Global Christianity

When the Era of Reform ended in 1648, Christianity was heavily concentrated in Europe; but by the year 2000, Christianity was a global religion with more than half of its adherents living in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The story of Christianity in the modern world is the story of a global church.

Christian growth and expansion. Many factors contributed to Christian growth and globalization. Catholic missionary Orders and Protestant mission societies translated the Bible into many languages and planted Christianity in many parts of the world. African, Asian, Hispanic and American Christians began to build indigenous churches, and to send out their own evangelists. Colonial settlement on several continents spread Christianity to new places. In the early phases of colonial settlement, Europeans expected uniformity of religion. Eventually religious pluralism became the norm in many places; competition among Christian denominations also contributed to growth.

Theological and political challenges. In the West, the rise of modern science and the Enlightenment called into question the authority of the Scriptures, creeds, and clergy. Many prominent thinkers insisted that religion's true purpose was moral behavior, personal feeling, or social progress. Some Christians, such as Friedrich Schleiermacher, responded by adapting Christianity to modernity, a strategy often called liberal theology. Others reasserted traditional forms of religious authority. Such was the case with the first Vatican Council, and various types of fundamentalism. Another challenge arose when political rulers attempted to shape or control the church. Two examples are church and state struggles in Latin America, or, in Germany, Confessing Church resistance to the Nazis. Twentieth-century wars posed a profound challenge to liberal optimism, and Karl Barth, perhaps the greatest modern theologian, voiced a theology which took radical evil and human sin seriously.

Human suffering and the need for justice. In the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries, global trade networks and the new industrialization created wealth and opened new doors for Christian mission. Yet modern economies also brought great suffering, including the African slave trade and urban poverty in cities such as London or New York. Some Christians profited from human suffering, while others merely ignored it. Many Christians, however, strove to end slavery and to alleviate urban poverty. Their humanitarianism was one Christian response to suffering. In the Twentieth-century liberation theologies and some facets of the women's movement sought to go beyond humanitarianism, by addressing social systems as a whole and attempting to remake theology from the ground up. The Civil Rights movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., confronted racism as a cause of human suffering, and worked for racial justice and equality; the crusade to end Apartheid in South Africa also involved many Christians. Yet another approach to human suffering was taken by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, whose ministry to the dying embodied a contemplative life with Christ.

Renewal and revival. The primary concern of renewal and revival movements is to awaken people to faith in Christ. Through this emphasis on conversion, renewal and revival movements have helped make Christianity a global religion. Pietism began as a renewal movement within European Lutheranism, and soon spread around the world through its missions. Puritanism sought to reform the Church of England, but took hold in New England, where it contributed to an epoch-making revival called the Great Awakening. John Wesley began Methodism as a renewal movement within the Church of England, but it spread around the world through missions and evangelism. The Salvation Army continued the trajectory begun by Methodism, offering both conversion and social reform to urban poor. The Inner Mission in Europe likewise sought to renew older churches through evangelism and to help poor people gain access to education, medical care, and employment. Nineteenth century evangelicalism combined fervent revivalism with social reform in the United States. But perhaps the greatest global revival movement is Pentecostalism, which has gained millions of adherents in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. At the close of the Twentieth-century, the largest Christian congregation in the world was a Pentecostal church in Korea.

Religious pluralism. Religious pluralism refers to the accepted existence, in the same place and time, of many forms within Christianity; pluralism also refers to the existence of Christianity with other religions such as Hinduism, Judaism, and Islam. The ecumenical movement has helped the various types of Christians--Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox--understand and cooperate with one another as fellow-Christians. In the United States, pluralism became the norm in the constitutional settlement, which assured religious freedom in a nation without an established church. The Second Vatican Council opened Roman Catholicism to greater acceptance of pluralism. Some Christian groups have sought dialog and cooperation with non-Christian religions. The continued growth of Christianity around the world attests to the calling of Christians to live in a pluralistic world and still engage in evangelism.

Pluralism and religious freedom cannot be taken for granted in the modern world. The Twentieth-century has witnessed the persecution of Christians in many parts of the world. Like the ancient church, the global church lives with both pluralism and persecution, bearing the name of Christ.