The History of Christianity in Asia

Christianity was born in Asia. But it never became the predominant religion of the continent as it did in Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Americas. Even so, diverse cultural groups across the Asian landmass encountered the gospel in the early, medieval, and modern periods of its cross-cultural transmission from Asian and European missions. These encounters resulted in the birth and spread of resilient minority Christian communities within the Persian, Indian, Chinese, and Mongolian empires which favoured other sophisticated text-based religious traditions. This survey course explores the origins, achievements, and challenges faced by Asian Christian communities from the first to the twentieth century.

This course is available onsite and online. Students must register for the online section to gain Zoom access to the course.

Course lectures will be recorded, and students may be captured in course recordings. Access to lecture recordings is normally only given to online students who cannot reasonably be expected to attend the course live due to time zone differences. These students should contact the course instructor for permission to access recordings.