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

indigenous nature of Christianity in India. Slogans like ‘Christianity is a foreign
religion, and so Christians are not Indian nationals’ are purposely being spread all
over India, particularly in the northern part. Therefore, it has become one of the
most urgent tasks for the church not only to identify the indigenous expressions of
Christianity but also to probe its indigenous identity.
The search for the Indian church’s identity, especially in the religiously tense
context, has been a principal issue in many Indian theological conferences. For
example, the nineteenth Annual Meeting of the Indian Theological Association (4-
8 May 1996), published its papers under the title The Church in India: In Search
of a New Identity. 20 This volume deals with three aspects of Indian Christian
identity. The first is the search for its root in Scripture and Tradition. The second
is a discussion of indigenous issues like inculturation and inter-religious dialogue.
The third is an exploration of various dimensions of ecclesial identity such as the
autonomy of the church, its inner life and its relationship to other churches. The
10 th Conference of Centre for Mission Studies (15-17 January 2004) in Pune,
Maharastra, was another important consultation. 21 The issue of identity of
Christians in India in the context of ‘Hindutva and Nationalism’ was discussed
from four major perspectives- historical, theological, biblical and theoretical. As
R.E. Frykenberg has observed, although not all Christian scholars and thinkers are
in agreement on every matter, ‘all Christians, to a greater or lesser degree, have
been made to feel less secure and more uneasy, if not fearful, by State actions
taken in the name of, or under the influences promulgated by, Hindutva. Their
very identity as Indians has been questioned, and is now at stake.’ 22
20
Kurien Kunnumpuram, Errol D’Lima and Jacob Parappally, eds., The Church in India in Search
of a New Identity (Bangalore: NBCLC, 1997).
21
See, Mark T.B. Laing, ed., Nationalism and Hindutva: A Christian Response (Delhi/Pune, India:
ISPCK/CMS, 2005).
22
Robert Eric Frykenberg, ‘Preface,’ in Nationalism and Hindutva, xiii.
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