Contents: List of figures -- List of Abbreviations -- Introduction : How we suffered ; how we loved -- I. NETWORKS 1. "The Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man": racism as a missionary problem -- 2. "Peril and Persecution": The Congo crisis -- 3. "Have you read the Communist Manifesto?" : Christian revolutions -- 4. "I walked today where Jesus walked" : Christians and the future of Israel -- 5. "Reaching the Unreached": The Battle of Lausanne -- II. BODY POLITICS : 6. "These marks on my body are my credentials": Jesus to the communist world -- 7. "The suffering church" : Apartheid South Africa -- 8. "The 10/40 window": The struggle with Islam -- 9. "The persecuted body": The religious freedom agenda -- 10. "Leave the nuances for the diplomats": Redeeming Sudan -- III. EMOTIONS : 11. "I'll go where you send me": Short-term missions -- 12. "The greatest failing of our Christian obedience": The war in Iraq -- 13. "I am not a big checkbook": Churches and money in South Sudan -- 14. "The power of a weeping Christian": Sexual politics and HIV/AIDS in Africa -- 15. "Despair is an unmerciful tyrant": Youth and justice in Cairo -- Epilogue -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.
Summary:
The Kingdom of God Has No Borders offers a daring new perspective on conservative Christianity by shifting the lens to focus on the world outside US borders. Melani McAlister offers a sweeping narrative of the last fifty years of evangelical history, weaving a fascinating tale that upends much of what we know - or think we know - about American evangelicals. She takes us to the Congo in the 1960s, where Christians were enmeshed in a complicated interplay of missionary zeal, Cold War politics, racial hierarchy, and anti-colonial struggle. She shows us how evangelical efforts to convert non-Christians have placed them in direct conflict with Islam at flash points across the globe. And she examines how Christian leaders have fought to stem the tide of HIV/AIDS in Africa while at the same time supporting harsh repression of LGBTQ communities. Through these and other stories, McAlister focuses on the many ways in which looking at evangelicals abroad complicates conventional ideas about evangelicialism. We can't truly understand how conservative Christians see themselves and their place in the world unless we look beyond our shores. -- inside cover.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.