christian Century. In the European media, his work has appeared in the Guardian, Rheinischer Merkur, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Welt am Sonntag, and the Kommersant (Moscow). He is often quoted in news stories on religious issues, including global Christianity, as well as on the subject of conflicts within the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, and controversies concerning cults and new religious movements. The Economist has called him “one of America's best scholars of religion.”

Over the last decade, Jenkins has participated in several hundred interviews with the mass media, newspapers, radio, and television. He has been interviewed on Fox's The Beltway Boys, and has appeared on a number of CNN documentaries and news specials covering a variety of topics, including the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, as well as serial murder and aspects of violent crime. The 2003 television documentary Battle for Souls (Discovery Times Channel) was largely inspired by his work on global Christianity. He also appeared on the History Channel special, Time Machine: 70s Fever (2009).

Jenkins is much heard on talk radio, including multiple appearances on NPR's All Things Considered, and on various BBC and RTE programs. In North America, he has been a guest on the widely syndicated radio programs of Diane Rehm, Michael Medved, and James Kennedy; he has appeared on NPR’s Fresh Air, as well as the nationally broadcast Canadian shows Tapestry and Ideas. His media appearances include newspapers and radio stations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Brazil, as well as in many different regions of the United States.

Because of its relevance to policy issues, Jenkins's work has attracted the attention of gove

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jenkins has given his readers much to consider in The Next Christendom. Starting with statistical evidence that the heart of Christianity no longer lies in the West, but that it lies in the South on the continents of South America and Africa, and in the East in Asia, he paints a picture of current day Christianity that is very non-white, and poor. This revelation alone is enough to cause me to pause, and to begin to reevaluate much of my perspective on worldwide Christianity. Jenkins says, "If we want to visualize a 'typical' contemporary Christian, we should think of a woman living in a village in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favela." This statement should not shock me, but it does. I am immediately exposed by Jenkins and primed to listen for more.

Jenkins then grabbed my attention when he spoke to the idea of a "tripartite model" of early Christian expansion. He says:

To imagine the early history of Christianity, we would do much better to use the standard map of the world that was regularly offered in medieval times. In these older pictures, the then known continents of Europe, Africa, and Asia all appeared as more or less equal lobes conjoined at a central location, which was Palestine, with Jerusalem at its center. This image made splendid theological sense, in that Jesus' sacrificial self-giving occurred at the very center of the world that he was saving. Theology apart, the tripartite model is far more useful for understanding Christian expansion, which occurred simultaneously into the three continents.

From this statement, Jenkins moves to argue that Christianity has ancient roots in Africa (and Asia as well), yet the Western church so often has not given adequate consideration to this fact. Rather, the African church is typically viewed as something very new, and the result of Western mission efforts from the modern mission movement. Could it be that the Christian faith has existed outside of Europe for 2,000 years? If so, what implications does this have on how the West is to view the non-Western world?

Jenkins also argues that the church in the South looks much different than the church in the West. Southern expressions of faith are "enthusiastic" and "spontaneous". They are more "fundamentalist" and "supernatural-oriented". Why is this? The main reason, as Jenkins points out, is that the West has, through the Enlightenment, come to see a distinction, a separation, between the sacred and the secular aspect of life. This divide is completely unheard of in the non-Western parts of the world, where the spiritual realm is seen as still very much in control of the natural world. As such, worship and faith have practical application to, and consequences on, all aspects of life.

And in these more "spirit-driven" cultures, as opposed to the West's "Enlightenment-driven" cultures, Scripture continues to have clear application to the problems so prominent in our modern day world--problems of oppression and poverty. Biblical accounts of exorcism and healing are not considered irrelevant, but are trusted as evidence of what continues to be possible today. Indeed, it is the appearance of healings and miraculous works in the church today that serves to draw unprecedented numbers of new converts.

I was inspired by Jenkins to work hard to change my actions, as well as my beliefs and perceptions. Having lived the past decade in close relationships with Africans, I have always viewed them as a brother--but as my little brother. I have thought of myself as the teacher, and them as the student. This mentality has to change. Not only our my African brothers my peers, but they also have MUCH to teach me!

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great.

[Valerie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Summary

The Next Christendom, by Dr. Jenkins, is a book about the Christian faith thriving not in the West, but in the global South. He argues, “Christianity is now rooted in the Third World, and the religion’s future lies in the global South.” With his statistics, it is difficult to disagree with Jenkins. In the first chapter, titled “Christian Revolution”, Jenkins observes that within the past century, Christianity has shifted from “white” nations to Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Even further, he claims, “the emerging Christian world will be anchored in the southern continents” and “soon, the two main centers of Christianity will be Africa and Latin America.” To prove his point, he states a startling statistic: “In 1950, a list of the world’s leading Christian countries would have included Britain, France, Spain, and Italy, but none of these names would be represented in a corresponding list for 2050.” If this is true, then Christianity, as we know it now will be of the past—stereotypes included, and thus the world will witness a “Christian Revolution.” In the next chapter, Jenkins gives a brief history of Christianity by pointing out that the global South has Christian heritage that is often overlooked and saying, “As Christianity moves south, it is in some ways returning to its roots.”
Jenkins continues in chapter three discussing the common view of missionaries and the history of prophets, particularly in Africa. He quotes, “Christian explorers bring more than just their faith. They also bring a profound sense of cultural superiority, and a lust for wealth.” He points out that while many people hold this view of Christian missionaries being oppressive, the truth is that these missionaries have been effective and admired in the Third World. Then he delves into African prophets mixing Christianity with their cultural pagan practices and beginning a new independent church. Continuing into the next chapter, Jenkins spouts out stats of Pentecostals, Roman Catholics, and Protestant population growth in Latin America and Africa. He credits the success to missionaries, but also acknowledges that churches “fulfill new social needs” as well as “provide functional alternative arrangements for health, welfare, and education.”
Despite all the Christian numbers and religious statistics, Jenkins believes defining “Christian” is not so black and white. There is an issue of people saying they are Christian, but do not practice it. The bigger issue is the hundreds of branches of Christianity that disagree on the fundamental and essential issues and incorporate cultural tradition with the Christian faith. Jenkins’ observation is that the churches of the South tend to be “enthusiastic, much more centrally concerned with the immediate workings of the supernatural, through prophecy, visions, ecstatic utterances, and healing.” This type of Christianity counters the Christianity of the North. Another difference is that the North practices a separation between church and state, where as the South infuse politics and religion together. Jenkins writes that at one point, Christianity will be so prominent in the politics of the South that the North will define itself against Christianity.
However, Christianity is not the only growing religion. Islam is rising fast and Jenkins confirms his insight that Islam and Christianity will raise arms once again in the “Next Crusade.” According to him, the booming population growth and conversions are factors that threaten to create religious instability and violence in the Third World.
As Jenkins wraps up his book, he expresses concern for the Southern churches. He admits that their conservatism might have something to do with their youth and there is still the possibility that as the church grows, so will ideas of liberalism. He concludes that Christianity will always thrive, but never as weak or as strong as we think it will.


Personal Reaction

Jenkins’ book has very many observational and insightful thoughts that Christians should consider. While he discusses many issues, the overall arching question is “How will Christianity in the South impact Christianity globally?” The answers bring forth many challenges for the church and missions.
The first and most obvious challenge is that many Christians in the global South have a Third World wealth status. The church is responsible for sharing what wealth they have with their fellow brothers and sisters, as well the lost community. Though churches in the North are significantly wealthier than those of the South, they ignore and refuse this responsibility. As the Christian church rapidly continues to grow in the South, this obligation becomes harder to ignore. Ironically enough, the churches in the South are not as hording compared to their brothers. In fact, it is because of their lower incomes that they can see money as something that is meant to bless others around them and help provide for their needs. Their generosity in giving does and will challenge wealthier penny-pinching churches. However, there are churches that see Christianity as a means of attaining wealth and health. Jenkins stated that the growth of many southern churches is due to economic circumstances. Missionaries have a responsibility to make it clear that Christianity does not mean prosperity. The challenge in this is that these Southern churches will find that message hard to believe from a Northern missionary who has never known hunger.
Another issue that arises with the growth of the Southern Church is the popularity of Pentecostals. Jenkins writes, “The types of Christianity that have thrived most successfully in the global South have been very different from what many Europeans and North Americans consider mainstream. These models have been far more enthusiastic, much more centrally concerned with the immediate workings of the supernatural, through prophecy, visions, ecstatic utterances, and healing.” Often, churches from the North do not give credit to “workings of the supernatural” and disregard them as figments of the imagination. Churches in the South do not need convincing of the supernatural because their cultures already implemented those kinds of beliefs. The difference is that Christ is the source of these supernatural miracles. As Southern churches grow and become the centers of Christianity, the Northern churches will have to reconsider where they stand on these issues, though eventually these practices will likely find their way into the church regardless. Missionaries working with Southern churches will find these supernatural events as conflicts simply because they do not understand. Missionaries may see the need to encourage rational thought, but they will also have to admit to these radical workings of the Holy Spirit. Overall, the growing acknowledgment of the supernatural may be exactly what the Christianity of the twenty first century needs and could have massive impact in the world.
Lastly, Jenkins points out the problems of inculturation. He says, “So far, we have been looking at forms of adaptation that clearly build on familiar Christian traditions, but some patterns in the emerging churches raise searching questions about the acceptable limits of accommodation.” Culture greatly effects how one views Christianity—North and South. Jenkins also notes, “When cultural assimilation reaches a certain point, Western observers complain that what is being transformed is not merely the trappings but the core of the faith. What is being practiced, it appears, is not inculturation but syncretism, the blatant adulteration of Christianity by elements of other religions.” Though Jenkins warns his readers about the South implementing Christianity with their pagan practices, truthfully, this is a dangerous possibility in any culture. Churches are challenged to dig into the Bible and discover the core matters of Christianity. Missionaries will be forced to incorporate new cultural practices, yet also speak against the ones that corrupt the original intent of Christianity.


Conclusion

Jenkins’ expresses many new thoughts about the future of Christianity in The Next Christendom. While some of his statistics about Christianity may not be the most accurate because of the difficulty in defining Christianity, his observances of general patterns in the global North and South ring true. Christians should know what their future may hold, what changes they might see, and what challenges they will likely face. Though Jenkins argues his point well, readers should know that most of this book is his speculations of Christianity’s future and not fact. Nonetheless, The Next Christendom is definitely a book that Christians should read, contemplate, and discuss.

[Karlie Keller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to read this book for class. It was a very perspective-forming book for the global church as it stands, and it definitely checked my Western-centric mindset. Unfortunately it felt both repetitive and overly-dense. There were so many statistics that I simply did not care about.

[BJ Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christianity is changing. More and more, Europe and America are becoming post-Christian societies. But at the same time, the church is growing in leaps and bounds in Latin America, East Asia, and in Africa. This is changing how Christianity is being expressed and when dealing with facts, numbers, and trends Philip Jenkins is spot on. Occasionally, he will make forays into making predictions based on these numbers and here, I don't quite buy what he is selling. Overall, this is a great book. Christianity has long since stopped being a "Western, white-man's" religion (if it ever truly was). Unfortunately, too many of us in the West have not yet realized this, and Jenkins does a great job of pointing us toward the handwriting on the wall.

A few quotes and highlights...

"Pentecostal expansion across the Southern continents has been so astonishing as to justify claims of a new Reformation."

"Christianity has thus been in China for a long time—about as long, in fact, as Buddhism has been in Japan."

"In many cases, as in India, China, and large parts of Africa, Christian missionaries were not so much breaking new ground as reopening ancient and quite familiar mines. In the 1880s missionaries in the Kongo met with mass enthusiasm that would be difficult to explain if we did not realize that the people were rediscovering what had been the national religion only a century or so earlier. The response of those peoples was not “Thank you for bringing us this startling new message” but rather “Welcome back.”

"Amazing as it may appear to a blasé West, Christianity exercises an overwhelming global appeal, which shows not the slightest sign of waning."

"China has about as many Christians as it does members of the Communist Party."

"The twentieth century was the last in which whites dominated the Catholic church: Europe simply is not The Church. Latin America may be."

"For whatever reason, Western investment in missions has been cut back dramatically at just the point it is most desperately needed, at the peak of the current surge in Christian numbers."

[[Name Redacted] · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compelling corrective which demonstrates the ways in which modern Western claims (particularly by academics and secularists) about the impending "death" of Christianity are in fact based on ethnocentrism and cultural myopia. Such claims, as Jenkins demonstrates, fail to take into account the explosive growth of Christianity in Africa, Latin America and Asia over the last few decades -- growth which is generally ignored because it is occuring among peoples whom claimants (perhaps subconsciously) view as unimportant, insignificant or unworthy of consideration, and because it involves forms of Christianity which the claimants do not even bother to take into account. And growth which I myself have witnessed.

Jenkins proposes: that Christianity will eventually shift from a religion centered in the global West and North to a religion centered in the "global South"; that while Islam may eventually emerge as the dominant religion of Europe, the continuous stream of Latin-American, African and Asian immigrants into the United States and Canada will likely lead to a sort of "re-Christianization" of those nations (rather than the secularization predicted by academics); and that just as the shift from the Near/Middle East and Mediterranean regions to Europe and Russia changed the nature of Christian credo and praxis, Christianity's nature will eventually be determined by the people of the global South.

A fascinating read, and amazingly thorough. Highly recommended.

[Brendan Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jenkins’s timing in writing this volume could not have been better. Technology is making the world smaller than it has ever been. Our ability to connect with people in other parts of the world has increased exponentially, and we have never had less of an excuse to be ignorant of other cultures. At the same time, the decline of Europe and North America seems inexorable, and the church in the Northwest is growing sickly. The time to open our eyes to a global reality is upon us, and with that comes the responsibility to understand Christianity in a new context. In this regard, Jenkins is ahead of the curve. The Next Christendom anticipates the coming changes and urges readers to prepare their hearts and minds for a radical reevaluation of the Christian faith.
Jenkins is well-researched and well-spoken. He spends a great deal of time and effort identifying ways in which Northern Christians have either misread or ignored the history and cultural development of the faith. His tone remains diplomatic and informative as he straightens out these misconceptions by introducing new information and reminding us of our own history. One particularly striking example of this comes in chapter six. When confronted with the question of how much culture can be safely absorbed into Christianity before it becomes tainted, Jenkins is quick to remember how many great European cathedrals were likely built atop pagan worship sites, and he points out that Easter was the name of a pagan goddess before it was the name of our most sacred holiday. Christianity has always adapted to other cultures, including the European culture we tend to associate most with “true biblical Christianity.” With plenty of historical evidence and demographic information, Jenkins very convincingly presents his case that a) Christianity was never the sole property of the Northwest and b) that its future lies in the South.
In the face of widespread pessimism regarding the future of culture and of faith, The Next Christendom brings a refreshingly optimistic take on Christianity. This is not to say that Jenkins paints a Pollyanna-esque portrait of the future. He is realistic about the challenges that Christians will face in the 21st century, both externally (as a result of clashes with secularism and Islam) and internally (as a result of clashes between Northern and Southern breeds of Christianity). However, his overall message is hopeful. Christianity is not dying, it is thriving. European churches may be in decline, but Latin American churches are exploding with new life. The missionary efforts of the Colonial era were not all in vain or fraudulent. The Third World is poor in material wealth but is rich in spirit. Jenkins remarks, “time and again, Christianity demonstrates a breathtaking ability to turn weakness into strength” (276).
The positivity of this message is tempered by the humility that is required to receive it. A reader from the North must realize that North America and Europe’s time as the cultural center of the world is likely coming to a close. Relinquishing our hold on power and passing the figurative baton to the South requires a humble mindset that we are simply not accustomed to. I was particularly struck by Jenkins’s assertion that “In the present day, it may be that it is only in the newer churches that the Bible can be read with authenticity and immediacy, and that the Old Christendom should listen attentively to Southern voices” (273).
The primary critique that The Next Christendom is subject to is whether or not Jenkins defines Christianity too broadly. To say that the Christian faith is moving South is all well and good, unless what he is calling Christianity in the South is not Christianity at all. If this is the case, then Jenkins’s optimistic assessment turns dark very quickly; a pseudo-Christian movement with an exponential growth rate would be a disastrous development for those committed to propagating a pure faith. Jenkins is aware of this and attempts to address it, particularly in chapters three and six. As previously stated, he does an admirable job of explaining how European Christianity experienced inculturation in the same way that Latin American, African, and Asian Christianity is experiencing it today. He also works to expose how “Claims that Southern churches have strayed from older definitions Christianity are seriously exaggerated,” and that these churches place just as much emphasis on the Bible as their Northern counterparts (135).
Despite this, it is safe to say that by many standards, Jenkins’s definition of Christianity, at least for the purposes of this book, could be seen as uncomfortably open. The question, then, is whether or not he is justified in this definition. On one hand, it would be hubris to imagine that the European culture is the only culture in which Christianity grew up properly, or that we are in sole possession of the unadulterated truth of the Christian faith. On the other hand, it can be difficult to draw a clear line showing where core Christian beliefs end and mere cultural traditions begin. If nothing else, The Next Christendom forces one to reexamine one’s own assumptions about what is fundamental to the faith and what is simply the result of years of repetition and ignorance of other cultures.
Whether The Next Christendom is correct in its optimistic conclusions regarding the authenticity of expanding Southern Christianity is up to the reader to decide. Personally, I believe this book makes an excellent case for the affirmative. In any case, though, Philip Jenkins is certainly asking the right questions. In our modern era, travel is quick and easy, and information is exchanged freely. The world is more interconnected than ever, and Christians cannot afford to remain blind to the expansion of global Christianity. We must broaden our horizons and begin to think outside our own culture, since different cultures will only encounter each other and blend together more in the future. In light of this, The Next Christendom is a very timely piece of academic literature and a major contribution to projecting the future of Christianity.

[Caleb Rolling · Rating 3 out of 5]

More precisely, 3.5 stars. The book rightly emphasizes that the center of global Christianity is in the global South, and each chapter unpacks the implications of this development and extrapolates from that what the future of global Christianity might look like. The goal is that it would cause churches and Christians in the North to act accordingly. However, a book like this can only offer so much. It presents the data, but it offers little in terms of suggested responses to the data. And by its very nature, the book is perpetually out of date. The most recent edition came out in 2011, and the global landscape looks significantly different a decade later. Some chapters show their age more than others.

[Brad Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the third edition, which includes ten more years of demographic and sociological statistics. Jenkins’ demographic work is unmatched, even offering helpful predictions to the growing future of Christianity. Two points of criticism center around the notion that Christian-Islam relations are detrimental solely due to Muslim violence. I find that to be reductive and naive, at best. Second, chapter 9 centers around dynamics of sexuality. Unfortunately, his writing is a bit outdated to contribute substantively to the sexual climate of 2023. Overall, a fantastic introduction to understanding global Christianity.

[Thomas Duell · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.8 stars. This book blew the doors off my understanding of global Christianity. Highly encouraging to get a better grasp on the sheer scope of the global church, with fascinating projections for the future. Secondarily it helped me understand the growing tension between Islam and Christianity. Thirdly, it showed me that global church leadership will likely not come from America or Europe in the next century. One negative to the book is Jenkins is very loose with what he considers "Christianity". Admittedly you can't get too picky when talking about global statistics, but he was too charitable to Latter Day Saints, as well as extremely compromised prosperity word of faith groups as well. He seemed to make trinitarian theology up for interpretation when determining whether someone is "Christian". Other than that this is a recommended read.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of “wow” moments. More compelling when describing the current state of the global church than when it’s predicting what the church may be like in 2050 (the author agrees). Heartily recommended for Western readers: the church today is probably not what you think it is.

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

In his book, The Next Christendom, Philip Jenkins’ thesis is that Christianity, in broad terms, is the ascendant religion of the global south – Latin America, Africa, Southeast Asia, and China. Jenkins provides strong evidence that Christianity is growing in the South and that the South is on its way to becoming a hub for Christianity on the world stage. The book’s argumentation suffers severely from its flawed ecumenical approach, but ultimately the evidence for its thesis is strong enough that its conclusion can be induced from the wealth of research that is provided.

In any large scale inquiry such as this, big questions must be asked, the biggest among them in this case being, “What is Christianity?” Jenkins intentionally uses a broad definition of Christianity that should be cited in full:

"For working purposes, we cannot be too precise about defining Christianity. Ever since the movement began two thousand years ago, the range of groups describing themselves as followers of Jesus has always been very diverse, and we should acknowledge and accept that broad range of self-conceptions. For the purposes of this book, a Christian is someone who describes him- or herself as Christian who believes that Jesus is not merely a prophet or an exalted moral teacher, but in some unique sense the Son of God and the Messiah. Beyond that, we should not inquire into detailed doctrine, whether a person adheres to the Bible alone, accepts the Trinity, or has a literal belief in Jesus’s bodily resurrection. The vast majority of self-described Christians worldwide do in fact meet most of the criteria for membership in the faith, but for present purposes we cannot exclude those who do not."

Using this definition of Christianity, some very odd and mutually contradictory traditions end up being included under the Christian umbrella. But first, he shows us some of our misconceptions about the past. The goal of the book’s second chapter is to show how Christianity has existed in places that Westerners are largely ignorant of throughout history. Christianity’s center of gravity only shifted to the Western world in the period after the Ottoman Turks took hegemony in the near east. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Nestorian, Jacobite, and Syrian Christians existed and had some degree of political power in the region. Around this time, China also gave up the last vestiges of the Nestorian and Catholic Christianity in their land. Using Jenkins’ approach, the perception that Christianity has always been a religion of the West is simply false. Westerners have gaping blind spots – covering most of the land area of the world – when it comes to world missions. So if Christianity has existed globally throughout history and Westerners were largely ignorant of it, what can be said of those places today?

To cite a few of the many poor examples that Jenkins uses in the present day, there is the cult of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the prosperity-gospel preaching Filipino sect El Shaddai, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ on Earth of the Prophet Simon Kimbangu (or EJCSK) from the Belgian Congo, and – yes – the Latter Day Saints movement. When subjective Christianity is the only qualification, Christianity across the world begins to look about as divergent in its worship practices as the world itself. If compared to a standard in which the pure worship of Christ is the standard, changing veneration patterns reveal themselves to be thinly-veiled covers for political, cultural, and national golden calfs. Changing veneration patterns cannot prove anything about Christianity, because they exist regardless of whether Christianity is around or not. Africa was already Africa; China was already China; Brazil was already Brazil. Jenkins does not go deep enough into the doctrines of these sects to distinguish fact from error but settles for a description of their more sensational aspects.

Seeing that the myriad of theological differences around the world are so mutually incompatible, they cannot possibly represent unity across cultural and political boundaries. The evidence Jenkins has provided as proof of fully “integrated” Christianity can just as easily prove that Christianity had not spread at all. He does not distinguish between causal evidence, which would mean that these various amalgamations of worship practices were proof of the real thing, and corroborative evidence, which would mean that these various syncretisms merely imply the existence of the real thing somewhere close by. This weakness has the potential to water down Jenkins’ argument considerably. He can easily end up proving the wrong thing, and he often does. It can look from the perspective of the pessimist that these many variations on veneration are evidence of Christianity’s failure to fully integrate. A Westerner steeped in colonial theory might have expected to find that Christianity had been subversively adopted by oppressed peoples and thus find nothing that challenges their worldview when confronted with all the different examples of Christian religious practices around the world. That might have been the point of postmodernism all along, in fact. Jenkins uses a vague definition, and thus he is able to find strong proof that Christianity has spread, but what he wins with this argument is largely smoke and mirrors.

Jenkins frequently mixes up the ramifications of his ecumenical argument. He comes close to using a corroborative argument at times, but more often than not, he appears to argue the other way – insinuating that a little syncretism is a necessary evil. He addresses syncretism head on in chapter six and rejects taking a hard stance against evils that are otherwise clearly and obviously condemned in scripture, such as ancestor worship, witchcraft, and polygamy. His justification for this is simply that Early Christendom started it: “Christians have long practice at explaining their use of traditional (and even “pagan”) ways of thought.” Here, he brandishes a vague Christendom against a more precise, Scripturally-derived notion of Christianity as if to suggest that we should be equally vague in our own analysis. This weakens his argument again because the more vague the Christianity is in a place, the less strong the argument can be that Christianity has transformed a place and not the other way around.

What Jenkins is referring to when he refers to the growing Christendom is the trend toward the power and influence of the Christian label, not to Southern Christianity’s growth per se. Jenkins writes: “As Christianity becomes increasingly Southern, it cannot fail to absorb the habits and thought-worlds of the regions in which it is strongest. Much of that adaptation will be unconscious, as it was during the historic Christianization of Europe.” European-style Christendom was sown in the South, and now we have reaped Southern-style Christendom. But is this not a case of the tail wagging the dog? Has the power of God moved to change the hearts of the people, or have the hearts of the people been given a new context in which to worship the same old false gods? The name of Christ held in high esteem in the upper reaches of politics certainly looks promising for Jenkins’ argument, but depending on how you define Christ’s relationship to Christendom throughout history, evidence for Southern-style Christendom may be irrelevant to the question of where exactly Christianity has spread, or if it has spread. The book’s central argument implies the existence of an original Christendom. But when the Bible defines Christendom, it says that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” To what extent had the original Christendom been a façade? What would this say about the same development in the South?

Jenkins threads the needle with the metaphor of old and new. An underlying thesis in the book is that Christianity is not only ascendant in the south, not only growing more powerful, but that all of the various trends in Southern Christianity combined demonstrate the newness of the faith in these regions and therefore the authenticity. However, this definition of authenticity is lacking too, because it is actually tied to western notions of newness and oldness. The main antagonist of the book is Western liberalism’s presumptions about a post-Christian world. Jenkins pushes back against the western liberal perception of Christianity at nearly every turn, albeit with occasional jabs at conservative misconceptions. To be clear, there are two different kinds of liberal westerner – the modern kind and the postmodern kind. The first, older kind denies things like the existence of the supernatural, and the second denies the authority of conservative morality. Jenkins points out evidence that impugns both kinds of liberal. The Southern churches tend to be extremely morally conservative, extremely likely to believe in miracles, and extremely evangelistic. Southern Pentecostalism and Southern Catholicism, the predominant branches of Southern Christianity, both share these characteristics.

However, vigour is the hallmark of both pride and innocence. By defining Christianity broadly, the examiner is forced to step aside when the time comes to rebuke the syncretism of these new Christians as idolatry – in other words, to define Christianity in relation to its rejection of sin. Of what use are strong conservative morals with regard to homosexuality when one is worshipping false gods? Conservatism is a western notion as well, and many Southerners who would agree with western conservatism abroad might also hold extremely liberal views toward violence, polygamy, and ancestor worship whilst denying the simplicity of the Gospel. Seeing the world through Southern Christian eyes requires seeing it through Southern vices. That Southern churches are likely to find the Old Testament entirely palatable is not enough to say that they have not gotten things wrong in the same proportion as many of the men in the Old Testament.

The only way Southern Christianity can be examined without room for egregious error is in the examination of individual church bodies according to a universally-applicable standard. From a Biblical perspective, Christianity’s spread should be expected to be hard to distinguish in broad strokes because it is precisely in the broad movement of mankind that one finds the least indication of Christ being honored. As Jesus said, “The gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.” Prosperity gospel teachers in Africa are as much of a subversion of the real thing as liberalism in the West. To define Christianity so loosely is to absurdly yoke Christianity with syncretism, sheep with goats, and righteousness with sin. The one place that Christianity cannot be is where habitual unrepentant sins and false doctrines abound. In Jenkins’ definition of Christianity, he places the definition of what Christianity means in the hands of the peoples of the world he is studying rather than in the hands of Biblical teaching. By doing this, he guarantees that he will not have the key that unlocks the presence of the faith.

Jenkins’ dialogue with liberal western thought reveals the book’s biggest weakness. A western liberal who picked up this book would not find any issue with it. To a liberal, the book would prove a point opposite to what Jenkins is making. The incompatibility of doctrinal differences around the world would show that Christianity has not spread across the world stage. These various peoples have taken Christian doctrine and used it for their own ends. The liberal would then use this as evidence that Christianity as the westerner thinks of it is actually a western conception that has no transcendence beyond that region. The liberal would be making a reasonable case given the limitations of the material Jenkins uses. Africa remains African; Brazil remains Brazilian.

The book would have achieved better results if it had used a more precise definition of Christianity and gone about proving the existence of a faith that separates itself from the world rather than enmeshes itself in it. As Jenkins tells his readers, “The vast majority of self-described Christians worldwide do in fact meet most of the criteria for membership in the faith.” An emphasis on a more precise kind of Christian might demonstrate to the skeptical reader that behind all of the divergent Christian theology and practice is the movement of something unified and transcendent. Not one time does the book cover the particulars of the Gospel – the Christian doctrine that readily contrasts with every form of worldly worship, being founded on the independent operation of the grace of God through Christ rather than man’s works – even by way of description. The more Biblically-based denominations and movements are passed over quickly, lost in a thicket of oddities. The closest the book comes to contending for the authentic faith is in the last two chapters when it directs its focus on the characteristics of the majority of world Christians: dirt poor, lacking political power or influence, and persecuted. This is a step toward proving his case, but even this, apart from a more rigorous evaluation of doctrinal beliefs around the world, cannot accomplish the feat.

Has Jenkins failed to provide evidence for his thesis that the center of Christianity has moved to the global south? Not at all. The book contains some real evidence that Christianity has had a transforming global impact. As it stands, the evidence provided in the book corroborates the existence of a unified, cross-cultural faith – but it does nothing to prove it. The book has given us proof that the knowledge about Christ has spread throughout the world, but the love of Christ, along with the hope for any real Christendom, is still largely overlooked by its scholarship – and by most scholarship.

[John Martindale · Rating 4 out of 5]

The decline in the West and Growth in the Majority World

While Christianity is declining in the west, it is rapidly growing in the majority world and it isn't the "enlightened" liberal protestant sort, but rather a non-modern, charismatic, radical, and doctrinally fundamentalist form of Christianity. These greater passions could not only result in good but also ill. We have a powder keg that could easily explode into religious violence, such as was all too common during medieval Christendom.

It is interesting consider how early Christianity appears to be more of a hyper-confident and tribalistic model of Christianity. Once Christians had the power, enemies of the truth were to be silenced and killed. Powerful bishops and worldly rulers would use employ religion to great harm. What is interesting is the gradual move away from this, through the reformation and into the enlightenment, led to a more tolerant, open-minded, civil, and seemingly rational faith. But ultimately, this also brought forth its decline and death. Christians like John A. T Robinson and moderns like Spong, think Christianity had to change or die, yet the more churches changed and become more liberal, the more they in fact died.

It seems like religions go through their radical young stage and then finally mellow out and then they die. It seems America is now moving into that latter stage, whereas parts of the developing world are entering into the early stage, and thus will likely be the major evangelical force in the future--until they, after drowning in the blood of religious violence and hostilities, seek a more wholesome, less dogmatic way, which will eventually cause Christianity to fade there too. Only to spring up somewhere else.

Jenkins writes of the trends of increasing secularism in Western countries combined with declining birth rates, while there is a growth of Christianity and growing birth rate in parts of the developing world. It is hard not to see the impact of Christian on countries to be like that of a flower: it grows, blooms, and then withers, only for seeds to spread and result in the process anew elsewhere. There is the possibility that in the west, Christianity that remains in the future will largely continue from migrants who come into the western countries. The center for the most fruitful growth of Christianity is likely to be parts of the Majority world, and it is likely to be rather conservative and supernaturalist in its beliefs.

The Impact of Missionaries

Even after anti-colonialism, the influence of missionaries can be seen by how widely Christianity (maintaining many church doctrines) has spread in South America, Africa, and Asia. Missionaries went in with different levels of contextualization, some missionaries coming in as imperialist, taking land and enforcing western customs, other missionaries taking on the language, culture and dress and attempting to convey timeless truths through redemptive analogies relevant to the people's they witness to. The former gave the latter missionaries a bad name. Many missionaries suffered great loss and were even killed which reveals the sincerity and purity of many of their motivations. The degree locals wholly and freely embrace the religion challenges the notion that it is wholly a western religion. As Christianity takes root, some locals have regularly claimed to have visions and become prophets, trying to distance Christianity from the white man, some of these cases have been disturbing and bloody.

Pentecostalism in the Majority World

In some cases, secular political movements have been hostile towards Catholicism and yet more tolerant of Protestantism allowing it to grow. Pentecostalism often is more independent and indigenous compared to the mainline denominations, and as the major denominations are associated with the white man, many move away from Protestantism and towards Pentecostalism. Many in the Majority world struggle financially and Pentecostalism often appeals to the poorest of the poor, sometimes this is because of the heavy emphasis on prosperity and miracles--the prosperity gospel is huge. A key factor for the expansion of Pentecostalism is that rather than being all about going to heaven when you die, it is about the present, God helping in the here and now. The factor I like the most was the similarity Jenkins expressed between the situation of the early church and the church in parts of the Majority world, that is that many find a community, stability, better spouses (who don't waste their money drinking and gambling) and a healthier way of living and as a result, we see a spread, especially in light of urbanization.

It is rather interesting to think how the new forms of Christianity that are emerging in the global south are possibly much more in line with the conceptual framework and spiritual belief system of those in the early church. Tongues, visions, trances, dreams, prophecies, healings, miraculous claims, exorcisms, renouncing evil spirits, fear of witches and curses, etc... could become more the norm among Christianity as a whole, especially as Western Christianity goes the way of the dinosaur. Of course, the Secular Age that "broke the spell" for western Christians could do so there too. The Pros? well, if indeed, the New Testament writers were correct, then these Christians living in developing countries will be able to partake of elements of Christianity. The downside? The door is open to con men and charlatans, and not only will there be beneficial placebos but harmful nocebos and superstitions. It is horrible to think of the witch-hunts, crazy ideas from visions and dreams given so much weight, loony prophecies, people who are curable sickness who treated with quackery, etc...

Concerning Liberation Theologians

They recognized the concern for the poor throughout the bible, and the intense stance the prophets had against injustice, and the polemics against the rich, and seeing it was their responsibility to take a stand and plead the cause of the poor, I applaud them, however, I find it so overwhelmingly tragic, that in their concern for the poor and seeing the problem, they were deceived into thinking Marxism was the solution! This was like desperately wanting to put out the fire and trying to do so with gasoline, and the marvel is that many continue to do so in the face of the evidence.
It is so sad to think that many of those who cared most, ended up helping to usher in monstrous governments that only multiplied misery and poverty, as well as removing the little liberty the poor had. Tragically, many Christians today, who deeply care about the poor and justice issues, end up thinking Leftwing ideology is the solution despite the fact it resulted in astronomical amounts of human suffering, injustice, and impoverishment during the 20th century. Sigh...

On the Losers of History

Philip Jenkin provides a concise summary of the history of the Monophysites and Nestorians who made up much of Eastern Christianity. These are the Christians that practically no church history book mentions. Their genocide demonstrates that God cannot be trusted to protect Christians and also that the “blood of the martyrs” is not necessarily the seed of the church. Islam achieved what Ancient Rome failed to achieve, for they completely blotted out Christianity in once predominately Christian countries, and since Islam made it a capital offense to leave Islam, once it takes root, it tends to stay. It was discouraging to hear of so many modern examples in this book where Islamic fundamentalists are trying to destroy Christian minorities. I just hope, hope, hope that Islam has their reformation and enlightenment.

[Jared Greer · Rating 4 out of 5]

*This review was written for a class; sharing it here in its entirety since it's relatively brief.

In The Next Christendom, Philip Jenkins sets out to unfurl the rich tapestry of modern global Christianity and calculate its current trajectory. Throughout this comprehensive volume, Jenkins identifies major movements and figures from recent Christian history; redresses common misconceptions about contemporary Christianity (namely that it’s Eurocentric and declining in adherents); and conjectures about the future of the Christian faith, particularly in its relationship with other major global religions. Jenkins’ primary geographical focus is the East and the Global South; the majority of the book surveys expressions of the Christian faith in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

It is in the first chapter that Jenkins introduces the book’s key themes. While Western secularization tells the story of a Christianity that is predominantly White, privileged, and waning in relevance, Jenkins tells of a Christianity that in the past century has exploded in popularity—particularly among younger and poorer communities in the Global South. In the coming years, we can expect a new Christendom that sidelines much of the Western world; Jenkins confidently submits, “there can be no doubt that the emerging Christian world will be anchored in the Southern continents” (20). In chapter two, he explores in more detail the geographical trends of Christianity from its origins to the present day. He rightly notes that Europe and North America’s centrality in Christianity has been relatively short-term; it was not until the 16th century or so that the average Christian was European. From the time of the first century, Christianity was a largely Eastern religion; but the eventual rise of Islam in the East led to a dramatic geographical shift in early modernity (36). Today, “as Christianity moves South and East, it is returning to its roots” (21). Once again, Christianity is becoming a “truly transcontinental phenomenon” (50).

In chapter three, Jenkins continues to explore Southern Christian growth by highlighting popular prophets and movements in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. During this time, missionary efforts from Catholics, Protestants, and Pentecostals proved vastly effective. On many occasions, charismatic natives from proselytized communities emerged as leaders—generating new, powerful movements that led to even further church growth. Bernard Mizeki, Agnes Okoh, and William Wade Harris are among the most notable of these indigenous Christian leaders (57). Increasingly, Pentecostalism has been enthusiastically embraced in the Third World. Chapter four notes that the poor often find refuge in the church’s familial social structure: the “churches are succeeding because they fulfill emerging social needs” (96). Chapter five adds that demographic trends have likewise contributed to this expansion. As birth rates in the North begin to stagnate due to affluence and feminism (103), southern population rates continue to soar. In any case, the presence of Christianity in the South today is nothing short of astounding.

In chapter six, Jenkins reminds Western readers that the various forms of Christianity spreading throughout the South have been significantly culturized; “the types of Christianity that have thrived most successfully in the global South have been very different from what many Europeans and North Americans consider mainstream” (134). Jenkins here notes the difficulty in distinguishing acculturation from syncretism. At what point does acculturation cross over into heterodoxy? While changes in language, liturgy, architecture, and imagery are to be expected, acculturation often moves beyond such contours. Some African independent churches, for instance, practice “polygamy, divination, animal sacrifices, initiation rites, circumcision, and the veneration of ancestors” (149). Nevertheless, Jenkins is convinced that the majority of Southern Christians remain fairly orthodox; oftentimes, what seems “odd or deviant” is not the result of a total departure from the faith, but of a different set of emphases (164). He notes, for example, that many Southerners place greater emphasis on the Hebrew Bible than do Northern Christians.

In chapter seven, Jenkins shows how the concrete, this-worldly theology of the South has informed its propensity to politicize the Christian faith. Such politicization has expressed itself in a myriad of ways, not least in the groundbreaking liberation theology of Gustavo Gutiérrez and the social activism of Desmond Tutu. It is no secret, however, that religious and political syncretism often leads to conflict and violence. In chapter eight, Jenkins warns of the potential “crusades” that might accompany the next Christendom. As both Christianity and Islam grow in number—particularly in the South—the religious and political rivalry between them is sure to be exacerbated. Moreover, Jenkins predicts that the secularized West may choose to side with Islam in major conflicts, given that the West relies heavily on Middle Eastern oil supply (225). In the coming years, Jenkins expects nothing less than “issues of theocracy and religious law, toleration and minority rights, conversion and apostasy” (236).

Given the profound significance of the global shifts outlined above, Jenkins spends chapter nine pondering potential forthcoming developments in the relationship between the North and the South. As the South tends to be more conservative than the North on issues such as gender roles and sexual orientation, Jenkins foresees denominational schisms as well as global alliances among conservatives and progressives respectively. In his concluding chapter, Jenkins reflects on all of this insight and exhorts readers to recognize and appreciate the magnitude and distinctiveness of the next Christendom: “the next Christendom is no mirror image of the Old. It is a truly new and developing entity—just how different from its predecessor remains to be seen” (270).

There are aspects of this book that some may find frustrating. First, it relies heavily on prediction and conjecture. Of course, this is intentional; but the fact that so many of Jenkins’ conclusions are uncertain may vex some readers. At the same time, these conjectures are at least in part what makes this volume so potent. It is evident that Jenkins’ predictions are informed by solid data and expertise; and the future he imagines is more than interesting to consider. In any case, a second frustration might be Jenkins’ admitted looseness with the term “Christianity.” Essentially, Jenkins counts anyone who is nominally a Christian a Christian; according to his view, “if they consider themselves Catholic, then that is what they are" (112). To some, this may render the statistics he shares somewhat dubious; but given the precarious nature of census information, there is hardly a more pragmatic way to go about such research. Moreover, it does not seem likely that the imprecision of these statistics would dramatically alter any of Jenkins’ conclusions.

All in all, The Next Christendom is an accessible, engaging, and profound read. I am aware of few books that survey contemporary Christian history with this level of fullness, insight, and clarity. Jenkins showcases a remarkable level of scholarship; the breadth of sources that he utilizes is immense, and his careful and nuanced interpretation of the data does not go unnoticed. The book is organized in a clear and helpful way; and Jenkins’ train of thought is quite easy to follow. This is an astute and thought-provoking offering from a brilliant religious thinker; and it will be interesting to see how it holds up against the test of time.

[Joseph Sverker]

Jenkins reveals many interesting aspects of the New Christendom, the Christendom often ignored, neglected or simply dismissed by the "Old" christendom. He might rely a little too much on a clash of the civilisations view of religion and political development, but the conclusions are nonetheless very interesting and I'm sure that he is right that the religious map will look very different and that it will affect the development of the world over all as well. It will be very exciting to see what will happen and anyone who thinks that Christianity is on the decline should surely read this book.
One aspect that I find disturbing and the Jenkins reveal in his book is how it feels like liberal Christianity goes hand in hand with colonialism, even if it would like it to be the other way around. This was true in the 19th century though (White Man's burden is mostly a liberal Christian concept as far as I have understood it, the evangelical missionaries wanted to spread the faith, not culture and was often hindred to do this) and it appears to be true also in the 21st. It becomes most clear in the debate about homosexuality where an opinion that African bishops are not "advanced" enough in their moral development and that they have an unenlightened conservative moralism. Yet, doesn't opinions like that smack with racism? And, furthermore, as Jenkins points out, aren't the Christians in the "New Christendom" living closer to the BIble, both in context and intent?
Anyhow, obviously a book well worth reading for everyone interested in religious studies or political studies and if someone wants to understand what lazily is being called "the Third World", then this book is absolutely essential!

[Stan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Next Christendom is a book of incredible scope. And, this is an updated edition which changes content based on a decade or so of history. This is a major undertaking completed for a second time in one man's lifetime.

There are aspects of the book that are hard for me, as a conservative Christian, to swallow. The author is very open in his definition of "Christianity," but such openness is necessary for the content of the book. He also gives an historical overview of the different belief systems that have carried the name Christian through the centuries. The term has not always meant Western, orthodox Christianity, but has included other streams of theology that have not always been far from orthodoxy. So, the reader should know about this openness going in.

The rest of the book is amazing. He shows historical developments and projects trends for the future. The main take away is that Christianity in the global South will in on the rise and in the North will remain steady or be in decline. This will bring major changes to Christianity for the next couple of generations, at a minimum. Asian, Africa, and Latin America will be the majority voices in the Next Christendom.

The information in this book is of vital importance to missions strategy, as well as theological education. Excellent material! Enjoy!

[Leandro Dutra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again a case where I wish I could give 4,75 stars, or assign stars to different aspects of a book.

Jenkins presents a convincing case that Christianity will dominate the future of humankind. Lots of data, and well-interpreted data too. I only wish he wasn’t so acritical towards neopentecostalism, Romanism and other heresies, because he ends up loosing the dimension of the quality, influence and endurance of faith.

Crucially, he states the future of Christendom stems from the so-called ‘Global South’, or more precisely Africa, Asia, Latin America and their diasporas and missions; also, that future Christendom will stem from currently charismatic, conservative Christians (whatever they become in the future), and he implies mostly from Evangelicals (more so than from charismatic Romanists). As David Paul ‘Spengler’ Goldman puts it, the next Christian army on Mecca may be African or Chinese, but not European.

All in all, a nice counterpoint to the catastrophism about Islam and secularism.

[Tyler Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jenkin’s thesis is that the global south (Africa, Latin America, and Asia) are, and will continue to become the most numerous and influential Christian areas. The history he covers was really enjoyable to read. Dozens of stories of church heroes that don’t get mentioned in most church history courses.

Two flaws ran through the book. First, although Jenkins often qualified his projections, much of the book is simply conjecture about what the church will look like in 20-50 years. Demographic findings are helpful, but Christ build his church. Second, Jenkins is far too liberal in who he calls Christian. Nestorians, Gnostics, Mormons, anti-Trinitarian Pentecostals, catholics, independent churches with prophets who add to scripture: everyone gets included. This drastically inflates the findings and skews much of the conclusions drawn in my opinion.

[Ebookwormy1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely outstanding. I learned a lot from this book, and it changed my perception of some things I already knew.

The church history, current events and future forecast were each exceptionally well documented and thought through. It was great to have a focused look at the church from the time of Christ onward. Also, the annotated bibliography of this book is priceless, I must have added 20 books to my goodreads to-read as a result of following along in the notes.

Well worth the time it took to get this from interlibrary loan. Highly recommended.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book. I learned so much about current world trends in Christianity, much of which I never would have guessed. As a westerner, it's easy to think of Christianity in the world as being primarily shaped by what happens in the Christian west. But it is becoming more and more true that the shape of world Christianity is being determined by it's growth in the developing world. What an eye-opener!

[Aaron Hale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book does a really good job at showing discussing the current shift in "Christianity" in the light of historical Christendom. The only fault I would add, and the author agrees in the book, is that no real distinction is made between types of Christians. The reader needs to be careful to remember the narrow gate and road. Not all who call themselves Christian are. Keeping that in mind this book has very deep and useful insight about the future of Christianity in our world.

[Zachames · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was was some really good, useful, and encouraging info in this book. However, Jenkins lumps anyone who puts on a cross necklace in with being a Christian. Many of the health and wealth congregations that Jenkins talked about in Africa and Asia probably don't exist by the time I'm writing this review. No substance. On the whole its a recommended read but with a discerning mind.

[Andrew DiDio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though I appreciated Philip Jenkins at times allowing his reader to come to terms with their own thoughts on the changing tide of global Christendom, I found myself yearning for a companion to this book that expresses Jenkins’ own free thoughts and practical application regarding the statistics and stories he shared. Often times I resolved to assume what Jenkins thought of the statistics and peculiarities regarding this next Christendom. Though he rarely apportioned himself on either side of a missiological debate, occasionally he overstepped and miscategorized aspects of Christianity.

After experiencing the success of missionaries who have shared the Bible in native languages, I was encouraged by Jenkins’ mention of the importance of language learning and translating the Bible. The missionary task will only be successful if there are translations of the Bible and missionaries commit to studying the local language. This was a helpful reminder in a world that is fearful of “interfer[ing] in the domains of new native churches (267).” I was reminded that if one person has hope in Christ, it is their duty to share that hope even at the expense of potentially being “offensive.”

I was encouraged by Jenkins’ identification that “the act of joining a church or sect is not necessarily the same as the internal process of conversion (51),” but I was confused by his then vague and liberal definition of Christianity. I have come to understand that true saving faith always bears good works. James 2:26 says, “for as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” This is not a suggestion towards a gospel that necessitates works to save, but rather once saved, Christians will produce good works and “bear fruit” (John 15:5). Jenkins too seemed to agree with this sentiment.

However, Jenkins at the same time maintained a liberal definition of Christianity. He defined a Christian as “someone who describes him- or herself as Christian, who believes that Jesus is not merely a prophet or an exalted moral teacher, but in some unique sense the Son of God and the Messiah. Beyond that, we should not inquire into detailed doctrine, whether a person…accepts the Trinity, or has a literal belief in Jesus’s bodily resurrection (111).” This definition of “Christian” is far too liberal and does not mention the understanding of grace to save.

Additionally, Jenkins at times committed false generalities regarding different sects of Christianity. He explained that “Pentecostal believers rely on direct spiritual revelations that supplement or even replace biblical authority (80).” This is a mis-categorization and a generalization of Pentecostals. When I asked a friend of mine who is a Pentecostal and seminary student, he said that he and the majority of Pentecostals believe in the sufficiency of Scripture. He said that the only significant difference between Pentecostalism and other Protestant sects is that Pentecostals believe that the gifts of the spirit are still active today, though never in contention with the Bible. Generalities are helpful in developing a baseline for theological study but can be harmful by mis categorizing true Christian worship.

I was also impacted by Jenkins’ discussion on the difficulty for modern-day missionaries in preaching a Gospel not impacted by its history of exploitation. One of the prayers we as Christians must pray is that those nations that have been hurt by missionaries past and present are open to the Word of God which denounces such hypocrisy and sinful exploitation. Jenkins identified the problem that Christian missionaries must show their altruistic motives, but he failed to identify practical application for those desiring to go to the field. The question therefore remains, “How do missionaries today show their altruistic motives when Christian missionaries have a history of exploitation?” This question was left unanswered.

Another instance of desiring to hear more from Jenkins came on page 232. Jenkins wrote of Konrad Raiser, the head of the World Council of Churches, who said that that the “massacres in Indonesia and Nigeria should teach Christians to reassess their missionary endeavors, to avoid causing offense to other cultures.” Paul, the apostle, was never shy about offending non-believers. Rather he spoke boldly and was ultimately martyred for his faith. Though I agree with the first half of Raiser’s statement, the takeaway should not be passivity in sharing the gospel to other cultures. I would have valued hearing Jenkins’ interpretation of Raiser’s statements because passivity seems contradictory to the missionary movement.

Overall, Philip Jenkins provided a thoughtful presentation of the next stages of Christendom. It is clear that the global South will continue to play a significant role in the future of Christianity and the West should take note to learn from their adherence to the Scriptures, respond to their refusal to be adulterated by cultural evils, and train missionaries for the task of reaching the Third World. Though I wished for more practical application, Jenkins’ goal for writing was to identify the changing climate of Christendom and to this he did so valiantly.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

provacative and engaging.

[Jesse Broussard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jenkins hits his point from all available angles at least twice, but is nonetheless a very satisfying and surprising read.

[Winnie Thornton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eye-opening.

[Mattie Mae · Rating 1 out of 5]

As I reflect on the Next Christendom, I value what Jenkins has to say about learning from Southern congregations, uplifting voices from these groups, and avoiding the temptation to interpret Christianity and scripture through a Eurocentric lens. However, I struggle to find much else. This book felt like a work of speculation with little consequence. Jenkins is no doubt thorough in his historical analysis, sociological interpretation, and general observations of the Global Church’s current state, but his argument holds little to no practical application for modern believers. His logic is so vague and his content so inaccessible that each chapter left me begging for relevance. Once I navigated through the hedge of statistics, jargon, and projection, I found myself at the entrance of another maze with little motivation. As Jenkins argues, it is no doubt crucial to treat the Southern church with respect, decency, and equality—this message came across loud and clear as I sat reading yet another white man’s voice on the subject.
I was particularly disappointed in Jenkins’ treatment of the Crusades, imperialism, and other forms of Christian oppression. At times, Jenkins was less apologetic for these events as he was defending them. As an example, he writes concerning the Crusades: “In recent years, a powerful social movement has demanded that the West and specifically the churches apologize for the medieval crusading movement.” Jenkins responds to this that “westerners rarely suggest that Muslims apologize for the aggressive acts that gave them power over these various lands in the first place.” As believers, it is more important to take responsibility for the horrific acts done in the name of our own religion than it is to demand an apology for the actions of another group. This is the worst of many examples throughout the book that Jenkins’ tone on the subject of Christian oppression was less than ideal.
This feeds into another critique I have of Jenkins’ work. The Next Christendom is fond of perpetuating an “us vs. them” mentality. Whether it was consistently comparing “conservative Christianity” with a “liberal” one (without clearly defining these terms), or it was juxtaposing the success of one church with the decline of another. Again, I struggle to see the benefit of this mentality. Although it may be that the Southern church is growing, I do not believe that its success depends on the decline of the Western church. Nor do I see the value in comparing and quantifying growth, when I believe that God will continue to work through both churches.

[Tanner Hawk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting and paradigm-shifting for me.

"Over the last century, however, the center of gravity in the Christian world has shifted inexorably away from Europe, southward, to Africa and Latin America, and eastward, toward Asia. Today, the largest Christian communities on the planet are to be found in those regions. If we want to visualize a typical contemporary Christian, we should think of a woman living in a village in Nigeria, or in a Brazilian favela" (p. 1-2).

"European Christians reinterpreted the faith through their own concepts of social and gender relations, and then imagined that their culturally specific synthesis was the only correct version of Christian truth...As Christianity moves southward, the religion will be comparably changed by immersion in the prevailing cultures of those host societies" (p. 7).

The standard world map offered in medieval times showed Europe, Africa, and Asia as "roughly equal lobes conjoined at a central location, which was Palestine, with Jerusalem at its center. This image made splendid theological sense, in that Jesus' sacrificial self-giving occurred at the very center of the world that he was saving. Theology apart, the tripartite model is far more useful for understanding Christian expansion, which occurred simultaneously into three continents" (p. 23).

"Looking at Christianity as a planetary phenomenon, not merely a Western one, makes it impossible to read the New testament in quite the same way ever again" (p. 275).

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. The author’s subtle yet repetitive bias against liberal, mainline Christianity and doesn’t see liberation theology taking hold. He projects decline of the first and while overall a decent introduction to the geographical and religious-political moment of Christianity over time, he speculates that the Global South trend leans to a conservative flavor which I find troubling.

The book is thick for 200 pages and difficult to wade through. He does at least count Christianity in a broad way rather than narrowly limiting who’s in and who’s out.

Look he’s no USA extreme conservative politically, but his bias is theologically there. Sometimes more centered, but his bias and privilege was showing.

Also a very dark and fatalistic projection of the future so, not a lot of hope there. (In terms of religious conflict.)

I would love to read something a bit more progressive and intersectional on the same topic that isn’t quite so depressing. It was interesting though sloggish, and can see if being helpful to broaden perspectives of USAmericans, but, eh. We can do better, can’t we?

[Stafford Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

My copy is the 2002 edition which was sent to the printers right before 9/11. It was interesting to read this book written in a time before those dark days and the subsequent events that affected both religion and politics. Reading this 20 years after the original publishing gives some idea of what was being said then and comparing it to what has actually happened. Some of Jenkins predictations seem to be coming true and some may not be. But it is interesting to read a guy who could not have foreseen 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq, the 2008 market crash, Covid, or the Russian invasion of Ukraine (among a myriad of other events). Also nailing down Jenkins exact personal religious leanings is difficult. I know that he is an Episcopalian but of what shade I do not know. If he is a liberal Episcopalian then he has to be the most self aware liberal Episcopalian who has ever walked the earth. One who is aware of his tradition's strengths but also its weaknesses in the face of a new global Christianity.