What is Happening to Christianity? Insights from Africa

428

THURSDAY, 20 JANUARY 2022, 6:00PM – 7:00PM GMT

Christianity’s centre of gravity has shifted to the Global South. Prosperity churches, ‘born again’ politicians, prophets, healers and exorcists are now typical expressions of Christianity worldwide. What do these changes mean for our understanding of the world’s largest religion, in particular with regard to secularism, politics, and international development? 

Drawing on examples from Africa, the lecture shows how these movements challenge established notions of Christian doctrine and institutional order, and how contemporary Christianity reflects the wider fragmentations and imbalances of the modern world.

REGISTRATION AND TICKETS

We are live-streaming all our lectures in 2021-22. To watch lectures live online, please register using the button below. The registration process is simple, free, and only requires an email address.

REGISTER FOR ONLINE LECTURE

Tickets for in-person attendance at this event are available now, please book using the button below. Read more about ticketing and Covid safety here.

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham’s mission, please consider making a donation.

Speaker: Jörg Haustein is University Lecturer in World Christianities at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Selwyn College. Before coming to Cambridge he was a Senior Lecturer in Religions in Africa at at the School of Oriental and African Studies, and prior to that a Research and Teaching Fellow in Religious Studies and Intercultural Theology at the University of Heidelberg. He  earned his PhD in Heidelberg with a historical study of the Ethiopian Pentecostal movement.

Dr Haustein’s research is centred on Christianity and Islam in Africa with a particular interest in Pentecostalism, the history of Christian missions, the colonial engagement with Islam, and the intersection of religion and development. He has published extensively on Pentecostalism in Ethiopia, Africa, and worldwide, and he has recently completed a major study on Islam in German East Africa. He is a founding member of the European Research Network on Global Pentecostalism and serves as the editor of its journal PentecoStudies. He is also a founding member of the DSA study group “Religion and Development” and was co-investigator of the AHRC-funded research network studying the engagement of religious actors with the Sustainable Development Goals in Ethiopia, India, and the UK.

Barnard’s Inn Hall