Book Review: The New Shape of World Christianity by Mark Noll

August 23, 2009
Christianity In Culture Examiner
Daniel Seatvet

Mark A. Noll. The New Shape of World Christianity: How American Experience Reflects Global Faith. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2009. $25.00. Hardcover. 212 pgs. ISBN: 978-0-8308-2847-0.

It’s indeed true that for quite a long time the “crux” of Christianity and Spirit-filled revival took place in the West—Europe and North America. It’s also true that for the past hundred or so years there has been a shift of Christian conversion to the “global south” --- specifically, South America, Africa, and Asia. Among a select few of academic observers, there is Mark Noll who has penned a wonderfully researched and thought provoking work on The New Shape of World Christianity.

His posited inference and theme of the book is that, “American form rather than American influence has been the most important American contribution to the recent world history of Christianity.” (pg. 15) In other words, many people tend to think that the American-way-of-doing-things is the correct way to go about “it”, not just in the sense of fast food (McDonald’s, Starbucks, etc.) or popular culture (Hollywood, Facebook, etc.) but also within religion--- Christianity specifically, and the orthopraxy of the Church and its relevance to societies and the individual.

It is this juxtaposed misinformation (hubris?) that Americans possess (and obsess over) that Noll is responding to. And not just responding to, but as his thesis above demonstrates, also offering an alternative explanation to the reality of the Christian movement from North-West of the globe to….. well, everywhere else. Americans like to think that we can put our systematic theologies and finely tuned church practices in a FedEx package and send it off to Nigeria where the otherwise disillusioned locals open up their package and their lives change instantaneously to reveal truth, ultimate reality, 20 minute sermons, and Vacation Bible School--- just as their American counterparts have it. the rest image