This interesting collection of essays grew out of papers presented at an international conference on Protestant missions and the religious aspects of globalization held in at the Hammanskraal Campus of the University of Pretoria in 2001. The essays take perspectives that privilege Third World indigenous and local contributions to recent trends in world Christianity. Organized into sections on theory and context, globalizing tendencies in Christianity, ministerial formation in theological education, and local influences in charismatic and pentecostal transformations, the volume clearly situates contemporary Christianity in non-Western locales: China, Africa, South America, and Asia. That focus alone makes this a worthwhile addition to a growing literature on globalization and religion.

Editor Ogbu U. Kalu frames the discussion using the metaphor of changing tides to outline the chapters and present some of his own perspectives on the issues addressed. Paul Freston then brings correctives to globalization and religion discourse by focusing on Third World perspectives in his essay, “Globalization, Religion, and Evangelical Christianity: A Sociological Meditation from the Third World.” He advocates paying more attention to those voices on issues such as the use of global data on religions, growing constraints on religious freedom in many parts of the world, and the importance of conversion and mission activity from the Third World as a key theme in the religion and globalization conversation. He also reflects the general theological thrust of the book in his discussion of the need to distinguish between evangelicalism and fundamentalism in Christianity. Many of the authors of this volume speak for the evangelical and charismatic constituencies of Christianity, and they would, of course, eschew the label of fundamentalism.

Various critiques of points of view of First World scholars in the religion and globalization debate run throughout the text and are helpful reminders to scholars that the historical location of historians and theologians greatly influences the ways they interpret history. Paul Freston criticizes Mark Juergensmeyer's assumption that a common “religious” point of view can be a basis for resisting “the secular” (26–27). Jehu J. Hanciles in his chapter, “African Christianity, Globalization, and Mission,” takes Paul Gifford to task, claiming that Gifford overemphasizes the “externality” factor in African Christianity (82–83). Dana L. Robert notes the lack of attention to internationalism as a counterpoint for understanding both indigenization and globalization during the inter-war period in North America (94). In Sebastian C. H. Kim's article, “The Kingdom of God versus the Church,” he recounts P. Chenchiah's critique of Hendrick Kraemer's views on the centrality of the church in spreading Christianity in India (140–42). Chenchiah saw the church itself as an obstacle to mission in India and argued instead for the centrality of inter-religious relations as a critical element in understanding the Christian message (141–42).

In addition to those critiques, positive contributions on Third World situations and perspectives add texture and particularity to the discussion. Brian M. Howell and Anthony dela Fuente present a fascinating account of Protestantism and popular culture in the Philippines by using localization theory in critiquing popular films in “Redemption and Progress: Analogies of Protestantism and Popular culture in the Philippines.” Edith L. Blumhofer draws the reader into the rich cultures of India and pentecostalism with her descriptions of Pandita Rambai in “Consuming Fire: Pandita Ramabai and the Global Pentecostal Impulse.” Diane Stinton graphically portrays images of Jesus in “Local Portraits of Christ in Africa Today: Jesus as Chief/King in Ghanaian Christianity.” And Philomena Njeri Mwaura illuminates the gender changes that both globalization and Christianity are introducing to Kenyan society in “Gendered Appropriation of Mass Media in Kenyan Christianities: A Comparison of Two Women-Led African Instituted Churches in Kenya.” Indications in a number of articles that indigenous forms of Christianity mingle with theologies brought by Americans make the case that Third World Christianity is not purely a Western transplant.

The rich content of this volume does not, however, exempt it from some of the usual difficulties faced by edited works: a diffused focus, unbalanced sections, and some arbitrariness in essay topics. The well-developed section on local agency and charismatic and pentecostal transformation presents rich and original essays. But the section on cultural and socio-political dimensions of global process presents the reader with only one essay—a case study at that. The section on ministerial formation includes one article on evangelical universities and another on the North China Theological Seminary in the early 1900s. One wonders why ministerial formation is the topic here and not inter-religious leadership formation, an area more germane to the overall subject matter. Or one might ask why “The Globalizing Impulse in Christianity” section stops after two excellent essays on the period between World War I and World War II and does not include an essay on late twentieth-century or current globalizing issues in contemporary Christianity, the overall topic of the book.

Perhaps we ask too much of an edited volume. Bringing together the essays in this book enriches the reader's knowledge of the interstices of Christianity and globalization. The focus on Third World influences and the input from scholars in those settings demonstrate that Christianity in those contexts does not merely reflect a hegemonic Western influence but includes creative movements that incorporate local traditions. And the essays one might wish to read, plus the questions raised by the essays included, present crucial areas of research that scholars can pursue to further the discussion of global processes and local identities in contemporary Christianity.