Bible in the Global South, Application Essay Example

Executive Summary

The faith of the Global South, compared to the North has always been considered conservative and traditional. In Jenkins’ book, the “Global South” is determined as Latin America, Asia and Africa. Despite the growing influence of the Western civilization and Christianity, the aspects of faith, worship and traditions still differ in the Global South from the West. The below review of Philip Jenkins’ book: New Faces of Christianity will attempt to reveal the main differences and the causes of various Biblical traits in the South and the North.

New Faces of Christianity

The first thing that we notice when looking at the Global South Christianity is cultural trait differences, therefore, the themes of worship, gospel and teaching will vary. There are also substantial fluctuations in values and traditions in Asia, Africa and Latin America, resulting in a different approach towards Christian values. (Jenkins, 2008, p. 193.)

The teachings of the Bible in the South are taken more literally than in Western cultures. There is a lack of contextualization, while the healing of the words and teachings is a common belief in the Southern type of Christian belief. (Jenkins, 2008, Chapter 2) Further, in chapters 3 and 4 the author confirms that the teachings of Jesus are much closer connected to some of the African Christian communities, as the stories have rural settings, while the parables referencing agriculture can be understood better by listeners. Still, the socio-economic differences between the Global North and South are not the only reasons for the variability of the belief systems.

The spiritual traditions of the South are completely different from Western civilization’s. People often experience supernatural and do not look at illnesses, catastrophes, natural events in a rational way westerners would do. Faith is more connected with spirituality, healing, power and general success in Southern Christian communities. Only in a few European countries would one see relics, mini-altars, crosses and other religious items displayed in homes, cars and public places. (It happens in some Catholic South European countries like Malta and parts of Spain.) In Latin America, however, these items carry a supernatural power and it is a common belief that they do have a healing potential, too.

Jenkins (2008, p. 185) confirms that those in the South “are true to their Bibles” and follow the teachings of the Acts of Apostles in their lives. In contrast, they see the Western type of Christianity as “untrue” and liberal. The interest of alternative gospels by Western Christianity, such as the one of Mary, Thomas and Judas are rejected by the believers of the South. They even express their independence from the West. (Jenkins, 2008, p. 186) Likewise, the majority of Western Christians would be surprised to learn how some parts of the Bible “might be read in communities elsewhere in the world”. (Jenkins, 2008, p. 185.)

Traits of Good and Evil

According to a recent conference document published by the Church of the Advent, Anglican Church of Nigeria, the traditions, such as healing, ancestral forces and pagan memories (Anglican Church of Nigeria, 2005) influence people’s beliefs and attitude towards religion.

Jenkins (2008, p. 181) also confirms that the forces of “spiritual evil” are taken more seriously in Southern churches. The teachings of the Old and New Testaments about the spiritual world, power of demons and healing are more in the focus. They also understand religion more like a personal spiritual experience, not like Westerns. For them, visions, prophecies and supernatural events are just as much the part of the Bible’s teachings as the Ten Commandments. The churches of the South teach that “evil is real and has a personal face”. (Anglican Church of Nigeria, 2005) The forces of evil are used to explain cosmic disasters, sin, witches and personal misfortune alike. As the pagan memories are still very recent in Africa, satanic forces and mediums, spiritual healers are still a part of everyday life in many parts of the Global South. Even church leaders use diabolical language. (Anglican Church of Nigeria, 2005)

Christianity, therefore, in the South is viewed as a victory over evil, spirits and forces. Jesus does not only save people from sin, but – according to Southern belief – also from the “forces of evil through the Incarnation and Resurrection”. (Anglican Church of Nigeria, 2005) This belief is easy to identify in the hymns and psalms of the South. As war, genocide and poverty are also the acts of the evil, religion is also considered to be a way out and a method to fight against them. Southern Christians use readings from the Bible to confirm the power of Jesus over Evil, for example Luke 4:18-19 and Ephesians 6:12.

Christian religion is also used to fight inequality and poverty in the Global South. Clifford (2012, p. 30) confirms the Church’s advocacy for equality. Southerns, according to the author look at churches as actors for a “triumphant struggle against an unjust society”. (p. 31.)

Healing in a physical and spiritual sense as well, through Jesus, who is considered the “Superior Healer” (Anglican Church of Nigeria, 2005) is believed in. The methods used to heal physical and mental illnesses by Jesus resemble traditional methods of African societies. The authority of Jesus as a healer is also promoted in Southern churches to fight pagan traditions.

The Shift towards South

The shift of Christianity towards the South is an important trend of the 21^st Century theology. It is confirmed by Jenkins (2008) that over two thirds of the Christian believers live in the Global South. Still, Johnson (2010, p. 165) states that this shift is demographic rather than geographic. The population of Christians in the West fell under 40 percent of the total believers in 2010. Another trend the author confirms is that Christianity has become excluding and excluded. Quoting a recent research, he states that 86 percent of people practicing other major religions, like Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists had no personal contact with a Christian individual.

The effects of globalization on religion is clearly visible in the South. The acceleration of social interactions among communities, due to technological developments make the effects of the global Christian community more evident. (Johnson, 2010, p. 166) Thinking more broadly about Christ, the Bible and interaction of ideas is strengthened by the Church’s globalization. Still, the author confirms that the globalization of Christianity is uneven, due to the level of influences local communities have on the center of the religion. The development of a global Christian identity is not without obstacles. The differences and conflicting views, traditions and beliefs of the South and North show the sign of future disagreement and misunderstanding.

Implications

The question of Christianity’s “southernization” in general indicates several issues ahead. Indeed, the lack of communication and understanding between Western and Southern Christianity is likely to cause problems in the future. While Southern Christians (in a demographic and not geographic term) make up the majority of the religious community, they are not represented accordingly. Mainline Christians (Western) are not able to understand the spiritual approach to healing. While Southern Christians do not understand the complex way of reading the Bible and their communities have just started to discover the texts in the past century, the whole Western civilization is built upon Christian values. (Jenkins, 2008. p. 191) While Westerners refuse the spiritual and emotional approach towards the text of the Bible, the role of the Old Testament and Apocalyptic texts, Jenkins (2008, p, 191) states that they could learn from the South.

There is likely to be a need for reviewing the needs of the Christian community and the texts to be interpreted, quoted and read. While the approach of the Western and Southern churches towards the Bible are different, instead of refusing each other’s interpretation of the religious message, there is a need for extensive collaboration. It is only desirable that global networks of Christian communities will continue to develop and communicate with each other in order to learn from each other and understand different approaches to the text. This way the Christian community can become a truly open, inclusive and global one that welcomes different views, beliefs and traditions. Without judgments, acts of exclusion, Christian values can be communicated much more effectively.

The work of the Christian Aid (Clifford, 2012, p. 27) can act as a bridge between the North and South. It can be used to empower Christians in Africa, Asia and Latin-America, instead of forcing them to adapt the liberal approach towards the Bible. It can teach people how Christian values, taken from the Bible are supporting women’s rights and how texts about liberation and salvation are in line with the effort of reducing poverty. This should be done without romanticizing the Southern approach and alongside learning from the growing Southern Christian communities.

Conclusion

While the growth of Christianity in the South has many cultural, traditional and sociological aspects, – as Jenkins (2008, p. 188) confirms, the association of the religion’s growth with poverty should be avoided. It is indeed true that people in the South believe in the liberating power of religion, the spirituality of Jesus, however, this is not the main characteristic of Christianity in the area. Southerners and Westerners believe in the same God, values and read the same Biblical texts. While the approaches towards interpreting the text are different, there is only one church still, and it should be an inclusive one. Theologists need to review the challenges of the changing world. Not only Southern Christians, but Westerners could also benefit from “reading the Bible through fresh eyes” (Jenkins, 2008, p. 193).

Jenkins’ book has revealed the main characteristics of the (now majority) Southern Christian religion. It is an eye-opener for missionaries and a guidance to how to avoid rejecting peculiar cultural aspects of religion and spiritual approaches to the Bible and how to become accepting, inclusive and in one word: Christian. Further, the book is a guide to understanding the personal and spiritual aspect of belief through the example of Asian, Latin American and African communities.

References

Church of the Advent. Anglican Church of Nigeria. (2005) The New Faces of Christianity in the global South. Good and Evil. Retrieved from http://www.stjohnadulted.org/NewFaces4.PDF http://www.cartercenter.org/health/mental_health/intl_women.html

Clifford, P. (2012) Theology from the global South. Perspectives on Christian Aid’s work. A Christian Aid Report. April, 2012. Retrieved from http://www.christianaid.org.uk/images/theology-from-the-global-south.pdf

Jenkins, P. (2008) The new faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the global South. OUP USA

Johnson, T. (2010) Globalization, Christian identity, and frontier missions. International Journal of Frontier Missiology. 27:4 Winter 2010. 165-169