Christian Evangelizing across National Boundaries: Technology, Cultural Capital and the Intellectualization of Religion

• Main Author: Kong, Lily
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2013
• Subjects: Asian Studies; Human Geography; Religion
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1779
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Christian evangelical work across national boundaries is often associated with missionary work. In this chapter, I focus on other strategies used in Christian evangelizing, particularly the widespread international dissemination and replication of courses about Christianity for the unconverted using standardized material and approaches. I examine how religious globalization (i.e. the convergence and conformity of religious practice across national boundaries) through such courses takes place, with the aid of technology, the tapping of shared cultural capital and the intellectualization of religion. I argue that such forms of evangelization work for certain audiences better than for others. Using the case of the Alpha course, an evangelical Christian course originating in London and replicated in different parts of the world, and focusing on its dissemination and effects in Singapore, I demonstrate how the evangelical material works best with a transnational elite audience with a shared cultural and intellectual capital.