"Relocation" of Christianity

The Rebirth of Christianity: The Gospel Blossoms in the East describes the relocation of Christianity from the West to Africa, Latin America and Asia. Author and journalist Philip Yancey was quoted as saying:

"As I travel, I have observed a pattern, a strange historical phenomenon of God 'moving' geographically from the Middle East, to Europe to North America to the developing world. My theory is this: God goes where He's wanted."

The article gives plenty of interesting statistics. About Christianity's growth outside the West:

"In Africa in the year 1900, for example, there were approximately 10 million Christians on the continent. By 2000, the number had grown to 360 million.

"The Anglican Communion is a perfect example of this worldwide trend. Whereas in its U.S. branch -- the Episcopal Church -- membership has declined over the last 40 years to 2.3 million, in Uganda alone there are more than 8 million Anglicans.

"Worldwide, evangelical Christians are a thriving part of the Christian community. Yet, 70% of evangelicals live outside the West...

"South Korea is another example of a nation in which the growth of Christianity has been stunning. In 1920, Jenkins says, there were only about 300,000 believers in all of Korea. But today, in South Korea alone, there are 10 to 12 million Christians -- about 25% of the population."

About the decline of Christianity in the West:

"According to a major survey in the 1990s, the percentage of people attending church on an average Sunday in some European countries is a mere fraction of the total population: England (27%), West Germany (14%), Denmark (5%), Norway (5%), Sweden, (4%) and Finland (4%)."

Author Gene Edward Veith, on where Catholicism fits into these trends:

"'This decline is directly attributable to the theological liberalism of the once-powerful state churches.'

"Veith says that, where the more conservative Catholic Church holds sway, church attendance is far higher: Ireland (84%), Poland (55%), Portugal (47%), and Italy (45%).

"'These are Catholic countries where the church has remained conservative,' Veith says. 'Catholic churches that have gone liberal -- in the United States, France, the Netherlands -- have the same low attendance rates as liberal Protestants.'"

And some final cautionary words:

"'[I]t is not modernist, liberal Christianity that is sweeping through the Southern Hemisphere,' says Veith, 'but a Christianity in which the gospel is proclaimed, that believes God's Word, that refuses to conform to the world.'"