Christian Renewal Movements in the Global South in the 20th and 21st Centuries: Religious, Social and Political Transformations

Date: 

Sunday, May 28, 2017 (All day) to Monday, May 29, 2017 (All day)

The explosion of new and diverse forms of Christianity across the Global South – mass conversions, emergence of new denominations, and revitalization within established churches – have been among the most staggering religious phenomena of recent times. The diffused Pentecostal and Evangelical movements, which gained prominence throughout the 20th century, have already reached a dramatic following of over half a billion. The Roman Catholic Church and the historical mainline churches have joined the fray with their own charismatic renewal movements. The emergence of these new churches has had profound social, cultural and political impact within international, national and local arenas. No wonder, therefore, that some have been referring to the explosion of new Christian forms as a "second reformation," a term indicative of its magnitude and far-reaching implications.  

The two-day interdisciplinary conference was dedicated to dialogue between scholars of religion in the broad sense of the term, with the aim of developing comparative, interdisciplinary perspectives. The conference was hosted at the Mandel building, Mt. Scopus, and was organized by Truman fellows Yonatan N. Gez and Yael Mabat, together with the help of Tamara Kerzhner, Manya Kagan, Gregor Buss and Marlous van Waijenburg,. The conference enjoyed the sponsorship of the Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace, the Martin Buber Society of Fellows, the Glocal International Development MA program, and the Hebrew University's Authority for Research and Development. 

The conference featured over twenty contributors of various career stages and disciplinary orientations from over ten countries, including several from the Global South. The participants explored multiple approaches through which to develop comparative perspectives on these disperse-yet-interrelated religio-social developments. Through multi-sited comparative studies, exploration of moments of cross-regional interaction, and the mapping of channels of inter-regional influences, as well as in-depth and contextualized studies of specific case studies, the conference participants gained insights into how local and global trends play out both geographically and over time.

christian renewal in the glocal south confernece program.pdf296 KB