The Epistemological Turn in World Christianity: Engaging Decoloniality in Latin American and Caribbean Christian Discourses

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article critically inquires into world Christianity discourse and its methodological tools from a Latin American perspective. It argues that since world Christianity’s initial concepts and theories derived to a large extent from the African experience and from a pronounced Anglo-Saxon perspective, its methodological tools may not automatically apply to Latin America. Given the interdisciplinary and intercontextual nature of the field, world Christianity scholarship requires the use of a variety of methods and approaches that take seriously the reality and location of peoples, communities, and discourses with whom scholars partner for the production of knowledge. With a focus on Latin America, the author brings world Christianity discourse into conversation with Latin American decolonial theory. The backdrop of this conversation is the revitalization of indigenous communities and religions in Latin America, and their contribution to a fresh view of interculturality as a language for a life betwixt and between in the region.