Book Notes 5

For this round of notes, I chose to read the first seven chapters of Beyond Christendom. It is a book full of information that I can not do justice here, but the important info I will put down. On a side note, about every fifth key I try to type isn't registering and it is really irritating. I thought at first that only a few keys were out, but it is basically my entire keyboard. Really awful. Really really awful.

Chapter 1

This chapter was about Globalization. He talks about the term and how he understands it. One of the main theorists he presents and critiques a writer for the New York Times named Thomas Friedman. Hanciles major critique of Friedman and of others is their lack of accurate historical information in their theories. Hanciles sees Globalization as a phenomenon that has been slowly developing throughout the past several centuries.

Chapter 2

In this chapter, Hanciles presents several arguments that point towards the blending of global cultures. The idea I drew from most in this chapter is the section in the beginning where he talks about the positions of secular humanism. There was a popular idea in Western academia that religiousness would simply pass away. There are still some proponents of that theory (see Bill Maher, or however you spell his last name). However, Hanciles states that is clearly not true. In fact, He says that even the opposite is true. Out of this chapter, that idea is the one that stuck out the most for me.

Chapter 3

Hanciles uses this chapter to show the conflicting double nature of globalization. At the same time that it is homgenizing culture, it is also polarizing cultures against one another. The high scale with which the phenomenon of globalization penetrates other cultures is not met with a complete lack of opposition. Hanciles seeks to give his readers a level-headed understanding of the topics a hand and prevents himself from being biased towards any certain explanation of globalization.

Chapter 4

Hanciles tells a story that has been told several times in this chapter. He chronicles the birth and many crimes of Christendom. However, the point he reaches towards the end of the chapter should be pointed out. He speaks of the vernacular Bible, and the efforts to translate the Bible into native languages. He then states that Christ can't be one's savior unless Jesus speaks directly to the culture one is trying to reach. In other words, faith has to be personal. Indigenous forms of Christianity are not only important, but absolutely essential if this argument be true. Neat.

Chapter 5

In this chapter all of the age old figures on church attendance and such are presented. However, he spends quite a bit of time explaining the importance of African Christianity. They have a faith that is very alive and now they are migrating to other places with it. He says this was able to occur because of their pre-existing religiosity, so they were able to take seriously the claims of the Gospel. I think it's important for people from the West to understand the importance of their Christian brothers and sisters from overseas

Chapter 6

This chapter begins presenting Hanciles main thesis in this book. That is that immigration is one of the major if not the major influence on the spread of global Chrisitanity of the past several centuries. He then traces the theme of immigration through the Bible in this chapter and shows that it is a major way that God has used his people throughout time. He states that the ministry of Jesus was that of a wanderer and an immigrant. Such notions should be paid attention to. I know places where stating this could get one shunned from that community, but these ideas are not radical!

Chapter 7

Here, Hanciles gives a history of various migratory periods in world history and shows how they strongly influenced the spread of Christianity. The most important statement in this chapter is about Britain. He states that the greatest clash against the influx of Islam into the UK will not be from British Christians, but from African Christian immigrants who are flooding into that country at a rapid rate. I think it is amazing what one can see when one looks where no one else has. Hanciles states at one point that books like the one he is writing are rare finds. But why I ask?