Douglas Jacobsen – författare

This accessible textbook describes Christianity, the world's largest religion, in all of its historical and contemporary diversity. No other publication includes so much information or presents it so clearly and winsomely. This volume employs a "religious studies" approach that is neutral in tone yet accommodates the lived experiences of Christians in different traditions and from all regions of the globe. The World's Christians is a perfect textbook for either public university classrooms or liberal arts campuses.Divided into three parts, the text first describes the world's four largest Christian traditions (Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Pentecostal) which together account for roughly 98 percent of all Christians worldwide. A second section focuses on Christian history, explaining the movement's developing ideas and practices and examining Christianity's engagement with people and cultures around the world. The third and longest portion of the text details the distinctive experiences, contemporary challenges, and demographics of Christians in nine geographic regions, including the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Eastern and Western Europe, South Asia, North America, East Asia, and Oceania.The second edition of this popular text has been thoroughly rewritten to take recent developments into account, and each chapter now includes two primary source readings, highlighting the diversity of voices that exist within the world Christian movement. Like the first edition, the revised text is enhanced with easily understandable maps, charts, tables and illustrative photographs. In summary, this new and improved second edition of The World's Christians is: written in a clear style that readers will find engagingenriched by the addition of thought-provoking primary source readingsthoroughly revised to bring the story of Christianity up to the 2020smore geographically comprehensive than any competing textmore theologically/ecclesiastically comprehensive than any competing textamply illustrated with maps, charts, tables, and photographsperfect for use in the classroom or for general readers who want to understand the full diversity of Christianity as it currently exists around the world

Written by an award-winning author, this well-organized and comprehensive introduction to global Christianity illuminates the many ways the world''s Christians live their faith today. Covers the entire globe: Africa, Asia, and Latin America as well as Europe, North America, and the Pacific Provides impartial, in-depth descriptions of the world''s four major Christian traditions: Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, and Pentecostal/Charismatic Utilizes the best available sources to produce an up-to-date profile of demographic trends in the Christian population Blends history, sociology, anthropology, and theology to create a rich, multi-layered analysis of the world Christian movement   Features clear maps and 4-color illustrations throughout the volume  

Douglas and Rhonda Jacobsen argue that, while there has recently been a lively discussion about religious faith and higher education in America, the idea of Christian scholarship itself has been remarkably under discussed. Most of the literature has assumed a definition of Christian scholarship that is Reformed and evangelical in orientation: a model associated with the phrase "the integration of faith and learning." The authors offer a new definition and analysis of Christian scholarship that opens the way for dialogue between evangelicals and Catholics and Protestants from a variety of church traditions. The book itself is organized as a conversation. Five chapters by the Jacobsens alternate with four contributed essays that sharpen, illustrate, or complicate the material in the preceding chapters. The goal is both to map the complex terrain of Christian scholarship as it actually exists and to help foster better connections between Christian scholars of differing persuasions and between Christians and the academy as a whole.

For much of the twentieth century, it was assumed that higher education was and ought to be a secular enterprise, but that approach no longer suffices. The culture has shifted, and contemporary college and university students are increasingly bringing religious and spiritual questions to campus. In response, college and university leaders are exploring anew the relationship between religion and higher education.The American Universityin a Postsecular Age grapples with key questions:--How religious or irreligious are faculty and students today? What level of religious literacy should be expected from students?--Can religion be allowed into the classroom without being disruptive?--Should colleges and universities help students reflect on their own faith?--Is religion antithetical to critical inquiry?--Can religion have a positive role to play in higher education?This is a state-of-the-art introduction to the national discussion about religion and higher education. Leading scholars and top educators express a wide spectrum ofopinions that reflect the best current thinking. Introductory and concluding essays by the editors describe the postsecular character of our age and propose a comprehensive framework intended to facilitateongoing conversation.

America has entered a new intellectual era in which personal identity is assumed to play a significant role in how every person thinks. Today's academy acknowledges that who we are shapes how we view ourselves and the world, which unavoidably injects religion, spirituality, secularity, and faith-a person's deepest convictions, commitment, hopes, fears, and loyalties-into the thinking process. The new emphasis on individual identity has made academic methodologies broader and more multifaceted, enlarging the pursuit of truth but sometimes leading to unsupported and false claims about reality.Christianity and Intellectual Inquiry focuses specifically on how American Christians are trying to negotiate this new terrain. The first section of the book recounts the long, complex, and diverse history of Christian reflection on the connections between faith and learning. The second section analyses the past 150 years of American thinking, tracing the changing intellectual paradigms that governed how all Americans reflect on reality and describing how Christians made their ways through the evolving landscape. The third and final section proposes a new way of understanding intellectual inquiry that is relevant for thinkers of all religious and secular persuasions and minimizes the potential for identity-informed thinking to go astray: thinking as pilgrimage. Pilgrimage thinking recognizes that faith of some kind plays a role in how everyone tries to understand and make sense of reality while also insisting that religious convictions and markers of personal identity are not beyond critique. Thinking as pilgrimage is not dependent on one all-encompassing cognitive orientation but instead encourages a range of approaches to reality. Four specific intellectual pathways are discussed in detail: attentiveness, contemplation, proclamation, and compassion. Both American higher education and Christianity use all four cognitive pathways, and each path is a shared space where people who are seeking a better understanding of reality can challenge and learn from each other.

America has entered a new intellectual era in which personal identity is assumed to play a significant role in how every person thinks. Today's academy acknowledges that who we are shapes how we view ourselves and the world, which unavoidably injects religion, spirituality, secularity, and faith-a person's deepest convictions, commitment, hopes, fears, and loyalties-into the thinking process. The new emphasis on individual identity has made academic methodologies broader and more multifaceted, enlarging the pursuit of truth but sometimes leading to unsupported and false claims about reality. Christianity and Intellectual Inquiry focuses specifically on how American Christians are trying to negotiate this new terrain. The first section of the book recounts the long, complex, and diverse history of Christian reflection on the connections between faith and learning. The second section analyses the past 150 years of American thinking, tracing the changing intellectual paradigms that governed how all Americans reflect on reality and describing how Christians made their ways through the evolving landscape. The third and final section proposes a new way of understanding intellectual inquiry that is relevant for thinkers of all religious and secular persuasions and minimizes the potential for identity-informed thinking to go astray: thinking as pilgrimage. Pilgrimage thinking recognizes that faith of some kind plays a role in how everyone tries to understand and make sense of reality while also insisting that religious convictions and markers of personal identity are not beyond critique. Thinking as pilgrimage is not dependent on one all-encompassing cognitive orientation but instead encourages a range of approaches to reality. Four specific intellectual pathways are discussed in detail: attentiveness, contemplation, proclamation, and compassion. Both American higher education and Christianity use all four cognitive pathways, and each path is a shared space where people who are seeking a better understanding of reality can challenge and learn from each other.

America has entered a new intellectual era in which personal identity is assumed to play a significant role in how every person thinks. Today's academy acknowledges that who we are shapes how we view ourselves and the world, which unavoidably injects religion, spirituality, secularity, and faith-a person's deepest convictions, commitment, hopes, fears, and loyalties-into the thinking process. The new emphasis on individual identity has made academic methodologies broader and more multifaceted, enlarging the pursuit of truth but sometimes leading to unsupported and false claims about reality. Christianity and Intellectual Inquiry focuses specifically on how American Christians are trying to negotiate this new terrain. The first section of the book recounts the long, complex, and diverse history of Christian reflection on the connections between faith and learning. The second section analyses the past 150 years of American thinking, tracing the changing intellectual paradigms that governed how all Americans reflect on reality and describing how Christians made their ways through the evolving landscape. The third and final section proposes a new way of understanding intellectual inquiry that is relevant for thinkers of all religious and secular persuasions and minimizes the potential for identity-informed thinking to go astray: thinking as pilgrimage. Pilgrimage thinking recognizes that faith of some kind plays a role in how everyone tries to understand and make sense of reality while also insisting that religious convictions and markers of personal identity are not beyond critique. Thinking as pilgrimage is not dependent on one all-encompassing cognitive orientation but instead encourages a range of approaches to reality. Four specific intellectual pathways are discussed in detail: attentiveness, contemplation, proclamation, and compassion. Both American higher education and Christianity use all four cognitive pathways, and each path is a shared space where people who are seeking a better understanding of reality can challenge and learn from each other.

This book enters a lively discussion about religious faith and higher education in America that has been going on for a decade or more. During this time many scholars have joined the debate about how best to understand the role of faith in the academy at large and in the special arena of church-related Christian higher education. The notion of faith-informed scholarship has, of course, figured prominently in this conversation. But, argue Douglas and Rhonda Jacobsen, the idea of Christian scholarship itself has been remarkably under-discussed. Most of the literature has assumed a definition of Christian scholarship that is Reformed and evangelical in orientation: a model associated with the phrase "the integration of faith and learning." The authors offer a new definition and analysis of Christian scholarship that respects the insights of different Christian traditions (e.g., Catholic, Lutheran, Anabaptist, Wesleyan, Pentecostal) and that applies to the arts and to professional studies as much as it does to the humanities and the natural and social sciences. The book itself is organized as a conversation. Five chapters by the Jacobsens alternate with four contributed essays that sharpen, illustrate, or complicate the material in the preceding chapters. The goal is both to map the complex terrain of Christian scholarship as it actually exists and to help foster better connections between Christian scholars of differing persuasions and between Christians and the academy as a whole.

For much of the twentieth century, it was assumed that higher education was and ought to be a secular enterprise, but that approach no longer suffices. The culture has shifted, and contemporary college and university students are increasingly bringing religious and spiritual questions to campus. In response, college and university leaders are exploring anew the relationship between religion and higher education. The American University in a Postsecular Age grapples with key questions: --How religious or irreligious are faculty and students today? What level of religious literacy should be expected from students? --Can religion be allowed into the classroom without being disruptive? --Should colleges and universities help students reflect on their own faith? --Is religion antithetical to critical inquiry? --Can religion have a positive role to play in higher education? This is a state-of-the-art introduction to the national discussion about religion and higher education. Leading scholars and top educators express a wide spectrum of opinions that reflect the best current thinking. Introductory and concluding essays by the editors describe the postsecular character of our age and propose a comprehensive framework intended to facilitate ongoing conversation.

Drawing on interviews with hundreds of university professors, co-curricular educators, administrators, and students from public and private colleges and universities across the United States, Douglas and Rhonda Hustedt Jacobsen demonstrate that religion is central to the work of higher education in the twenty-first century. Religion Matters begins with an examination of the history of religion in American society and higher education, from Protestant establishment to secular dominance to the much more complex and pluralistic dynamics of the culture today. The authors define religion carefully, identifying three different modes of faith: historic religion, public religion, and personal religion. The second half of the volume explores six educational topics where religion intersects with the core goals and purposes of college/university education: religious literacy, interfaith etiquette, framing knowledge, civic engagement, convictions, and character and vocation. The authors pose key questions: What should an educated person know about the world's religions? What does it mean to interact appropriately with members of other faiths? What assumptions and rationalities, secular or religious, shape the way we think? What values and practices, secular or religious, guide civic engagement? How do personal beliefs interact with the teaching and learning process? How might colleges and universities point students toward lives of purpose and meaning? This volume shows that by paying careful and nuanced attention to the role of religion, educators can enhance intellectual life in any college or university.

Winner of a 2013 American Educational Studies Association Critics'' Choice AwardDrawing on conversations with hundreds of professors, co-curricular educators, administrators, and students from institutions spanning the entire spectrum of American colleges and universities, the Jacobsens illustrate how religion is constructively intertwined with the work of higher education in the twenty-first century. No Longer Invisible documents how, after decades when religion was marginalized, colleges and universities are re-engaging matters of faith-an educational development that is both positive and necessary. Religion in contemporary American life is now incredibly complex, with religious pluralism on the rise and the categories of "religious" and "secular" often blending together in a dizzying array of lifestyles and beliefs. Using the categories of historic religion, public religion, and personal religion, No Longer Invisible offers a new framework for understanding this emerging religious terrain, a framework that can help colleges and universities-and the students who attend them-interact with religion more effectively. The stakes are high: Faced with escalating pressures to focus solely on job training, American higher education may find that paying more careful and nuanced attention to religion is a prerequisite for preserving American higher education''s longstanding commitment to personal, social, and civic learning.

This book enters a lively discussion about religious faith and higher education in America that has been going on for a decade or more. During this time many scholars have joined the debate about how best to understand the role of faith in the academy at large and in the special arena of church-related Christian higher education. The notion of faith-informed scholarship has, of course, figured prominently in this conversation. But, argue Douglas and Rhonda Jacobsen, the idea of Christian scholarship itself has been remarkably under-discussed. Most of the literature has assumed a definition of Christian scholarship that is Reformed and evangelical in orientation: a model associated with the phrase "the integration of faith and learning." The authors offer a new definition and analysis of Christian scholarship that respects the insights of different Christian traditions (e.g., Catholic, Lutheran, Anabaptist, Wesleyan, Pentecostal) and that applies to the arts and to professional studies as much as it does to the humanities and the natural and social sciences. The book itself is organized as a conversation. Five chapters by the Jacobsens alternate with four contributed essays that sharpen, illustrate, or complicate the material in the preceding chapters. The goal is both to map the complex terrain of Christian scholarship as it actually exists and to help foster better connections between Christian scholars of differing persuasions and between Christians and the academy as a whole.

For much of the twentieth century, it was assumed that higher education was and ought to be a secular enterprise, but that approach no longer suffices. The culture has shifted, and contemporary college and university students are increasingly bringing religious and spiritual questions to campus. In response, college and university leaders are exploring anew the relationship between religion and higher education. The American University in a Postsecular Age grapples with key questions: --How religious or irreligious are faculty and students today? What level of religious literacy should be expected from students? --Can religion be allowed into the classroom without being disruptive? --Should colleges and universities help students reflect on their own faith? --Is religion antithetical to critical inquiry? --Can religion have a positive role to play in higher education? This is a state-of-the-art introduction to the national discussion about religion and higher education. Leading scholars and top educators express a wide spectrum of opinions that reflect the best current thinking. Introductory and concluding essays by the editors describe the postsecular character of our age and propose a comprehensive framework intended to facilitate ongoing conversation.

Winner of a 2013 American Educational Studies Association Critics'' Choice AwardDrawing on conversations with hundreds of professors, co-curricular educators, administrators, and students from institutions spanning the entire spectrum of American colleges and universities, the Jacobsens illustrate how religion is constructively intertwined with the work of higher education in the twenty-first century. No Longer Invisible documents how, after decades when religion was marginalized, colleges and universities are re-engaging matters of faith-an educational development that is both positive and necessary. Religion in contemporary American life is now incredibly complex, with religious pluralism on the rise and the categories of "religious" and "secular" often blending together in a dizzying array of lifestyles and beliefs. Using the categories of historic religion, public religion, and personal religion, No Longer Invisible offers a new framework for understanding this emerging religious terrain, a framework that can help colleges and universities-and the students who attend them-interact with religion more effectively. The stakes are high: Faced with escalating pressures to focus solely on job training, American higher education may find that paying more careful and nuanced attention to religion is a prerequisite for preserving American higher education''s longstanding commitment to personal, social, and civic learning.

This book is about the boisterous beginnings of the American Pentecostal movement and the ideas that defined that movement during those formative years. It follows a group of men who rethought the Christian faith in light of their new experience of God. Thinking in the Spirit aims to provide scholars and general readers who know little or nothing about Pentecostalism with an introduction to the ideas of the movement's most articulate early spokespersons, and to provide Pentecostals with a non-judgmental historical source to help them in their theological reflections. Douglas Jacobsen focuses on the individuals who formed the original brain trust of this now gigantic religious movement. In a 25-year burst of creative energy at the beginning of the 20th century, these leaders articulated almost all the basic theological ideas that continue to define the Pentecostal message in the United States and around the world.

Pentecostalism has experienced explosive growth over the past century. This reader examines the ideas that launched the movement and fueled its expansion around the world. A general introduction to the book describes the history and theology of the early Pentecostal movement and its significance to the contemporary Christian world. A brief biography introduces each of the 16 influential leaders whose voices are recorded here.Vivid and lively contributions are included from Fred Francis Bosworth, William Howard Durham, Garfield Thomas Haywood, Esek William Kenyon, Joseph Hillary King, Robert Clarence Lawson, Aimee Semple McPherson, Charles Harrison Mason, David Wesley Myland, Charles Fox Parham, William J. Seymour, Richard G. Spurling, George Floyd Taylor, Ambrose Jessup Tomlinson, Andrew David Ursham, and Maria Beulah Woodworth-Etter. Their works represent the full spectrum of the early Pentecostalmovement.

In this pathbreaking book, award-winning author Douglas Jacobsen describes global Christianity and provides a framework for understanding the varied experiences of Christians around the world. Focusing on the five big continents of Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America, Jacobsen recounts their differing histories, contemporary experiences, and cultural theologies. In the current era of massive and dynamic global challenges, this accessible and fair-minded volume sets the stage for Christians worldwide to engage the gospel--and each other--more deeply. Global Gospel contains numerous maps, charts, and illustrations that aid comprehension. Accompanying videos can be found on YouTube's "Global Christianity" channel (www.youtube.com/globalchristianity).

This accessible textbook describes Christianity, the world''s largest religion, in all of its historical and contemporary diversity. No other publication includes so much information or presents it so clearly and winsomely. This volume employs a "religious studies" approach that is neutral in tone yet accommodates the lived experiences of Christians in different traditions and from all regions of the globe. The World''s Christians is a perfect textbook for either public university classrooms or liberal arts campuses.

Divided into three parts, the text first describes the world''s four largest Christian traditions (Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Pentecostal) which together account for roughly 98 percent of all Christians worldwide. A second section focuses on Christian history, explaining the movement''s developing ideas and practices and examining Christianity''s engagement with people and cultures around the world. The third and longest portion of the text details the distinctive experiences, contemporary challenges, and demographics of Christians in nine geographic regions, including the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Eastern and Western Europe, South Asia, North America, East Asia, and Oceania.

The second edition of this popular text has been thoroughly rewritten to take recent developments into account, and each chapter now includes two primary source readings, highlighting the diversity of voices that exist within the world Christian movement. Like the first edition, the revised text is enhanced with easily understandable maps, charts, tables and illustrative photographs. In summary, this new and improved second edition of The World''s Christians is:

written in a clear style that readers will find engaging enriched by the addition of thought-provoking primary source readings thoroughly revised to bring the story of Christianity up to the 2020s more geographically comprehensive than any competing text more theologically/ecclesiastically comprehensive than any competing text amply illustrated with maps, charts, tables, and photographs perfect for use in the classroom or for general readers who want to understand the full diversity of Christianity as it currently exists around the world

This accessible textbook describes Christianity, the world''s largest religion, in all of its historical and contemporary diversity. No other publication includes so much information or presents it so clearly and winsomely. This volume employs a "religious studies" approach that is neutral in tone yet accommodates the lived experiences of Christians in different traditions and from all regions of the globe. The World''s Christians is a perfect textbook for either public university classrooms or liberal arts campuses.

Divided into three parts, the text first describes the world''s four largest Christian traditions (Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Pentecostal) which together account for roughly 98 percent of all Christians worldwide. A second section focuses on Christian history, explaining the movement''s developing ideas and practices and examining Christianity''s engagement with people and cultures around the world. The third and longest portion of the text details the distinctive experiences, contemporary challenges, and demographics of Christians in nine geographic regions, including the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Eastern and Western Europe, South Asia, North America, East Asia, and Oceania.

The second edition of this popular text has been thoroughly rewritten to take recent developments into account, and each chapter now includes two primary source readings, highlighting the diversity of voices that exist within the world Christian movement. Like the first edition, the revised text is enhanced with easily understandable maps, charts, tables and illustrative photographs. In summary, this new and improved second edition of The World''s Christians is:

written in a clear style that readers will find engaging enriched by the addition of thought-provoking primary source readings thoroughly revised to bring the story of Christianity up to the 2020s more geographically comprehensive than any competing text more theologically/ecclesiastically comprehensive than any competing text amply illustrated with maps, charts, tables, and photographs perfect for use in the classroom or for general readers who want to understand the full diversity of Christianity as it currently exists around the world

What Is Christianity? provides a fascinating overview of the world’s largest religion, weaving history, theology, spirituality, denominational divisions, and global growth into a single compelling story. Written in clear and captivating prose that requires no previous knowledge of Christianity, it describes the religion inspired by Jesus as a living faith that is still changing and developing today.    Reader-friendly chapters introduce the major traditions of Christianity (Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and Pentecostalism), explaining their spiritual appeal and tracing their evolution over the centuries. Christianity’s recent global expansion is highlighted, but Christianity has been a diverse and multicultural movement from the very beginning. Each chapter provides thought-provoking insights into the beliefs, values, practices, achievements, and failures of Christians as they tried to remain faithful to the message and meaning of Jesus in different times and places.    Condenses a vast amount of information into a coherent narrative Explains how and why Christianity has become so incredibly diverse  Describes what almost all Christians have always held in common Summarizes the current status of Christianity in each global region  Discusses the challenges that Christians worldwide are facing today What Is Christianity? is an ideal introduction to Christianity as a world religion for people who are unfamiliar with Christianity as well as for Christians who want to know more about their own faith and the faith practices of fellow believers from other Christian traditions. An engaging text for general readers, this short volume will also be a stimulating choice for book discussion groups and or for the classroom.

What Is Christianity? provides a fascinating overview of the world’s largest religion, weaving history, theology, spirituality, denominational divisions, and global growth into a single compelling story. Written in clear and captivating prose that requires no previous knowledge of Christianity, it describes the religion inspired by Jesus as a living faith that is still changing and developing today.    

Reader-friendly chapters introduce the major traditions of Christianity (Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and Pentecostalism), explaining their spiritual appeal and tracing their evolution over the centuries. Christianity’s recent global expansion is highlighted, but Christianity has been a diverse and multicultural movement from the very beginning. Each chapter provides thought-provoking insights into the beliefs, values, practices, achievements, and failures of Christians as they tried to remain faithful to the message and meaning of Jesus in different times and places.   

Condenses a vast amount of information into a coherent narrative  Explains how and why Christianity has become so incredibly diverse   Describes what almost all Christians have always held in common  Summarizes the current status of Christianity in each global region   Discusses the challenges that Christians worldwide are facing today 

What Is Christianity? is an ideal introduction to Christianity as a world religion for people who are unfamiliar with Christianity as well as for Christians who want to know more about their own faith and the faith practices of fellow believers from other Christian traditions. An engaging text for general readers, this short volume will also be a stimulating choice for book discussion groups and or for the classroom. 

What Is Christianity? provides a fascinating overview of the world’s largest religion, weaving history, theology, spirituality, denominational divisions, and global growth into a single compelling story. Written in clear and captivating prose that requires no previous knowledge of Christianity, it describes the religion inspired by Jesus as a living faith that is still changing and developing today.    

Reader-friendly chapters introduce the major traditions of Christianity (Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and Pentecostalism), explaining their spiritual appeal and tracing their evolution over the centuries. Christianity’s recent global expansion is highlighted, but Christianity has been a diverse and multicultural movement from the very beginning. Each chapter provides thought-provoking insights into the beliefs, values, practices, achievements, and failures of Christians as they tried to remain faithful to the message and meaning of Jesus in different times and places.   

Condenses a vast amount of information into a coherent narrative  Explains how and why Christianity has become so incredibly diverse   Describes what almost all Christians have always held in common  Summarizes the current status of Christianity in each global region   Discusses the challenges that Christians worldwide are facing today 

What Is Christianity? is an ideal introduction to Christianity as a world religion for people who are unfamiliar with Christianity as well as for Christians who want to know more about their own faith and the faith practices of fellow believers from other Christian traditions. An engaging text for general readers, this short volume will also be a stimulating choice for book discussion groups and or for the classroom. 

What does our culture think of when the word Christian is mentioned? Unfortunately, stereotypes and misconceptions abound, and those who follow Christ are sometimes considered mean-spirited, narrow-minded, and uncharitable. Douglas Jacobsen and Rodney Sawatsky provide a blueprint for recovering a vibrant faith as they demonstrate how believers can manifest the fruit of the Spirit to a watching world. This book not only serves as an introduction to or review of the basics of the Christian faith but also shows how true, Spirit-led Christianity is a force for peace, justice, and goodness in today''s volatile and violent world.

In this pathbreaking book, award-winning author Douglas Jacobsen describes global Christianity and provides a framework for understanding the varied experiences of Christians around the world. Focusing on the five big continents of Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America, Jacobsen recounts their differing histories, contemporary experiences, and cultural theologies. In the current era of massive and dynamic global challenges, this accessible and fair-minded volume sets the stage for Christians worldwide to engage the gospel--and each other--more deeply. Global Gospel contains numerous maps, charts, and illustrations that aid comprehension. Accompanying videos can be found on YouTube''s "Global Christianity" channel (www.youtube.com/globalchristianity).

Written by an award-winning author, this well-organized and comprehensive introduction to global Christianity illuminates the many ways the world''s Christians live their faith today. Covers the entire globe: Africa, Asia, and Latin America as well as Europe, North America, and the Pacific Provides impartial, in-depth descriptions of the world''s four major Christian traditions: Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, and Pentecostal/Charismatic Utilizes the best available sources to produce an up-to-date profile of demographic trends in the Christian population Blends history, sociology, anthropology, and theology to create a rich, multi-layered analysis of the world Christian movement   Features clear maps and 4-color illustrations throughout the volume  

In this pathbreaking book, award-winning author Douglas Jacobsen describes Christianity as a dynamic, worldwide faith. Highlighting Christianity's four largest traditions (Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and Pentecostalism), Global Gospel explains both the shared history and the regional distinctives of Christian faith in Africa, Asia (including the Pacific), Europe, Latin America, and North America. The text is enlivened by an abundance of maps, charts, and illustrative photos and by short primary source readings that illustrate different theological emphases on the five continents.Thoroughly updated in light of recent global developments, this accessible volume makes the complexity of world Christianity comprehensible and enables readers to better understand their own perspectives and those of Christian believers around the globe."A succinct, well-organized, and clearly written historical account of contemporary Christianity as a truly global religion."--Mark A. Noll, University of Notre Dame (retired)"Masterfully interweaves historical narrative and theological analysis, demographic data and trends, and the best scholarship in the field."--Amos Yong, Fuller Theological Seminary