A Godless Europe and A Tidal Wave of Christianity

CBN News ^ | July 29th, 2004 | Dale Hurd

[missyme]

September 11th focused a lot of attention on the growth of Islam. What most pundits and scholars have missed is the incredible growth of Christianity, and where it's growing.

Today more Presbyterians worship in the African nation of Ghana than in Scotland. And more Anglicans worship in Nigeria than in Britain. We like to think of ourselves as the Christian West.

But there is growing evidence that the center of Christendom has moved.

Africans are running to accept Jesus Christ. It is a scene playing out all across the developing world. It may sound like an exaggeration, but it's not: Christianity is sweeping across the southern hemisphere and Asia like a tidal wave.

"The scale of Christian growth is almost unimaginable," said Dr. Philip Jenkins, distinguished professor of History and Religious Studies at Penn State University.

Jenkins shocked and probably panicked some of America's political and media elite with his acclaimed book, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity. Jenkins argues the greatest movement of the past century was not communism or capitalism. Do the math and the winner is spirit-filled Christianity, or what he terms in his study as "Pentecostalism."

"The modern Pentecostal movement begins at the start of the 20th century," Jenkins said. "So say this begins with a few hundred, a few thousand people… today you're dealing with several hundred million people, and the best projections are by 2040’s or 2050’s, you could be dealing with a billion Pentecostals worldwide.

By that stage there will be more Pentecostals than Hindus. There are already more Pentecostals than Buddhists."

Jenkins says in just 20 years, two-thirds of all Christians will live in Africa, Latin America or Asia.

"Back in 1900, there were about 10 million Christians in Africa, representing about 10 percent of the population. Today there are 360 million, representing just under half the population. That is one of the most important changes in religious history, and I think most of us didn't notice it," he said.

A lot of people still haven't noticed it. When scandal or controversy hits an American church, the U.S. news media tends to treat it like a worldwide crisis for that denomination. But it is not a crisis for those churches in the developing world. Most of them are not gripped by debates over homosexuality or abortion — that is a problem for European and American liberals — they believe the Bible.

"The Bible is alive in Africa and Asia and Latin America," Jenkins said. "Overwhelmingly, the kind of Christianity is one which is very Bible-centered, which takes the Bible very seriously, takes authority very seriously, both the Old and the New Testament, in a way which I don't think western Christianity has done probably since the Enlightenment."

But the growth of Christianity threatens Islam, and Christians are being slaughtered in places like Nigeria and Indonesia. Jenkins thinks the conflict will intensify in nations where the two faiths compete. And he debunks the notion that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. Christianity is growing faster.

"If you look at the 25 most populous countries in the world in the mid-21st century, 20 of those are going to be divided to a greater or lesser extent between Christianity and Islam," Jenkins said.

Then there is China. There are about 80 million Christians in China, according to former Time Magazine Correspondent David Aikman, who predicts China will be a Christianized nation in 20 to 30 years. He does not predict a Christian majority, but a China that is 25 to 30 percent Christian. Enough, he says, to change society and government.

"If you have a Christianized China, the leadership of China would reflect a Christian worldview to some degree," Aikman said. "A China that's Christianized would not be a threat to the United States."

And Aikman says the Chinese church leaders have a burden to take the gospel the rest of the way across the globe, to the Muslims.

"It's part of a sense that they call ‘back to Jerusalem,’" Aikman said. "They believe that just as the gospel originally came out of Jerusalem and went to the West and to North America and Europe and came to China, now the Chinese need to bring it back to Jerusalem, not in the sense of evangelizing the Jewish, but in the sense of completing the circle so that the gospel message is available to everybody in the world."

Imagine Chinese reaching the Muslims, Koreans evangelizing Indians, Africans taking the gospel back to a largely godless Europe.

African Matthew Ashimolowo is the pastor of the fastest growing church in England. "God is sending people who used to receive missionaries to now be missionaries around the world," Ashimolowo said.

Kenyan Bishop Gilbert Dya has one of the largest churches in London. "I am in this country, believing that God sent me here in Great Britain to make a voice on His behalf to let them know that they need to repent and come back to God," he said.

The developing world is not only a growing base for world missions, Jenkins says it is becoming the center of Christendom…again.

"Jesus said His church would last until the end of time. He never used the word, ‘Europe.’ Christianity is returning, I think, to its roots. It is a religion that originated in the Middle East and in Africa. Perhaps it went away for a while, but now it's back," Jenkins said.

[dukeman]

I have several points to make on this (some of them just personal anecdotes):

1. It is interesting to note that the largest Presbyterian church in the world is located in South Korea and that Koreans are actively sending missionaries to Europe to help re-christianize "old" Christendom.

2. The Communist Chinese are deeply concerned about the growth and influence of the church there. They are harshly repressing the house-church movement, but the flame just won't go out. These folks need your constant prayers.

3. My famiy took a group European bus tour of several countries in summer, 2001. One stop was Amsterdam. You may know that the Netherlands has generally fallen far away from the Word and resembles Sodom in many ways. I wasn't real keen on going there, but we couldn't break it out of the tour.

Anyway, while putt-putting through Amsterdam's canals on a tour boat, the guide pointed out a beautiful, medieval church near the water. She reeled off some basic facts about the structure and then said, "It's now used to house an indoor practice wall for rock climbers. I guess we have to use it for something", she shrugged. There were some good Pentacostals on the tour with us and we shared a prayer with them about this later that day.

4. Note that within the Anglican church that the effort to resist the ordination of priests and bishops who are practicing homosexuals is led by that church's African bishops. They even recently told their American cousins in the church that they couldn't accept their money as long as this apostacy continues.

5. Finally, I recently heard a fascinating speaker at my church's "Missions Week" discuss mission efforts in Germany. This guy runs hockey clinics for youth and helps to serve as a chaplain for a German pro hockey league. They're nuts for hockey in Germany and he's found that folks will listen to a faith message from athletes if given the chance.

I was stunned during his talk when he told us that despite every German town having a church at its geographic center (it's the home of Luther, after all), around 80% of the population has never set foot in a church other than to attend a concert (good acoustics). He added that about 75% of the people who do attend church are women over tha age of 65. For many there, Christianity is simply an irrelevant anachronism- a dim curiousity from the distant past. It is quite sad, but I know God is up to the job.

[missyme]

I often wondered if the Anti-Christ would be an individual person or a system of Government? as told in Biblical Prophecy it appears that the Anti-Christ is alive and well.

So as the Anti-Christ system grows maybe a leader will emerge out of it? at any rate, I think it is something we need to be on guard against, how much as the Anti-Christ influenced people to this point? As we see Homosexuality spread like wildfire it appers to have fooled many already...

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Great post!

[old-ager]

> Christianity is the only hope for the world

Amen.

[ZULU]

They have made themselves ripe for Islam.

[dukeman]

Yes, they have. France has a big, big problem with militant Islam. Anti-semitism is on the rise there. Great political strain.

[LadyPilgrim]

Yes indeed, Christianity did originate there.

And time, as we know it, will end there.

And what we can do as Bible believers is...
evangelize like we are told to do... Matt. 28:19,
serve others... Gal. 5:13
and live as if this is our last day...Heb. 9:27 & James 4:14 !

And pray.........."Even so, come Lord Jesus"... Rev. 22:20!

[Jack Black]

Ann Coulter, in a some what tongue in cheek article after 9/11 shocked liberals everywhere when she called for, probably, the only workable program to stop Islam. "Convert them to Christianity".

[Jack Black]

Why are Jehovah's witnesses and Mormons a "cult group" and Petacostals are not, in your opinion? What about the other 999 denominations that claim to be Christian? Which do you consider cults?

These are not rhetorical questions.

[Havoc]

Much has been written on AntiChrist. As much has been written to blunt the truth as to get the truth out because Revelation, Daniel, etc were rather specific in their descriptives. It's a complex issue; but, not one which can't be understood directly as they gave us most of the information needed to understand it. It's just that there are so many things stated that you need to build the pieces.
I'm currently reading "A Woman Rides the Beast". I will say it is well worth the read. It is thorough, well researched and on the mark..

[azhenfud]

Hey, I've heard of the 10-40 missionary ( http://www.ad2000.org/1040broc.htm ) and have heard the new evangelism will be of brown faces. I suppose we Westerners have taken God's generous grace for granted for far too long. As Jesus said - even the stones will praise Him if the whole world were held silent....

[azhenfud]

It's by far better that we are a nation of Christians than considered a "Christian nation".

[happygrl]

This is informative:

Today more Presbyterians worship in the African nation of Ghana than in Scotland. And more Anglicans worship in Nigeria than in Britain. We like to think of ourselves as the Christian West.

But there is growing evidence that the center of Christendom has moved.

Africans are running to accept Jesus Christ. It is a scene playing out all across the developing world. It may sound like an exaggeration, but it's not: Christianity is sweeping across the southern hemisphere and Asia like a tidal wave.

[cyborg]

very interesting and very much true

[happygrl]

I worship with Liberians in Philly. As I have stated elsewhere on FR, my pastor preaches expository semons, with explications of the Greek, prays and receives miraculous physical healings, and prays for our troops.

These people ate the grass off the trees when they were in Liberia. They are phenomenal in their faith.

[Havoc]

I think you would have to look at the literal textbook definition of what makes a cult to understand why the two are considered Cults. Walter Martin sums up pretty well in Kingdom of the Cults which has been a mainstay resource on cultism for years. Martin in his lifetime was the foremost expert on comparative religion studies. Very well studied to the point that practically every group he studied and reported on accused him of being an apostate from their group because he "knew too much not to be."

[TopQuark]

Let's pray it continues to grow!

I, a Jew, pray for that too.

I have a question to you: why is it that you hear about the missionary work in Africa, Asia, and Russia --- but never in Western Europe?

With only 4% of Brits attending churches, is time not ripe for missionary work there? or in Germany?

[Skooz]

This book goes into great detail on just that subject. I cannot recommend it highly enough. The Chinese Church--which is experiencing explosive growth and maturity-- sees it as its destiny to evangelize the muslim world. They look at it this way: Christianity began in the Middle East, expanded westward to Europe, then North America, and then to the Far East. Chinese missionaries sent to the Middle East complete the circle begun 2000 years ago. This is one of the most fascinating and important books I have read.

[theophilusscribe]

The International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention has missionaries in Western Europe. You can read about it here: http://www.telleurope.org/