Abstract
Recent years have witnessed a growing number of publications on Christianity in India. The theme is significant from the perspectives of history, theology, and the practice of Christianity itself, because the vibrancy of the faith among the adherents throughout India in the third millennium cannot be disregarded. The theme of India and Christianity is equally significant because modern India, with its modern institutions and globalized economy, is indelibly intertwined with Christianity and its multifaceted history. Christianity, albeit a minority religion in India, has been a movement of immense transformation for individuals and communities, well documented by excellent studies. As a nation of extreme contradictions, and with ancient civilizations with their “eclectic plurality” (Wendy Doniger, The Hindus, 44). India can be a critical locus for creative interactions and for mutual transformation between it and today’s Christianity, another global phenomena.
The fecund interactions continue to be anchored in crucial areas, especially conversion, community development, and religious freedom. As a modern nation, India is challenged by its widespread dismal living conditions, the rigid sociocultural structures that produce its vulnerable poor, and the guarantee of liberty to its citizens enshrined in its Constitution. Organizing eleven chapters in three parts—“Conversion and Identity,” “Indian Praxis, American Learning,” and “Nationalism, Violence, and Freedom”—the various authors discuss aspects of these issues, espousing a multidisciplinary approach involving history, social sciences, and popular culture.
The chapter on Brahmin converts to Christianity is a notable highlight. Framed by the familiar discussions of Golwalkar and Gandhi, the chapter declares that “people in all walks of life and from all castes in India embrace Christianity” (81) and proceeds to profile recent Brahmin converts to Christianity. Another valuable chapter is on Bollywood and the BJP, an excellent analysis of Indian cinemas as subtle media of producing and exporting a certain identity of India, the Hindutva version.
Understandably, eleven chapters cannot provide a comprehensive portrayal of the disparate experiences and expressions of Christianity in India. Christians in India are polycentric, occupying a variety of identities: elite, poor, women (both capable and discriminated), metro-cathedral Christians, slum-house fellowships, ecumenical, evangelical, ethnocentric, and mission oriented. Despite the limitations, the book does succeed in its primary objective: illustrating the transformation Christianity has wrought and continues to inspire faithful adherents without being enticed or forced.
Conversation on conversion, freedom of religion, and the Hindutva agenda without referring to Sebastian Kim’s critical work on these topics leaves the discussion poorer. More rigorous analyses of the issues addressed will also benefit by engaging the works of Rudolf Heredia, Felix Wilfred, Martha Nussbaum, Amartya Sen, Jean Dreze, and Bina Agarwal among others, which unfortunately have not been engaged in the essays of the book.