SQJ Taipei

I’m not going to link to it because it contains a lot of immature language, but a while ago I caught part of a video where someone posed the question, “If you didn’t know anything about the Bible and came across one and started reading it, would you believe it?” The guy talking was a comedian (or at least he thought he was!) so he was just going for laughs (an mocking Christians is always funny, right?)… and yet… it is a valid question.

It is also an extremely ethnocentric one…

In areas of the world where Christianity was transplanted via European colonialism (USA, Australia, New Zealand, lots of others) the question is funny because Christian principles are so entrenched in laws and government and culture.

But in most parts of the world… the question is answered on a daily basis. Most people have not encountered the Bible… so when they discover it… when it is translated into their language or shared with them orally… how do they react? Do they believe? Yes… often they do.

The comedian’s question is funny to people in “post-Christian” environments… but the fact is that the truths of the Bible are often exactly what people have been waiting their lives to hear.

John Morehead just blogged about a book by Lamin Sanneh (a Gambian) entitled Whose Religion is Christianity?: The Gospel beyond the West.

Morehead’s Musings: Lamin Sanneh: Whose Religion Is Christianity?: The Gospel beyond the West

I’m always interested in this sort of discussion since Christianity is most often labeled a “western” religion. I know why it happens… but the fact is… most Christians are *not* western!

This book looks like an interesting read… and Morehead’s comments about the book are helpful and instructive.