How do Christians in Asia, Africa and Latin America live out their faith? How do they interpret scripture and follow Christ? In this course, we will discover and investigate the stories and theologies of Christians in non-Western countries and how they live out their faith in the midst of their diverse social, political and religious contexts.
Introduction:
Christianity in the continents other than Europe is intrinsically quite strong as the power of the faith there is usually much greater than that on the continent. The zealous missionaries who worked extremely hard to convert the peoples in Africa, Asia and Latin America certainly did a good job in instilling the faith as deeply as possible into these nations and all this is reflected in the way they go about their religious beliefs.
The African continent requires more than religion if it is to continue surviving. Poverty, ignorance and corruption are rife in several countries with very few retaining a semblance of normality. In this context, the importance of faith when faced with catastrophes both natural and manmade becomes more important than ever as the situation continues to deteriorate in such countries. In Nigeria for example, there is even persecution against Christians by the state authorities in this vast country which continues to suffer the ill effects of former colonialism and bad management. Other countries such as Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast which have suffered from consistent civil war and strife not to mention countries like Rwanda where genocide even took place on a massive scale, have to face other problems such as wanton violence when practicing their faith. In this context, the courage of several priests and other administrators continues to be something which one may truly marvel at.
Asia – repression and fanaticism
Asia is another vast continent although here the number of Christians is in a significant minority when compared to other continents with Hinduism and Buddhism amongst the major religions in this respect. However in a country such as the Philippines, Christianity and the Catholic religion remain extremely strong and are also very important for the socio political development of the country. In fact, the Philippines is now the only country in the world where divorce is still not permitted so that tells you a lot about the power of Christianity in this country. One may also examine the fact that cardinals and bishops in this country hold considerable sway over vast swathes of the population and have even dabbled in politics, this makes them extremely powerful persona both on the private and public side of proceedings.
However in other countries such as Indonesia, Christianity is also flourishing and we find it in reduced numbers in other countries such as Malaysia and Hong Kong. Indonesia is a country which is coming out of a long dictatorship where religious views were brutally suppressed but the recent thaw in this respect has seen a considerable expanse of religions both in the Christian format and in others. It remains to be seen how these religions will continue to flourish and expand accordingly in this regard but the political stability which is now prevalent in these countries is certainly a help and not a hindrance.
South America – the legacy of Spain and Portugal
South America is definitely a continent where the Catholic religion is strong in almost every country. However it is also a continent faced with a considerable amount of socio-political instability and increasing social problems which have had a crushing effect on the spread of Christianity and its practice. Take for example, Brazil with its vast space and huge social problems especially with regards to drugs and gangs. The message of prelates, cardinals and other religious activists is definitely not being heard amongst the young who prefer to be left to their own devices and also to face the music. Christianity is consistently becoming a much older generation religion practiced by older people as the young look to pastures anew to find their inspiration. The closeness to the United States and its materialistic land of opportunity obviously also has an intrinsic effect on how the youthful generation of South America see things. One cannot really blame them as the situation has consistently gone from bad to worse with poverty and social exclusion pretty rampant and no seeming end in sight to the agony of existence. Prayer seems to be a poor substitute to all this.
Conclusion: Christianity facing significant challenges outside of Europe
In all three continents under discussion, the problems being faced by Christianity are substantial. These range from repression, corruption, apathy and poverty to disorganization and retrenchment which obviously continues to occur regularly. Life for the Christian in Africa, Asia and South American continues to be hard although the amount of assistance received is also substantial. The wheel has to turn full circle if the whole religion is to continue flourishing on these continents where the potential remains quite substantial.
Works Cited:
Jenkins, Philip. The New Face of Christianity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN: 978-0195300659
Walls, Andrew F. The Missionary Movement in Christian History. Maryknoll: Orbis, 1996. ISBN: 978-1570750595
Costas, Orlando. Christ Outside the Gate. Maryknoll: Orbis, 1984. ISBN: 978- 0883441473
Aikman, David. Jesus in Beijing. Washington, DC: Regnery, 2003. ISBN: 978-
1596980259
Bedaiko, Kwame. Jesus and the Gospel in Africa. Maryknoll: Orbis, 2004. ISBN:
1570755426
