Christianity in India: From Beginnings to the Present

by Robert Eric Frykenberg

Overview

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 which Christians 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 many forms 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 ever before, 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191544194
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	06/27/2008
Series:	Oxford History of the Christian Church
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

Table of Contents

List of Maps xxii

List of Illustrations xxiii

1 Introduction: Christians, Christianity, and Christendom 1

Initial Expansions across the World 2

Proliferation and Propagation 4

Primal Religions and Christianity 9

History and Historiography 16

2 Contextualizing Complexity, I: India's Lands, Peoples, and Social Structures 21

Geo-environmental Settings 21

Ethno-demographic Settings 27

Language Settings 30

Kinship Settings: A Classical Stereotype 35

Socio-structural Settings: Varnashramadharma 43

Village Setting: Primordial Political Entities 50

3 Contextualizing Complexity, II: India's Dominant Religious Traditions: Sanatana-Dharma and Dar-ul-Islam 57

Dharma/Karma 57

Al Hind and Dar-ul-Islam 72

4 Thomas Christians and the Thomas Tradition 91

The Thomas Tradition 92

The Acts of Thomas 93

The Thomas Parvam and Other Evidence 98

The Church of the East 102

The Waves of Refugees 107

The Refugees from Dar-al-Islam 111

Conclusion 114

5 Pfarangi Catholic Christians and Padroado Christendom 116

The Missionaries of Medieval Europe 116

The Pfarangi Fleets of Portugal 119

The Padroado Real of Goa 127

The Imposition of Catholic Padroado Christendom 130

The Jesuit Missions in the Mufassal 137

Conclusion 140

6 Evangelical Christians as Missionary Dubashis: Conduits of Cross-Cultural Communication 142

The Impetus of Missionary Pietism 144

The Dubashi Pandits of Tranquebar: Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg and his Tamil Associates 146

The Dubashi Missionaries of Madras: Benjamin Schultze, Johann Philip Fabricius, and Telugu 151

The Raja-Gum and Sishiyas of Thanjavur: Christian Friedrich Schwartz and his Disciples 152

Conclusion 165

7 India's Raj and Political Logic: The Unification of India, a Southern Perspective 169

Metaphors and Paradigms 170

Pre-modern Systems of Power 173

Baniya Company and Kompanee Bahadur 177

Dynamics of Imperial Logic 190

Stages of Imperial Expansion 194

India's Raj and Imperial Paramountcy 200

Conclusion 204

8 Avarna Christians and Conversion Movements 206

Avarna Movements in the South 207

Conversion Movements Further North 230

Conclusion 240

9 Missionaries, Colonialism, and Ecclesiastical Dominion 243

Travancore: Anglican Attempts to Dominate Thomas Christians 244

Tirunelveli: The 'Rhenius Affair' and Missionary Colonialism 249

'Tanjore Christians', Anglican Missionaries, and Caste 257

Colonial Domination and Dual Identity 261

Conclusion 266

10 Indian Christians and 'Hindu Raj' 268

Christian Resistance to the Raj 269

'Hindu' Resistance to New Christians 274

Hindu-Christian Disputes and Encounters 277

Official Responses to Religious Controversy 280

'Hindu' Establishment and the State 284

Struggles over Defining 'Public' Space 288

Conclusion 300

11 Elite Education and Missionaries 301

'Oriental' Learning and Modern Education 302

Indigenous Demands for Modern Education in English 307

Early Official Efforts to Spread Education 314

Pressures for Modern Education in English 320

Mahajans vs. Missionary Educators 327

Ascendancy of English in Upper-Class Education 333

Missionary Compromise and Elite Co-option 336

Conclusion 341

12 Catholic Renewal and Resurgence 344

Catholic India in Decline and Disarray 345

The Padroado-Propaganda Struggle, or 'Goa Schism' 346

The Consolidation of Catholic Christianity in India 350

Conflicts with Thomas Christians 358

Conclusion 375

13 'Trophies of Grace' and their Public Influence 380

Pandita Ramabai Saraswati: The Mahatma of Mukti 382

Other Sample 'Trophies of Grace' 410

Conclusion 416

14 Adivasi Movements in the North-East 419

Naga Christian Movements: A Paradigm of Metamorphosis 422

Adivasi Movements of Meghalaya and Mizoland 445

Conclusion 451

15 Conclusion and Epilogue 454

Critical and Comprehensive Concerns 454

Epilogue 464

Bibliography 485

Glossary 517

Index 535

Editorial Reviews

"Frykenberg succeeds wonderfully, with a book that is richly informative on countless aspects of Indian history quite apart from its contributions to Christianity." —Christian Century

"Writing a history of Christianity in India in a single volume, even a volume as large as this one, is a daunting task...This book faces those challenges head-on with considerable success. ...This is the best single-volume history of Christianity in India written so far.—International Bulletin of Missionary Research

"The breadth of [Frykenberg's] work is astounding." —Religious Studies Review

"[T]his monumental undertaking further brings to public view how ancient, large, variegated, and vibrant a tradition is Christianity in India today." —Church History

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