Jenkins, Philip2023-03-232023-03-2320200009-4668http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12424/4277557The two centuries after 1517 witnessed a historic global expansion of Christianity, a movement that has largely shaped the modern-day map of the faith worldwide. That movement, however, was largely undertaken not in obedience to Reformation principles, but in reaction to them, and by highly active Catholic missionaries and reformers. Across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, missionaries and church builders exemplified and implemented some key Reformation principles, especially in terms of the use of vernacular languages. The ex- traordinary commitment to the vernacular permitted Catholic Chris- tians to operate within the otherwise closed Chinese environment, and actually to achieve a degree of cultural hegemony in Vietnam and the Tamil areas of southern India. These vernacular successes continued long after the notorious Chinese rites controversies of the early eighteenth century, which notionally restrained such immersion in local cultures.engChristian Study Centre on Chinese Religion and Culture, Chung Chi College, Shatin, Hong KongChinaChristian ethicsCatholic Church -- Relations -- Protestant churchesCatholic Church -- MissionsBible--TranslatingReformationColonialism and neocolonialismNative languageMissiologyAsian theologiesRoman CatholicDenominations in World ChristianityArticle