Diocesan Dialogue

October 2006

Book Review

Philip Jenkins, The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006); hardcover, 288 pages; $26.00; ISBN 0195300653.

In this work, Philip Jenkins of the Pennsylvania State University sees the Christian world as dichotomized between the Euro-American North and the global South; his book examines the question, "Why are global South churches so conservative in their approach to biblical authority?"

Echoing themes reminiscent of Michael Harrington's 1977 Vast Majority, Jenkins sees the future of Christianity--its numbers, theological verve, and essential dynamic--as lying with the global South, something that must not be lost on the traditional North. Focusing primarily on Africa, but addressing Latin America and Asia as well, he takes the reader on a deeply revealing tour of Third and Fourth World historical, social, economic, and cultural realities.

Jenkins shows that for the global South, the Bible--with its agrarian-based social structure and peasant-oriented worldview--accurately mirrors southern societal patterns, contemporary concerns, and life experiences.

Old Testament themes such as sacrifice, famine, and plague resonate for the global South. And all of this is the stuff that goes into the construction of fundamental notions of "how" reality "is" and how it is understood.

For these cultures, the Bible speaks directly to their lives and a literal interpretation follows. From their perspective, this simply makes sense, and it can yield new and sometimes disturbing theological insights.

On the other hand, for the Euro-American North, the Bible's imagery is quite distant from contemporary life experiences and understanding--its perceptions of reality. The patterns of biblical exegesis and theological thought of the two worlds thus follow different paths, driven by their respective realities.

The New Faces of Christianity is a sequel to Jenkins' 2002 The Next Christendom and a prequel to a slated 2007 book on European Christianity. Jenkins' book is an excellent contribution to our general understanding of twenty-first century religious dynamics and--perhaps--a foretaste of a much different future Christian landscape.

Reviewed by Irvin H. Bromall, Ph.D.; he is a member of Church of St. Francis, Moab.