SWEDISH MISSIOLOGICAL THEMES SVENSK MISSIONSTIDSKRIFT

520 Jan-Martin Berentsen
Figure 1
First a simple figure reminding us of the false idea and thinking about Christianity as a
Western religion. The first couple of hundred years of Christianity the faith was spread to
a much larger extent in Africa and Asia than in Europe. 2 The gospel did not come to these
continents from the West by way of Caucasian blond missionaries with tropic helmets.
That situation belongs to a period further ahead, times in history that we today think of
with ambivalent feelings. 3
2 The numbers here are from David B. Barrett, World Christian Encyclopaedia, Nairobi
1982, p. 796. Jenkins holds the opinion, interestingly enough, that Barrett’s numbers for
the centennial 500 are too low for Africa/Asia. The spread of Christianity there was much
greater.
3 Cf. the typical title of one of Kwame Bediako’s books: Christianity in Africa. The Renewal
of a Non-Western Religion, Edinburgh 1995.