Dalit Christians in South India

Dalit Christians in South India
Author: Ashok Kumar Mocherla
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2020-11-16
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1000226700

This ethnographic study of Dalit Lutherans in South India examines how the lived religion of Dalit Christians contests the structures of caste domination in rural Andhra. It shows how the emergence of Dalit Christianity generated new religious ideas, patterns, terrains, rituals, and practices that challenge the traditional notions of caste privilege and impact the politics of the region. It highlights the transforming role of Dalit agency in the development of Christianity, which is largely unexplored in the studies of Christian missions and anthropology of Christianity in India. The book looks at the social history of Christianity, critical events of protest, platforms of community politics, caste ideology, and local politics and interlocking of caste with congregation to provide a constructive critique of the dominant paradigm of the Dalit movement, which often treats Dalits as a homogenous social group. It discusses the pragmatic changes within the politics of Dalit Christianity as viewed from the margins of Indian society and incorporated through engagement with political ideologies (from communism to the Ambedkarite movement) and religious belief systems (from Hinduism to Christianity). This volume at the intersection of religion and caste will be an essential read for students and researchers of Dalit studies, political studies, sociology, sociology of religion, religious studies, social justice and exclusion studies, and South Asian studies.

Dalit Christians in South India

Dalit Christians in South India
Author: Ashok Kumar Mocherla
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 140
Release: 2020-11-16
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1000226581

This ethnographic study of Dalit Lutherans in South India examines how the lived religion of Dalit Christians contests the structures of caste domination in rural Andhra. It shows how the emergence of Dalit Christianity generated new religious ideas, patterns, terrains, rituals, and practices that challenge the traditional notions of caste privilege and impact the politics of the region. It highlights the transforming role of Dalit agency in the development of Christianity, which is largely unexplored in the studies of Christian missions and anthropology of Christianity in India. The book looks at the social history of Christianity, critical events of protest, platforms of community politics, caste ideology, and local politics and interlocking of caste with congregation to provide a constructive critique of the dominant paradigm of the Dalit movement, which often treats Dalits as a homogenous social group. It discusses the pragmatic changes within the politics of Dalit Christianity as viewed from the margins of Indian society and incorporated through engagement with political ideologies (from communism to the Ambedkarite movement) and religious belief systems (from Hinduism to Christianity). This volume at the intersection of religion and caste will be an essential read for students and researchers of Dalit studies, political studies, sociology, sociology of religion, religious studies, social justice and exclusion studies, and South Asian studies.

Caste, Gender, and Christianity in Colonial India

Caste, Gender, and Christianity in Colonial India
Author: J. Taneti
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 325
Release: 2013-12-18
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1137382287

Beginning in the nineteenth century, native women preachers served and led nascent Protestant churches in much of Southern India, evolving their own mission theology and practices. This volume examines the impact of Telugu socio-political dynamics, such as caste, gender, and empire, on the theology and practices of the Telugu Biblewomen.

Telugu Christians

Telugu Christians
Author: James Elisha Taneti
Publisher: Fortress Press
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2022-04-12
Genre: History
ISBN: 1506469442

This volume narrates the history of Telugu Christians, a faith community located in the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Pondicherry in southern India. A social history of a faith community, this volume analyzes how social aspirations of the community, local worldviews, and historical contingencies shaped the beliefs and practices of Telugu Christians. It relates and interprets the history of Telugu Christians chronologically from the sixteenth century until the current times. The first two chapters of the book examine the earliest encounters between the Christian message that European missionaries introduced and the local Christians. Covering three centuries, this section highlights the appropriation of the Christian message among the caste converts. Later chapters analyze the impact of Dalit conversions and women's leadership on the social fabric and theological texture of Telugu Christianity in the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. The book ends with a consideration of three dominant movements in the second half of the twentieth century and the early twenty-first, namely the process of Sanskritization, the influences of Pentecostalism, and those of Holiness movements on the Telugu church. In conclusion, Taneti recaps how caste and empire shaped the faith and practices of Telugu Christians.

Expect Great Things, Attempt Great Things

Expect Great Things, Attempt Great Things
Author: Allen Yeh
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 163
Release: 2013-09-04
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1610976142

William Carey, often dubbed "The Father of Modern Missions," and Adoniram Judson, America's first intercontinental missionary, were pioneers whose missions overlapped in chronology, geography, and purpose. However, rarely are they both featured in the same volume or compared and contrasted. Here we have unique material by some of the world's leading experts on these two giants of missionary history, with perspectives on these men in ways never seen before. Especially relevant to this current age of World Christianity are the perspectives from India and Burma, the lands which received these men for their missionary enterprise.

Community and Worldview Among Paraiyars of South India

Community and Worldview Among Paraiyars of South India
Author: Anderson H M Jeremiah
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2013-05-14
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1441178813

Demonstrates the inadequacy of the category 'religion' by focusing on the Paraiyars of South India, exploring the complexity of religious belief in marginalized indigenous communities.

Christians and Christianity in India Today

Christians and Christianity in India Today
Author: Lalsangkima Pachuau
Publisher: Fortress Press
Total Pages: 423
Release: 2024-11-12
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1506493483

This collection provides a panoramic view of the many facets of contemporary Indian Christianity. Examining this subject through historical, theological, and missional lenses, the essays here explore the main themes driving Indian Christian life and thought today. Among the issues analyzed are Indian Christianity's theological foundations, ecclesiology, worship practices, and public theology, as well as the interreligious and political environment of contemporary India.

Constructing Indian Christianities

Constructing Indian Christianities
Author: Chad M. Bauman
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2014-08-07
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1317560272

This volume offers insights into the current ‘public-square’ debates on Indian Christianity. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork as well as rigorous analyses, it discusses the myriad histories of Christianity in India, its everyday practice and contestations and the process of its indigenisation. It addresses complex and pertinent themes such as Dalit Indian Christianity, diasporic nationalism and conversion. The work will interest scholars and researchers of religious studies, Dalit and subaltern studies, modern Indian history, and politics.

The Dalit Christians

The Dalit Christians
Author: John C. B. Webster
Publisher:
Total Pages: 302
Release: 1994
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

Study of Christians belonging to economically backward and socially underprivileged classes in India.

The Spirit Shaped Church

The Spirit Shaped Church
Author: Swarup Bar
Publisher: Fortress Press
Total Pages: 263
Release: 2021-02-23
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1506466907

In The Spirit Shaped Church, Swarup Bar argues that the church is defined by its relationship with others. A relational church depends on the porousness of its borders, which means that, while a church has its distinctiveness, it ought to be open to negotiate relational engagements with the world around it. This sort of relationally distinct, permeable church is found to be possible through the leading of the Spirit and the work of Christ. Such engagement is found to be relevant in a plural, religio-cultural context and in situations of marginalization in India. The Spirit Shaped Church reflects an ongoing commitment on the part of Fortress Press to engage the needs of Christian communities around the world. The book is aimed at teachers, clergy, students, and anyone with an interest in the lived experience of Christians in India.