items of interest

According to statistics recently published in Newsweek, there has been a marked shift in the demographics of global Christianity. Whereas in 1900, 80 percent of Christians were either Europeans or North Americans, today 60 percent of Christians live in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

This shift has led to changes in Christian teachings resulting from efforts to absorb local culture into the message. But it's not a one-way exchange; Christianity is also having an impact on these non-Western cultures.

According to Kenneth L. Woodward, author of the Newsweek article, "The emergence of non-Western Christianity has many converging causes. ... In India, the growth is mainly among the outcasts, who find in Christianity hope and dignity denied them by the rigid caste system. In China, Christianity answers problems of meaning that Marxism fails to address. But wherever it spreads, Christianity is also seen as the religion of the successful West—a spiritual way of life that is compatible with higher education, technology and globalization. ...

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