Christianity in India

Robert Frykenberg's insightful study explores and enhances historical understandings of Christian communities, cultures, and institutions within the Indian world from their beginnings down to the present. As one out of several manifestations of a newly emerging World Christianity, in which Christians of a Post-Christian West are a minority, it has focused upon those trans-cultural interactions within Hindu and Muslim environments which have made Christians in thispart of the world distinctive. It seeks to uncover various complexities in the proliferation of Christianity in its many forms and to examine processes by which Christian elements intermingled with indigenous cultures and which resulted in multiple identities, and also left imprints upon variouscultures of India. Thomas Christians believe that the Apostle Thomas came to India in 52 A.D./C.E., and that he left seven congregations to carry on the Mission of bringing the Gospel to India. In our day the impulse of this Mission is more alive than ever. Catholics, in three hierarchies, have become most numerous; and various Evangelicals/Protestant communities constitute the third great tradition. With the rise of Pentecostalism, a fourth great wave of Christian expansion in India has occurred. Starting withmovements that began a century ago, there are now ten to fifteen times more missionaries than ever before, virtually all of them Indian. Needless to say, Christianity in India is profoundly Indian and Frykenberg provides a fascinating guide to its unique history and practice.

The singular merit of this book is that the author does not simply present a history of Christianity in India from the beginning to today. Instead, he elaborates the socio-economic, political and religious impact of Christianity on Indian society and vice versa...This informative, analytical and comprehensive work will contribute to understanding better Christianity in India., ...Those who wish to understand the intricate complexities of religious change in modern India will find Robert Frykenberg's scholarly perceptions deeply instructive and richly rewarding. Is Christianity an Indian religion? Read this book and you may change your mind., ...this book, an extensive study of Christianity in India from beginnings to present, is timely. In more than 500 densely packed...pages, it considers Christianity's status and fortunes-good and ill-on the subcontinent., an individual treasury of insights, both into Christianity in India and into the manifold problems of "acculturation"in a globalised world., A book in this series is a major event