2. World Christianity Understanding an Interdisciplinary Theological Discipline

3. Methodology What was the Christianity which spread? Why did Christianity spread? Why has Christianity suffered reverses and at times met only partial success? By what processes did Christianity spread?

7. Methodology (continued) What effect has Christianity had upon its environment? What is the effect of the environment on Christianity? What bearing do the processes by which Christianity spread have upon the effect of Christianity on its environment, and of the environment upon Christianity? Kenneth Scott Latourette, History of the Expansion of Christianity

12. Christianity as a World Religion Translability; Uses people’s idiomatic expressions of the divine; Biographical; Poly-centric; Cross-culturally diffused.

13. World Christianity: Re-Focus Over the past several decades the phrase “World Christianity” has gained in popularity as a way to talk about the contemporary global configurations of the Christian religion in all their complexities. The phrase carries an implicit admission within it. Without acknowledging as much, the term “Christianity” by itself has too often been reduced to naming one or more of the dominant Western historical forms of this religion, rendering the broader global Christian reality invisible. The study of World Christianity is, in contrast, an emerging field that investigates and seeks to understand Christian communities, faith, and practice as they are found on six continents, expressed in diverse ecclesial traditions, and informed by the multitude of historical and cultural experiences in a world that for good and ill is rapidly globalizing. It is concerned with both the diversity of local or indigenous expressions of Christian life and faith throughout the world, and the variety of ways these interact with one another critically and constructively across time and space. It is particularly concerned with under-represented and marginalized communities of faith, resulting in a greater degree of attention being paid to Asian, African, and Latin American experiences; the experience of marginalized communities within the North Atlantic world; and the experiences of women throughout the world. Dale T. Irvin, Journal of World Christianity, Abstract, Vol 1 No. 1, 2008

14. World Christianity Studies Mission Studies: the study of Christianity crossing cultural boundaries; Ecumenical studies: the study of the dialogue across confessional boundaries; Inter-religious dialogue: the study of Christianity’s engagement with other religions

15. Inter-religious Studies Mission Studies Ecumenical Studies

16. Theoretical Framework of WC Managing this interdisciplinary endeavor builds a theoretical framework to grapple with questions of identity/hybridity, theology, power, and communication. In my work, I explore and study crucial questions (and answers) raised by Christian communities in particular times and contexts, and compare them with (1) questions (and answers) raised by other Christian and non-Christian communities in those same times and contexts and/or (2) questions (and answers) asked by Christian and non-Christian communities in resembling contexts in different time periods.

17. Emerging Discipline: World Christianity “is the movement of Christianity as it takes form and shape in societies that previously were not Christian, societies that had no bureaucratic tradition with which to domesticate the gospel. In these societies Christianity was received and express through the customs, culture and traditions of the people affected” Lamin Sanneh, Whose Religion is Christianity?

18. A Proposed Agenda If the Christianising of African tradition may be considered to have been largely concerned with resolving a religious problem—in that it had to do with making room in the African experience of religious powers for Christ and the salvation he brings—the Africanising of Christian experience can be seen as being considered with resolving an essentially intellectual problem—how African Christianity, employing Christian tools, may set about mending the torn fabric of African identity and hopefully point a way towards the emergence of a fuller and unfettered African humanity and personality.” Kwame Bediako, Christianity in Africa

23. “It is easier to recognize now than it was even a century ago that cross-cultural diffusion has always been the lifeblood of historic Christianity; that Christian expansion has characteristically come from the margins more than from the centre; that church history has been serial rather than progressive, a process of advance and recession, of decline in areas of strength and of emergence, often in new forms, in areas of previous weaknesses.” Andrew F. Walls, “Structural Problems in Mission Studies,” in The Missionary Movement in Christian History

24. The challenges A new way of understanding the movement of the Christian religion Discovering its “space” among other religious traditions Internally, the syncretism with other religions Discovering its “space” among other ideologies Carlos F. Cardoza Orlandi, Mission: An Essential Guide

25. The challenges The paradox of new map: spiritual vitality and economic survival A faith with vitality in contexts of extreme poverty Becoming rooted in its context (de-westernized, inculturation) Developing and discovering an identity of “body of Christ” in the world Carlos F. Cardoza Orlandi, Mission: An Essential Guide

26. The promises A new agent/a new ”subject” in the drama of the faith Women; youth; the poor; the immigrant A new context/a new ”verb(s)” Religious diversity (long-lasting traditions; failure of modernity; the ambiguity of post- modernity; the uncertainty of economic globalization; the increasing mobility of people; the urbanization; clash of cultures; Carlos F. Cardoza Orlandi, Mission: An Essential Guide

27. The promises A new experience/ a new “object” A refreshing language about the experience of God and daily life A disorienting experience for the center A re-discovery of the Gospel for the Body of Christ To be seen… To be heard… and To be celebrated… Carlos F. Cardoza Orlandi, Mission: An Essential Guide

28. Challenges and opportunities for mission The opportunity for solidarity given the paradox of the new map Now, more than ever, missionaries need to love their cultures in order to engage with people of other cultures The missionary as an agent of interpretation of the emerging character of the Christian faith The missionary: a teacher for mission in the Euro- American context (immigrant churches)

29. Christianity… Redefined? Who is Jesus Christ and what does he do? Different answers… What are the Scriptures? Hebrew Bible, the New Testament… and others? What is the church? Community gathered under different rubrics of organization and in different spaces…. What are the sacraments or ordinances? Water, bread, wine…. A celebration…. Is it Christianity? Or Is it Christianities?

30. Considering the emerging geography… How do we do the new cartography? Agents: poor, women of color Contexts: poverty, globalization & deteriorating environment Intra-Christian interplay: primal religions & Christianity Inter-religious: world religions & Christianity The movement of peoples A new configuration of space and time… a new embodiment of the faith…