The Centre for the Study of World Christianity (CSWC) is a research centre based in New College, the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh. It was founded in the University of Aberdeen by Andrew F. Walls as the Centre for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World in 1982,[1][2] but later moved by Walls to the University of Edinburgh in 1986.[3][4] Its current name was adopted in 2009. The centre is currently directed by Alexander Chow and Emma Wild-Wood.[5]

Centre for the Study of World Christianity
Former name
Centre for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World
Established1982
Field of research
World Christianity
DirectorsAlexander Chow and Emma Wild-Wood
LocationEdinburgh, United Kingdom
55°56′58″N 3°11′43″W / 55.9495°N 3.1953°W / 55.9495; -3.1953
AffiliationsNew College, University of Edinburgh
Websitewww.cswc.div.ed.ac.uk

Research

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The centre promotes historical, theological, and social scientific research in the field of World Christianity – broadly speaking, Christianity in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Oceania, and eastern Europe, as well as diasporic forms of non-Western Christianity emerging in contexts such as Western Europe and North America. Closely related to the centre is the peer-reviewed academic journal Studies in World Christianity, published three times a year.[6] The centre is one of the main sponsors of the Yale-Edinburgh Group on the History of the Missionary Movement and World Christianity,[7] and maintains its own research archive.[8]

Some notable books produced by scholars affiliated with the Centre include:

  • Adogame, Afeosemime U (2013). The African Christian Diaspora: New Currents and Emerging Trends in World Christianity. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-4411-8858-8.
  • Bediako, Kwame (1995). Christianity in Africa: The Renewal of a Non-Western Religion. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-1-57075-048-9.
  • Chow, Alexander (2018). Chinese Public Theology: Generational Shifts and Confucian Imagination in Chinese Christianity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-880869-5.
  • Chow, Alexander and Emma Wild-Wood (Eds; 2020). Ecumenism and Independency in World Christianity Historical Studies in Honour of Brian Stanley. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-43754-8
  • Cox, James L. (2014). The Invention of God in Indigenous Societies. Durham: Acumen. ISBN 978-1-84465-754-4.
  • Stanley, Brian (2009). The World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh 1910. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-6360-7.
  • ——— (2013). The Global Diffusion of Evangelicalism: The Age of Billy Graham and John Stott. Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press. ISBN 978-1-84474-621-7.
  • Walls, Andrew F. (1996). The Missionary Movement in Christian History: Studies in the Transmission of Faith. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books. ISBN 978-1-57075-059-5.
  • ——— (2002). The Cross-Cultural Process in Christian History: Studies in the Transmission and Appropriation of Faith. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books. ISBN 978-1-57075-373-2.
  • ——— (2017). Crossing Cultural Frontiers: Studies in the History of World Christianity. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books. ISBN 978-1-62698-258-1.

Graduate Studies

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As part of the School of Divinity, it offers a one-year MTh teaching program and a PhD research degree producing, by the first decade of the twenty first century, 129 MTh and 65 PhD theses. Some of the centre's notable alumni include:[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Stanley 2011, pp. 51–59.
  2. ^ Cox, James L.; Sutcliffe, Steven J. (1 March 2006). "Religious studies in Scotland: A persistent tension with divinity". Religion. 36 (1): 1–28. doi:10.1016/j.religion.2005.12.001.
  3. ^ Stanley 2011, pp. 54–55.
  4. ^ Kerr, David (2004). "Mission Studies in Edinburgh". Newsletter (23). British and Irish Association of Mission Studies: 2.
  5. ^ "Centre for the Study of World Christianity". Centre for the Study of World Christianity. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  6. ^ "Journal". Centre for the Study of World Christianity. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  7. ^ "Yale-Edinburgh Group Website". divinity-adhoc.library.yale.edu. Archived from the original on 1 January 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  8. ^ "Collection". Centre for the Study of World Christianity. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2015.

Sources

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  • Stanley, Brian (2011). "Founding the Centre for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World". In Burrows, William R.; Gornik, Mark R.; McLean, Janice A. (eds.). Understanding World Christianity: The Vision and Work of Andrew F. Walls. Orbis Books. pp. 51–59. ISBN 978-1-60833-021-8.
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External videos
  World Christianity at New College (2021)