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World Christianity in History and in Culture
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World Christianity in History and in Culture

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (5 November 2023) | Viewed by 27895

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Dyron B. Daughrity

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Religion and Philosophy Division, Seaver College, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA 90263, USA
Interests: world Christianity; global Christianity; history of Christianity; world religions; religion in India; interreligious dialogue; ecumenical movement; ecumenism; history and theology of Christianity; secularization; sociology of religion; ethnography and religion; new religious movements; comparative religion
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Woven together like finely crafted fabric, world Christianity, history, and culture are always tightly interlaced.  Historians realize that all Christians exist in a dynamic web of cultural and historical factors. Anthropologists investigate how Christians in one locale live in strikingly different ways than those in another place. Sociologists comprehend how social context shapes Christians in profound ways, dependent upon shifting conditions. There is a constant and perpetual interplay between Christianity, history, and culture that illuminates everything else around.

This Special Issue will display the vast and colourful varieties of Christianity, from the apostolic era to today, with a preference for “lived religion." The scope of this Special Issue is limited only to the lives of Christians, wherever they may exist, or wherever they may have existed. The focus will be more on actual Christians, rather than vague conceptions of "Christianity." The purpose of this issue is twofold: illuminate the varieties of Christianity throughout history, and break new ground in how those forms of Christianity are investigated.

Rich, diverse viewpoints and new theses are desired. We would like to see fresh perspectives, unique arguments, and creative analyses that look at Christianity, culture, and history in new ways. Cutting edge topics are welcomed, as are new methodologies and conclusions that challenge earlier scholarship. 

Some potential topics for this Special Issue:

What kind of person in the Roman Empire would be attracted to a fledgling religion enmeshed in controversy and embroiled in turmoil? What was it about early medieval culture that provided conditions for the radical abandonment that monasticism required? How exactly did women left at home during the crusades deal with an entire century of their men marching off to the Levant? How did artists and musicians respond to repercussions in their culture caused by the long turbulence of Reformation and Counter-Reformation? Why have sub-Saharan Africans embraced Christianity so fervently in the recent past?  How have pre-existent religions continued to live on in Global South Christianity? How has Christianity impacted the lives of Asians who embraced the faith, in comparison to those who did not? Why did the Azusa Street Revival strike such a nerve? How long does it take for an immigrant to Western Europe to secularize? How do we define evangelicalism in the era of Donald Trump?

These topics and much more are fair game.  We welcome your proposals.  If you have been working on a paper that you think might be a good fit, then we'd be happy to see it.

This Special Issue will add to the growing, diversifying corpus of world Christianity, especially its rootedness in history and in culture. 

Prof. Dr. Dyron B. Daughrity
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • world Christianity
  • global Christianity
  • history
  • sociology
  • anthropology
  • ethnography
  • methodology
  • Christianity and other religions

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Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 234 KiB  
Article
A Christian Pluralistic Hypothesis: To Bonhoeffer and beyond—A World Christianity
by Greg Gorsuch
Religions 2024, 15(1), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010019 - 21 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1038
Abstract
This essay investigates Bonhoeffer’s undeveloped concept of “Unconscious Christianity” and how a protracted understanding of his religionless Christianity in a culture “come of age” points to a viable Christian pluralistic hypothesis—how Christ and the Spirit are redemptively active outside the church. Bonhoeffer’s living [...] Read more.
This essay investigates Bonhoeffer’s undeveloped concept of “Unconscious Christianity” and how a protracted understanding of his religionless Christianity in a culture “come of age” points to a viable Christian pluralistic hypothesis—how Christ and the Spirit are redemptively active outside the church. Bonhoeffer’s living faith action transcends his theology, revealing unconscious dynamics within our interactions that reveal antecedent relational dynamics that open to the redemptive process, which transcend but do not obviate the cognitive elements of faith. New scriptural themes and concepts of relationality and perichoretic metaphysics bring greater biblical coherence and meaning to one particular biblical passage that has apparently remained meaningless (Matt 12:32). This new meaning and coherence within the scriptures radically alter Christianity’s relationship to the outside world and transforms our understanding of the Great Commission. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue World Christianity in History and in Culture)
13 pages, 2226 KiB  
Article
Mind the Doxastic Space: Examining the Social Epistemology of the Ethiopian Wax and Gold Tradition
by Mohammed Girma
Religions 2023, 14(9), 1214; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14091214 - 21 Sep 2023
Viewed by 2372
Abstract
The wax and gold tradition is mainly known as an Ethiopian literary system that plays with layers of meanings. It has also established itself as a system of knowledge and/or belief production and validation. However, its social ramifications have presented scholars with conundrums [...] Read more.
The wax and gold tradition is mainly known as an Ethiopian literary system that plays with layers of meanings. It has also established itself as a system of knowledge and/or belief production and validation. However, its social ramifications have presented scholars with conundrums that divide their views. For some, it is an Ethiopian traditional society’s crowning achievement of erudition—a poetic form that infiltrated communication, psychology, and social interaction. For others, it is a breeding ground for social vices, i.e., mutual suspicion, deception, duplicity, etc., because its autochthonous nature means it is inept in terms of modernizing and unifying the society. In this essay, I aim to argue that there is one critical historical element that holds the key to the conflicting social ramifications of the wax and gold system and, yet, is neglected by both sides of the debate: the original doxastic space of qine (poetry) and sem ena werq (wax and gold system)—a hermeneutic tool that deciphers the meaning of poems. This literary system was born in the space of worship and liturgy. I will contend, therefore, that a shift of doxastic space from sacred to saeculum (the world) is the reason not only for the behavior of doxastic agents but also for the social outcome of the knowledge they create. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue World Christianity in History and in Culture)
13 pages, 876 KiB  
Article
Holistic Wisdom from Abrahamic Faiths’ Earliest Encounters with Ancient China: Towards a Constructive Chinese Natural Theology
by Jacob Chengwei Feng
Religions 2023, 14(9), 1117; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14091117 - 29 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1269
Abstract
Philosophies in the East and West have favored wisdom in their search for truths. The Chinese civilization has sought holistic wisdom in its long history of absorbing the Abrahamic faiths since the seventh century. This paper aims to investigate how the Abrahamic faiths [...] Read more.
Philosophies in the East and West have favored wisdom in their search for truths. The Chinese civilization has sought holistic wisdom in its long history of absorbing the Abrahamic faiths since the seventh century. This paper aims to investigate how the Abrahamic faiths have interacted with ancient Chinese culture. In particular, this paper will examine the earliest written records in Chinese of the Luminous Religion (or Jingjiao), the earliest Jews in Kaifeng, and the earliest Muslims in China. By analyzing their theology of creation with reference to the Holy Spirit and qi (wind/breath/pneuma), this paper attempts a constructive Chinese natural theology based on a sympathetic and critical assessment of Alister McGrath’s natural theology but makes up for his spirit deficit. This paper argues that the holistic wisdom achieved in the early integration process of the Abrahamic faiths with the Chinese culture is closely intertwined with the Spirit and qi, which provides a fruitful ground to construct a Chinese natural theology. The contribution of this paper lies in its original research into the earliest written records of the three Abrahamic faiths in China from the perspective of the doctrine of creation and its relationship with the Spirit and qi. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue World Christianity in History and in Culture)
10 pages, 238 KiB  
Article
Christianity and Its Impact on the Lives of Kallars in Tamil Nadu Who Embraced the Faith, in Comparison to Those Who Did Not: Special Reference to Kallar Tamil Lutheran Christians in Tamil Nadu
by Jayabalan Murthy
Religions 2023, 14(5), 582; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14050582 - 27 Apr 2023
Viewed by 4577
Abstract
The German and Swedish Lutheran Mission was a major and pioneering Protestant mission society that started its mission work in Tamil Nadu. The Halle Danish, Leipzig mission, and Church of Sweden mission societies had a larger mission field in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Evangelical [...] Read more.
The German and Swedish Lutheran Mission was a major and pioneering Protestant mission society that started its mission work in Tamil Nadu. The Halle Danish, Leipzig mission, and Church of Sweden mission societies had a larger mission field in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Christians are intimately associated with the German Lutheran Mission and Swedish Mission. The first German Lutheran missionaries, Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Plütschau, came to India in 1706. From then on, many Lutheran missionaries came to Tamil Nadu. Afterwards Tamil Nadu became a thriving Christian center for decades, with a strong Christian congregation, church, and several institutions. The majority of these Christians are descendants of Dalits (former untouchable Paraiyars) and Kallars who embraced Christianity. From a life of near slavery, poverty, illiteracy, oppression, and indignity, conversion to Christianity transformed the lives of these people. Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Dalits and Kallars found liberation and have made significant progress because of the Christian missionaries of the Church of the German and Swedish Mission. Both the German and Swedish Mission offered the Gospel of a new religion to not only the subaltern people but also the possibility of secular salvation. The history of Lutherans needs to be understood as a part of Christian subaltern history (Analysing the Indian mission history from the native perspective). My paper will mainly focus on Tamil Lutheran Dalit and Kallar Christians. In this paper, I propose to elucidate the role of German and Swedish Lutheran missionaries in the social, economic, educational, and spiritual life of Tamil Lutheran Dalits and Kallars. Due to the page limit, I am going to mainly focus on Swedish Mission and Kallar Lutheran Christians. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue World Christianity in History and in Culture)
14 pages, 246 KiB  
Article
Inter-Weaving of Local and Global Discourses: History of Early Pentecostals in Kerala
by Jose Abraham and George Oommen
Religions 2023, 14(3), 312; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14030312 - 27 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2961
Abstract
Even though the Pentecostal movement in Kerala, South India, is a unique expression of Global Christianity, it has not been given due recognition either in the history of Kerala Christianity or Global Pentecostalism. It was rooted in both local and global discourses of [...] Read more.
Even though the Pentecostal movement in Kerala, South India, is a unique expression of Global Christianity, it has not been given due recognition either in the history of Kerala Christianity or Global Pentecostalism. It was rooted in both local and global discourses of the early 20th century. So, in order to understand the origin and early history of the Pentecostal movement, we need to delve deep into the history of socio-religious reform movements, which were enthusiastically embraced by Dalits, women, and other marginalized sections of Kerala. Unique features of Kerala Pentecostalism were shaped by various revival and reform movements among Christians in Kerala. With the arrival of American missionaries associated with the Azusa Street revival, the homegrown brand of Kerala Pentecostalism engaged in the global discourse on Pentecostalism. It equipped Pentecostals with the language and interpretations to make a break with the past and carve out a new identity for themselves. The usual method of approaching it as an extension of global Pentecostalism will not help us to understand how Pentecostals in Kerala creatively engaged in local and global discourses at the turn of the 20th century. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue World Christianity in History and in Culture)
21 pages, 320 KiB  
Article
Religions, Women and Discourse of Modernity in Colonial South India
by M. Christhu Doss
Religions 2022, 13(12), 1225; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13121225 - 19 Dec 2022
Viewed by 3248
Abstract
Colonial education and missionary discourse of modernity intensified struggles for continuity and change among the followers of Hinduism and Christianity in nineteenth century India. While missionary modernity was characterised by an emphasis on sociocultural changes among the marginalized women through Christian norms of [...] Read more.
Colonial education and missionary discourse of modernity intensified struggles for continuity and change among the followers of Hinduism and Christianity in nineteenth century India. While missionary modernity was characterised by an emphasis on sociocultural changes among the marginalized women through Christian norms of decency, orthodox Hindus used traditional cultural practices to confront missionary modernization endeavours. This article posits that the discourse of missionary modernity needs to be understood through the principles of Western secular modernity that impelled missionaries to employ decent clothing as a symbol of Christian femininity. It argues that missionary modernity not only emboldened the marginalized women to challenge their ascribed sociocultural standing but also solidified communitarian consciousness among the followers of Hinduism and Christianity substantially. Even though Travancore state defended the entrenched customary practices, including women’s attire patterns, with all its potency through authoritative proclamations, it could not dissuade missionaries from converting the marginalized women to missionary modernity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue World Christianity in History and in Culture)
19 pages, 333 KiB  
Article
A Home for the ‘Wandering Aramean’—In Germany?
by Elke B. Speliopoulos
Religions 2022, 13(12), 1176; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13121176 - 2 Dec 2022
Viewed by 2162
Abstract
Migration to Germany has been a fact of life for the average German since the 1960s. Immigrants started arriving from countries like Turkey, Spain, Greece, or Italy as a post-war labor force was invited to Germany to address workforce shortages. Many of these [...] Read more.
Migration to Germany has been a fact of life for the average German since the 1960s. Immigrants started arriving from countries like Turkey, Spain, Greece, or Italy as a post-war labor force was invited to Germany to address workforce shortages. Many of these immigrants ultimately brought their families to live in Germany. One group of these newcomers was Aramean families of Syriac Orthodox faith, forced to flee the Tur Abdin region in southeast Turkey via Syria, Lebanon, and Northern Iraq. This paper will discuss the background and impetus for moving to the West for this immigrant group in detail. It will review the impacts on the life of devout Syriac Orthodox families while living in Germany, a secular country. It will also take an initial look at whether evangelical communities in Germany can come alongside this group, still suffering from a different kind of persecution: the “otherness” of living in Germany. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue World Christianity in History and in Culture)
19 pages, 680 KiB  
Article
Christianity and Liberation: A Study of the Canadian Baptist Mission among the Savaras in Ganjam (Orissa), c.1885–1970
by Tiasa Basu Roy
Religions 2022, 13(10), 996; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13100996 - 20 Oct 2022
Viewed by 2447
Abstract
Liberation is a psychological attribute that primarily aims towards peace of mind followed by emancipation from fetters. Every individual covets liberation through their actions and expects a conducive milieu to experience the same. However, for oppressed people, the journey to liberation is convoluted [...] Read more.
Liberation is a psychological attribute that primarily aims towards peace of mind followed by emancipation from fetters. Every individual covets liberation through their actions and expects a conducive milieu to experience the same. However, for oppressed people, the journey to liberation is convoluted as it involves escape from many elements. In a hierarchical society like India, liberation means liberation from the whole structure in which religious affiliation plays an important role. The marginalized section of the population seldom has the liberty to choose for their lives and they continue to remain subordinated under age-old power relations, which are garbed in the names of destiny and ordinance. For them, liberation is a quest to make an identity and reinstate the value of self-worth. Christianity, with the Church as its mission partner, seeks to liberate these caged souls from their precarious standings. This study will try to show how the Canadian Baptist Mission, with a primary objective to evangelize, left a trail of aspiration among the tribal Savaras of Ganjam to undertake the pursuit of liberation and fight oppression on their own. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue World Christianity in History and in Culture)
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16 pages, 905 KiB  
Article
Adapting Christianity to Hakka Culture: The Basel Mission’s Activities among Indigenous People in China (1846–1931)
by Lei Li
Religions 2022, 13(10), 924; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13100924 - 3 Oct 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2781
Abstract
The Hakka are a branch of the Chinese Han people, who immigrated from central China to Kwangtung (Guangdong 广东) Province. They have their own cultural norms in terms of language, lineage, distribution of work roles and status of women. The trans-national Basel Mission [...] Read more.
The Hakka are a branch of the Chinese Han people, who immigrated from central China to Kwangtung (Guangdong 广东) Province. They have their own cultural norms in terms of language, lineage, distribution of work roles and status of women. The trans-national Basel Mission was headquartered in the Swiss city of Basel, near the Swiss–German border. The Basel Mission was distinguished among the missions to China by its rural Hakka Christian community. This article sets out to illustrate how the Basel Mission supported and maintained the rural Hakka Christianity community by integrating Christianity with Hakka cultural precepts. Previous Christian historiographical research has generally chosen not to emphasize Hakka cultural beliefs and practices. Examining the activities of the Basel Mission from the perspective of the indigenous Hakka culture, this article aims to enhance our understanding of the cultural precepts of receptors to shape the global enterprise of missionary society. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue World Christianity in History and in Culture)
17 pages, 273 KiB  
Article
Bringing Chinese Christianity to Southeast Asia: Constructing Transnational Chinese Evangelicalism across China and Southeast Asia, 1930s to 1960s
by Daowei (Joshua) Sim
Religions 2022, 13(9), 773; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13090773 - 24 Aug 2022
Viewed by 2393
Abstract
This paper takes its cue from studies in Chinese religious transnationalism to offer an interpretation of how a group of Chinese evangelical leaders constructed their visions and versions of transnational Christianity across China and Southeast Asia through the 1930s and 1960s. Two representative [...] Read more.
This paper takes its cue from studies in Chinese religious transnationalism to offer an interpretation of how a group of Chinese evangelical leaders constructed their visions and versions of transnational Christianity across China and Southeast Asia through the 1930s and 1960s. Two representative organisations are examined. The first concerns the transnational network of Chinese evangelistic bands that the prominent revivalist-evangelist John Sung established across China and Southeast Asia in the 1930s and 1940s. The bands’ sources reveal how they played a key role in imbuing a transnational landscape and communal sense of spiritual revival into the imaginations of the Chinese churches. The second case evaluates the cross-border institutional-building work of the Evangelize China Fellowship, a major transnational Chinese evangelical grouping founded by Sung’s colleague Andrew Gih after World War II. The analysis reveals how the Fellowship utilised a faith-based developmental agenda to promote Christianity among the overseas Chinese communities across Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong in the 1950s to 1960s. In all, paying attention to Chinese Christian imaginaries of Southeast Asia enables us to understand how they formed faith adherents across Asia into transnational ethno-religious communities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue World Christianity in History and in Culture)
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