Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 175:699 (Jul 2018)
Article: Paradigm Shifts In The Global Revitalization Of Christianity
Author: Timothy C. Tennent

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BSac 175:699 (July-September 2018) p. 338

Paradigm Shifts In The Global Revitalization Of Christianity

Timothy C. Tennent

Timothy C. Tennent is President and Professor of World Christianity, Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky.

Abstract

An extensive study of Christian revitalization around the world reveals there is no such thing as a global Christian movement. Rather, the new reality of the church can only be fully appreciated from a diverse, global perspective. The study identifies at least three major paradigm shifts: the collapse of Christendom, the emergence of a fourth branch of Christianity, and a shift from modernity to postmodernity.

Introduction

Over a six-year period (2009–2015) Asbury Theological Seminary studied Christian revitalization movements around the world. From North America to Nairobi, from North India to the Philippines, this has been one of the most expansive examinations of the emerging face of global Christianity ever conducted. We are finally moving from statistical analysis from such luminaries as Todd Johnson and David Barrett to actual field-based studies of the world Christian movement in the 21st century. As it turns out, there is no such thing as a global Christian movement, if by that one implies a monolithic new wave of Christian identity around the world. What we have, in fact, is a virtual explosion of very particularized Christian movements around the world. The pace has been breathtaking: at the turn of the 20th century, there were about 1,600 distinct denominations around the world. By the turn of the 21st century, that number had exploded from 1,600 to an estimated 34,000 distinct denominations of Christianity around the world. Even more stunning, since then nearly 10,000 more new Christian movements have arisen, bringing

BSac 175:699 (July-September 2018) p. 339

the number to over 43,000. In other words, every twenty-four months of this century, the church has spawned more movements than it did in its first 1, 900 years of existence. This exponential growth has huge implications for the future of Christianity. If successfully crossing cultural, socio-linguistic, and geo-political boun-daries is one of the great markers of Christian vitality, then we can truly say that Christianity is alive and well in the 21st century.

Most current textbooks on world Christianity have underestimated the significance of what we are observing. This story is not merely about the shifting center of gravity of the world Christian movement from the West to the Majority World and the subsequent demise of the “West reaches the rest” paradigm. That shift is happening, but the forces of globalization, immigration, and technology and the impulse of new chu...

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