History of Christianity in Asia, Africa, and Latin America 1450 - 1990: A Documentary Sourcebook

by Klaus Koschorke (Editor), Frieder Ludwig (Editor), Mariano Delgado (Editor)

In cooperation with Roland Spliesgart

The map of world Christianity has changed dramatically in just the last century. Today the majority of Christians live in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, making Christianity a world religion as never before in history.

Given that global reality, Klaus Koschorke, Frieder Ludwig, and Mariano Delgado have created the first comparative documentary history of Christianity for these regions covering the period 1450–1990. Taking the changing ecumenical conditions into account, this volume enlarges the horizon of classical church historiography. In contrast to the prevailing Western perspectives on the history of Christianity in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, voice is given here to the multitude of local initiatives, specific experiences, and varieties of Christianity in very diverse cultural contexts -- addressing such questions as the colonial conquest, slavery, and the demand for ecclesiastical independence.

Genres: History, Christianity, Church History

460 pages, Paperback

First published September 14, 2007

Reviews

[Simon Wiebe]

Der letzte Stern hat gefehlt, weil ich manchmal den roten Faden durch die krassen geographischen Sprünge verloren habe.

[Allison Jones]

An excellent collection of primary sources from Eastern and Southern Christianity in the last 500 years.

[Melody Schwarting]

Koschorke's volume is a hugely valuable resource. So many bite-size, translated primary sources in one volume are great for the classroom. I do wish it had more of a geographical organization (entries organized by country rather than chronology), but that's my taste. The focus on documents by indigenous people was wonderful. This brings to light so many issues that could be overlooked in the Western classroom. Works of all types (official documents, personal writings, publications) are present and round out the picture of Christianity around the world through the centuries.

[Ci]

This is an excellent sourcebook for Christianity of three regions. It has collected many thought-provoking materials for students to rethink about the diversity of Christianity outside of European context, interweaving primary texts along with insightful summaries.