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With the world's great non-Christian faiths radicalizing to varying degrees, do you expect more persecution of Christians in the coming decades?

The next 20 years or so could well be the worst and the most dangerous period. [But] all around the world, there's a major demographic change. Surprising areas are now experiencing the kind of demographic transition that Europe experienced 30 or 40 years ago, and fertility rates are declining very dramatically. For instance, just in the last 20 or 30 years, Iran has gone from six children per woman to two. In other words, the U.S. now has a higher fertility rate than Iran.

Now that's of interest in its own right, but it also means that in 15 or 20 years, you're going to have far fewer young men of the sort who represent the violent, active militant groups. It's quite likely that there will be a decline of religious conflict. But in the intermediate time, it's a very dangerous situation indeed.

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The first chapter of The New Faces of Christianity is available on our site.

The New Faces of Christianity: Believing in the Bible in the Global South and Jenkins's earlier book, The Next Christendom: The Rise of Global Christianity are available at ChristianBook.com and other retailers.

Oxford University Press has more information on the book.

Other Christianity Today articles on the Global South include:

Out of Africa | The leader of nearly 18 million Nigerian Anglicans challenges the West's theology and control. (July 2005)

It's a Small Church After All | Globalization is changing how Christians do ministry.(November 6, 1998)

Turning the World Upside Down | The coming of global Christianity. (March 1, 2002)

Other Christianity Today articles by Philip Jenkins include:

The Real Story of Secularization | Is Europe a special case? Philip Jenkins (November 1, 2002) books and culture

Downward, Outward, Later | A superb new history of Christianity. By Philip Jenkins (September/October 2006)

Other interviews with Philip Jenkins are available at NPR's Fresh Air, The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, and The Atlantic Monthly (subscription required)

Jenkins' article, "The Next Christianity," appeared in The Atlantic Monthly.

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November 2006, Vol. 50, No. 11