Disciplinary Tensions in World Christianity
Methodology, Power Dynamics, and the History of Religions
- Theology
- Publisher: Fortress Press (Augsburg Fortress)
- Published: 2026
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Publisher's Description
Tensions lie at the heart of World Christianity's development as an academic field. From its beginning, World Christianity scholars have recognized the simmering conflicts between Eurocentric constructions of Christianity and those Christianities in the world outside of Europe. Today, conversations acknowledge that diverse facets of Christian expression and identity are often neglected by academic scholarship; yet, at the same time, many scholars of World Christianity are rushing to bring previously disregarded Christian groups and perspectives to the center of the field's attention. Reflecting on these strains, antagonisms, and impasses in the academic study of World Christianity, this volume probes the tensions involved in Christian interactions with other religions, the power dynamics implicated in Christianity's spread, and the field's evolving set of methodologies for addressing these issues. The contributions offer scholars new resources for understanding and resolving significant tensions in the discipline of World Christianity.
Endorsements (3)
“Disciplinary Tensions in World Christianity is an outstanding book. The authors featured in its pages take methodological tensions emerging from the study of world Christianity not as problems to be solved but as generative resources for new insights and knowledge. They do so by placing issues of social justice and public engagement at the center of their concerns. Honoring the legacy of Richard Fox Young, the volume is especially concerned with deepening the conversations emerging from interreligious tensions. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in knowing what is happening along the cutting edge of world Christianity today.”
“Much has been written in the name of World Christianity that only covers the limited circles of academic specialists. The present volume, however, takes a very different approach. The reader is taken through an intellectual cascade that starts off with methodological soul-searching in terms of the relative importance of studying religion, literature, and ethnography. The following seven chapters, evenly divided into the thematic blocks of history and sociopolitical power, advance cautiously along a chronological path, in turn visiting Christian communities and churches in the Ottoman empire, India, Korea, South Africa, West Africa, South Asia, and China. An epilogue by Raimundo Barreto honors Richard Fox Young, to whom the entire volume is dedicated. The editors of this volume are to be congratulated for having produced this exploration of genuine World Christianity.”
“Disciplinary Tensions in World Christianity is a welcome addition to recent works that address the state of the field of World Christianity. This thought-provoking volume features insightful case studies that examine the blind spots of the field, including its paradigms and how it handles justice and power.”
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