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Christianity in the Twentieth Century: A World History
A history of unparalleled scope that charts the global transformation of Christianity during an age of profound political and cultural change
Christianity in the Twentieth Century charts the transformation of one of the world's great religions during an age marked by world wars, genocide, nationalism, decolonization, and powerful ideological currents, many of them hostile to Christianity. Written by a leading scholar of world Christianity, the book traces how Christianity evolved from a religion defined by the culture and politics of Europe to the expanding polycentric and multicultural faith it is today--one whose growing popular support is strongest in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, China, and other parts of Asia.
Brian Stanley sheds critical light on themes of central importance for understanding the global contours of modern Christianity, illustrating each one with contrasting case studies, usually taken from different parts of the world. Unlike other books on world Christianity, this one is not a regional survey or chronological narrative, nor does it focus on theology or ecclesiastical institutions. Rather, Stanley provides a history of Christianity as a popular faith experienced and lived by its adherents, telling a compelling and multifaceted story of Christendom's fortunes in Europe, North America, and across the rest of the globe.
Transnational in scope and drawing on the latest scholarship, Christianity in the Twentieth Century demonstrates how Christianity has had less to fear from the onslaughts of secularism than from the readiness of Christians themselves to accommodate their faith to ideologies that privilege racial identity or radical individualism.
Christianity in the Twentieth Century charts the transformation of one of the world's great religions during an age marked by world wars, genocide, nationalism, decolonization, and powerful ideological currents, many of them hostile to Christianity. Written by a leading scholar of world Christianity, the book traces how Christianity evolved from a religion defined by the culture and politics of Europe to the expanding polycentric and multicultural faith it is today--one whose growing popular support is strongest in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, China, and other parts of Asia.
Brian Stanley sheds critical light on themes of central importance for understanding the global contours of modern Christianity, illustrating each one with contrasting case studies, usually taken from different parts of the world. Unlike other books on world Christianity, this one is not a regional survey or chronological narrative, nor does it focus on theology or ecclesiastical institutions. Rather, Stanley provides a history of Christianity as a popular faith experienced and lived by its adherents, telling a compelling and multifaceted story of Christendom's fortunes in Europe, North America, and across the rest of the globe.
Transnational in scope and drawing on the latest scholarship, Christianity in the Twentieth Century demonstrates how Christianity has had less to fear from the onslaughts of secularism than from the readiness of Christians themselves to accommodate their faith to ideologies that privilege racial identity or radical individualism.
504 pages, Hardcover
Published June 26, 2018
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About the author
Brian Stanley
45 books14 followersA specialist in the field of the history of Christian missions and world Christianity, Brian Stanley is Professor Emeritus of World Christianity at the University of Edinburgh.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 14, 2023
Brian Stanley’s "Christianity in the Twentieth Century: A World History" offers readers snapshots of Christianity in different parts of the world. Each chapter focuses on a different theme (nationalism, secularism, sexuality, ecumenism, human rights, migration, etc…) and is generally subdivided into four sections – an introduction, the theme expressed in area A, the theme expressed in area B, and a conclusion. For instance, Stanley examines the Christian response to both the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide in one chapter while in another he looks at how Christianity has operated in Egypt and Indonesia, both predominantly Muslim nations.
Stanley hones in on many of the famous individuals and movements of world Christianity, such as the prophetic and evangelistic movements of William Wadé Harris and Simon Kimbangu, the African-Initiated Churches, liberation theology, and the Church in China. Yet I also gleaned many new insights as well, some of which were:
• In the tradition of Protestantism (and even Koine Greek), much of the success of Christianity in Korea was due to a reviving of Hangul, am alphabet that was looked down upon but employed by the majority of the Korean population over Chinese who also favoured Confucianism. The Protestant championing of Hangul paved the way for Korean nationalism.
• In analyzing the decline of religious commitment in France, Stanley suggests this was largely due to opposition by males to the Roman Catholic Church's sexual ethic; the priests accused men of sin when they engaged in coitus interruptus and men, becoming resentful, responded by avoiding the confessional and hence attendance at the Eucharist (p. 87).
• Many faithful Roman Catholics bemoan the excesses of reform ushered in by Vatican II, among which was the elevation of the vernacular and the displacement of the Traditional Latin Mass. In the Chinese context, Stanley observes that, "it was the [Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association] Church, disconnected from the Vatican, which continued for a time to use the Tridentine Latin mass, whereas the underground church, supposedly representing the 'imperial' interests of the Vatican, began to adopt Chinese liturgy in accordance with the Vatican II reforms" (p. 147).
• Some early supporters of the Nazi Party were influenced by Ignaz von Döllinger, the most outspoken critic of papal infallibility at the time of Vatican I. These "Reform Catholics" sought "a distinctively German style of being Catholic that contrasted with the 'effeminate' and Italianate religious culture of the ultramontanes" (p. 157).
• Stanley brought to light the fascinating missiological debates that broke out between Konrad Raiser (who would serve as General Secretary of the World Council of Churches) and Lesslie Newbigin. The former critiqued the "Christocentric universalism" that he detected among religious conservatives and advocated "a social and nonhierarchical doctrine of the Trinity grounded in the theology of the Greek Fathers" which would provide "the necessary resources for...a paradigm shift in the Christian understanding of mission" while Newbigin contended that Raiser's view separated "the activity of the Spirit from the work of Christ" (p. 194-96).
• Stanley brings to light fascinating accounts of how liberation theology arose in Palestine through the writings of the Anglican priest Naim Stifan Ateek but diverged sharply with liberation theology in South America; the latter valorizes the Old Testament Exodus as key to providing hope for those oppressed by elites yet Palestinians, living under the thumb of Israel, do not find such inspiration in the Exodus. Additionally, Stanley asserts that the origins of liberation theology lie not in Roman Catholicism, as is typically supposed due to the enormous impact of Johann Baptist Metz, Gustavo Gutierrez, Leonardo Boff, and other Catholic liberation theologians, but instead in Protestantism. Stanley states "The sources of the new hermeneutical emphasis were Protestant ones, which is not surprising in view of the long history of Protestant exegesis of the exodus as an archetype of the deliverance of God's people from bondage" which "can be traced back to John Calvin...In Gutierrez's case, the debt to the Reformed tradition appears to have been quite specific: the channel was the Brazilian Presbyterian Rubem Alves" (p. 237).
• Stanley suggests that an ecclesiastical thaw began during World War I when Western European prisoners of war held by Germany interacted with and observed the religious practices of Eastern Orthodox Christians; what had once been entirely foreign became familiar and after the Bolshevik Revolution, Russian Orthodox believers were scattered, with many traveling West into Europe and North America. Related to Orthodoxy, the increase in nationalist fervor in the early 1820s led to the segmenting of Orthodox churches that were closely tied to their own ethnicities (p. 320). Additionally, the exchange of Christian and Muslim populations between Greece and Turkey in the 1920s uprooted believers who had existed in the latter country since New Testament times (p. 322).
Stanley is a careful scholar, not prone to triumphalist declarations nor unduly critical in his assessments of Christians in the past. As any good historian, he seeks to bring understanding to the reader, providing the contexts in which particular events arose and why Christians reacted the way they did. He pays evenhanded attention to both the West and the Majority World and his conclusion neatly summarizes the contents of each of the preceding chapters. I would rate this book 4.5/5, highly recommended!
Stanley hones in on many of the famous individuals and movements of world Christianity, such as the prophetic and evangelistic movements of William Wadé Harris and Simon Kimbangu, the African-Initiated Churches, liberation theology, and the Church in China. Yet I also gleaned many new insights as well, some of which were:
• In the tradition of Protestantism (and even Koine Greek), much of the success of Christianity in Korea was due to a reviving of Hangul, am alphabet that was looked down upon but employed by the majority of the Korean population over Chinese who also favoured Confucianism. The Protestant championing of Hangul paved the way for Korean nationalism.
• In analyzing the decline of religious commitment in France, Stanley suggests this was largely due to opposition by males to the Roman Catholic Church's sexual ethic; the priests accused men of sin when they engaged in coitus interruptus and men, becoming resentful, responded by avoiding the confessional and hence attendance at the Eucharist (p. 87).
• Many faithful Roman Catholics bemoan the excesses of reform ushered in by Vatican II, among which was the elevation of the vernacular and the displacement of the Traditional Latin Mass. In the Chinese context, Stanley observes that, "it was the [Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association] Church, disconnected from the Vatican, which continued for a time to use the Tridentine Latin mass, whereas the underground church, supposedly representing the 'imperial' interests of the Vatican, began to adopt Chinese liturgy in accordance with the Vatican II reforms" (p. 147).
• Some early supporters of the Nazi Party were influenced by Ignaz von Döllinger, the most outspoken critic of papal infallibility at the time of Vatican I. These "Reform Catholics" sought "a distinctively German style of being Catholic that contrasted with the 'effeminate' and Italianate religious culture of the ultramontanes" (p. 157).
• Stanley brought to light the fascinating missiological debates that broke out between Konrad Raiser (who would serve as General Secretary of the World Council of Churches) and Lesslie Newbigin. The former critiqued the "Christocentric universalism" that he detected among religious conservatives and advocated "a social and nonhierarchical doctrine of the Trinity grounded in the theology of the Greek Fathers" which would provide "the necessary resources for...a paradigm shift in the Christian understanding of mission" while Newbigin contended that Raiser's view separated "the activity of the Spirit from the work of Christ" (p. 194-96).
• Stanley brings to light fascinating accounts of how liberation theology arose in Palestine through the writings of the Anglican priest Naim Stifan Ateek but diverged sharply with liberation theology in South America; the latter valorizes the Old Testament Exodus as key to providing hope for those oppressed by elites yet Palestinians, living under the thumb of Israel, do not find such inspiration in the Exodus. Additionally, Stanley asserts that the origins of liberation theology lie not in Roman Catholicism, as is typically supposed due to the enormous impact of Johann Baptist Metz, Gustavo Gutierrez, Leonardo Boff, and other Catholic liberation theologians, but instead in Protestantism. Stanley states "The sources of the new hermeneutical emphasis were Protestant ones, which is not surprising in view of the long history of Protestant exegesis of the exodus as an archetype of the deliverance of God's people from bondage" which "can be traced back to John Calvin...In Gutierrez's case, the debt to the Reformed tradition appears to have been quite specific: the channel was the Brazilian Presbyterian Rubem Alves" (p. 237).
• Stanley suggests that an ecclesiastical thaw began during World War I when Western European prisoners of war held by Germany interacted with and observed the religious practices of Eastern Orthodox Christians; what had once been entirely foreign became familiar and after the Bolshevik Revolution, Russian Orthodox believers were scattered, with many traveling West into Europe and North America. Related to Orthodoxy, the increase in nationalist fervor in the early 1820s led to the segmenting of Orthodox churches that were closely tied to their own ethnicities (p. 320). Additionally, the exchange of Christian and Muslim populations between Greece and Turkey in the 1920s uprooted believers who had existed in the latter country since New Testament times (p. 322).
Stanley is a careful scholar, not prone to triumphalist declarations nor unduly critical in his assessments of Christians in the past. As any good historian, he seeks to bring understanding to the reader, providing the contexts in which particular events arose and why Christians reacted the way they did. He pays evenhanded attention to both the West and the Majority World and his conclusion neatly summarizes the contents of each of the preceding chapters. I would rate this book 4.5/5, highly recommended!
November 27, 2018
Summary: A thematic account of the development of global Christianity during the twentieth century.
It is no small challenge to write a one volume history of Christianity in the twentieth century. The Christian faith has truly become a global faith, represented with indigenous churches on every continent, expressed and experienced in as many or more ways than there are countries in the world, and facing varied internal and external pressures leading to adaptation and change.
Brian Stanley has approached this task not by trying to write a series of chapters on regional histories, or denominational histories, or theological history, but by identifying fifteen themes running through Christian experience over the last hundred years. Each chapter develops a particular theme, sketching some of the global developments, and then offers two case studies, usually specific to two different countries or regions. In the course of this study, Stanley not only touches on fifteen critical themes or trends but also shows the development of Christian faith in every part of the world in its multiplex variety.
In brief, here are the themes covered:
Responses to World War I
Christianity and Nationalism
Prophetic movements
The Persecuted Church
Belonging and believing
Ecumenism
Christianity, Ethnic Hatred, and Genocide
Christianity in Islamic contexts
Christian mission in the modern world
Theologies of liberation
The church addresses human rights, racism, and indigenous peoples
Gender and sexuality
Pentecostalism
Eastern Orthodoxy
Migrant Churches
As mentioned above, each theme chapter is illustrated by two case studies. For example, in looking at Christian faith and nationalism, Stanley takes the contrasting cases of Protestant nationalism in Korea, and Catholic nationalism in Poland, developing the role of the church in the movements for national autonomy in each country, as well as the uneasy alliance of Christianity and nationalism more broadly. However, in the chapter on Christian mission, he considers first the Second Vatican Council of 1962 to 1965, and two contrasting gatherings of Protestants at Uppsala in 1968, focused more on the social dimensions of Christian faith, and Lausanne in 1974, focused more on the conversionist aspects of the faith, albeit with a strong witness for justice concerns by Christians from the majority world. I was somewhat surprised that little was said about the subsequent Lausanne movement or the efforts to identify and reach unreached people groups, a missiological development from this movement.
One of the observations I made while reading is that some themes felt like well-known territory, with names, issues and movements I was well familiar with. Other chapters, like the one on Orthodoxy, for example, surprised me as I learned of Orthodox movements in Africa, and how significant diasporas have been for the development of Orthodoxy in western Europe and the United States. I've recently become more aware of Ghanaian Pentecostalism in my own city and this book filled in context of the development of Ghanaian Christianity as well as Pentecostalism in other parts of the world. Numerous leaders of significant movements in twentieth century Christianity were mentioned that I had not heard of, conveying what a far-flung, diverse, and global movement Christianity has become.
The author opens and closes the book discussing the renaming of The Christian Oracle as The Christian Century. Was the twentieth century a "Christian century." A simple answer to that question is not possible in the author's estimate. In absolute numbers, no century has witness greater growth, and yet the world's population has grown faster. In Europe, North America, and Australasia, the church has been in retreat, except for the immigrant churches that have come from South and Central America, Asia, and Africa. Secularism and persecution have attempted to undermine the church, have made significant inroads, and yet not succeeded, and sometimes resulted in a resilient and more robust faith. Christians have both played pivotal roles in justice movements, and been inextricably involved in ethnic hatred and genocide. Great progress has occurred in some sectors toward Christian unity, even while indigenous and immigrant churches assert their own autonomy and major bodies are riven over questions about human sexuality.
Rather than offering a triumphalistic account, Stanley offers a cautionary tale inviting the reader to reflection, summarized in his closing question of "whether Christianity has converted indigenous religionists or whether indigenous religious and cultural perspectives--whether these be African, Asian, Latin American, or even white North American--have succeeded in converting Christianity." In raising this question, I think he has identified one of the critical issues facing Christians in the early twenty first centuries, questions that ought send us to our knees, turn us to our Bibles, and challenge us to listen to the prophetic voices that speak the uncomfortable truths we need to hear.
___________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
It is no small challenge to write a one volume history of Christianity in the twentieth century. The Christian faith has truly become a global faith, represented with indigenous churches on every continent, expressed and experienced in as many or more ways than there are countries in the world, and facing varied internal and external pressures leading to adaptation and change.
Brian Stanley has approached this task not by trying to write a series of chapters on regional histories, or denominational histories, or theological history, but by identifying fifteen themes running through Christian experience over the last hundred years. Each chapter develops a particular theme, sketching some of the global developments, and then offers two case studies, usually specific to two different countries or regions. In the course of this study, Stanley not only touches on fifteen critical themes or trends but also shows the development of Christian faith in every part of the world in its multiplex variety.
In brief, here are the themes covered:
Responses to World War I
Christianity and Nationalism
Prophetic movements
The Persecuted Church
Belonging and believing
Ecumenism
Christianity, Ethnic Hatred, and Genocide
Christianity in Islamic contexts
Christian mission in the modern world
Theologies of liberation
The church addresses human rights, racism, and indigenous peoples
Gender and sexuality
Pentecostalism
Eastern Orthodoxy
Migrant Churches
As mentioned above, each theme chapter is illustrated by two case studies. For example, in looking at Christian faith and nationalism, Stanley takes the contrasting cases of Protestant nationalism in Korea, and Catholic nationalism in Poland, developing the role of the church in the movements for national autonomy in each country, as well as the uneasy alliance of Christianity and nationalism more broadly. However, in the chapter on Christian mission, he considers first the Second Vatican Council of 1962 to 1965, and two contrasting gatherings of Protestants at Uppsala in 1968, focused more on the social dimensions of Christian faith, and Lausanne in 1974, focused more on the conversionist aspects of the faith, albeit with a strong witness for justice concerns by Christians from the majority world. I was somewhat surprised that little was said about the subsequent Lausanne movement or the efforts to identify and reach unreached people groups, a missiological development from this movement.
One of the observations I made while reading is that some themes felt like well-known territory, with names, issues and movements I was well familiar with. Other chapters, like the one on Orthodoxy, for example, surprised me as I learned of Orthodox movements in Africa, and how significant diasporas have been for the development of Orthodoxy in western Europe and the United States. I've recently become more aware of Ghanaian Pentecostalism in my own city and this book filled in context of the development of Ghanaian Christianity as well as Pentecostalism in other parts of the world. Numerous leaders of significant movements in twentieth century Christianity were mentioned that I had not heard of, conveying what a far-flung, diverse, and global movement Christianity has become.
The author opens and closes the book discussing the renaming of The Christian Oracle as The Christian Century. Was the twentieth century a "Christian century." A simple answer to that question is not possible in the author's estimate. In absolute numbers, no century has witness greater growth, and yet the world's population has grown faster. In Europe, North America, and Australasia, the church has been in retreat, except for the immigrant churches that have come from South and Central America, Asia, and Africa. Secularism and persecution have attempted to undermine the church, have made significant inroads, and yet not succeeded, and sometimes resulted in a resilient and more robust faith. Christians have both played pivotal roles in justice movements, and been inextricably involved in ethnic hatred and genocide. Great progress has occurred in some sectors toward Christian unity, even while indigenous and immigrant churches assert their own autonomy and major bodies are riven over questions about human sexuality.
Rather than offering a triumphalistic account, Stanley offers a cautionary tale inviting the reader to reflection, summarized in his closing question of "whether Christianity has converted indigenous religionists or whether indigenous religious and cultural perspectives--whether these be African, Asian, Latin American, or even white North American--have succeeded in converting Christianity." In raising this question, I think he has identified one of the critical issues facing Christians in the early twenty first centuries, questions that ought send us to our knees, turn us to our Bibles, and challenge us to listen to the prophetic voices that speak the uncomfortable truths we need to hear.
___________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
December 4, 2018
Rather than attempting a chronological historical review of Christianity in the last century Brian Stanley wisely explores fifteen themes as below. While skillfully tracing major themes, Stanley also provides multiple, colourful vignettes of key characters, thereby anchoring the broad sweep of history in the lives of individuals. This is an excellent and thought-provoking read with so much to learn. Outstanding chapters in my opinion were those on Eastern Orthodoxy, Pentecostalism, the persecuted church and Christianity and ethnic hatred. Stanley closes with a sober, balanced assessment of Christianity in the 20th century, pointing to the growth of the church in the South (mainly through the impact of Pentecostalism) while also identifying a widespread failure of Christians to stand against issues of racism and nationalism. Looking forward, his major concern is the subversion of Christian orthodoxy in the face of a drive toward personal enrichment. Highly recommended.
Themes covered are:
Responses to World War I
Christianity and Nationalism
Prophetic movements
The Persecuted Church
Belonging and believing
Ecumenism
Christianity, Ethnic Hatred, and Genocide
Christianity in Islamic contexts
Christian mission in the modern world
Theologies of liberation
The church addresses human rights, racism, and indigenous peoples
Gender and sexuality
Pentecostalism
Eastern Orthodoxy
Migrant Churches
Themes covered are:
Responses to World War I
Christianity and Nationalism
Prophetic movements
The Persecuted Church
Belonging and believing
Ecumenism
Christianity, Ethnic Hatred, and Genocide
Christianity in Islamic contexts
Christian mission in the modern world
Theologies of liberation
The church addresses human rights, racism, and indigenous peoples
Gender and sexuality
Pentecostalism
Eastern Orthodoxy
Migrant Churches
November 4, 2018
Stanley has come far in his own view of the church and its complicity in colonialism and imperialism. He gives an even-handed overview of the Church during the twentieth century by detailing various aspects of culture, both secular and religious. An excellent historical work that helps expand and problematic every the conversation.
April 13, 2023
This is an interesting overview of the church history of the 20th century, although it mentiones a lot of little facts and not so much the connection between the facts. It's not really focused on the history of the theology behind the history, which I think is a pity.
July 20, 2020
A tour de force by one of Christianity's greatest living historians.
November 5, 2023
Helpful book to understand the trends and movements of Christianity in the twentieth century.
August 10, 2018
This informative book explains how the social, economic, and political forces of nationalism, syncretism, secularism, capitalism, tribalism, racism, pluralism, and progressivism have impacted on the variety of Christian experiences in the last century or so. It describes the backdrop of the demise of imperialism, the process of indigenization, and the inevitability of globalization. It highlights theological conundrums on ecclesiology, soteriology, and missiology for readers to contemplate upon. The tone is certainly not triumphalist but is nuanced and even-handed.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews