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A Social History of Christianity: Northwest India Since 1800
This book traces the history, formation, spread, and maintenance of the Christian community in Northwest India from the early nineteenth century.
410 pages, Hardcover
First published November 15, 2007
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April 19, 2015
This is a good introduction to the history of Christianity in India, for the serious reader, with extensive notes and well-researched and detailed chronology of the history of Christianity in the “Northwest” (Delhi and everything north of Delhi), what the British called “the Punjab and its Dependencies.” This includes the provinces of Punjab and NW Frontier in Pakistan before partition. Webster also makes comparisons to Christianity in the rest of India, which had a very different history. Special attention is given to caste composition, social mobility, political influence, and the contrast between Christianity as “community” and as “religious movement.”
As someone interested in the future of the Gospel in India, I found these key conclusions:
Public worship was always subservient to family religion. Great importance of prayer meetings and indigenous music (114).
Christians were often prohibited from attending Hindu celebrations and therefore cut off from social life (116). This led to a decline of the movement. There were also alienating effects of being baptized (120).
“Quality of life” was more important than “message” for those observing Christian converts (124).
“Mr. Ditt” and the Chuhra people movement (the most important cause for growth of Christianity in the region) succeeded because new Christians were not cut off from the broader community, used indigenous music, and promoted literacy (168-195). The growth of the church was due to internal influences, not due to the work of missionaries (see flyleaf summary).
Christian “other worldly” focus was not well received by the broader population (349).
Since independence, Christians have lost political influence, but Protestants have grown rapidly and exhibit much greater social and religious diversity (285, 301, 321).
Women have higher status among Christians (322).
Church of North India and other older groups exhibit the worst of the typical highly centralized and dictatorial leadership that one sees in India organizations, with a focus on “hanging on” to finances, property, and influence, and great internecine conflict over these (335, 356).
Only 2% of India’s Christians live in the Northwest, compared to 75% living in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and the NE tribal states. The 75% differ from the Christians in the Northwest in two important wasy: (1) They are allied with the local power and economic base, including government service, while NW Christians are politically and economically impotent; (2) They include large numbers from many social groups, each of them bringing into the churches their own pre-existing group identities and animosities. Unlike the Northwest where Christians are from one dominant caste (Chuhras) resulting in a much strong Dalit social image for Christianity in the Northwest (361).
Christianity was once a religious movement, but has lost that in NW and Christians have become a “community.” As a “community” Christians experience alienation from the rest of Indian society and culture. There are hopeful signs of a resurgence of “religious movement” in the Northwest thanks to evangelical ministries and church growth (366).
As someone interested in the future of the Gospel in India, I found these key conclusions:
Public worship was always subservient to family religion. Great importance of prayer meetings and indigenous music (114).
Christians were often prohibited from attending Hindu celebrations and therefore cut off from social life (116). This led to a decline of the movement. There were also alienating effects of being baptized (120).
“Quality of life” was more important than “message” for those observing Christian converts (124).
“Mr. Ditt” and the Chuhra people movement (the most important cause for growth of Christianity in the region) succeeded because new Christians were not cut off from the broader community, used indigenous music, and promoted literacy (168-195). The growth of the church was due to internal influences, not due to the work of missionaries (see flyleaf summary).
Christian “other worldly” focus was not well received by the broader population (349).
Since independence, Christians have lost political influence, but Protestants have grown rapidly and exhibit much greater social and religious diversity (285, 301, 321).
Women have higher status among Christians (322).
Church of North India and other older groups exhibit the worst of the typical highly centralized and dictatorial leadership that one sees in India organizations, with a focus on “hanging on” to finances, property, and influence, and great internecine conflict over these (335, 356).
Only 2% of India’s Christians live in the Northwest, compared to 75% living in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and the NE tribal states. The 75% differ from the Christians in the Northwest in two important wasy: (1) They are allied with the local power and economic base, including government service, while NW Christians are politically and economically impotent; (2) They include large numbers from many social groups, each of them bringing into the churches their own pre-existing group identities and animosities. Unlike the Northwest where Christians are from one dominant caste (Chuhras) resulting in a much strong Dalit social image for Christianity in the Northwest (361).
Christianity was once a religious movement, but has lost that in NW and Christians have become a “community.” As a “community” Christians experience alienation from the rest of Indian society and culture. There are hopeful signs of a resurgence of “religious movement” in the Northwest thanks to evangelical ministries and church growth (366).
Displaying 1 of 1 review