Polycentric Structures in the History of World Christianity
Author: Klaus KOSCHORKE, the Faculty for Protestant Theology, the University of Munich
Abstract:
<span font-size:17.5px;background-color:#dfeef7;"="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Christianity has been global from its very beginnings, within the framework of what was known of the world in different periods. But even in times of Western colonialism and at the height of the Western missionary movement, “globalization” has never been identical with “Europeanization”. There always has existed a plurality of regional centers of expansion, indigenous initiatives and cultural versions of Christianity which later contributed significantly to the making of Christianity as a World Religion. The current article gives an introduction to the concept of “polycentric structures in the history of World Christianity”. It commends a paradigm shift in studying Christianity as a global movement by giving examples from countries such as India, Ethiopia, South Korea, Sierra Leone, etc, calling a deep reflection upon the current situation of world Christianity.
Keywords:
World Christianity, Polycentric Structures, religion, global, indigenous
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