Between Christianity and Judaism?: The Rise of ‘Judaising Evangelicalism’ in Brazil

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Manoela Carpenedo is associate lecturer in religious studies at the University of Kent and an affiliated researcher at the Department of Sociology at the University of Cambridge. The following is a summary of some of her doctoral research at Cambridge, which she presented at the Centre for the Study of World Christianity’s weekly research seminar. We present it here as an example of ethnographic research in our ongoing discussion of methods in world Christianity begun with Jason Bruner’s post on 30 January 2018.

Manoela Carpenedo discusses her research on Judaising Evangelicals in Brazil at the CSWC’s research seminar on 23 January 2018.

Ritual borrowing and appropriation of Jewish religious tenets by Christians is not something new. On the contrary, it constitutes the very basis of Christian tradition itself. Yet, the current appropriation of Jewish narratives, rituals and even political anxieties by Christians is gaining more and more relevance in the religious and socio-political landscape. Continue reading →

WCC Invites Contributions to Mark 70th Anniversary – Call for Papers

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Stephen G. Brown, editor of The Ecumenical Review, magazine published by the World Council of Churches.

In marking its 70th anniversary this year, the World Council of Churches invites contributions to its quarterly journal, the Ecumenical Review. Submissions from students and early-career researchers and theologians are especially encouraged.

According to the WCC’s general secretary, the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tviets, ‘this is an opportunity to mark the achievements of the past 70 years in working for Christian unity and common action, and to look to the challenges ahead as a fellowship of churches responding to God’s call for unity, mission, justice and peace.’

The deadline for submissions is 31 May 2018. Continue reading →

Imagining a Church of Wakanda in Marvel’s Black Panther

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Marvel’s Black Panther movie portrays the interesting idea of an African society largely untouched by European colonialism. Introduced to comic-book readers in the 1960s amidst European decolonisation and the US civil rights movement, the fictional Kingdom of Wakanda’s success in resisting forces that would exploit its people and resources was compelling. Movie goers today, when popular depictions portray a war-torn and poverty-stricken continent, find the portrayal of a free African society at the forefront of technological advancement no less compelling. As a scholar of African Christianity and colonialism, the idea of Christianity in this African culture unaffected by colonial influences intrigues me. What would such a Christianity look like? Continue reading →

Billy Graham (1918–2018): Prophet of World Christianity?

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Billy Graham in 1966. (Photo by Warren K. Leffler, U.S. News & World Report Magazine Collection, Library of Congress)

Most of the notices and obituaries of Billy Graham, who died on 21 February 2018, have focused on his significance for Christianity in the United States. Dubbed ‘America’s pastor’ by President George H. W. Bush in 2007, Graham seemed to be the quintessential American preacher – handsome, dapper, eloquent, uncompromising in his presentation of the gospel, and apparently quite untroubled by modern questions about the reliability of the Bible. He was on first-name terms with a string of American presidents from Eisenhower to Obama. He was also a typical product of the Bible belt in the American south. At first he accepted racial segregation, even in Christian meetings, as a fact of life and his relationship with the civil rights movement – notably with Martin Luther King – was at times a fractious one. Continue reading →