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population of 56.51 million, but less than one percent are Christian. However, Pentecostalism is the fastest growing Christian movement in Rajasthan. 1.1. The Background My involvement in Christian ministry in Rajasthan since 1991 has motivated me to undertake an in-depth study of Pentecostalism in Rajasthan. I have participated in the movement in various capacities as a researcher, pastor and trainer, having been associated with the Filadelfia Fellowship Church of India (FFCI), one of the largest indigenous 6 Pentecostal churches in north India, with its headquarters in Udaipur, Rajasthan. The Native Missionary Movement (NMM) is its parent organization, and its theological institution Filadelfia Bible College (FBC), located in Udaipur, is the first and the most important Pentecostal theological college in Rajasthan, and I have been serving as a lecturer as well as the Registrar of the College for several years. There is a popular notion in India that Christianity is an imported religion from the West. In many parts of the nation, including Rajasthan, Christianity is generally identified with colonization. 7 Furthermore, there is a misrepresentation of the origin and nature of Pentecostalism in India in general, and Rajasthan in particular, as it is viewed as a product of western Pentecostalism. Many from both within and outside the movement regard Pentecostalism in Rajasthan as an 6 Through out this thesis, the term ‘indigenous’ (people) is used to mean (people) belonging to from Rajasthan as well as other states of India. The terms ‘Rajasthani/s,’ ‘local’ (people) and ‘native/s’ are used interchangeably to mean people from Rajasthan, including both tribal and nontribal. Wherever necessary, the term ‘tribal’ is used to show the difference. Moreover, if these terms are used differently, the distinction will be mentioned. 7 For a detailed discussion, see Paul M. Collins, Christian Inculturation in India (Aldershot, Hampshire: Ashgate, 2007), 18-22. 2
imported movement from south India, where Pentecostalism was supposedly brought from North America. In contemporary India the whole issue of religious identity is a serious concern. The aforesaid notions about Pentecostals in India have some serious repercussions. Such a misrepresentation will cause others to view them as foreigners, and places them in a potentially vulnerable situation, which may lead to faith conflicts. Although all Christians are exposed to attack from Hindu militant groups, Pentecostals seem to be a particular target as they have been labelled as a proselytising group even by other Christians. This misrepresentation of Pentecostal origins in Rajasthan may also cause internal struggles within the movement. Both these internal and external issues in turn affect Pentecostal missiology, which has its own impact on the maintenance and growth of the movement. Therefore, it is vital to investigate the problem of Pentecostal identity in Rajasthan. Given the situation and problem, this research intends to investigate the historical context of Pentecostals in Rajasthan by addressing three central questions that have directed this research. First, what is the identity of Pentecostalism in India as a whole? This thesis will investigate whether there are any grounds for asserting that Pentecostalism in India is a product of Western Pentecostalism. There are various accounts regarding the origin of Indian Pentecostalism. According to G.B. McGee and Burgess, the ‘Pentecostal and Pentecostal-like movements’ in India preceded the twentieth-century Pentecostalism in the West by at least forty years. 3
Page 1 and 2: A CONTEXTUAL MISSIOLOGY OF THE SPIR
Page 3 and 4: Abstract This thesis studies the id
Page 5 and 6: Acknowledgements My heart overflows
Page 7 and 8: Abbreviation AICC All India Christi
Page 9 and 10: 3.2. Pentecostal Beginnings in Raja
Page 11: Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Pentecostali
Page 15 and 16: Indian Pentecostal missionaries. Th
Page 17 and 18: the ‘impressive success’ of Pen
Page 19 and 20: Pentecostalism, there has been a gr
Page 21 and 22: cultural nationalism, religious int
Page 23 and 24: Penthecosthu Sabhakal 30 fall into
Page 25 and 26: the product of Pentecostal theology
Page 27 and 28: All the above studies have certain
Page 29 and 30: the global culture of Charismatic C
Page 31 and 32: Missiology is the academic discipli
Page 33 and 34: has a major role in the theological
Page 35 and 36: Figure 2 Pentecostal Presence in Ra
Page 37 and 38: elievers. They refer to the example
Page 39 and 40: This study essentially uses the ind
Page 41 and 42: helps to ‘create the bonds of mut
Page 43 and 44: Jorgensen, participant observation
Page 45 and 46: approach them personally. Twenty Pe
Page 47 and 48: esearch is concentrated on a few di
Page 49 and 50: meetings on eight occasions at all
Page 51 and 52: time keeping the necessary distance
Page 53 and 54: Chapter 2 HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND ID
Page 55 and 56: 2.1.1. A Socio-Religious Issue Iden
Page 57 and 58: India, and so he suggests that both
Page 59 and 60: indigenous nature of Christianity i
Page 61 and 62: definition and the rich diversity o
Page 63 and 64:
Dalit Pentecostalism 37 and chiefly
Page 65 and 66:
There is a well-established ancient
Page 67 and 68:
As A.C. George rightly comments, th
Page 69 and 70:
involved in forming small cells wit
Page 71 and 72:
many local languages before Penteco
Page 73 and 74:
Kerala. In one way or the other, th
Page 75 and 76:
2.3. The Origin of Pentecostalism i
Page 77 and 78:
mission in 1908, came to India with
Page 79 and 80:
Indian Pentecostalism. Many non-Pen
Page 81 and 82:
the ‘Pentecostal-like movements
Page 83 and 84:
Indian revivals, without the influe
Page 85 and 86:
elationships between dominant group
Page 87 and 88:
missionaries. As McGee rightly obse
Page 89 and 90:
participated in the 1908 revival an
Page 91 and 92:
2.3.3.2. North India The Sialkot (P
Page 93 and 94:
civilizations, be taken as coming f
Page 95 and 96:
trembling and falling down on the g
Page 97 and 98:
aptism, within weeks he had to modi
Page 99 and 100:
and personal religion.’ 170 Even
Page 101 and 102:
However, the most important and und
Page 103 and 104:
There were trans-cultural elements
Page 105 and 106:
Chapter 3 PENTECOSTALISM IN RAJASTH
Page 107 and 108:
the Rajputs kingdoms is not general
Page 109 and 110:
The CMS and the Canadian Presbyteri
Page 111 and 112:
3.1.2. Contemporary Christianity Th
Page 113 and 114:
involved in non-church planting eva
Page 115 and 116:
has been ignored by writers, thus m
Page 117 and 118:
tongues. The Jiwas were working in
Page 119 and 120:
Although Peter Lal began his preach
Page 121 and 122:
the state, such as Jodhpur, Jaipur,
Page 123 and 124:
CNI church met in the medical store
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ecame known as the Banaswara trio a
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meetings conducted by Philip and hi
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Marubhoomiyile Apostalan (The Apost
Page 131 and 132:
conscious of the significance of be
Page 133 and 134:
particularly those from Kerala, hav
Page 135 and 136:
They have also launched a Bible Tra
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Twelve out of the eighteen Pentecos
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available for everyone, and the inv
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of Christianity is responsible for
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validated by an accreditation agenc
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served as executive council members
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example shown by a student from Cha
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David J. du Plessis is true of Raja
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chanka kiya’ (the Spirit has heal
Page 153 and 154:
example is the recent acknowledgeme
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them and disqualify them from being
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perspective.’ 120 Pentecostal ins
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One of the most significant feature
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there are changes in the outline of
Page 163 and 164:
However, as the churches started gr
Page 165 and 166:
Although persecution placed Penteco
Page 167 and 168:
there took place unusual spiritual
Page 169 and 170:
e headed for extinction.’ 145 Thr
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this issue has changed. In the late
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gatherings. However, today they hav
Page 175 and 176:
expressed his concern that not all
Page 177 and 178:
Chapter 4 PENTECOSTALISM AND THE RE
Page 179 and 180:
expression, belief, faith and worsh
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statutory Commission was constitute
Page 183 and 184:
attempts have been made to explore
Page 185 and 186:
Furthermore, Pentecostals in Rajast
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minority and fundamental rights, se
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elonging to this land. The concept
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various dynamics related to the iss
Page 193 and 194:
people will no longer be subject to
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enterprise in Asia.’ 43 Once the
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enterprises. The VHP had planned to
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occasions when they had to face opp
Page 201 and 202:
claiming to be working for the glor
Page 203 and 204:
and language.’ 67 Hindutva advoca
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time it gives approval to Hindutva
Page 207 and 208:
As a direct influence of Hindutva i
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one, and is ‘historically variabl
Page 211 and 212:
There are clear illustrations of th
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spiritual values, it is uniquely to
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crisis. 101 If this report is true,
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Janata Dal (BJD) in the coalition g
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disturbed the communal peace. There
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social work done by the Christians
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(purification). McKean observes tha
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against Christians are distributed
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Another chief strategy seems to be
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in the academic year 2001-2002. He
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oth the objects and reasons for the
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Pentecostals are always accused of
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4.6. Conclusion The above discussio
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north India. Indian Christians lack
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Financial poverty has been a major
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terms of its leadership structure i
Page 243 and 244:
peculiar to Pentecostalism in Rajas
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greater presence of Christians. Man
Page 247 and 248:
from larger organizations and that
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sign of holiness. However, later on
Page 251 and 252:
a fair representation of local peop
Page 253 and 254:
Although the term ‘globalization
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entitled ‘Pentecost: Internationa
Page 257 and 258:
Coleman’s argument that the moder
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and Lewis Houston and Bill O’Lear
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esponse to different situations. Th
Page 263 and 264:
they have made changes in their the
Page 265 and 266:
achieved as the present world syste
Page 267 and 268:
while they were distributing litera
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Jainism participated in the event.
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are a global community, because she
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‘reflection to orient it, to orde
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developments that shift the context
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the need for and responsibility of
Page 279 and 280:
6.1.2. Contextual Missiology of the
Page 281 and 282:
spiritual transformation,’ and so
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the global on the local is a realit
Page 285 and 286:
states, ‘for Pentecostals, theolo
Page 287 and 288:
It is argued here that the Holy Spi
Page 289 and 290:
some consensus regarding the work o
Page 291 and 292:
as ‘participation in the sending
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and magic. He was tormented by the
Page 295 and 296:
of people from other faiths. Accord
Page 297 and 298:
As seen above the stories of healin
Page 299 and 300:
current study shows. To put it anot
Page 301 and 302:
anticipates distinctive Indian Pent
Page 303 and 304:
one among several ways to justify m
Page 305 and 306:
this ‘as secondary destroys the w
Page 307 and 308:
Second, in certain cases the Spirit
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important role in a culturally sens
Page 311 and 312:
nations.’ 127 However, the Spirit
Page 313 and 314:
would have been no opportunity for
Page 315 and 316:
formation of a Pentecostal church i
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esult he changed his position. He a
Page 319 and 320:
Jerusalem community, the local Pent
Page 321 and 322:
y the context, then moved by the Sp
Page 323 and 324:
Jonathan Ingleby discusses the sign
Page 325 and 326:
languages, but use similar terminol
Page 327 and 328:
theology in terms of ecumenicity, F
Page 329 and 330:
in Rajasthan is on the rise, and so
Page 331 and 332:
will ‘convince sceptics …that C
Page 333 and 334:
ecome involved in various social in
Page 335 and 336:
possibility.’ 183 Bosch gives a f
Page 337 and 338:
transformation. First, it has the
Page 339 and 340:
Pentecostal community is still sore
Page 341 and 342:
open social context of the common p
Page 343 and 344:
Self-awareness of the tribal commun
Page 345 and 346:
can get more involved in medical mi
Page 347 and 348:
edress the balance of cultural expr
Page 349 and 350:
such as evangelism, social mission
Page 351 and 352:
Christianity as old as Christianity
Page 353 and 354:
movement. It also showed that the c
Page 355 and 356:
However, in the light of the curren
Page 357 and 358:
Being ecumenical, it is able to pro
Page 359 and 360:
contextual missiology. Thirdly, fro
Page 361 and 362:
ather there can be more issues and
Page 363 and 364:
Appendix 2 Research Representation
Page 365 and 366:
Appendix 4 THE RAJASTHAN DHARMA SWA
Page 367 and 368:
Appendix 5 Rajasthan Freedom of Rel
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fabric is weakened by such illegal
Page 371 and 372:
45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1991-19
Page 373 and 374:
Appendix 9 South /North India Repre
Page 375 and 376:
Appendix 11 Theological Education o
Page 377 and 378:
Althouse, Peter. Spirit of the Last
Page 379 and 380:
Barrett, David B., and Todd M. John
Page 381 and 382:
________ ‘Pentecostal Theological
Page 383 and 384:
Cox, Jeffrey. Imperial Fault Lines:
Page 385 and 386:
Farquhar J.N., and G. Garitte. The
Page 387 and 388:
Heaney, Robert S. ‘Conversion to
Page 389 and 390:
Jenkins, Philip. The Next Christend
Page 391 and 392:
________ ‘The Debate on Conversio
Page 393 and 394:
________ Spirit-Shaped Mission: A H
Page 395 and 396:
________ ‘The Charismatic Renewal
Page 397 and 398:
Miller, Basil. Praying Hyde: The St
Page 399 and 400:
________ The Flaming Tongue: The Im
Page 401 and 402:
Poruthur, A. ‘Ground Realities of
Page 403 and 404:
Sarkar, Tanika. Hindu Wife, Hindu N
Page 405 and 406:
Special Correspondent. ‘An Openin
Page 407 and 408:
________ ‘Anyadesathu Krupayude T
Page 409 and 410:
Whiteman, Darrell L. ‘Missionary
Page 411 and 412:
Godwin, Colin Robert. ‘The Empowe
Page 413 and 414:
Correspondent. ‘PM Responds to EU
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