Scholars have recently focused on the growth of Christianity in the southern hemisphere and how African Christianity may soon be influencing world Christianity. In my book in argued that African Christianity will continue to be marginalized even if the number of Christians increase because the continent plays a marginal role in global geopolitics and economics. This is clearly manifested in the recent appointment of new Cardinals by the Vatican. Of the 24 new Cardinals recently appointed by Pope Benedict XVI, 15 are Europeans (10 Italians) and 7 (4 Africans) come from the southern hemisphere (aka non-Western world). So much for the influence of non-Western Christianity, especially in the Roman Catholic Church where the center is still in Italy.
Scholars have also been talking about how the religious imagination that stresses the ubiquity of the miraculous is sweeping the continent, especially sub-Saharan Africa. However, this Pew Research poll from Cameroon, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo challenge that observation. Even though this is only a single poll, there may be something to be said for the views expressed in it. Click on each country and scroll down to see how many people say they have experienced elements of the miraculous in each country.
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