The Riddle Of Sadhu Sundar Singh

by Eric J. Sharpe

Eric Sharpe brings his vast background in interreligious, intercultural and mission studies to this critical biography of Sadhu Sundar Singh. His esteem for the Sadhu is clear throughout, but his concern for careful historiography is no less evident.
Sundar Singh remains one of the most influential figures in the Indian Christian world. Early studies of his life continue to be reprinted and an edition of his collected writings continues to sell. In the early decades of the twentieth century he became an international symbol for what is now called 'contextual' or 'inculturated' expressions of the Christian faith outside the Western world. But symbols are easily manipulated, and one of the values of Sharpe's work lies in exposing the various agendas which were brought to Sundar Singh and the issues of concern in his life.
Who was the real Sundar Singh behind the symbol and the myths and the faith of those he touched? Sharpe does not presume to answer, but seeks to define important aspects of the riddle of Sundar Singh.

244 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004