a contextual missiology of the spirit - eTheses Repository ...

on the recent move of religion into the political arena, notes that until the early
‘80s, region was a more powerful criterion than religion in deciding this identity.
However, religion has been pushed into the forefront of politics to become a
major influence in contemporary India. 2 According to Sudhir Kakar, involvement
of religious rather than social identities increases violence and conflict. Religion
brings to conflict between groups a greater emotional intensity and a deeper
motivational thrust than language, region or other markers of ethnic identity. 3
There are various reasons why it is necessary to examine the Indian Pentecostal
identity. One of the chief reasons is that the quest for identity is the focus of
serious missiological discussion today in the light of the changes in the Indian
religio-political context. Another important fact is the enormous impact of global
Pentecostalism on local contexts, as will be discussed in chapter five. The
definition of Pentecostalism is a debatable issue. Many classical Pentecostals
hesitate to include some forms of charismatic Christianity within the category of
Pentecostalism. Therefore, both the particular Indian religio-political context and
the global Pentecostal context mean that it is important to explore the issue of
Indian Pentecostal identity.
2 Sathyamurthy, ‘Introduction to Vol 3: Region, Religion, Caste, Gender and Culture in
Contemporary India,’ in Region, Religion, Caste, Gender, 36.
3 Kakar, Colours of Violence, 47.
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