Philip Jenkins
Japan’s 1 percent
We rarely think of Japan as a promising land for Christianity. But the murder of Kenji Goto reminds us that believers do exist there.
“They Can Live in the Desert but Nowhere Else,” by Ronald Grigor Suny
Study of the Armenian genocide has attracted many fine scholars, but Ronald Suny's book stands out.
Assyrians under siege
Assyrian Christians call 1915 Sayfo, the Year of the Sword. One hundred years later, they're still being killed.
Holy terror
Secularists from Voltaire to Richard Dawkins have attacked religion for its connection to violence. Karen Armstrong flatly rejects the idea.
The spirit of Dreamtime
Indigenous Australians have long practiced a profound, land-centered spirituality. Only recently have Western Christians begun to acknowledge this.
Chilembwe’s rising
A century ago, a period of stunning Christian growth began. Africa's independent churches claim John Chilembwe as a symbol of a new native Christianity, free from its paternalistic and missionary roots.
Christians in slavery
Many scholars have traced the intra-Christian conflicts over slavery. Less noticed are the situations in which Christians were themselves enslaved.
Endangered faiths
Gerard Russell’s account of disappearing Middle Eastern religions has an elegiac quality. It’s heartrending and often infuriating.
Forgotten genocides
Historically, the region from the Danube to the Euphrates and from Belgrade to Baghdad is religiously complex. Our modern map is a product of decades of violence and ethnic cleansing.
Imperial missionaries?
Like it or not, the world’s religious landscape owes much to the long history of European imperialism. But the story of empire and missions is more complex than we might assume.
The future is Filipino
In January, Pope Francis will visit the Philippines. By 2050, there could be 100 million Catholics there.
Global Christianity & American religious history
The Global War on Christians: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Anti-Christian Persecution, by John L. Allen Jr....
God and global cinema
Cinema has long been a critical medium for exploring religious themes in mainstream culture. Today, filmmakers continue to find a distinctive religious voice.
Priest under threat
Calvary is a masterpiece of religious filmmaking. Its greatest achievement is to convey the impact of a community's near-collapse of faith.
Sects without tradition
The story of Pentecostalism and social change is now familiar. What's surprising is how closely it echoes trends in modern Islam.
Leaving Nineveh: The last days of Christians in Mosul
Three faiths esteem Jonah, whom God sent to the city now called Mosul.
Imagining Cuba’s future
Cuba possesses the conditions often cited to explain Pentecostal growth: rapid social change, economic turmoil, and excluded ethnic groups.
Revival in the Balkans
Anastasios is first and foremost a scholar. Yet it's hard to imagine any religious leader accomplishing so much practical good so quickly.
The church of the Roma
In Catholic Europe, Romani have long been faithful Catholics. They are devoted to the dark-skinned St. Sarah, believed to be a companion of the biblical Three Marys.