Halfway to Paradise

Fülszöveg

Europe is today home to tens of thousands of migrants from Africa south of the Sahara. Many of them are poor and many struggle for the right to stay in Europe in the face of stringent immigration laws. How do often penniless immigrants from Africa survive in the European Union, economically and psychologically. Many of these new migrants are Christians who have established churches throughout the European Union. These churches are at the core of their social life. While the new churches created by Africans on European soil reflect many of the traditions of the indigenous churches in Africa itself over the last century, they alsó reflect newer trends in world Christianity, including the modern resurgence of Pentecostalism and charismatic belief. This book, based on detailed research in the Netherlands, maps out the new Christian movements which Africans have brought to Europe. It shows how these churches are at the heart of immigrant life but alsó represent an attempt by Christians... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Europe is today home to tens of thousands of migrants from Africa south of the Sahara. Many of them are poor and many struggle for the right to stay in Europe in the face of stringent immigration laws. How do often penniless immigrants from Africa survive in the European Union, economically and psychologically. Many of these new migrants are Christians who have established churches throughout the European Union. These churches are at the core of their social life. While the new churches created by Africans on European soil reflect many of the traditions of the indigenous churches in Africa itself over the last century, they alsó reflect newer trends in world Christianity, including the modern resurgence of Pentecostalism and charismatic belief. This book, based on detailed research in the Netherlands, maps out the new Christian movements which Africans have brought to Europe. It shows how these churches are at the heart of immigrant life but alsó represent an attempt by Christians from the south to evangelise what they see as a spiritual desert - the Europe of the Treaty of Maastricht. Gerrie ter Haar is a scholar of religion at the universities of Utrecht and Leiden in the Netherlands. This is her third book on the religious traditions of Africa. Research for Halfway to Paradise was conducted in Western Europe and in Ghana. Vissza