Christianity in India From Beginnings to the Present

by Frykenberg, Robert Eric

• ISBN13: 9780198263777
• ISBN10: 0198263775
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-10-15
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Robert Frykenberg's insightful study explores and enhances historical understandings of Christian communities, cultures, and institutions within the Indian world from their beginnings down to the present. As one out of several manifestations of a newly emerging World Christianity, in whichChristians of a Post-Christian West are a minority, it has focused upon those trans-cultural interactions within Hindu and Muslim environments which have made Christians in this part of the world distinctive. It seeks to uncover various complexities in the proliferation of Christianity in its manyforms and to examine processes by which Christian elements intermingled with indigenous cultures and which resulted in multiple identities, and also left imprints upon various cultures of India. Thomas Christians believe that the Apostle Thomas came to India in 52 A.D./C.E., and that he left seven congregations to carry on the Mission of bringing the Gospel to India. In our day the impulse of this Mission is more alive than ever. Catholics, in three hierarchies, have become most numerous;and various Evangelicals/Protestant communities constitute the third great tradition. With the rise of Pentecostalism, a fourth great wave of Christian expansion in India has occurred. Starting with movements that began a century ago, there are now ten to fifteen times more missionaries than everbefore, virtually all of them Indian. Needless to say, Christianity in India is profoundly Indian and Frykenberg provides a fascinating guide to its unique history and practice.

Table of Contents

List of Maps	p. xxii
List of Illustrations	p. xxiii
Introduction: Christians, Christianity, and Christendom	p. 1
Initial Expansions across the World	p. 2
Proliferation and Propagation	p. 4
Primal Religions and Christianity	p. 9
History and Historiography	p. 16
Contextualizing Complexity, I: India's Lands, Peoples, and Social Structures	p. 21
Geo-environmental Settings	p. 21
Ethno-demographic Settings	p. 27
Language Settings	p. 30
Kinship Settings: A Classical Stereotype	p. 35
Socio-structural Settings: Varnashramadharma	p. 43
Village Setting: Primordial Political Entities	p. 50
Contextualizing Complexity, II: India's Dominant Religious Traditions: Sanatana-Dharma and Dar-ul-Islam	p. 57
Dharma/Karma	p. 57
Al Hind and Dar-ul-Islam	p. 72
Thomas Christians and the Thomas Tradition	p. 91
The Thomas Tradition	p. 92
The Acts of Thomas	p. 93
The Thomas Parvam and Other Evidence	p. 98
The Church of the East	p. 102
The Waves of Refugees	p. 107
The Refugees from Dar-al-Islam	p. 111
Conclusion	p. 114
Pfarangi Catholic Christians and Padroado Christendom	p. 116
The Missionaries of Medieval Europe	p. 116
The Pfarangi Fleets of Portugal	p. 119
The Padroado Real of Goa	p. 127
The Imposition of Catholic Padroado Christendom	p. 130
The Jesuit Missions in the Mufassal	p. 137
Conclusion	p. 140
Evangelical Christians as Missionary Dubashis: Conduits of Cross-Cultural Communication	p. 142
The Impetus of Missionary Pietism	p. 144
The Dubashi Pandits of Tranquebar: Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg and his Tamil Associates	p. 146
The Dubashi Missionaries of Madras: Benjamin Schultz, Johann Philip Fabricius, and Telugu	p. 151
The Raja-Guru and Sishiyas of Thanjavur: Christian Friedrich Schwartz and his Disciples	p. 152
Conclusion	p. 165
India's Raj and Political Logic: The Unification of India, a Southern Perspective	p. 169
Metaphors and Paradigms	p. 170
Pre-modern Systems of Power	p. 173
Baniya Company and Kompanee Bahadur	p. 177
Dynamics of Imperial Logic	p. 190
Stages of Imperial Expansion	p. 194
India's Raj and Imperial Paramountcy	p. 200
Conclusion	p. 204
Avarna Christians and Conversion Movements	p. 206
Avarna Movements in the South	p. 207
Conversion Movements Further North	p. 230
Conclusion	p. 240
Missionaries, Colonialism, and Ecclesiastical Dominion	p. 243
Travancore: Anglican Attempts to Dominate Thomas Christians	p. 244
Tirunelveli: The 'Rhenius Affair' and Missionary Colonialism	p. 249
'Tanjore Christians', Anglican Missionaries, and Caste	p. 257
Colonial Domination and Dual Identity	p. 261
Conclusion	p. 266
Indian Christians and 'Hindu Raj'	p. 268
Christian Resistance to the Raj	p. 269
'Hindu' Resistance to New Christians	p. 274
Hindu-Christian Disputes and Encounters	p. 277
Official Responses to Religious Controversy	p. 280
'Hindu' Establishment and the State	p. 284
Struggles over Defining 'Public' Space	p. 288
Conclusion	p. 300
Elite Education and Missionaries	p. 301
'Oriental' Learning and Modern Education	p. 302
Indigenous Demands for Modern Education in English	p. 307
Early Official Efforts to Spread Education	p. 314
Pressures for Modern Education in English	p. 320
Mahajans vs. Missionary Educators	p. 327
Ascendancy of English in Upper-Class Education	p. 333
Missionary Compromise and Elite Co-option	p. 336
Conclusion	p. 341
Catholic Renewal and Resurgence	p. 344
Catholic India in Decline and Disarray	p. 345
The Padroado-Propaganda Struggle, or 'Goa Schism'	p. 346
The Consolidation of Catholic Christianity in India	p. 350
Conflicts with Thomas Christians	p. 358
Conclusion	p. 375
'Trophies of Grace' and their Public Influence	p. 380
Pandita Ramabai Saraswati: The Mahatma of Mukti	p. 382
Other Sample 'Trophies of Grace'	p. 410
Conclusion	p. 416
Adivasi Movements in the North-East	p. 419
Naga Christian Movements: A Paradigm of Metamorphosis	p. 422
Adivasi Movements of Meghalaya and Mizoland	p. 445
Conclusion	p. 451
Conclusion and Epilogue	p. 454
Critical and Comprehensive Concerns	p. 454
Epilogue	p. 464
Bibliography	p. 485
Glossary	p. 517
Index	p. 535
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.