THE NEXT CHRISTENDOM: The Coming of Global Christianity, by Phillip Jenkins. Oxford University Press, 2002, 270pp. (Call no. BR121.3. J46. 2002).

Is Christianity declining? Some commentators say so. But, Jenkins, professor at Penn State University, disagrees. "Over the past century...the center of gravity in the Christian world has shifted inexorably southward, to Africa, Asia, and Latin America." (p. 2). Harvey Cox, former Harvard professor, says:"Jenkins demonstrates why the tidal wave of religious change that is quickly transforming Christianity into a predominantly non-Western, non-White faith has enormous potential and cultural implications--some of them chilling, all of them demanding an unprecedented theological analysis." (Back cover). "The world's largest religion is booming in the Third World," WALL STREET JOURNAL review of this important book (Dec. 24, 2002). It is now in St.Philip's Library.