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Christianity has been one of India’s religious traditions since its beginning, but the 19th and 20th centuries saw a new wave of Protestant missionary concern with India which coincided with British rule on the subcontinent, and the growth of modern forms of communications. Christians became involved in new forms of cultural interaction, which have had a major impact on Indian culture and society. These essays examine the many and diverse cultural interactions which have occurred between Indian and foreign missionary Christians with India’s other religious traditions in the 19th and 20th centuries, showing how Christianity has played a significant role in the development of Indian culture at many levels, among both the educated and the poor.

Contributors:
Peter B. Andersen
Michael Bergunder
Judith M. Brown
Susan Billington Harper
Beppe G. Karlsson
Indira Viswanathan Peterson
Avril A. Powell
Gerald Studdert-Kennedy
John C. B. Webster
Richard Fox Young

‘The essays in this collection are essential reading for anyone serious about knowing the place of Christianity in the history and development of India.’
International Bulletin of Missionary Research

‘A well-edited, stimulating, scholarly volume that will provide rewarding reading for anyone seriously interested in Indian history and in interfaith and intercultural issues in India today.’

“These methodically sophisticated and well-researched essays will interest anyone working on the transformation of Christianity in South Asia but also on general issues in inter- and cross-cultural studies.”Religious Studies Review

“The essays in this volume are all full of good things, and together they form a rich repast. Students of the Indian encounter with Christianity will feast here.”Andrew F. Walls

“This book is an important collection of essays describing Christianity’s interface with the rich culture and history of India. It should not be read as just another work on cross-cultural mission and religious diversity — though even there readers will be enlightened — rather, it should be placed in the challenging intellectual context of Christian origins in a non-Christian environment. Eusebius and the Venerable Bede would be envious of us today if they knew what wealth of detail and fresh lines of inquiry have been opened to us by the story of post-Western Christianity. This book documents that story well.”
Lamin Sanneh