Global Christianity at Your Fingertips: Providing Online Access to Global Christian Theology, Starting with Africa

Today Christianity is a global and multicultural reality. However, the different theological voices of many areas of the worldwide church are not easily accessible, both in the West and in other regions. In support of Sir John Templeton’s desire to learn from ‘the spiritual teachings of the world religions to provide assistance in helping us understand more of who and what we are and why we are here’ (Wisdom from the World’s Religions) and ‘to rescue religions from all kinds of obsolescence’ (Foundation’s Charter), we envision creating a website on global Christian theology.
The website will consist of (1) a database of bibliographical articles on key topics by leading scholars, with seamless links to religious and theological resources available online, (2) extended bibliographies on these topics, (3) a portal providing links to other sites with useful resources on global theology, and (4) a collection of tools on how to use online resources in research. Around this website, we plan to develop a network to connect faculty, librarians and students with a shared interest in the development of this research tool and online resources in the field of global theology.
As a first step towards this vision, this project will create (1) a website and network that focuses on English and French-speaking Africa and (2) a plan for extending this to other continents. By the end of the project period, we expect the website to be visited daily by over 500 visitors, from Africa and from the Western world. Furthermore, we expect it to become the preferred research tool for 250 students and scholars who have signed up to it. Visitors will explore in new depth African theological contributions to global conversations on the nature of God, reality, salvation and the good life. The website will create a greater awareness of the indispensability of intercultural conversations in a multicultural world and of the value of non-traditional sources for theological and spiritual reflection.