World Christianity

I’ll tell you who needs this book: Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, Anabaptists, Pentecostals/Charismatics. If I’ve omitted anyone, I apologize. The reason each needs this is because too many Christians in each tradition are totally uninformed about the other traditions. Here’s the book: The World’s Christians: Who they are, Where they are, and How they got there, by Douglas Jacobsen.

Questions: What are you doing to understand both your major tradition as well as the Christian traditions of others? What is the best thing you’ve ever done?

“Jake” has three parts to this exceptionally clear and useful text: Who they are — Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Pentecostal/Charismatic; Where they are — he surveys these Christians in every part of the globe (this is such a valuable part of this book), and How they got there — a brief on church history.

For me the highlight was the masterful sketch of each tradition. He examines these themes for each: Spirituality, Salvation, Structure and Story. He’s fair, he’s comprehensive, he’s surely not going to satisfy everyone on everything, but this is an exceptional sketch for so many who need it. I wish every church would plop a copy or two out so folks would see it, browse through it, and learn about their own tradition and the many Christians who come from different traditions.

I will simplify to illustrate the big images in this book, but don’t accuse Jake of simplicities. On spirituality, the Orthodox focus on worship, the Catholics on sacramental imagination, communal consciousness, and intellectual rigor; the Protestants on Bible and Pentecostal/Charismatic tradition on experience.

Instead of seeing other traditions as unsaved, this book will unite us into a generous orthodoxy.