Western missionaries continue to carry the teachings of Jesus to the nations as they have done for more than two centuries. Christianity is flourishing in many of those nations while at the same time, the Christian West (Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand) has been drifting from Christianity. During the last 100 years, Western missionaries turned Africa from a continent of 9 million in 1900 to 400 million Christians today; this amounts to 59% of the population. On the other hand in the 18 years since 1990, Christianity has decreased in America from a nation in which over 86% identified themselves as Christian to below 70% today. Why is Christianity growing in many nations America helped disciple while she herself is declining?
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Jesus in Beijing
Yesterday I participated in an interview of a candidate for a teaching position in World Religion. The erudite new Ph.D. (from a premier North American university) was in command of three languages and four Asian religious traditions. While he had grown up the child of illiterate peasants in a village north of Shanghai, his Christian faith was now central to a remarkably deep intellectual life. Concisely, he epitomizes a transformation now taking place that could well turn China into the world's most powerful Christian nation-state.
by Eugene Clingman, Executive Director,