The historical interplay of Hinduism as an ancient Indian religion and Christianity as a religion associated (in India, at least) with foreign power and colonialism, continues to animate Hindu–Christian relations today. On the one hand, The Routledge Handbook of Hindu–Christian Relations describes a rich history of amicable, productive, even sometimes syncretic Hindu–Christian encounters. On the other, this handbook equally attends to historical and contemporary moments of tension, conflict, and violence between Hindus and Christians. Comprising thirty-nine chapters by a team of international contributors, this handbook is divided into seven parts:
- Theoretical and methodological considerations
- Historical interactions
- Contemporary exchanges
- Sites of bodily and material interactions
- Significant figures
- Comparative theologies
- Responses
The handbook explores: how the study of Hindu–Christian relations has been and ought to be done, the history of Hindu–Christian relations through key interactions, ethnographic reflections on current dynamics of Hindu–Christian exchange, important key thinkers, and topics in comparative theology, ultimately providing a framework for further debates in the area.
Chad M. Bauman is Professor of Religion at Butler University, USA and a Research Fellow at the Center for Religion and American Culture.
Michelle Voss Roberts is Professor of Theology and Principal at Emmanuel College, a multireligious theological school in the University of Toronto, Canada.
1. Introduction
Chad Bauman and Michelle Voss Roberts
Section 1: Theoretical and Methodological Considerations
2. The Formation and Mutual Re-formations of “Christianity” and “Hinduism” as “Religious” Categories
Kerry P.C. San Chirico
3. The Emergence of Modern Hinduism
Hugh Nicholson
4. Western Philosophy and Christian Theology in Twentieth-Century Hindu Thought
Martin Ganeri
5. Orientalism and Postcolonial Theory in Hindu-Christian Encounters
Stephanie Corigliano
Section 2: Historical Interactions
6. Syrian Christians and Dominant-Caste Hindus
Sonja Thomas
7. Hindu-Jesuit Encounters
Francis X. Clooney, SJ
8. State Power in the Relations between Catholics and Hindus
Jason Keith Fernandes
9. Hindu-Protestant Encounters
Arun W. Jones
10. The East India Company, Christianity, and Hinduism
Penelope Carson
11. Hindu-Christian Debates in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
Richard Fox Young
12. Critiques of Christianity from Savarkar to Malhotra
Chad M. Bauman
Section 3: Contemporary Exchanges: Conversion, Caste, and the Diaspora
13. Anti-Conversion Laws in Post-Independence India
Ian Richards
14. Hindu-Christian Relations through the Lens of Caste
Sunder John Boopalan
15. Race, Representation, and Hindu-Christian Encounters in Contemporary North America
Sailaja Krishnamurti
16. ISKCON-Christian Encounters
Claire C. Robison
17. Hindu-Christian Relations in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific
Pratap Kumar Penumala
Section 4: Sites of Bodily and Material Interactions
18. Popular Religious Traditions and Shared Religious Spaces
James Ponniah
19. “Religion” and Hindu-Christian Relations after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami
Kristin C. Bloomer
20. Gender and the Social Boundaries between “Hindus” and “Christians”
Eliza F. Kent
21. Ritual and Ritualization in Hindu-Christian Relations
Reid B. Locklin
22. Aesthetics, Art, and Visual Culture in Hindu-Christian Relations
Patrick M. Beldio
23. Christian and Hindu Responses to Christian Yoga Practice in North America
Christopher Patrick Miller
Section 5: Significant Figures
24. Rammohun Roy
Dermot Killingley
25. Swami Vivekananda
Robin Rinehart
26. Mohandas K. (“Mahatma”) Gandhi
Bradley S. Clough
27. Raimon Panikkar
Erik J. Ranstrom
28. Abhishiktananda
Catherine Cornille
Section 6: Comparative Theologies
29. A Theology of Hindu-Christian Relations
Michelle Voss Roberts
30. Rethinking the One and the Many in Advaita
Anantanand Rambachan
31. Creation, Cosmos, Ecology
Daniel Scheid
32. Competing Philosophies and Theologies of the Human Person
Ankur Barua
33. Divine Embodiment in Hinduism and Christianity
Jon Paul Sydnor
34. Truth and Salvation in Hindu-Christian Encounters
Peniel Jesudason Rufus Rajkumar
35. Inculturation
Michael Amaladoss, SJ
36. Peace and Conflict
Edward T. Ulrich
37. Contemporary Hindu-Christian Dialogue
Bob Robinson
Section 7: Responses
38. Response: Shared and Contested Spaces: Hindu-Christian Relations through a Performing Arts Lens
Vasudha Narayanan
39. Response: The Handbook in Light of the Past and Future of Hindu-Christian Relations
Francis X. Clooney, SJ
