Prof David Hempton: Towards a theory of Transnational Religious Change

Professor David Hempton, Senior Professor at Harvard University and Dean of Harvard Divinity School, delivers the Gifford Lecture "Towards a theory of Transnational Religious Change." It is the first lecture in the series "Networks, Nodes, and Nuclei in the History of Christianity, c. 1500-2020"

This lecture will define the terms (networks, nodes, and nuclei), explain the choice of dates between two revolutions in communication (print and the internet), and give some concrete historical examples of the tangible benefits of looking at the history of Christianity through transnational flows and networks. This approach allows us to cross national and denominational boundaries and borders, and to think more deeply about the underlying social and cultural conditions promoting or resisting adaptation and change. It also enables us to explore the crossroads or junction boxes where religious personnel and ideas encountered different traditions and from which something new and dynamic emerged.