Once upon a time—and not long ago—there was another Europe. The religious story of communist Europe, in which Christians suffered horrific persecutions, is forgotten by most Americans today.
The persistence of a rigorously orthodox Protestant area in the Netherlands must make us rethink our
generalizations about the state of religion
in Europe.
When documentaries explore Christianity, they have little
difficulty finding diverse manifestations of faith and practice. A global survey also reveals a surprising diversity when it comes to the content of the Bible.
The Zion Christian Church—an African-initiated church that's powerful in South Africa—traces its origins to John Alexander Dowie, a 19th-century Scottish spiritual entrepeneur who founded the city Zion, Illinois.
Fiji has long been known
to Westerners mainly as an exotic tourist destination. In recent years, though,
the country has acquired a troubling reputation for religious and
ethnic confrontations.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the
persecuted Orthodox Church began its resurrection. Nothing better illustrates this revival than the restoration of the cathedrals and churches.
Many Mexican Christians behave heroically, working for peace and meeting social needs where government has
all but abdicated power. But the drug crisis has also exposed some weaknesses in the church.
Not long ago, European religious cinema thrived. Now, religion typically appears in films only as a problem--and the solution to that problem is usually liberated sexuality.
The hymn "Tukutendereza Yesu" is a staple of Kenya's booming Christian music industry. Across modern East Africa, the song is hard to avoid. But just why is it so successful?
Much media attention has gone to Venezuela. But leftist regimes have sprouted elsewhere in Latin America--regimes that are friendly with liberationist thinkers and communities.
The author's breadth of vision has enormous implications for how we
understand the nature of Christian truth and the relationship between
indispensable core doctrines and later theological interpretations.
These days, Elmer Gantry is a familiar spiritual type around the world. The good news is that the prosperity gospel’s excesses are nothing like the whole story.
Earlier this year, a group of English bishops charged that the nation's Christians faced systematic discrimination that endangered their right to hold public office. Some even warned that anti-Christian hostility amounted to open persecution, which could provoke civil unrest. Pope Benedict, meanwhile, charged that new British statutes clearly violated natural law.
Books
Kingdom Without Borders
The Untold Story of Global Christianity
By Miriam Adeney
The Future Church
How Ten Trends Are Revolutionizing the Catholic Church
By John L. Allen Jr.
The Tenth Parallel
Dispatches from the Fault Line Between Christianity and Islam
By Eliza Griswold
Global Awakening
How 20th-Century Revivals Triggered a Christian Revolution
By Mark Shaw
Redeemed by Fire
The Rise of Popular Christianity in Modern China
By Lian Xi
From Bible Belt to Sunbelt
Plain-Folk Religion, Grassroots Politics, and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism
By Darren Dochuk
Faith in the Fight
Religion and the American Soldier in the Great War
Kingdom Without Borders: The Untold Story of Global Christianity, by Miriam Adeney. Adeney, an anthropologist, draws on her rich experiences around the world to describe encounters with Christians living in a bewildering variety of cultures and social environments, detailing how they live and preach their faith.
