The Gospel beyond the West: The Sanneh–Walls Legacy and Emerging Conversation Partners in World Christianity Studies

Abstract

The core disciplines within World Christianity studies derived from the legacy of Lamin Sanneh and Andrew Walls. Their extensive research and dedicated teaching from their historical and missiological roots provided a body of work upon which past and present World Christianity scholars continue to build. In their work, Walls and Sanneh modelled an openness to other perspectives which would provide insights into Christianity in the non-Western world. Though they operated from within their disciplines, the paradigm of translation that Walls and Sanneh championed consistently harboured the prospect of other disciplinary conversation partners. These aspects of the Walls and Sanneh legacy invite us to consider broader research frameworks to help make sense of Christian expansion in the non-Western world today. Though theology, missiology and history are vital disciplines, these in themselves are insufficient to investigate the wider spectrum of issues required to grasp current developments. This essay examines the research issues that World Christianity raises. Through the case study of African Pentecostalism, the essay demonstrates how multidisciplinary approaches might be used to address the questions. In this way, World Christianity studies can reliably draw from, and contribute to, other fields during its investigation of Christian faith as a global religion. This multidisciplinary approach to World Christianity studies also enables researchers to dignify the experience of those, previously marginal, expressions they study. In this way, researchers will carry forward the legacy received from the pioneers.