Dialogue with Christians to be revised Part Eleven

Indeginizing worship: How far we can go. Raja Krishnamoorty: See PDF for this article.

This is a typical seminary paper all about the church quoting all kinds of people. I guess Madhu is still a churchman at heart!

As I mentioned, Krishnamoorthy’s article showed up when I was googling Swamiji. Now Rick has saved me the trouble of reading it.

Madhu
Dear Madhu and others,

I am curious! what are the antecedents of Raja Krishnamoorthy? He does
seem to be schooled in the reformed traditions of the church. Does anyone
know of him?

I do not want to detract from the ongoing discussions, but I am always
looking out for `potential’ HCBs and set them on the right course:) It is
after all the birth right denied!!! What impudence!!!

Chakravarthy

oops………there we have. another idiosyncracy – HCBs !!!!!!

Srikant

Thinking that I too can do some search like Madhu, I searched for Understanding Hinduism. But what I found at first really shocked me. There I found something like this: ‘I am interested to found Christ centred families within Hindu Communities….’–under my name. I find it difficult to digest that people can quote some thing like this in my reference. Now I have no place to hide and what is the point of objecting Jayara not to use my interview with him and other materials he collected? So this search much disturbed than made me happy. But I have one solution: change my name officially and kill dayanand for ever.

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Dear friends,

It’s just past midnight, Birmingham, England time. Tomorrow is our main day here on this mini three day tour in the U.K. At lunch time there is a special launching of a new charitable society that our friend Pall Singh has started. He has received a huge grant from a secular group in Europe and “inspectors” will be around all day observing us! The society, “East and West” http://www.eastandwest.co.uk/, conducts projects which help to
integrate the various religious communities in the UK. Pall gets to do it from a Christian world view, but just can’t be preachy or appear one sided. So tomorrow there will be leaders from different political and religious persuasions in Birmingham at the one hour launch and Aradhna is playing. Then in the evening at 6:30 Aradhna is leading an hour and a half of Hindi worship in a huge cathedral-like church in the center of one of Europe’s largest shopping areas, right in the heart of Birmingham – “The Bull Ring”.
Many religious leaders from African and Asian backgrounds along with the usual Christian community are expected to come, partly on account of the launch in the afternoon. Would you pray for these two events that God’s Spirit would work gently and powerfully in His good way. I don’t want to say that I’m nervous about leading such a long time of worship to Jesus in a non-English language that only a handful will understand. But I am a bit. Mostly I just want to see God be much bigger than our feeble efforts. I deeply appreciate your prayers always.

much love,

chris
—
Aradhna’s new email address: aradhnamusic@gmail.com
http://www.aradhnamusic.com
http://www.peterhicks.net

Dear friends,

Thank you very much for praying for the concerts a couple weeks ago. I am finally back home now, after concerts in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and wanted to let you know how Wednesday went. It was a very redemptive day for both Pete and myself in the way that we think about sharing Christ between religious communities. As evangelicals we are used to frowning on the idea of dialogue between religions, so it was quite refreshing to see that this kind of social project was being spearheaded by an evangelical whose life and message and vision were grounded in Christ. Yes he spoke with such deep respect for the various communities that were represented there. Often such dialogue gets lost in political rhetoric and polite banter, and one sees little power of the Holy Spirit transforming lives. But in these two meetings on Wednesday, there were tears, there were embraces from Hindus to us and from us to them. The first person I met
after walking off the stage, was a Hindu. He stood up and with eyes brimming with tears embraced me for a full 7 seconds or so! There were also words from western Christians at the evening concert like, “I have not been able to worship in song for so long because I so dislike the style of music going around in western Christian circles these days, and for the first time tonight I wept because God was giving back to me, a song to Him, whose
melody deeply touched me. I never imagined it would be through Indian music” (my paraphrase). And I think to myself, we have to admit, and welcome the truth, that this music, the melodies and rhythms, were birthed in Hindu India, born out of Hindu thought and practice over many centuries, and God, even Jesus Christ, is using it to bring deep blessing to the lives of not only Hindus but western Christians too, because its source is in Him. A few older Hindu ladies, as they were walking out afterwards said to me, “You are our messenger of Indian culture to the West. You have become Hindustani (Indian) and we have become English!” I marvelled at such words in light of the fact that we were singing in a church, exclusively worshipping Jesus and preaching the message of Christ. How often have upper class Hindu ladies walked away from an essentially evangelistic worship evening in a church, and made a statement like that? Thank you for praying for this day. Please continue to pray as Pete, myself, and my wife Miranda*, head out to Los Angeles for Satsangs (musical devotional evenings) at the East West Church (great Indian friends of ours) on Saturday and Sunday the 22nd and 23rd of
April. We will also be at Azusa Pacific University and USC.

Much love,

Chris

*some of you know my wife as Sarah but we are calling her Miranda exclusively now as she has been known as Miranda for almost a decade in her capacity as a singer/song writer, and that’s the name and the girl i first fell in love with in 2002!
—
Aradhna’s new email address: aradhnamusic@gmail.com
http://www.aradhnamusic.com
http://www.peterhicks.net

Dear Chris,

Shanti!

I am thrilled to read your report and thanked god for that wonderful seva that you could do for his glory. I would like to share your mail with some bhaktas in our group mail and I need your permission for that. May God richly bless your life and seva. My love to Mirinda.

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Thanks Joshiji for writing this paper and sharing with me. I agree with you on several points. But I gave my views within [] or {} brackts in this article. You can read them. Now I want one help from you. Can you read one article by me and give your honest criticism: Where I contradict, where I failed to communicate etc. The title of the paper is ‘Hindu Communalism’. If you can read, then I will send it to you. Thanks. God bless you.

The Indian Christain

In Search Of Roots

The Indian Chrishtain has been criticised frequently for not aligning completely with the cultural roots of his country of birth . The Indian Christain seems to be quite comfortable associating himself with modern India but not with the ancient roots of this country . As someone has said that he has no objection to call himself a citizen of India but hesitates to be called a citizen of Bharat Mata . There is a need to understand the apprehension of the Christain and his concerns and fears rather than be critical of his attitude .

The main apprehension of a Christain seems mainly to avoid the influence of idolatry , so prominent part of the Indian culture .{wrong–db} This is one dominant aspect that has influenced the attitude of Christains to the cultural roots of India .{Not only his misunderstanding about culture but also Indian culture—db}The point to be considered is whether the heritage of India is only idolatry or does India has something more to offer besides worship of idols . There are many aspects of India rich in culture and science which were not influenced by idolatry .Indian civilisation is rich in many fields which are not associated with religion or idolatry .

The purpose of this paper has two main issues to deal with .The first one is to understand the many truths of our ancient country which are of great value and pride and yet not associated in anyway with idolatry or any religious aspects .Secondly to bring out the various ways to fully integrate with the ancient culture of this country without compromising the basic religious values of the Christain community.

There is a deep rooted misgiving of many in India who consider Christainity as a foreign religion [definitely Christianity is a ‘foreign religion’ and not indigenous to India—db} and many of the ways of Christains and their leaders in no small measure has contributed to this belief .The heritage of our country belongs to all Indians. There are things to be proud of and there are things not so laudable .Can one be choosy about the heritage of our own nation .Can one be selective and choose only what one likes and disassociate from what one finds not so laudable .The heritage of this country is intrinsic to all Indians and not a choice based on religion .

Is there any country which can claim to be perfect in all respects through all it’s period of existence .Every country goes through many phases of good and sometimes also bearing a period of darkness .Even the history of Israel is full of rebellion and disobedience to their God ,the creator of Heaven and Earth .Did they not seek after foreign gods and burnt their children before the evil God Molech .They rejected their all powerful Lord and creator ,who brought them to a land of milk and honey , liberating them from the slavery under the Egyptians. If India is not your heritage ,then which country in the world ,will you claim to be your heritage .The relationship with our motherland may be compared to the relationship that an offspring has with the parents.

These views are being placed before the reader to elicit the opinion of my brothers and sisters in Christ regarding this issue so that an enlightened opinion may help to form a genuine and correct opinion on the subject . It is a fact that there is a general opinion that a Christain has not fully accepted the roots of his country and he tends to lean more on Western thoughts and culture .It is most essential that this impression is changed and he should be accepted as one who has fully assimilated into the essence called India .If he has unknowingly expressed or done anything to add to this opinion ,then it is time that he has a second look at his attitude .It is worthwhile to have a look for the various steps required to remove this impression .A christain has to be looked upon as a part and parcel of this great country called India also known as Bharat Desh .

The Essence Of India

The most striking character of India is harmony and co-existence of many cultures , languages , thoughts and religions .Hindus ,Budhists ,Jains , Sikhs ,Muslims ,Jews and Parsees have integrated themselves into a harmonious whole . Jews were welcomed into India when they faced acute persecution in other countries .Parsees came to India to escape the oppressive regime in Iran and were given freedom to follow their tradition and trade .The living example of this are the Tatas ,Godrej and other great industrialist ,who have greatly prospered in India .The Sufi Muslims totally integrated themselves with the culture of this country and many Indians voluntarily adopted to their faith .This is the essential culture of this county where people chose their religion voluntarily without any kind of force . Even the Shaivites and the Vishnavites never quarrelled with each other but all things were resolved through discussions .{No they quarrelled a lot reviled each others’ god and faith—db} The most striking example of cultural integration is found among Muslims who totally integrated themselves with the art and culture of this country .Many famed musicians and singers and painters are from this community .The notes and styles of Quwali are found in many Bhajans and vice versa and all this without compromising their basic religious beliefs .[But some Muslim sects have compromised with their basic faith—db} India has so many states with their own language and traditions and food habits but all living in harmony and peace .Surely differences have cropped up between them on several occassions but ultimately they have been resolved .Partition of India and Pakistan resulted in voilence and bloodshed but over the years , the wound has been healed and now the communities live in harmony and peace .{Not completely. Still there is a subtle grudge and tension between these two communities, particularly among the fundamentalists—db] Will our Christain brothers take a cue from the various communities of India and integrate themselves with their country without any reservation.

THE ROOTS OF INDIA

The ethos of India has been presented here with all the multiplicity and dynamism of a multicultural society that is the essence of India .It is an effort to bring out the true character of India in it’s entirety .The many sides of India which are completely alienated from religious beliefs has been presented , so as to allay the fears of a christain that all things of india are not just idolatry but much more than that. Here an effort has been made to present a bird’s eye view of the thoughts , attitudes and the way of life of the Indians during the early civilisation .

A Scientific Community

As we have a look at the state of the society , one is surprised to find a highly enlightened society which gave high regard for reason and logic .There was no place for blind beliefs or any kind of religious bigotry .{The term ‘blind believes’ is a relative term. At the same time even to a ‘normative standard’ there were several blind believes in various sects in India—db} It was a time for open debates on all issues .Any new theory had to be properly presented and logically explained with valid proofs. In fact the Nyaya School has stipulated in detail , the method for enunciating any new concept or theory .

India was considered a world education centre ,where students thronged from Japan ,China ,Korea ,Indonesia ,Babylon ,Iraq and other Arab countries .India had a large number of universities in the regions of Bengal ,Bihar ,Madhya Pradesh ,Gujarath and many centres in South India . There was a large movement of scholars and professors from one university to the other .So also each university was famous for certain specialised subject . Vallabha University was famous for political science and business administration . These students were sought after in the court of the kings . Ujjain University was famous for specialisation in higher mathematics. Subjects taught included meta physics, logic , mathematics , metallurgy ,medical science , science of warfare , political science ,chemistry ,science of plants .anatomy of animals and their medical science .It also included astronomy ,hydrology and meteorology . Admission to these universities was through admission tests and very few could qualify . Universities like Taxila and Nalanda had more than ten thousand students and about two thousand professors or scholars as their faculty . All education was free and supported by kings and the rich.

India boasted of world renounced scientists in many fields .Many scholars were invited to the court of China and many were honoured by even installing their statues . Even Indian medical doctors were in the courts of Arab countries .The most popular among them were the mathematicians who were sought for their mathematical genius .The Indian numerical notation and zero is the gift of India to the world even acknowledged by Albert Einstein..

India boasted of renowned plastic surgeon like Susrita in the 6th century BC and Charaka 0f 2nd century BC who wrote the Charak Samhita is called the father of medicines . A detailed study of 1100 diseases with their symptoms , diagonisis and cure has been explained in detail in these texts .

In 8^th century BC Baudhayana developed the linear and quadractic equations, as also the Pythagorous theorem. Aryabhatta developed many rules for solving algebraic equations ,trigonometry and the study of solar system .Many other sciences like plant biology,veterinary science and hydrology and geology were highly developed by scholars like Varaha Mihira and others .Metallurgy and chemistry has been discussed by Nagarjuna in his text RasRatnakara .Indians were renowned for the high quality of steel and manufacture of rustless iron .

Social Life : Materially and Spiritually Wealthy

A brief study of social life in India between 500 BC to 500 AD ,a period of thousand years has been described to get a glimpse of the social life of ancient Indians .The opinion and writing of Chinese and Greek travellers of the time has also been taken into account to make the study genuine and authentic .

“ Indians disliked indiscipline and followed good order .They were simple and lived happily .Laws were simple and people rarely went to court .Money was deposited in faith without any witness or written document Their houses and properties were generally unprotected .Truth and virtue were held in high esteem .Their garments were made of fine muslin and inlaid with gold . They had high regard for art and music . They never lent money on interest . They never suffered any wrong or committed any wrong

—-Greek Ambassodor Megasthenes at the court of Mauryas (300BC)

The government of Guptas was a very enlightened one .The people were numerous and happy .Capital punishment was very rare .In the whole country people did not drink intoxicating drinks . Kings and nobleman did charity work and donated generously .

–Chinese Philosopher Fahien at the court of Guptas (300 AD )

The Indians are prosporous and have a high standard of living . Gold and silver coins were in circulation .People are refined in appearance and devoted to learning and art .The people have clean wholesome habits .They lived an honest and upright life .They are not cunning in money matters and considerate in administrating justice .They are faithful to their promise and gentle and sweet in their behaviour .Criminals and rebels were very few in number .

–Chinese philosopher Hieun –Tsang at the court of King Harsha (650 AD)

The Kings Of Ancient India .

Ancient India was not only prosperous spiritually but also materially .Great regard was given to education and scholars . Fa-hien states that rich people competed to be virtous in their generosity . Asoka built the first veternity hospital .He wanted his subjects to regard him as their father .There were rest houses for sick ,old ,orphans and widows .Food and medicine were given free and they were allowed to stay as long as they wanted. The people were prosperous and honest. Art ,music and literature greatly flourished during this period .FaHien was so amazed to see the palace of Asoka,that he exclaimed “ Truly this is not built by human hands but by a divine power “.

The kings built a welfare society . Chandra Gupta Maurya , Asoka the great ,Harshavardhana and the Gupta reign is marked with stability and peace .It was a period when art ,science ,literature and fine arts reached the zenith of excellence. People were happy and the government was generous and kind . King Harshavardhana emptied his treasury every five years donating to educational institutions ,monastries ,ashrams and saints and the poor . Twenty five percent of the budget was for educational institutes and another twenty five percent for religious institutions.

The kings spent the mornings in worship meditation and study of scriptures .The study of political science and books on good governance were part of the morning routine .The kings travelled extensively to have first hand knowledge of the welfare of the people .

Women Of India

There is a general belief that women were suppressed and not allowed to participate actively in the society . There is a mention of a large number of Vedic scholars during the Vedic period like Gargi ,Maitreyi etc . A woman was supposed to have mastery over nearly sixty four arts including writing ,poetry ,music and other kinds of arts . Women took active part in political strategy and other administrative field and therefore women of this period seem to be highly enlightened .During the period of the famous debate between Saint Adi Shankara and Mandana Misra , the presiding judge who gave the ruling was a woman who was a great scholar by name Bharati . Greek ambassador Megasthenes makes a mention of Pandya women taking active part in the administration of state affairs .Budha viharas had many women sannyasinis as teachers .Women had to manage the finances of the house and had to keep the accounts. Even during the later period we find a mention of a large number of queens , who ruled in Indian provinces .

Saints Of India

The most powerful influence upon the masses of India were their holy saints whose teachings kept the society in discipline and obedience to the almighty .Of all the groups that brought a sense of righteousness and morality to the masses of India are the saints of India .They moved from village to village speaking the eternal truths of Vedas in the local dialect . Telling parables and stories and singing praises to the eternal God , they infused the society with spiritual truths and tried to establish a high moral life . Neither seeking wealth or pleasure , they roamed the country side in simple clothing and no possessions .They preached the eternal truths ,healed the sick and reprimanded the wicked ; thus transforming the fabric of the society . They used the local dialect and teaching in simple language the great truths of the eternal .They feared neither the rich or the noble and never hesitated to address kings and emperors on the right path to follow .They raised the dead and blessed the poor and transformed their lives . They kept the truth alive and one can say assuredly that they were responsible to keep the tenets of religion alive .Many books ,proverbs and other related literature exists in large numbers due to the writings of these saints .

The Hindu Religion

Introduction

The Hindu religion is an enigma to many and find it very difficult to unravel it’s mystery .With many thoughts and traditions expressed in various forms and expressions ,makes an outsider very confusing and perplexed . With a variety of idols and innumerable scriptures one finds it difficult to make any sense of it .In all these varied forms runs a golden thread in a necklace called as the eternal truth of the Vedas .Everything about the Hindu religion has the thoughts of Vedas as the basis of all expressions .Vedas are the be all and end all of all Hindu thoughts and Expressions .[No. This is a superficial claim, particularly who tried to essentialise Hinduism based on Veda. The authority of the Veda is only a lip service–db}

Vedas :The Science Of Religion

There are many opinions about the time of the Vedas but it would be safe to assume it to be before 1000 BC This was the time when no other religion was in existence in India .Jesus was yet to be born and the Judaism had not entered India .The sages and the Rishis had a vision to build a healthy society .They had to work out the basic principles to build a harmonious , prosperous and a healthy society based on the eternal principles of love and peace .

Secondly they wanted to learn the nature around them by knowing the intricacies of it’s working and the various laws of the nature and the basis for it’s existence .The power that creates the nature and maintains it was the search of the sages .They also studied man in all of his layers even to the innermost core .They concluded that creator was all loving ,who created the world and sustains it .The man they said was body ,mind and spirit .God was a trinity who was omni potent and omnisient and was the cause behind all creation .The purpose of all men was to seek this omnipotent God and strive to attain his nature .The Vedas studied them scientifically and wrote it down as a scientific treatise .

Vedas And Idolatry .

The deep concepts and philosophy of Vedas was difficult for a common man to comprehend and understand .A new approach had to be followed to make the common man understand the deeper truths of the Vedas . The common man also found it difficult to practice the Vedic path of salvation through knowledge and deep meditation .The sages developed a new approach to simplify the whole process .So a large number of methods were introduced combining story telling , music ,dance and dramas to explain the Vedic truths in a very simple and interesting manner .Every story and every event brought out the moral and the spiritual truths to the common man .

Idolatry as we have read in the Bible had many evil practices like child burning and sexually immoral practices and moreover there were no scriptures to dictate any kind of moral order .The puranas on the other hand brought in a high order of moral principles and dictated a disciplined social order .It brought in disciplines and practices to lead a godly life . Speaking truth ,honesty ,charity and other godly qualities were prescribed for the householder and the society at large .Many books and scriptures like dharamshastras etc were written for proper moral conduct and discipline in the society .Thus these scriptures and puranas helped to build a healthy , moral , and spiritually vibrant society .

{But you don’t say anything about the relationship between Veda and idolatry. However the orgin of idolatry is very complex and limiting it Veda is not proper—db]

Vedas AND Creativity .

Vedas believed that The creator of this universe was an eternal unchanging God who pervaded the universe . So they created and invented things which were eternal in nature .They created beautiful and eternal things which exist even today after 3,000 years . The music and dance created over a thousand centuries ago exist even today and still popular amongst the people .Sciences like Ayurveda are still valid and are in use in the society .How can a medical science as old as 3,000 years , still exist alongside modern science .Thus art science ,literature and fine arts flourished with beauty and eternity of God as the basis of creation .

Vedic Truths And Bible

Here an effort has been made to bring out certain common elements and thinking common to both the thoughts .This is not to say that both are the same .They defently are not the same neither there is an attempt to suggest one religion for all . Still one can say that there are many points on which both seem to agree .

Vedas for instance believe in a creator who made and sustains the universe by the word .They also believe in the trinity of God .The Vedas stress that salvation cannot be attained by good works .They believe in an all pervading omniscient God and not in any kind of idolatry. It is by complete faith and surrender to the eternal that the path of salvation can be attained .A few beliefs which seem to be common to both has been enumerated below .It may be noted that some of the statements of the New Testament are also found in the Vedas written a thousand years before .

1 Creator Of Heaven And Earth

I am the Lord and there is no other .My own hand laid the foundations of the earth and my right hand spread the heavens. –Isiaiha 45 ,48 : 12,13.
The Lord is one without a second .With his divine power He creates and sustains the universe –Sveteshvatara Upanishad -3:2

2 Creation

The Spirit Of God was hovering over the waters –Genesis 1:2,3 .
The Atma was brooding over the waters .-Aitreya Upanishad -1:1,2 .

3 Scriptures

All scripture is God breathed and profitable for instruction in righteousness-2Tim-3:16
They are breathed from the eternal all knowledge and wisdom .-what are Vedas-Brihad Upanishad- 2:4:10

4 Selected By God

You did not choose me but i chose you to bear much fruit that will last .-John 15:16
The Atman cannot be attained by studying ,hearing or intellectual perception . He whom the Atma chooses – he alone can attain. –Katha Upanishad -2:23 [This has completely different concept which cannot be compared with Veda—db]

.5 The Root Of Life

I am the vine , you are the branches .Without me you can do nothing –John 15:5
The ancient tree is eternally existing and has the roots above and branches below in whom the worlds have their being . -Katha Upanishad -6-1 [Again another distortion of Vedic verse comparing with NT—db]

6 Source Of Life

Man does not live by bread alone but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God –Mathews 4:4
Man does not live by breath alone but by Him in whom is the power of breath .-Katha Upanishad -5:5 [Another distortion of vedic verse comparing with NT—db]

7 Spirit is my Guide .

Those who are lead by the Spirit set their mind on the things of the Spirit . To set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace . –Romans 8:5 .
Know that the Atman is the Lord of the body and one who is guided by it ,reaches the abode of the all pervading .-Katha Upanishad -3:9 [Another distortion of vedic verse comparing with NT—db]

8 God In Us

That day you will know that i am in the Father and you in me and i in you .-John 14 : 18-20 .
The Lord God all pervading and omnipresent dwells in the heart of all beings .- Sveteshwara Upanishad -3:13 [Another distortion of vedic verse comparing with NT—db]

THE HINDU ANGER

The Hindu today is an angry person or rather can be said to be in a kind of rage .He genuinely believes that his tolerant nature has been exploited to the limits . A case in point is when lakhs of Hindus had to flee from their own homeland in Kashmir .Their houses were burnt and properties seized and are still refugees in their own country . In the 70’s when Sikh terrorists were active , hundreds of Hindus were gunned down . Buses used to be stopped and Hindus would be lined up and shot dead .The refugees from Bangla Desh and Burma are becoming the cause of demographic change In a Hindu majority country ,Hindu scriptures cannot be taught in the schools . Ayodhya temple evokes the same response in Hindus as the temple of Jerusalem invokes in the minds of Jews . As is well known the Christain kings fought unsuccessfully for almost 200 years to capture Jerusalem. Even for this , the Hindu had to wait for 100 years in his own country to stake claim to this heritage temple at Ayodhya. In Goa when the Portugese imposed inquisition on the people , untold atrocities were perpetuated on the Hindu population .The people who resisted conversion were imprisoned , some were burnt with their properties confiscated .There was only one alternative given to them-either convert or flee to other places. Gujerath riots has been a shame of our country when merciless killing took place and many Hindu parties have been criticised for this rampage .While this gory act can never be justified ,one also cannot ignore the cause or the atrocity that resulted in this unprecedented rampage .A train carrying Hindu piligrims was burnt down by a thousand strong mob . The bogies were locked and all the piligrims were burnt down by petrol .In a Hindu majority Gujarath , the muslims had no qualms to burn down a bogie full of women and children but one finds no one speaking of this carnage.

The Hindu feels frustrated and angry for these acts done upon him in his own country .We can say that his anger is lit and he is in a rage .He feels exploited in his own country and he feels frustrated .The Hindu culture will rise because of this anger. It sometimes may defy even reason and logic . He is likely to forget his tolerant nature and resort to ways not in keeping with his long traditions . Let us not do anything which may lead to further annoying him and antagonising him unnecessarily.

The Most Blessed Christain

It is my understanding that a believer of christ has a unique position amongst all seekers of the truth in this world .It appears that a bouquet of blessings are showered upon him on the day he knows the saviour Jesus christ and accepts him as his God .The apostle Paul rightly says” You have received all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places .”The believer in Christ is always confident because his promises have come directly from Jesus himself .

Promises Of Jesus Christ .

All religions of the world have sought to seek God and know Him .They have also wondered of their fate after death . Some fear death while others believe in salvation after centuries of birth . Most religions believe that our future depends entirely on our deeds of good and bad which lasts as long as our fruits of merit are exhausted . Some seek God in the powers of nature , while others in an idol and many more in an abstract all powerful God .Lord Jesus cleared all their doubts and established a path for salvation accessible to all in the most easiest of ways to every man and woman of all class and education .

He gave a simple solution for everyone who wanted to change their lives .”Repent and change your ways and the kingdom of heaven is yours . All who have faith in me will receive salvation as my purpose in this world is to give salvation to all who seek .All who are weak and tired come to me and learn of me and i shall give rest to your bodies and to your soul .”

When people saw all his miracles and his deep teaching which cleared all the doubts even of the learned priests, they asked with great curiosity “ Tell us O’ learned teacher ,who are you , and tell us of your ways .” He said” I am the truth and whoever follows me is set free and attains salvation and life .Repent and believe in me and you shall attain liberation and eternal life .If you have seen me you have seen God the Father .Me and Father are one .”

God came on this earth to meet his dear children and teach them the secret of eternal life .Whilst the world was seeking the mystery of God , Jesus stood before them and declared “I am the one you have been seeking from ages .I have appeared to show my path –know that i am the way to eternal life .The prophets have been writing about me since ages –and i am the one they were writing about .” Yes , the coming of God was being proclaimed by prophets for a thousand years before his birth .Prophet John declared boldly “ He is the one i have been proclaiming about , whose sandals ,i am not worthy to touch” . ”Do not confuse yourself with many teachings and philosophies .My way is simple and easy leading to peace joy and contentment .” said the saviour of the world .”This world is pervaded by the teachings of the evil Satan trying to destroy as many to the path of Hell to suffer for eternity . I forgive every one of you who wants to repent .I will pay for your sins on the cross .There is no forgiveness without shedding of blood .I will shed my blood and my life ,so that the punishment that was appointed for you will be upon me .This is my gift of life for all humanity for all ages “– said the Lord of Heaven and of the earth .

“ Do not be troubled or be afraid .Ask me anything that you need and i shall surely answer you .I will always be with you . I will also give to you the Gift of Holy Spirit .He will be in you and lead you in truth .Do not be amazed at my great healings performed on the blind and the lame and others .You shall also be endowed with the same gifts that i possess “ said the humble Jesus .

This brothers and sisters is the gift for everyone who believes .This teaching removes all confusion and doubt , for God himself came down and dwelt among his children .He is always with his believers .All his teachings and promises are recorded in the word of God -the Bible . A comprehensive book to clarify every doubt and understand his teachings . In addition , God is present as Spirit in every heart to guide and strengthen the soul and the spirit . A Christain is a blessed soul who is assured of salvation and fully assured of his future promised by God himself .In his path of salvation ,he has the help of the Word Of God and the continual presence of the Spirit Of God . The believer is amongst a community which supports him powerfully through prayers and emotional support .He has a church that ensures the feeding of the word of God and spiritual support from pastors and others in all situations of life .We can surely say that a believer is the most Blessed Soul on this earth .

The Attitude Of The Blessed

A person who has been blessed amply ,tends to be more generous and considerate to others . He is less critical and more understanding of others compulsions and their weaknesses .King David’s proclaimation is most apt for christains when he says “ My soul is calm and quiet like a weaned child in the lap of his mother .” Surely the Christains have earned a name for themselves as a peace loving community . The word of God often refers them as saints or royal priests. With my experience i can say a christain generally follows all his rituals of attending church and other prescribed duties and rituals meticulously . He can be always relied upon when called to pray for his brothers and for the nation .Overall he can be called a good christain but not an excellent saint as he is sometimes referred to .He seems to lean more towards worldly attachments rather than leaning more towards spiritual persuit .

Christain Attitude to His Country And His Roots

Aversion to Indianness

The Christain community has frequently been accused of aversion to the roots and culture of India .This is starkly seen in the educational schools started by the Christain community .A simple example is the abolition of all local languages from the school curriculam .In one stroke the students were cut off from the rich culture ,thoughts and mind of the local community .They created an elite community who excelled in English without any touch to their own community .Students were ashamed to speak in their own local language .They wrote English ,spoke English and read all the thoughts and literature of foreign writers .This resulted in all the literary giants of their own language and culture to be of no significance .

Further all the art and culture of India was branded as demonic and was shunned as a danger to the moral and spiritual welfare of the community .In contrast one can see the muslim community , who persued the Indian classical music with zeal and passion without compromising their faith .The main objection seems to be the lyrics being an adoration of Hindu idols .Though this is true to a large extent ,one could also write lyrics in adoration and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ .Though this argument may be true to some extent in the field of vocal music ,there was nothing that prevented them from learning instrumental music and even folk music , dance and art .

Missionary schools initially were very keen that education be imparted in only local language .They were also very keen that poor should be equally encouraged to attend schools .The schools which were once a example of Christain charity turned into elite schools catering to the rich and wealthy .Thus were produced British alike students in ties and boots speaking in high class English and a bit ashamed of their own culture and roots ,even feeling ashamed to speak in their own language .The authorities spared no effort to continue this trend by imposing fines on those who spoke in regional languages in the school .Taking the cue from the missionary school as the ideal form of education ,the trend spread to other local schools ,thus ensuring the total demolition of pride of anything local or Indian .

The Christain pastors love for English has to be seen to be believed .Local pastors brought up in rural areas in the local tradition refuse to preach in their own language .Foreign missionaries came to India and learnt the local language and translated the Bible in the local language while the local pastors pride themselves in their inability to speak the local language . [Worst than this is that a Tamil Convention speakers speaks in English in a Tamil Church which was translated by another person in Tamil—db]

A Need For Gratitude .

The Christain community nestled in the center of Hindu majority ,has received tolerance and freedom from the majority community .There has been a constant increase in the number of churches and other institutions since India gained freedom .The Christains have been given a minority status along with many privileges entitled for a minority community .The government irrespective of any political party has never interfered with the functioning of the church administration and it’s activities . It is free to collect funds and use it for the welfare of the community . Christains have a large number of schools ,colleges and hospitals for their community and for the benefit of others also .The government also declared X’mas and Easter as a national holiday as a way of honouring and encouraging a small community . Christains have been given freedom in all walks of life to persue their passion .Christains can be seen excelling in all walks of life from Corporate businesses to high levels in Govt offices .

It should be understood that there are many religions throughout India but only the Christain community has a foreign flavor to it .{But in India Christian not even remain as foreigners but created a hybrid Christianity—neither remain Western nor remain Indian—db} All other religions have been accepted as native or they adopted well and merged with the local population and culture .Even Jews and Parsis have adopted well to Indian culture but the Christains are still looked as one with foreign roots and with a foreign God . Inspite of this Christains enjoy all the privileges of an Indian citizen .

This is not to say that there has been no atrocities upon some local population in certain parts of India .In some cases ,there was violence and in some cases destruction of the church .The violence and attacks seems to be more on the churches practicing evangelic work as their mission .The most violent reprisal attack occurred on Christains in Kandhar , Orissa when a Maoist Christain supporter attacked and killed the local Hindu Swami .There has been local attacks at many places but it cannot be said to be the persecution of Christains . In India sporadic attacks and fights take place between communities due to local issues but they cannot be called as persecution of a community and defenetly not sponsored by the state ,by whichever party in power . There is hardly any instance of any main line church being attacked or interfering or preventing people from worshipping in their churches .[Good point—db]

The leadership always gives more prominence to these attacks rather than highlighting the safety and security enjoyed by majority of the churches . No church has ever shown it’s gratitude to the majority community ,while not sparing a single local event to critciise the majority community .It almost appears that the community loves to call itself a persecuted class .Have we just become a murmuring and grumbling community devoid of any gratitude . [Good point. I think Hindus don’t expect gratitude but respect for their faith, culture and tradition which is criticised often as demonic by Christians—db]

Judging and Accusing

The leaders and the pastors know all the faults and defects in the Hindu community but not a single good thing has been found in them . They find a number of defects and reel them out in great numbers but never a word of praise or anything good is heard of the community and of the nation where they dwell .There is not a single leader that they are proud of or ever mentioned in their messages .The only leaders worth mentioning live abroad but not even one in this nation of ours .[Very good point—db]There is not a single good thing in the culture and heritage of our ancient land . Jesus is a God of the whole universe and also of India and does he love the people of India less than the others . One gets an impression that they are rather ashamed of India rather than being proud of it .

A Militant Attitude .

In recent times there has been an increasingly aggressive attitude from the Christain community .The comments in media and other digital platforms that are passed gives an impression of a highly militant group always speaking against the prevailing government . A highly educated community and which constantly claim to speak of truth seems to be against everything that the government does . An enlightened valued comment on the reality and truth of the matter is always welcome but a constant criticism creates a wrong impression about the community . [Good point and well stated—db] The community is increasingly taking active part in the political field also .It has found a new concern in the Muslim community .They are feeling a new concern to protect and defend the Muslims ,thinking them to be a weak community in need of support .The truth is that neither Muslims are weak or any way threatened but are well entrenched as an active member of the society .The Muslims are part of the leadership of almost every political party including the present Government .They are neither weak nor need any kind of support .They are strong enough and well established in the politics of this country and are confident that due justice is given to them . Supporting blindly everything against the Government will be in the detrimental interest of the community itself . The present day government has not passed a single legislation against the Christain community but as most of them say that they are about to pass legislation against them . The community could have given support to things that were right and opposed that was wrong but instead they have taken a firm stand against the government of the day .This will only result in creating unnecessary enemity and hatred initiated by the community itself . The people who are called royal priesthood and saints have beome an ordinary opposition party sprouting venom on everything that the government stands for .They have acted as the enemy of the state .Will any government and party support them ,if they are constantly opposing and criticising them .The community has promoted enemity instead of amity and hated without reason .Will such a community get any kind of support from the authorities . [Very well stated—db]

Christainity : A Seperate Nation

The Christains have more faith on international forum rather than their own democratic system and other pillars of democracy like courts, the parliament and the media .They seem to be very eager to take their issues to foreign nations and organisations like UNO etc .The comission for atrocities on Christains in USA wants to investigate atrocities in India .Has a foreign nation need to teach us about freedom ,equality and tolerance . This nation has the reputation of tolerance and freedom for all religions sine the ancient times .This concept is neither new to us and is ingrained in every Indian . This is the heritage of India and every Indian is proud of it

The complaint filed at the UNO makes for a very interesting reading and will put every Indian to shame . Among many atrocities mentioned in the complaint includes reports that the Christains are thrown out of running trains and they are forced to drink urine etc. These are the type of complaints in the list filed with the UNO. Many times the Muslim leaders of India have been interviewed on Pakistan TV and international organisations who have offered them help . The Muslim leaders have affirmed their faith on the Indian democracy and the justice system in India .They refused to be drawn into any debate and firmly affirmed it as the internal matter of India .The Christains also have no faith in the media or the press .A smallest atrocity or any conflict has to reach the foreign press first .They would rather like the world to see India as a place where untold atrocities are performed on the poor ,helpless christains .The pride in the nation they live is the last thing on their mind .A citizen is always proud of the nation where he dwells but a Christain has no such consideration . This kind of accusations only leads to bringing down the reputation of the country but they belong to a nation called Christains separate from India .Christains seem to have an opinion independent of the public opinion of the nation . Passing of Triple Talaq bill was considered as a step towards enhancing the dignity of womanhood but not for Christains . Making Kashmir an integral part of India was a step hailed by the whole nation but not for Christains . Christains who hail honesty in public life, speak lowly of the bill to bring out black money through demonetisation. Even when Modi called upon the whole nation to join together in showing solidarity during lockdown, it was sneered upon by many as something wrong .Will any nation accept you as part of the community if one opposes the nation itself . Christains seem to think themselves as separate from the nation as somebody very special with a high moral attitude .This holier than thou snobbery will have a very severe reprisal from others in the community .It is high time that we become part of the country and assimilate completely in the vision and ethos of this nation . [A telling rebuke to the Christians and I wish they would listen—db]

Reformation Of The Christain Community

It should be clearly understood that the author himself is a believing Christain and is an evangelist . He is also an author of two books with topics related to evangelism .He deeply loves Jesus and has great respect for the believers in Christ .There is no intention to hurt anyone or even an intention to give advice to anyone .This article is purely for internal circulation and not for public consumption .It is only an opinion and placed before all for further discussion .It should be taken in the right spirit and not considered as criticism or any kind of accusations .

This article has two purposes .

A . The purpose of this article was to make a self assessment of the Christain attitude vis a vis the country of their birth and their alienation because of change of faith .It also brings out the adverse outlook of the majority community due to certain habits and practices of the believers of Christ .

B .The second factor for consideration is the foreignness associated with Christanity in India where Jesus is considered as a foreign God with western affiliations . It looks at various ways in which the Christain religion can be adopted to become as native as possible and accepted like other myriad of religions in India . This exercise has to be done without compromising upon the basic faith of the believers .

Steps To Assimilate Seamlessly With the Indian Social Environment .

a Accept India in all it’s entirety . All Indians have a common heritage .We all belong to one country irrespective of caste ,creed or language .We have a common history and all share a common origin .The history of India belongs to all Indians and let us accept as our own .Do Christains have a different origin and heritage than Hindus or other communities .

b. A CommonTradition The good and bad of our tradition and culture belongs to all Indians .We are not separate from our own heritage and neither from it’s weaknesses .We tend to attribute the many weaknesses of our culture as Hindu practices ,completely forgetting that the ancestors of all Indians are the same .Any practices coming from ancient times are to be owned by all .

c. See The Good In your Hindu Brothers .We know all the weaknesses of hindus and do not hesitate to proclaim them in the security of our churches .We are good at pointing faults of our brothers but find nothing good in them .We have become an accusing and a fault finding race .We never see any good in them or their practices .They are more eager to find faults and not see any good in their brothers .Is this the quality of Godmen or that of those who follow the devil .

d.Be Grateful .The Christain community , though a small minority has been thriving well supported by the other major communities .They have complete freedom to worship and manage their affairs without any interference and hindrance from the establishment .They have been given the priveleges due to a minority community without any restrain .The government to show their support to the Christains have declared Christmas and Good Friday as a national holiday . Have we shown any gratitude or gratefulness to the majority community in their support to allow us to flourish .

e.Do Not Over Amplify Persecution .Christains often complaint of persecution from various quarters . Christains are unanimous in their verdict that they are a persecuted community . There has been persecution of Christains in some parts of India particularly in places where there is evangelical activity. There is no denying the fact that Christains have been persecuted at many places now and then .This is entirely different from saying that the whole community is being persecuted because of their caste or religion . It is also a fact that not a single church through out urban India has ever been damaged or has anyone interfered in their worship or in their administration .Many christains hold very high post in bureaucracy and private organisations and have not been discriminated because of their faith .This land is famous for the freedom to practice the faith of one choice . Muslims ,Budhists,Jains,Parsees and even Jews have enjoyed complete freedom to worship .Let us acknowledge that India is a place where every Indian enjoys the freedom to worship the God of his choice .

f. TRUTH Based Stand Christains lately have become politically active and are taking firm stand on many issues .A stand based on the fact of a matter is entirely different from taking a stand against a particular party .One is always free to have an individual opinion on a particular subject but it is a different issue to oppose everything that a particular party proposes .We as Christains speak a lot about TRUTH and hence our stand be based on truth rather on the colour of a particular party .Let us take an issue based stand rather than something based on our prejudice against a particular party .This attitude will lead to alienation and ostracisation. [I completely agree—db]

g.Learn Indian Art and culture :This is one aspect in which the community has failed totally .It seems everything Indian has to be totally rejected .The Christains have branded everything Indian to be demonic. Probably some lyrics in classical songs are devoted to God . Can we not write lyrics for our Lord Jesus .Even Indian instrumental music is not welcome among christains .Every form of art and music can be adopted to suit our tradition and culture of the church. Ours must be the only community in the world which is ashamed of the culture of it’s motherland. [Yes—db]

h.Social Etiquettes : In any social function ,one can locate a Christain by his conspicuous attire of suit and tie . Occasions like marriages and other social gatherings are the times to put on traditional dresses but we prefer to attire ourselves with western dresses and for what purpose ? Are we as Christains less Indians than others I was once asked if Christains are half Indians .? [Good question—db]

Conclusion: Every Christain should endeavour to remove this stamp of foreignness imprinted on the community. Every effort should be aimed at ensuring that we as Christains should become part of this great nation without any kind of inhibition or hesitation . We should take a hard look at our own selves and remove everything that leads to us being branded as western influenced community . Why have we lost pride in our own culture calling everything demonic. Let us start giving a second look at all the practices and traditions that we have shunned .Let us take a rational ,logical and scientific attitude and approach the whole thing anew .Let us reject anything that is against our belief and truth that the Bible proclaims but accept everything not against our basic principles stated in our scriptures .

Let us have an open look at all things a second time. We can use an option to modify somethings and adopt them to our Christain traditions [This so called ‘Christian tradition’ is the main problem. There exists no Christian tradition. Each believing community created their own tradition that is relevant to their local tradition but according to my understanding there exists no ‘Christian’ tradition as such—db] and practices .Having done everything that can be changed or adopted ,we will surely be accepted as Indian Christains and not a Western oriented Indian christain.

Jesus Name In India

Jesus has a prominent place on the altars of many Hindu homes . Some worship him as God and some as a great saint .Many do not know the truth of his status –which is the fact of being an incarnation of God himself .It is also true that he is one of the Gods of their worship and they are totally ignorant of his status .The general opinion about the believers of Christ is that they are a peace loving community not interfering or causing any kind of trouble in the society .The Government has been generous in declaring X-Mas and Good Friday as a national holiday thus honouring Jesus and expressing their solidarity with the community .

It may surprise many Christains but it is true that many books on Yoga begin with salutation to Jesus as one of the greatest Yogi .In many movies and literature the community finds a place of honour . In one of the movies , a Hindu heroine falls at the feet of Jesus in a remote church in Europe , resulting in a miraculous union with her beloved .Another movie ends with the recitation of Psalms 23 and a quote from the Bible –“What use it is , if one gains the whole earth but loses his own soul .” Very often we find the orphans raised by the Bishops house . The famous actress Lalitha Pawar has donned many roles of a Christain woman exhibiting outer strictness but tender love from within . The most powerful depiction of Christain values was seen in the Raj Kapoor movie Sapnon Ka Saudagar where many values of Bible are brought out , and the hero is saved by David in a cemetery where he is being stoned to death . The good hearted jolly christain so nicely depicted by Om Prakash in films after films is a joy to watch .Even the honesty of the villain Micheal by the famous actor Pran bringing out his good side by adhering to his Christain vow brings out respect and honour for the name of Jesus . The Bollywood film industry, one of the most powerful medium has given a place of honour to the christain as a loving and a kind soul .The Christain has a place of honour in this land of diverse culture and faith . Let us not take a negative stand because of the atrocities committed by a few misplaced people .It is in the nature of an Indian to be tolerant towords all . Let us use this good will for revealing the nature and the truth of Jesus to this nation hungry for liberation .

Revive The Christain Heritage

This new enthusiasm for political participation is not going to be of much help .This will only lead us to become another party with all the disadvantages of such a venture . It would be better to concentrate on the true heritage og the community which has brought them laurels from the society The heritage of Indian Christain by which they are recognised is love and service to society .Those who have experienced it , fondly remember the people who cared and looked after them .The most common narration ,we hear about is of their days in the missionary schools where they were trained under discipline and deep love . So is the case with the missionary hospitals particularly in remote villages and mofussil areas of our country .This service to society with great dedication and compassion has won the laurels in our country .It is this service that has to be revived with much fervour and enthusiasm .This true love of Jesus will win many hearts to the living Christ .

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Dear Joshiji

Though I agree that there are several things which look similar but they are not the same. However when it comes to theology, I have some question about using these two words while comparing two different religions. My approach to theology is based on: textual, theological and historical contexts. According to my understanding the overall theme of Muktiveda is ‘redemption’ where as we could say that ‘knowledge’ is the (only) means to attain mukti according to Hinduism. Of course this is over simplified statement. But if this major difference is accepted, then though we can claim that there are ‘similarities’ between Muktiveda and Hindu scriptures they are not the same. However according to my understanding this conclusion we can reach when we compare a verse from Muktiveda with one in Hindu Scriptures not considering the theological, textual and historical contexts.

Take for example one such comparison which you make in your article:

Selected By God

You did not choose me but i chose you to bear much fruit that will last .-John 15:16
The Atman cannot be attained by studying, hearing or intellectual perception. He whom the Atma chooses – he alone can attain. –Katha Upanishad -2:23 [This has completely different concept which cannot be compared with Veda—db]

Let us take here what Muktiveda says about God’s election. The immediate context is bringing fruit in that chosen life and not salvation. As you know well about Muktiveda I need not elaborate further on this point.

Now let us take Katha Upanishad. First we have to consider what Hinduism, particularly Upanishads says about ‘atman’. According to the general perception of Hindu Scriptures is that ‘atman’ is ‘eternal’ and not ‘created’ by God. And according to Vedanta to which Upanishads belong this atman is even ‘minute part of God/Brahman’. In fact salvation is not something the atman needs to achieve as it is already part of Brahman. Due to avidya which makes the atman falsely to identity with body, it only needs to remove this avidya through proper knowledge to realize its original status as part of Brahman or the very Brahman (aham Brahmasmi).

Now let us see the context of Katha Upanishad 2:23. In Principle Upanishads by Dr. Radhakrishnan, {Delhi, Oxford University Press, (1953), Fifth impression 1992}gives the following title to the verses in canto 2
2: 1-9: The Two ways {of good and pleasant}

2: 10-11: The superiority of wisdom to wealth, earthly as well as heavenly.

2: 12-14: Apprehension of the supreme through Adhyatma-yoga.

2:15-17: The Mystic word AUM {OM}

2: 18-22: The Eternal Self

2:23-25: The Moral Preparation for Brahma-Knowledge.

And let us see how Radhakrishnan translate this verse:

This self cannot be attained by instruction, or by intellectual power, or even through much hearing. He is to be attained only by the one whom the (self) chooses. To such a one the self reveals his own nature.—2:23, p. 619

In explaining this he says: While the Supreme Self is difficult to know and is unknowable by unaided intellect, He is knowable through His own self-revelation to the man whom He chooses. This view looks upon the Supreme Self as personal God and teaches a doctrine of divine grace.—p. 619

However giving the interpretation of Sankara he says:

Sankara, however, gives a different interpretation by an ingenious exegesis. ‘Him alone whom he chooses by that same self is his own self obtainable.’ The self reveals its true character to one that seeks it exclusively.–620

It is interesting to note that the ‘atman’ has to reveal through his own self-revelation. However Dr. Radhakrishnan brings the ‘grace’ of God which is not even in this verse. That is why Sankara says that the atman does not require any outside help other than its own to reveal. Dr. Radhakrishnan also compares this with Philippians 2:12-13. (p.620)

Of course various others acharyas had their own interpretation according to their particular philosophical point of view.

My point here is, as the verse in Muktiveda (Jn.15:16) talks only about the self bearing fruits. Whereas according to Katha it is talk about self-revelation of atman through knowledge. Note the context of ‘adhyatma-yoga’ (yoga of spiritual discipline) and ‘moral preparation for Brahma-Knowledge’ in Katha.

Considering these main differences I think neither they are same nor there is any similarity between these two verses which you compare. You can do your own study for your comparison between Muktiveda and Hindu scripture.

My main view is this: simply using two English words ‘same’ and ‘similar’ we cannot compare between Muktiveda and other Hindu Scriptures. For example we cannot say that though the basic instincts like hunger, thirst, desire etc. are same to all human beings they are not similar. We can safely say ‘hunger’ is the same for all but cuisine is not similar for all. Of course there are several common grounds like grace, karma etc. which, we can use to understand our bhakti in the Lord, however we should be careful when we compare scriptures between two faiths which demands extra labour and careful consideration of various contexts in which they were written.

Hope this explanation will help you to understand my perspective. Having said this I have no objection if you want to give your own view and interpretation, which, though not acceptable to me, still you have every right to do it.

8-07-2020

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Indian Dance and spiritual concern

Spiritual concerns with Indian dance?

I am taking Kathak dance lessons at the local temple, and I’m trying to figure out what my boundaries as a follower of Christ. Recently, I have been learning a dance depicting Khrisha and Radha flirting. I think I’m okay with that one. (?). If any of you have thoughts about boundaries in learning Hindu dance/music/visual art, please share. My teacher described a more advanced dance sequence today in which the dance depicts Shiva, and at one point the dancer (potentially me) bows before him.

I am taking these lessons to build relationships and to be a learner (and because I really like it), but there is so much gray, it can make my head hurt. I have contemplated whether I can insert Christ into these dances that honor Shiva/Krishna/ect…if I can worship and be clear in my honoring of Christ while using symbols that have defined associations.

One more thought–right now, I am the only person in the class, so part of me thinks that if I share with my teacher my commitment to only worship Christ, then I have more room to wiggle in the darker gray areas. BUT, my lessons are in a room of the temple that is highly visible– various Hindus wander by and the priest stops by frequently. Which makes me naturally want to retreat to the more lighter gray side of things. Any thoughts??

LPM, I am just thinking on the run but I think all culture, even what is not Biblical would be relevant to study and understand from a disinterested viewpoint. The same way we have museumns of former cultural beliefs. Another approach could be viewing the bowing and dance in purely mythic form, true myth, not hyper charismatic conception of evil diety presiding in the dance form but rather a vehicle for expressing truth. Such as Ram searching out his Sita and seeing the relevant truth of Christ seeking out his sangati. Even within Shiv’s stories/myths there may be elements of the Great Story. However, your conscience should guide you. This is just a quick thought though.

–Jai. V.

I have no solution to this problem but will offer some theological gymnastics for you to consider. Shiva in Saiva Siddhanta thought is the supreme deity; there are aspects of the theology that are sub-biblical but on the whole the view of Shiva is at least as good as the view of God held by the average nominal Christian. In this proper Saivite theology, it is certainly theologically acceptable to say that Christ is the way to Shiva (just as Christ is the way to Allah, who is the only supreme God in Islamic theology). This is NOT something to promote publicly because publicly there are so many theologies of Shiva and most of them are not even close to the Saiva Siddhanta position. But this is still valid within that limited space of Saiva Siddhanta. Does this help you? Only you can say. I agree regarding following your conscience but that is a complicated matter (conscience is easily confused with feelings of discomfort and with intellectual doubts). You are following a necessary path and should not turn back due to doubts. I will contact some others who might be able to feed into this discussion from personal experience.
Rajesh.

Thank you greatly for your replies, jai_v and Rajesh. I am continuing to study dance, and continue to move slowly from bol to bol(the different dance segments.) Rajesh, would you suggest a specific book to read that would go more into depth about Saiva Siddhanta thought? Or even one that could provide an introduction. I think knowing more specifics would help me to pray through this.

It is dangerous to recommend a book I have not read, but the following looked to be very good. I have not studied a major work on Saiva Siddhanta like that below, just read about it in various surveys and comparative studies. How far this theology lies behind Bharat Natyam I am also not sure; I just raised this as an illustration of an alternate perspective. I would like to learn more in this discussion; I cannot teach in this area. Another book for anyone in this area is (again not read by me) Christianity in Indian Dance Forms by the very liberal Roman Catholic Francis Peter Barboza.

Saiva Siddhata Theology: A Context for Hindu-Christian Dialogue
by Dunuwila, Rohan-A

“The purpose of this work is to discover the distinctive character of the Siddhanta’s theology through the vicissitudes of its institutional and intellectual history, but especially from its beginnings to its transformation at the hands of its boldest theologian, Aghorasiva. I have sought to realize this aim on the basis of a fivefold plan: First, of describing the origin of the Siddhanta as a religious denomination or church….Second, of surveying the entire theological literature of the Siddhanta, according to its main phases….Third, of analysing the thought of the Siddhanta’s most revolutionary theologian, Aghorasiva, who effectively halted its transformation into a monistic doctrine….Fourth, of presenting in English form, for the first time, a part of Aghora’s most systematic doctrinal work, his Expositions of Bhoja’s The Illumination of the Categories….Fifth and last, of comparing the Siddhanta with another sophisticated theological tradition – the Catholic – with the same doctrinal preoccupations” (from the author’s preface). With a glossary, a bibliography and an index.
Published in 1985 by Motilal Banarsidass.
–Rajesh

Have you told your instructor who you are and why your are studying Indian dance? Why not, as an alternate to “witnessing”, simply share your dilemma honestly? Ask his/her opinion as to the meaning behind the act of bowing to Shiva. This may depend on what kind of relationship you have with the instructor. If s/he is becoming a friend, this could be a good opening to deepen the friendship, share biblical truth, and not look like you’re trying to convert anyone.

–Cathy

I met one American girl in Delhi who is also learning Kathak from a professional Hindu dance teacher. Interestingly that teacher composed the music for a song written by one of my friends for Good Friday Puja which I conducted on April 18^th. Her teacher well accepted her faith in Christ and even taught that beautiful dance for the Good Friday puja. I don’t know her e-mail address, but she is staying with my friend who can give her address to you for further interaction with you. Here below I am giving the meaning of that song. My friend also have videoed the dance and if she permits to share with others, then I can ask one copy of the CD for you. I will also send your question and others response to her also.

However, you can tell your teacher that as your ishtadevata or bhagavan is Muktinath/Mukteshwar (Jesus), whenever any other deities name is mentioned in any song, you are bowing him remembering Him alone in your heart. No Hindu would have any objection for one to worship only to their own personal god as this expresses faith and bhakti with the true spirit.

–Dayanand

Instead of cursing us, Loving Lord of salvation,

You have shown kindness to us—even though we were not worthy

Even in pain, your voice uttered sweet words

In agony, you gave others the desire of their hearts

You did what no one else has done.

You have made possible the meeting of our souls with God

Through your great sacrifice, you have provided rich blessings to humanity

You have freed us from the bondage of trying to make ourselves good by our own actions

Whenever our feet stray from the path

You come quickly towards us

You pull us out of the muck and cleanse us.

–Raman Singh.ú

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Dear Swamiji,
Thank you for sending this outline of deeksha. I had never seen it, and you have explained it more clearly than before. I hope this will be helpful to Daniel. I wonder in what context he is working. It also brings a question to my mind. JJ has already asked once about baptism. Although her father is trying to be an Hindu Christ Bhakta, and I support him in this, the remainder of JJ’s family is culturally Christian, whether Indian or
American. She is interested in American style baptism. I told her to ask her father aboaut it. Do you give deeksha to a child of Hindu Christ Bhaktas, or wait until they
become an adult?
Sharla

Aloha Swami Dayanand,

My name is Daniel Kikawa. I am a friend of Herbert Hoefer and he referred me to you. I read in one of Herb’s email reports about your being able to explain the Baptism ritual to Hindu families so that they even attend the Baptism of their family member. This is so wonderful to me. Could you explain to me how you do it? Is it explained in your book, “Living Water and India Bowl”? My primary ministry is teaching cross-cultural
contextualization of the Gospel and creating teaching and effective evangelism tools for missionaries. Maybe when you come to the US next year we will have time to meet. Herb thinks we would have a lot to share with one another.

Our ministry also does teaching videos. I may be interested, in the future, of possibly filming your methods as a teaching tool for missionaries. Would you be interested in this?

May the Lord Bless You and Your Work,

Daniel

Aloha Herb,

     Thank you for sending me the “Rethinking Hindu Ministry” papers. I look forward to reading them. I have been reading your e-mail journal from India with great interest and have forwarded some to others. I particularly was intriuged with Update #7 about Swami Dayanand Bharati. Does one of the papers go over his baptism ritual? It is so unbelieveable that the Hindu family would support it. What a breakthrough.
     If we held a seminar next summer, would you be able to participate?

Mahalo Nui Loa,

Daniel

Dear Bro. Kikawa,

Shanti and Greetings in the Lord’s Name!

Nice to hear from you. I also received a mail from Dr. Hoefer about you. I am not sure about the places I will be visiting in USA. But one meeting is arranged in New York in May first week (6-8). Please contact Jamie Bean at rethinkingforum@comcast.net for details about that. God willing we can meet somewhere in USA. Regarding videos I am not sure how we can take one on deeksha (baptism). Because I never took one so far and just for the sake of taking video we cannot arrange any mock deeksha somewhere in USA. However I will keep in mind when next time I give deeksha to someone and will try to take a video of it.

Yes I try to arrange the deeksha only with the consent of the parents of the candidate. In the one time this was successfully done I even made the parents cover all the expenses
including a meal arranged following the deeksha. It is good to arrange the deeksha
during a family function in which the rest of the family members will participate.  Before arranging, first I will sit and talk with the rest of the family members who are senior to the candidate. I will remove all their doubts and will make it clear that by taking deeksha the person is not changing his family, community, culture and tradition. Of course we will try to make it clear to them that the person who is receiving the deeksha has only a single minded devotion to the Lord. But how she/he will live to
help to communicate her/his devotion to the rest of the family members differs from person to person.

The ceremony itself is according to Indian traditions. However as there is no strict tradition for deeksha, we can add anything to the ceremony which we would like to include. If possible the previous night I will ask the candidate to keep fast and spent the night in silence. Then we will keep ready one Indian dress dyed in yellow colour (using turmeric power mixed in water). If the person is a male from a so-called high caste family, then I will do a small ceremony of putting a new thread called jenuve in Hindi
and punool in Tamil, and will remove the old sacred thread before the deeksha.

Then we all will go out from the house and return in procession, singing some song either in Tamil, Hindi or Sanskrit.   I will lead with the candidate following me carrying a big pot of water with a coconut on top of it.  This is called purnakumbam (this can be seen on a video of our puja). The rest of the family members led by parents, then wife and
others will come behind us. We will also invite other bhaktas (believers) of the Lord; most of them are Hindu bhaktas of the Lord.

In a special place a wooden stool will be kept decorated with some pattern, which we call kolam. Some oil lamps will be lit. All these are generally auspicious symbols and have nothing to do with any particular sect.

When we reach the place the candidate will sit on the wooden stool after touching my feet. Then I will seek permission once again from the family members and other believers to initiate him by giving deeksha. They all will say ‘tatastu’ (amen). Then I will place the coconut on his hand and will keep the water pot in my hands. Then I will ask a few questions of him to which he must respond by saying ‘tatastu’. The questions are:
Have you decided to become the bhaktas of the Lord with your whole heart and mind. Will you be a faithful follower of the Lord by keeping all His commandments? Are you ready to pay the cost to be a follower of the Lord? Are you assured of your mukti (salvation) by the Lord? Will you fulfill all your duties (dharma) as a follower of the Lord towards immediate family, community, society and nation? Do you consider yourself as the member of the body of the Lord, which is the church? (But we will use the word ‘mandali’ in Indian language, not “church”.) Will you pledge to be a witness for the Lord in all the walk of life, etc.?

There are not uniform questions but they will change according to the person and situation. But basically we will make him to confess before his audience that now he has made up his mind to follow the Lord while remaining a Hindu. Then I will ask the believers who are present whether they are ready to accept him as a member of their mandali.

Then I will pour the water gently on his head, while his wife will stand next to him on his right side touching his shoulder with a grass. Because in Indian tradition, husband cannot perform any kind of religious ritual without the consent and presence of his wife. While pouring water I will loudly say, ‘so and so I give you deeksha in the name of the Father, Son (here I will take the name of the Lord in Indian language as Muktinath) and
Holy Spirit. May God help you to keep your faith and devotion to Him. May His blessings and presence be with you all the time’. At the same time someone will blow a conch, and someone else will ring a bell. And the mandali along with the rest of the family members will chant some Sanskrit mantras or poems praising the Lord. As the family members in this one case regularly participate in the worship (puja) which I often conduct, they are familiar with our songs and mantras. Then I will give him a guru mantra, always from the New Testament, in his right ear. Then all will throw some yellow rice and flowers on him.

After the deeksha, the person will stand and touch my feet seeking my blessing. Then he will go and change his wet clothes and come and seek the blessing of his parents and other elders of the family and mandali. Then one or two from the mandali will pray for him. Then all will bless him by throwing yellow rice and flowers on him. That time his wife will also stand with him.

Then I will conduct a small puja in which I will use the coconut, breaking it as the body of the Lord, and he will receive maha prasad (communion). Then food will be served for all.

This is the general outline. But there won’t be uniform procedure and there will be minor changes according to the community and place. For example in North more Hindi and Sanskrit will be used but in South the regional language. There can also be some change in the mode of deeksha.  One time I gave deeksha to a Brahmin boy in the Ganges River in Varanasi. In some cases the form will be Indian but the immediate relatives may not be present – but they will know that deeksha is being given.

Please don’t publish this or include it in any kind of missionary training course. Because
unless every symbol is explained properly and even minor details are explained most people who are not familiar with Indian culture and tradition won’t understand anything.  Worst still is that some who have some understanding will read everything negatively and spread all kinds of wrong interpretations. And if the person is an Indian (particularly from South India) then there will be holy smoke due to fight and argument (ask Dr. Hoefer and he will share this from his experience). So I share this for you to have a glimpse of what I am doing, knowing that even you won’t understand most of the ceremony.

In all this the main thrust is that the person is receiving guru deeksha. Without receiving some kind of deeksha (initiation) none can become the follower of a guru. Once s/he receives the deeksha s/he proclaims in public that s/he had decided to follow the Lord with her/his full commitment. While keeping the biblical message of baptism, I only adopt the method according to the cultural and tradition of the family and region.

Rest after hearing from you.

Dayanand

Dear Dayanand,

Herb Hoefer showed me your account of a deeksha ceremony and I was very moved by how appropriate, reverent, and meaningful it was. I sincerely respect your wishes that it not be shared carelessly because of the many possible misinterpretations.

I do have some news, however, that I need to share with you. Roland Allen wrote another book that was never published. His grandson, Hubert Allen, referred to it in his biography of Roland Allen. I had a chance to visit Hubert in Oxford, England and saw the manuscript at the Bodleian Library at the University. I believe that we may have a publisher for the book. The title of the book is The Expansion of Ministry, the Priesthood of the Laity.

In the book Allen praises the work of the people of God who are not connected with any church organization but whom God uses to bring many people to Christ. II believe that you and other Christ Bhaktas are exactly some of those people to whom Allen was referring.

I would like your permission to show your account of deeksha to Hubert Allen. He is getting up in years and will be very happy to see how his grandfather’s insights are being lived out. I would also like to show it to the publisher. This publisher is a former missionary, who is even today in Brazil and praises the ministry of unordained people. I believe that both of these people would be both understanding and respectful of the deeksha of which you speak.

Since Allen’s was written in the 1940’s it needs to have a forward to show how Allen’s insights are applicable today. If I am asked to write the forward I would like to cite your ministry and your writings as an example of living out the insights of the Scriptures and of Roland Allen.

In Christ’s Mission,

Robert Schmidt

Dear guruji,

Shanti!

It is good to hear from you after a long gap. Hope you are enjoying a good health. As I trust you, please use the account of deesha ceremony to anyone who will understand it in the given context. Is it necessary to mention my name in the forward? If possible mention generally the ministry among the caste Hindus and you can even mention bhaktas of the Lord. However I leave it to you to decide which one you think best for the sake of His glory and witness to the work of the Holy Spirit. Pl. free to do as you wish.

Dayanand

@@@

[Working paper] Indigenized Christian worship in India: some considerations

JACOB JOSEPH

Jacob Joseph is Dean of the School of Worship and Music at Luther W. New Jr. Theological College (NTC), in Dehradun, India. He completed a Master’s in Church Music at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kentucky, USA, and a certificate in Applied Ethnomusicology from Payap University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Jacob pioneered the School of Worship and Music at NTC in 2008, with the goal of training worship leaders with solid biblical foundation and musical skills. The NTC School of Worship and Music is in the final stages of becoming one of India’s first universities to feature an accredited Worship and Music program. Jacob’s passion is for developing indigenous Christianity and worship on the Indian subcontinent.

Introduction

Worship is the signature activity of the Christian church. Christians believe that worship is the purpose of God’s creation itself. Like other religious traditions, Christians have their own worship styles, with cultural adaptations. Although Christianity originated in Jewish history and culture, it put down roots in different cultures with unique cultural forms.

Historical tradition says that the Christian gospel reached South India through Thomas, the disciple of Jesus. Later, there was a long chain of missionaries, like William Carey and Amy Carmichael, and missionary organizations, like the Church Missionary Society, the London Missionary Society, and Basel Mission, who worked to evangelize India. Even with this long heritage of Christianity on Indian soil, only 2.3% of today’s population is Christian (according to 2001 Census data). In recent years people became more aware of this fact and attempted to identify problems in the strategies of missions. Added to this awareness was a tremendous amount of writing from the Hindu world against the Western roots of Indian Christianity. These factors led Indian Christians to become aware of their Western influences and attempt indigenization of worship over the past 150 years. James M. L., a Catholic lyric writer and exponent of indigenized worship, writes:

Instead of preaching directly, the whole culture in India is to be evangelized, not individuals. . . . Here in North India we feel that Christianity has to grow much in culture [through] the art forms. It’s in the initial stage. A Christian art is to be developed. (quoted in Hale 2003)

This reflects the awareness and the desire of Indian Christians to take on cultural roots in Indian soil. In this paper I look at the possibilities of indigenized worship from a theological and biblical perspective, rather than from an evangelistic perspective. I also look at some of the problems of the past attempts of indigenization

from a biblical, cultural, and practical perspective.

Problems of Indian Christian worship

Westernized worship and music

One of the greatest challenges of the Indian Christian church is its Western heritage. Most mainline denominations follow a completely Westernized liturgy and music in the worship. When missionaries came to India they translated Bible and their own hymns into the local languages for the use in worship. But now even a century later, churches still use the same hymnal and the translated Book of Common Prayer for worship.

Because of linguistic limitations, missionaries were not able to make a translation that fits well to the common use of the language. Problems in syllables and structures make it almost impossible for people to understand the texts of many songs. But over the years there have been no attempts made to retranslate the Book of Common Prayer or the hymns, or to create a liturgy that is relevant in the Indian context. Although many Indian Christians wrote songs reflecting their theology in Indian terms, churches rarely took the initiative to use them in worship. Use of the indigenized liturgies was limited to the seminaries and ashrams. The only musical instrument that was allowed in the church was organ; only the Catholic, Pentecostal and Charismatic churches attempted to use some of the indigenous musical instruments for worship. At Christmas time, churches in South India use hymns that talk about winter and snow—when the temperature is 80° F and the people have never seen snow!

Westernized posture

Another significant aspect that the Indian church lost in worship was the posture of worship. In most Indian religions worshipers sit on a thick mattress spread on the floor. People sit on the floor, with their legs crossed, as an expression of their respect to their deity. During the time of prayer they kneel, with their heads bowed to the ground. But the Christian churches accepted the Western form of sitting on pews for worship. According to the Hindu tradition no one may enter the place of worship unclean or wearing sandals. But Christian churches do not emphasize these aspects in their worship. In the mind of an Indian these show a lack of respect and devotion to God.

Westernized language

Due to the limitations of the missionaries’ language understanding, the liturgies and the translated hymns do not match the common usage of the language. The language used in the church is much different from the common language. It is not unusual to see the Christians being mocked by people of other religions for the strange form of language that was used in the church. Dayanand Bharati, a leading Christian theologian, says about the language in church:

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Where are Christians who can speak in languages familiar to the people? If a new believer ever goes to a church service, he cannot even understand the message, not to mention all the other activities of the church. If he wants to survive among them, then he must become conformed to their image in all the areas of his life. But the church will remain Westernized and will not be bothered about either the new believers or the common people yet to be reached with the gospel. (Bharati 2004, 70-71)

Westernized preaching

Preaching in Indian churches is also influenced by the western heritage. Indian churches typically use an elevated pulpit or a preaching stand. In recent years, influenced by the charismatic preaching seen on international Christian television channels, the preacher tends to move around on the pulpit and preach very loud in his attempt to imitate the Christianity viewed on the television. But in Indian tradition, teachers of the scriptures sit on the floor on a slightly elevated place with the scripture open in a small book holder. The name of the Hindu scriptures, upanishads, is a word picture of this aspect of teaching in Indian context. Upanishad means the inner, or mystic, teaching. The term upanishad is derived from upa (‘near’), ni (‘down’) and s(h)ad (‘to sit’): that is, sitting down near. Groups of pupils sit near the teacher to learn from him. This does not match with today’s Christian preaching.

Difficulties of indigenization

Although I believe indigenization of worship is desirable in the Indian context, it brings several challenges. Careless handling of these challenges has caused several problems over the years. Many times the struggle of working through these issues has prevented people from attempting indigenization of worship.

Interconnectedness of culture and religion

Indian culture and the Hindu religion are intermingled and it is challenging to isolate the culture and religion in some areas. In interreligious dialogue some people have gone to extremes to find common ground between religions. Some attempts to indigenize Christian worship have ended up in the Hinduization of worship. Some of these attempts failed due to their lack of theological and Biblical criteria for adapting aspects of worship. A good understanding of the Scripture is essential before taking any steps in to the cultural adaptation. But in the Indian context these things need to be done cautiously.

Strong roots in Westernized Christianity

Another difficulty of indigenization for the Indian Christian church is the strong roots in the Western style of worship. Worshipers in many churches are comfortable with the way things are; they were born into this “church culture” and it has been a part of their whole lives. Average church members might never address their Western heritage and identity very seriously. As Marva Dawn says, they are living in “the idolatry of ‘the way we’ve always done it before’” (Dawn 1995, 47). Many churches and Christians value the heritage of the church over the heritage of their homeland.

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Lack of trained practitioners of Indian music

Due to the church’s long association with Western culture, a movement for indigenization is quite challenging. An attempt to learn Indian music and other arts, and attempts for indigenization, may be viewed with suspicion. When an individual from the West attempts to learn Indian music and culture, the Indian teacher may take pride in it and accept the outsider student. But Indian Christians can be seen as having already neglected the culture, and any Christian individual attempting to learn Indian music may receive criticisms from others.

Another issue in this area is the association of Indian music with Hindu worship. Many traditional Christians regard Indian music as specifically Hindu rather than generically Indian. This has led many Christian families to prohibit their musically gifted children from learning Indian music. Instead of learning Indian music, most of them were schooled instead in Western music. What Indian Christian music exists today draws from Bollywood contemporary musical fusions, rather than traditional Indian classical styles; these contemporary pop songs may be more difficult to incorporate into congregational singing contexts.

Diversity of culture and language

Another major challenge is the diversity of India’s cultures and languages. The Ethnologue lists 447 living languages in India (Lewis, Simons, and Fennig 2013). This sociolinguistic diversity makes it very hard for church denominations to move forward with indigenization in any kind of unified way. Some cultural preferences in one part of India may not be acceptable in the other parts of India. The eating of meat is but one example. In states such as Kerala, in South India, even the Hindu people eat meat and it is sold publicly. But in northern parts of India it is considered sinful, and those who eat meat are looked down upon by others in the society.

Limitations of Christian publishing

Printed material is regarded as more credible and prestigious than any other means of communication. But the hesitation of publishers to produce Christian materials in minority languages is another hindrance to indigenization. This issue becomes more pervasive with growing dominance of global media culture. As Dawn says (echoing Neil Postman), “the printed page revealed a more serious, coherent world, which was capable of management by reason and attempts to improve with criticism . . . [but] television pictures the world in rapidly shifting images that destroy all the virtues formerly associated with mature discourse” (Dawn 1995, 23). Christian publishers in India tend to publish things either in English or in languages of South India in which there is already a strong Christian presence; publishers ignore most of the other Indian languages for fear of losing profit. This inhibits the spread of ideas. Christian music is similarly affected by the lack of willing producers and studios.

Global media culture

As I mentioned, another significant issue for indigenization of worship is the international media influence. The availability of international television channels and the broadcasting of Western Christian worship

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strengthen the Western heritage still further. It is common to hear songs by contemporary Christian musicians in worship services in Indian cities. Families all throughout India are greatly influenced by television culture. Even families who struggle to meet their daily necessities will do anything to own a television. India Today writes: “[T]elevision is accorded priority in Indian households. Families will walk for miles from their homes to bathe and to attend to nature’s call, but would watch television within the confines of their home. Even rural India isn’t doing too badly with 26 million television sets—one in every five families” (Saran 2003).

Failures of past attempts of indigenization

Hinduization vs. Indigenization

One of the primary problems in past attempts at indigenization was the Hinduization of worship. In the attempt to indigenize Christian worship, some people went to extremes by uncritically accepting Hindu religious practices, without taking time to fully consider the theological implications. A big bowl full of rice, flowers from a palm tree, sandalwood-cream marks on the forehead—these are theologically significant symbols in Hinduism. Christians must be cautious about accepting the symbols without fully understanding what they signify. Bharati writes about the extreme movements of indigenization:

Just sitting on floor and using few Indian musical instruments will not make worship indigenous. Several things have to be radically changed. In this area the Roman Catholics, particularly their ashrams, went ahead of everyone to other extreme of making Christianity as another cult within Hinduism. (Bharati 2004, 81)

Some people advocate the use of Hindu religious terms to describe God and Holy Communion. For God they recommend terms such as Bhagavan (Blessed Lord) or Brahman (Ultimate reality). They also suggest the term prasad (‘grace’) for Holy Communion. The use of such terms gave Christianity an appearance of Hinduism but never made it truly indigenous. When Hindus use terms like Bhagavan, Brahman, and prasad, they associate them with common usage understandings, rather than the literary meanings of each term. Thus prasad is merely a portion of something that is offered to the idol, which they eat or apply on their forehead. But the Christian understanding of Eucharist involves much different theology than the term prasad offers; Eucharist carries within it historical, theological, and future hope.[—As Indian terms have several meanings which differ according to the context, it is too simple to reject these terms because lack of understanding or understanding by any one group—db]

Lack of theological and biblical foundation

Lack of a solid theological foundation has been another problem. M. M. Thomas, a prominent Indian theologian, states: “I cannot see any difference between the accepted missionary goal of a Christian Church expressing Christ in terms of the contemporary Hindu thought and life patterns and a Christ-centered Hindu Church of Christ which transforms Hindu thought and life patterns within” (quoted in Ro 2001, 107). Statements like this from Indian Christian theologians who attempted indigenization created a suspicion in Indian mind about the whole endeavor. Some people who took leadership roles in indigenization processes did so apart from a strong theological, biblical foundation.

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Attempt to replace Western music with Indian classical music

A shortcoming in the area of music was the attempt to replace Western music with Indian classical music. But Indian classical music is not the music of the common people. Most people in India have little connection to Indian classical music, and attempts to replace Western music with Indian classical music have led to a failed attempt at indigenization. [But most of the common Indian music is someway related to the classic music. So replacing any Indian music is not possible without having some influence of Indian classic music.—db]

Possibilities for indigenization

Change of focus from evangelism to worship

I believe one of the greatest needs today is a change of focus in indigenization. Until now, the primary motivation behind indigenization was to attract more people to the church. That motivation has sometimes caused people of other religions to think that the Christians are faking something to make Christianity more attractive. Hindu critic Sita Ram Goel views the indigenization process as “disguised in Hindu form” and “casting covetous glance before mounting a marauding expedition” (quoted in Bharati 2004, 79). Attempts at indigenization in the area of mission have given a negative picture of Christianity as a kind of “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

This attitude will change only if the church changes from its roots. Before attempting indigenization in missions outreach, the church’s worship must become indigenized. Over the years, churches used indigenous methods to evangelize the world, while keeping all the Westernized forms in the worship. In my opinion, the church should change for the sake of worshiping God in the language and culture of the people, not simply to attract more churchgoers. As American pastor John Piper says:

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity, but worship abides forever. (Piper 2010, 15)

To make the indigenization authentic and meaningful, the church needs to initiate radical changes from the center: that is, worship. Indigenization should take place in the primary aspects of the church’s worship and life, and then indigenized missions will flow naturally from the indigenized worshiping church. [No hope. Because the author have a wrong understanding about the Indian church. As it remains a separate sociological community, any attempt in the church won’t have that much influence in the wider Hindu society. Merely changing some forms in the church worship won’t help indigenization.—db]

Worship posture

Christian churches should consider returning to Indian heritage in their worship styles. Churches might leave their pews behind and follow the more typical Indian style of sitting on the floor and praying while kneeling. This worship posture may even draw the worshiper closer to the original meaning of the word worship as it is used in the Bible. The Hebrew word hištaḥªwâ, translated as ‘worship,’ literally means ‘to bend oneself over at the waist.’ (Peterson 2002, 57-58). I find it fitting to adapt worship posture from Indian traditions. This posture may be more acceptable to Christians as a way of remaining Indian, while showing their homage and

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submission to the Christian God. Bharati, for example, expresses his desire for an Indian style of worship posture after attending a Westernized worship service:

I often dreamed in this way—remove all the Western musical instruments, and also even the pulpit; spread a dari (thick carpet) on the stage, have one bhajan [one form of worship music in Indian tradition] team lead in singing beautiful bhajans; the, how we could all worship the Lord in spirit and truth! (Bharati 2004, 74)

Expression of homage, devotion, submission and awe in the presence of God by removing sandals and cleansing oneself before entering the worship space are practices that can be integrated into the Christian church context. Exodus 3:5 shows the significance of removing sandals in God’s presence; and Exodus 19:10 stresses the importance of being cleansed in the presence of God. Such elements of Hindu worship can be a part of Christian worship as well, and they will help the church and its worship to take acceptable cultural forms.

Language of worship

The language of worship needs to become more culturally understandable. What I mean is that the church could create a new liturgy with awareness and understanding of cultural aspects of Indian culture. Even if churches continue to use their Western liturgies—for example, based on the Book of Common Prayer—they can be translated into the common (vernacular) languages of the people. It’s also possible to use the terms like Krist Bhakt (‘devotee of Christ’) to refer to a believer. But calling the believer a Hindu, as some Indian Christian theologians suggest, gives a wrong understanding of a person as both a follower of Christ and also accepting of other gods—as the Hindu religion allows each individual a personal deity. {Sorry. I have to disagree with the author on this point. He wrongly called me ‘a leading Christian theologian’. But I am Hindu and bhakta of Muktinath. To remain as a Hindu is our birth right and identity which we need not give up or exchange for another sociological identity which is not muktivedia—db} But the use of all the terms must be accompanied by biblical understanding that justifies the use of the term. {This is the problem. All the biblical understanding is nothing but a particular interpretation based on their own convenience—db} It is also important to develop indigenous terminologies to teach Christian doctrine. Historically, William Carey and his team developed Sanskrit terms for their Biblical translation. This provided a set of standard Sanskrit terms for the theological education of future generations (Mathew 1999, 56). The contemporary church needs to continue to seek out these culturally relevant terms for theological concepts. Using Indian words to explain Christian doctrine will lead people to a better understanding of their faith, and that understanding will lead to clearer, more appropriate worship.

Architecture of the worship space

The architecture of the worship space is another area that might be indigenized. Today most of the mainline Christian worship spaces are imitations of Western structures, ignoring the significance of appropriate architecture altogether. Many churches do not have a theological understanding about the structure of place in worship. For the Hindu worshiper, temple structure carries great religious significance. Hindu temples are constructed according to very specific, intentional plans. Each aspect in the temple has some kind of religious significance (Parrinder 1961, 51). This architectural awareness could be adapted to Christian churches. What would it look like to have a Christian theological perspective on architectural design? St Mary’s Church in

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Nagercoil, South India, which claims a historical link to St Thomas, is an ancient example of the Christian adaptation of Hindu architecture (Hoefer 2001, 13).

Role of music

Music plays a very important role in the indigenization of worship. The church has tended to use Indian songs only for evangelism, and Western songs in their congregational worship. As I suggested above, I believe the idea of indigenization and change in the church should begin with the church’s worship, rather than specifically with its outreach to others. The common music styles of the people could be given a place in corporate worship. Musical forms such as bhajans and keerthans can be brought into the Christian worship context. This is the music that every Indian hears early in the morning from the temples. These forms, originating in the Hindu bhakti (devotion) traditions, are easily adaptable for congregational use. The leader sings one phrase of the song and the congregation repeats that phrase with the accompaniment of small cymbals. Many of the psalms and other biblical passages could work very well as bhajans (for further discussion about Christian bhajans, see Duncan 1999).

Another musical possibility is the reconfiguration of the hymns into Indian musical forms. Hymns carry a rich theology from throughout the history of the faith, and they can be used effectively in Indian contexts by retranslating the lyrics and pairing them with indigenous melodies.

Role of preaching

Preaching plays a very important role in making the gospel relevant to the people. Timothy C. Tennent talks about making the gospel culturally relevant:

[T]he gospel is not only linguistically translatable, it is culturally translatable. The gospel is not only delivered to us in the enscripturated text, but also in the proclamation and witness of a believing community, the members of which belong to a particular culture at a particular time in history. (Tennent 2007, 67)

Preachers should carefully consider the methods by which the gospel can be shared through culturally relevant terminologies. This can be done cautiously, lest extreme adaptation of cultural terms mislead people in wrong theological directions. Scripture plays a very significant role in Hindu temple worship. There are days throughout the week when Hindu worshipers read from the scriptures. Although Hinduism does not have preaching sessions as part of corporate worship, Christians could consider how to give importance to the Bible by devoting significant time to hearing it read.

Posture of preaching also must change. The Bible mentions times when Jesus sat and taught people; this posture of teaching may be more acceptable in Indian contexts than preaching from a pulpit. Bharati suggests an Indian form of preaching style for worship and outreach. For many Indians, it’s a more natural appearance; after trying this arrangement, a missionary admitted to Bharati it also helps to conduct the satsangh (fellowship of the believers) as Hindus usually do (Bharati 2004, 71).

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Whole of life as worship

Bharati, himself a convert from high caste Brahmanism[I object to the word ‘convert’—db] , talks about Indian and Hindu attitudes to worship like this:

Worship is the pivot on which the entire spiritual life revolves, particularly for Hindus. They never worship just three hours [Sunday worship usually lasts three hours] in a week plus (bonus) one house prayer meeting. (Bharati 2004, 74)

This holistic concept of worship fits well with a biblical Christian understanding of worship in all of life. Indian Hindus are accustomed to pooja (prayers) early in the morning, at their homes or in the temple. This habit can become a part of the Indian Christian’s life as well.

Family plays a very important role in the religious life of India. Devoted Hindu families start their day by cleansing themselves and doing pooja in the small worship place built into their house. This concept also can be transferred well in Indian context by emphasizing the importance of family worship and prayer at their homes. In that way all of life can be emphasized as worship.

Conclusion

In a number of biblical passages the diversity of cultures is highlighted. Philippians 2:11 talks about worship from every language, all people. In Daniel 7:14, the prophet describes a vision of all people, nations, and languages worshiping the Son of Man. These passages predict and celebrate the diversity that is alive in worshipping God.

Indigenization of worship needs to proceed with caution, and with fidelity to the Bible. Lack of biblical and theological understanding can result in serious flaws. It is not an attempt to appear like other religions of the country or to compromise with other religious faiths. Bharati says, “Contextualization is not compromise, nor conforming to the image of the world, but rather allowing the gospel to become incarnate in the existing culture in faithfulness to the Bible” (Bharati 2004, 76).

Marva Dawn offers a good criterion to evaluate our attempts for indigenization: “We make use of the cultural forms, new and old, but we dare never let up in the struggle to make sure they are consistent with the ultimate eternal world to which we belong” (Dawn 1995, 10).

Indigenous Christian worship in India BY JACOB JOSEPH 2014: VOL. 2,NO. 1 WP9

Bibliography

Bharati, Dayanand. 2004. Living Water and Indian Bowl: An Analysis of Christian Failings in Communicating Christ to Hindus, with Suggestions Toward Improvements. Revised edition. Pasadena, California: William Carey Library.

Dawn, Marva J. 1995. Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down: A Theology of Worship for This Urgent Time. Grand Rapids, Michigan: W.B. Eerdmans.

Duncan, Stephen F. 1999. A Genre of Hindusthani Music (Bhajans) as Used in the Roman Catholic Church. Lampeter, Wales: Edwin Mellen Press.

Hale, Chris. 2003. “Indigenous Worship in North India: The Hindi Krista-Bhajan.” December 2. http://www.zoominfo.com/CachedPage/?archive_id=0&page_id=1792694030&page_url=//www.radicalchrist.org/articleprint.asp?ID=-1375384937&page_last_updated=2006-11-19T02:12:49&firstName=Charles&lastName=Vas, accessed January 23, 2014.

Hoefer, Herbert. 2001. “The Burden of the Past.” Mission Frontiers: 12–15.

Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig, ed. 2013. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 17th ed. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com, accessed January 23, 2014.

Mathew, C. V. 1999. The Saffron Mission: A Historical Analysis of Modern Hindu Missionary Ideologies and Practices. Delhi: Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

Parrinder, Edward Geoffrey. 1961. Worship in the World’s Religions. New York: Association Press.

Peterson, David. 2002. Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press.

Piper, John. 2010. Let the Nations Be Glad! The Supremacy of God in Missions. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic.

Ro, Bong Rin. 2001. “Asian Theology.” In Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, edited by Walter A. Elwell, 106-108. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic.

Saran, Rohit. 2003. “Assets: Growing Faster than Amenities.” India Times, July 28. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/census-india-survey-lack-of-infrastructure-not-money-constrains-asset-purchases/1/205855.html, accessed January 23, 2014.

Tennent, Timothy C. 2007. “Listening to Voices Outside the North American Gate: Trinity and Saccidananda in the Writings of Brahmabandhav Upadhyay.” In Antioch Agenda: Essays on the Restorative Church in Honor of Orlando E. Costas, edited by Daniel Jeyaraj, Robert W. Pazmiño, and Rodney L. Petersen, 67–87. New Delhi: Indian Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge for Andover Newton

Indigenous Christian worship in India BY JACOB JOSEPH 2014: VOL. 2,NO. 1 WP10

Theological School, and the Boston Theological Institute. Available at http://www.bostontheological.org/assets/files/05tennent.pdf, accessed January 23, 2014.

Indigenous Christian worship in India BY JACOB JOSEPH 2014: VOL. 2,NO. 1 WP11

Dayanand Bharati, a leading Christian theologian, says about the language in church….—p. 2

The use of such terms gave Christianity an appearance of Hinduism but never made it truly indigenous. When Hindus use terms like Bhagavan, Brahman, and prasad, they associate them with common usage understandings, rather than the literary meanings of each term. Thus prasad is merely a portion of something that is offered to the idol, which they eat or apply on their forehead. But the Christian understanding of Eucharist involves much different theology than the term prasad offers; Eucharist carries within it historical, theological, and future hope.[—As Indian terms have several meanings which differ according to the context, it is too simple to reject these terms because lack of understanding or understanding by any one group—db]—p. 5

Most people in India have little connection to Indian classical music, and attempts to replace Western music with Indian classical music have led to a failed attempt at indigenization. [But most of the common Indian music is someway related to the classic music. So replacing any Indian music is not possible without having some influence of Indian classic music.—db]—p. 6

It’s also possible to use the terms like Krist Bhakt (‘devotee of Christ’) to refer to a believer. But calling the believer a Hindu, as some Indian Christian theologians suggest, gives a wrong understanding of a person as both a follower of Christ and also accepting of other gods—as the Hindu religion allows each individual a personal deity. {Sorry. I have to disagree with the author on this point. He wrongly called me ‘a leading Christian theologian’. But I am Hindu and bhakta of Muktinath. To remain as a Hindu is our birth right and identity which we need not give up or exchange for another sociological identity which is not muktivedia—db} But the use of all the terms must be accompanied by biblical understanding that justifies the use of the term. {This is the problem. All the biblical understanding is nothing but a particular interpretation based on their own convenience—db}—p. 7

Bharati, himself a convert from high caste Brahmanism[I object to the word ‘convert’—db] ,–p. 9

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Indigenizing Worship: How Far Should We Go? Raja Krishnamoorthy Introduction The very thought of indigenizing worship raises our eyebrow and makes us uncomfortable. Generally evangelical Christians equate it with syncretism, seeing it as an attempt in the direction of Hinduizing Christianity or Christianizing Hinduism. What do we mean by “indigenous” in general? Encyclopedia Britannica defines it as “having originated in and being produced, growing, living, or occurring naturally in a particular region or environment, or innate, inborn.”1 This means that a worship pattern that is innate or inborn in the Indian cultural context can be called as “indigenous worship” in India. Most of the Indian churches follow worship patterns inherited from the west or a slightly modified form of the western pattern. This brings before our eyes the churches built in the architectural style, stained glass windows, altar with an ornate cross, dark brown wooden pews and a beautiful pulpit. The familiar worship scene includes the music from the organ, people in their Sunday best and the pastor in the flowing white robe. Are all these things indigenous, born in the Indian context or what the western missionaries thought well suited for the Indian conditions? The call for indigenization in general The call for indigenization of the Indian Church, its mission, worship, finances and leadership is not a new one. With the rise of the national feelings in the early 19th century and quest for national identity impacted the Indian Church too, which resulted in the formation the Indian mission societies which aimed at Indian leadership, Indian finances and Indian ways of worship.2 Times have changed since then. But the call and the challenge of indigenizing the Indian Church are still relevant. With the resurgence of right-wing Hindu organizations and their own brand of cultural nationalism the question of indigenization has come to focus again and has gained urgency. The huge task of evangelizing our country and the resultant Church planting among diverse linguistic, ethnic and cultural people groups also calls us to scrutinize our way of worship and witness. Is true indigenization (without syncretism) possible? ‘Yes’ says Roger Hedlund in his preface to the book “Quest for identity”. He asserts that the rapid post-colonial Church growth is truly indigenous, that is “distinctly Indian, not only in antiquity, but in vast variety and diversity.”3 The rich missiological evidences from various mission agencies such as Friends Missionary Prayer Band, Indian Evangelical Mission, etc who have successfully used indigenous methods and indigenous worship patterns compel us to rethink the way we worship. Another important point to consider here is the suggestion that the cause of poor Church growth in the Asian context (particularly Indian) is due to the failure of the churches here to contextualize or indigenize the Christian thought to suit the Asian mind. This thought is found as early as the last quarter of the 19th century in the mission endeavors of the Wesleyan missions.4 At the height of British Imperialism the Wesleyan missions began their work in India with the goal of ‘”conversion of the whole of India”. But this vision had little progress, which gave way to reflection, 1 Encyclopedia Britannica, Electronic Edition, 2004. 2 Stephan Joseph, The Use of Mission Records and Publications for Academic Research. (Chennai: Dharma Deepika, 2003), 75. 3 Roger E Hedlund, Quest for Identity: India’s Churches Of Indigenous origin: The “Little Tradition in Indian Christianity” (Delhi: ISPCK, 2000), xv. 4 Christi-An C Bennett, “Seeking the Soul of India: Wesleyan Discussions 1886-1990.” Journal of Asian Mission 4:2, (September, 2002), 257. and the outcome was the call to indigenize the Indian Church. According to them, the Indian Church should be “self-supporting, self-governing, self-propagating, doctrinally and morally pure and culturally relevant .”5 Timothy C Tennent6 and Dayanand Bharati7 also add weight to this argument. Both of them call the Indian Church to express the truth of the gospel in Indian thought patterns. Now what should be our aim in attempting to indigenize our worship pattern? If it is to make our worship attractive to the people of other faith then it will be “artificial”8 and will not achieve any good. The objective of worship is to praise, adore, glorify, and call upon the name of the Lord. When we do this in our own particular way we glorify God who created us as Indians and ordained our cultures and languages. Such worship will strengthen our brothers and sisters who have come from different faiths and also draw our countrymen to Christ. Now there are numerous views concerning what is indigenous and what is not. So the concept of indigenization should be discussed in general and then applied particularly to the Christian worship following which evaluation and suggestions should be made in the light of the Reformed principles of worship. So in this paper the author will discuss the problems of understanding the concept of indigenization, try to arrive at some agreeable definition of ‘indigenization’ and in that understanding evaluate how far our worship is indigenous and suggest how far can we proceed without crossing the scriptural boundaries. Conceptual problems We have to admit that there is no single, exclusive tradition that can be called as “Indian cultural tradition”. Bishop Sundar Clarke disagrees with this saying that, “There may be regional variations. But there is a core of commonness which is bed stream of Indian culture.”9 But this is an oversimplification of a complex group of cultures, languages and peoples. Indian history dates back to 3000 years and the Indian civilization is constantly evolving. The invasion by the Aryans, Moguls, British and others has left an undeniable mark on the Indian religious, cultural and philosophical thinking. So there is no single homogenous, exclusive culture that can said as the Indian culture. Even the cities and the villages vary in their style of living, and worshipping. The impact of globalization and increased urbanization has created a great gulf between the rural and the urban life. Increased urbanization has created a two way movement. One is toward an urban-western (or international) culture: The younger generation is attracted toward western music, dress and way of living. Even the village youth are no exception to this. This has resulted in many churches adapting to modern music in their worship – heavy drums, clapping and swinging to music is a common sight in the city churches. The second is the movement in the opposite direction: People who are disillusioned with the materialistic western way of living, returning to their spiritual and cultural roots to find solace and strength. All these pose a great challenge to any one who likes to study Indian culture and present the good news in a way that is culturally relevant and at the same time true to the scripture. Our God is the source of all culture, customs and languages (even though it is marred by sin). His plan of redemption is historical and beyond all culture; but it can be translated into any culture. Church history testifies to the universality and translatability of the gospel into any culture. The glory of God and his works have inspired people of all languages and culture to worship him in a way that is natural to them through which they can express their love and devotion. So we can 5 Ibid., 263. Emphasis mine. 6 Timothy C Tennent, Building Christianity on Indian Foundations: The Legacy of Brahmabandhav Upadhyay (Delhi: ISPCK, 200), vii. 7 Dayanand Bharati, Living Water And Indian Bowl (Delhi: ISPCK, 1997), 5. 8 T. Dayanandan Francis, Ed., The Christian Bhakti of Appasamy (Madras: The Christian Literature Society, 1992), 99. 9 Sundar Clarke, Let the Indian Church Be Indian. (Madras: The Christian Literature Society, 1985), 12. understand ‘indigenous worship’ as the worship of the true God of the scripture in ways that is natural and native to a particular place or people and which do not contradict the expressive commands of scriptural principles of worship. This is neither syncretic nor compromising. This is the question of relevance without sacrificing the reverence. So this kind of worship will be unique to a given situation and will vary from place to place. Scriptural example Scripture provides us with ample evidences of ‘contextualizing or indigenizing’ of their truth in different situations. The development of the synagogue is one. Synagogues arose during the days of captivity of God’s people. When the temple was destroyed and God’s people scattered, the need for religious instruction and worship of Yahweh resulted in the development of synagogues. Even after the return of the exiles and the reconstruction of the Jerusalem Temple the synagogues continued to function as the centers of Jewish worship and religious instruction.10 The early Church patterned its worship and instruction after the model of the synagogue. In the history of the early church we see this kind of contextualizing by the apostles as well as the Christians. To the Jews they proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah, the hope of Israel. This is reflected in the Peter’s Pentecostal preaching, Stephen’s address to the Sanhedrin and Paul’s preaching to the Jews. But when the gospel crossed the Jewish borders they proclaimed him as the Lord and Savior (Acts 11:20);11 as the creator who created everything and so commands every one to repent and believe in him (Acts 17). Jews were asked to repent of their sin of rejecting and crucifying the Messiah whereas the gentiles were asked to believe in Jesus Christ in order to be saved. The book of Psalms provided the early Christians with a ready hymnbook. But slowly Messianic songs and affirmation of faith was put to tunes and sung by the early Christians. As the gospel penetrated into more areas it was translated into the cultures in which it took root. Church history provides us with evidences for this. Evaluation of our worship In evaluating our worship patterns we should keep in mind the cultural, social and religious realities of our context and the particularity of the gospel and the New Testament worship (especially the regulative principles of worship). In this aspect we should understand some of the fundamental truths that set Christian worship apart from the others. First the concept of God’s presence: The Hindu or Buddhist shrines or temples affirm the presence certain gods or goddesses there. The sanctum sanctorum is the place where the deity dwells. So worship is offered there. This idea governs their temple architecture and the things associated with it – such as, a pond for ritual washing before worship, removal of shoes before entering the temple, standing sitting or prostrating before the deity, coming around the temple, offering of flower and food to the deity etc. The Muslims face toward Mecca while offering ‘Namaz’ or prayer. But in Christianity we are in the time when those who worship the Father worship him everywhere in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:22-24). Where two or three gather together in the name of our Lord, Christ is present in their midst (Matthew 18: 20). There is no literal God’s presence dwelling in any place. God dwells in the heart of believers through his Spirit. Secondly the concept of the ‘body’: In the south Asian context and especially in India people are in communities or societies mainly based on caste, or tribal identity. Though there are communities based on religious faith, it is the society that controls a person. As long as a person abides 10 Henry H. Halley, Halley’s Bible Hand Book (Secunderabad: OM Books, 1999), 410. 11 John R.W. Stott, The Message of Acts. The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1990), 201. John Stott calls it “the bold innovation which was richly blessed by the Lord.” by the rules and customs of the society he is free to pursue his quest for religious truth.12 This does not mean that the Asian religions (like Hinduism) are individualistic. People visit places of worship individually or as families and occasionally as a clan or village. But the Church is the “body of Christ’ and each member is committed to one another because of their relation to the head, Christ Jesus. The emphasis in the Church is on the corporate worship. Because of this basic distinction the concept of Hindu “pooja” and Christian worship cannot be equated as the same. Thirdly the unique Christian theological concepts: The Christian concept of monotheism, Trinity, kenotic incarnation of Christ, the doctrine of grace, vicarious death of Christ, one life and then facing God’s judgment, worship without any idols or symbols, inspired scripture as God’s revelation of himself etc against the backdrop of idol worship, pantheism, ancestral worship, many avatars (incarnations), and numerous philosophies should also be kept in mind. There are many scholars who see the doctrine of grace, or some form of it and other doctrines in other religions also.13 There may be similarities on the surface, but they differ greatly in details. Keeping these things in mind let us proceed to evaluate our worship. Before continuing with this topic the author wants to make it clear that he is not familiar with the worship patterns in the Northeast churches. He is familiar with the worship patterns in the Church of South India in Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, with the Pentecostal churches in Southern states, and the Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church in Dehradun. Let us analyze the various parts of the worship; Time Without exception all our worship services are on Sundays with rare special services on the other days (i.e if Christmas falls on a week day). Usually the worship services run for an hour or little more than that in the mainline churches and it may be two to three hours in the Pentecostal churches. This is very much alien to our context. Here in India, worship is not restricted to any particular day or time. There are special days and festival seasons on which special prayers are carried out. In the villages new moon days are special days when people spend several nights in signing bhajans and keertans. Apart from this there are religious discourses in the special month of shravan. Though we need not follow these things completely, we should consider the situation in which we minister and our converts come from. When a believer wants to commune with the Lord individually or wants to meditate and reflect on God’s word, where will he go? Many of the Indian Christians are from poor or middle class families. So they do not have places for personal meditation and prayer. In such a situation keeping the Church open for all the seven days will help and encourage the Christians, the new converts and even helpful in witnessing. Even the Sunday as the day of worship needs our attention. Almost universally Sunday is an accepted holiday (not so in the Middle East or Nepal). But in several places in our country the rural folks are given Monday as holiday. In the northern Karnataka Monday is observed as the “day of Basavanna (the Ox)”. Can the Church in these areas rest and worship on this day rather than Sunday (till the times change)? We need to consider this more sympathetically. Music This aspect is criticized by many who have called for the Indigenization of the Indian Church. Usually in the churches an organ or a guitar or both are used to lead the singing. The English 12 Dayanand, Bharati, Living Water and Indian Bowl (Delhi: ISPCK, 1997), 31. 13 T. Dayanandan Francis, Aspects of Christian and Hindu Bhakti (Madras: The Christian Literature society, 1987), 57. and German hymns translated into the vernaculars are sung. Lyrics are also sung (utmost one or two). Pentecostal churches as a reaction to the mainline churches completely avoid singing hymns and use songs composed in the vernaculars to the music of harmonium and a drum or tabla. This is quite welcome. Some of our churches still prefer to sing hymns with Victorian English, which does not make sense even to many of the Christians. There is a recent spurt in singing and contemporary music with the accompaniment of keyboard, guitar and drums. There is nothing wrong in the music instruments itself; but the trend of ‘worshipping the worship’ with the songs borrowed from western worship albums is worrisome. H.L.Richard, after analyzing the spiritual life of the great Marathi poet Narayan Vaman Tilak, advises the Indian Church to “appreciate and develop the use of traditional music form”. The reason is “Popular Hinduism has grown mightily through poetry and song. There is a little hope for Biblical teaching to enter the minds and change the hearts of the Hindus without communication in traditional poetic and musical styles.”14 Language Christian worship is overwhelmingly verbal. So we need to critically evaluate our songs, prayer, Scripture reading and preaching to see whether they make sense to the hearer. First, let us begin with the Scripture. Is the language of the Bible that we use understandable to people? Is the language relevant? While the English version is going through many changes, our vernacular versions are static and so are hard to understand by those who accept Christ from other faiths and even to our younger generation. We are hesitant to use the words that our non-Christian friends use for ‘God’. But the New Testament writers used the Greek word for ‘God’ when they wrote about the true God of the Bible. While trying to explain God’s redemptive purposes, they freely drew their imagery from the market, and court places. Even the concept of “Hades” is from the Greek mythology. But we have created our own pulpit vocabulary. Rather we should use the existing language and give the Christian meaning to it. There are several words that can be adopted and given a Christian meaning, such as – avatar (for incarnation), Guru (for Rabbi or teacher), Mukti (for salvation), Prasad (for Lord’s supper) etc;15 these are some of the words recommended for the Hindu context; but we should find words that aptly express our faith, love and devotion for God. Usage of obscure words (like hallelujah and Amen) and the reason behind our postures and words used should be explained to the worshippers every now and then. There also should be time for silence, which can be useful in the confession of sins or meditation of the word taught. Much work has been done especially by the Catholics, in expressing Christian thoughts and prayers in Sanskrit (according to the Vedic traditions), the ancient religious language of India. This is very much criticized by the “Dalit Theologians” who feel that this may pave way to a kind of “Brahminical Christianity”. They feel that “God’s word should be expressed in the language of the ordinary people”. We should encourage both so that the glorious riches of word of God may be communicated to the people. We need to strike a balance between preaching of the Word and worship through songs. Reformation restored the centrality of preaching of the word of God in worship. Zwingli removed every thing that will distract God’s people from the word of God. It also brought renewal in the congregational singing. Martin Luther composed hymns that could be sung by the congregation.16 But the increased emphasis on the preaching of the word of God should not reduce God’s people to mere spectators. In many Indian cultures singing forms the important part worship. People sing Bhajans 14 H.L.Richard, Christ-Bhakti: Narayan Vaman Tilak and Christian work among Hindus (Delhi: ISPCK, 1991), 116. 15 Dayanand Bharati, Living Water and Indian Bowl, 57. Here he gives many words that can be adapted and used specially in a Hindu context. 16 LaMar Boschman, A Heart of Worship: Experience a Rebirth of worship (Florida: Creation House, 1994), 148-150. several hours without even a songbook. In such a situation we should explore avenues to put doctrines, scriptures to songs set to the native tunes so that it gets to the heart of God’s people. These songs can educate, edify and even warn people of God. Also is the non-offensive form of witnessing and it increases the participation of the laity in worship. Posture and attitude Much has been said and written about this. Our posture expresses our attitude. In the Indian context usually people sit down in acknowledgement of the divine presence. There is nothing wrong in continuing with this tradition. In fact it is desirable. Closing our eyes in prayer, bowing heads, folding handing in a posture of prayer are all very much suitable for our context. Can a person prostrate oneself in God’s presence as mark of complete surrender to God? Bishop A. J. Appasamy once experimented with this and was impressed with the outcome. He feels that it is a symbol of complete surrender. But this he tried in an Anglican setup, which has an altar toward which the people prostrated.17 We do not understand God’s presence that way. If a worshipper is overwhelmed by God’s presence and prostrates himself, he should not be discouraged. Also we cannot force every worshipper to prostrate during worship. Festivals The attitude of Indian Church toward Indian festivals is one of indifference and even hostility. This is like the approach of early missionaries who blasted the superstitious and idolatrous elements of Hinduism. They looked at all of the Indian culture and customs with suspicion. But later that approach changed.18 But the Indian Church’s attitude toward the Indian festivals has not changed much. Several of the Indian festivals are based on the cycles of nature (like Pongal of Tamilnadu and Baisakhi of Punjab which are harvest festivals) and on important events of life (like birth, pregnancy, marriage and death). They may be closely connected with religious worship. But why can not the Church adopt it and give Christian meaning to it? All of us know that December 25 is not the birthday of Christ. Yet it was adopted from the festivals of that time and made into the birthday of Christ (dies solis invicti nati -“day of the birth of the unconquered sun”).19 We can have New Year services on the regional New Year day according to our regional calendar. Also the Church should develop a positive attitude toward some special festivals like Raksha Bandhan and the festival of lights, Deepavali. Having special services on the local cultural festival days will give people an alternative, which is rooted in their culture and connects it to the Christian faith. Church architecture Bishop Sundar Clarke while commenting on Church architecture says that Indian church built on the Gothic style is a misfit to our context. He asks, “Do we think of Indian gopuram or of Pallava architecture or Chola beauty?”20 This will be the shift in the opposite direction. Building Churches like temples will not serve our purpose, as we do not believe in a ‘literal deity’ residing there. Church is a place where God’s people meet to worship God and to be instructed in the way they should conduct their lives. This uniqueness should be maintained. Firstly, we cannot afford to build 17 T. Dayanandan Francis, Editor, The Christian Bhakti of A. J. Appasamy (A Collection of his writing) (Madras: The Christian Literature Society, 1992), 94-100. 18 H.L.Richard, Christ-Bhakti: Narayan Vaman Tilak and Christian work among Hindus, 12. 19 Hans J Hillerbrand, Encyclopedia Britannica, Electronic Edition, 2004. 20 Sundar Clarke, Let The Indian Church Be Indian, 20. grand temples. Secondly when the congregation grows large it should be divided into small groups, which will help better growth and administration rather than attempting to build huge cathedrals. Other areas In the same way other things like the dress of the minister, the title of the minister, whether to use an offering bag or keep a brass vessel where people can come forward to give their offerings, the possible usage of symbols like a lamp, should be discussed using the Christian prudence. “Ashram movement” also is a forgotten area. Despite its services in the past it has lost its relevance in the recent years. Ashrams can be used by the Church, not as a means to run away from the world or from one’s responsibility but to retreat, recharge and go back to the world with renewed vigor. All these issues call the Church for a sympathetic consideration of our culture and our spirituality. Also Reformed churches should work out its stand toward the ancient heritage of our country, especially the literature, and the great saints of the past. The possibility of “fulfillment theology” in the light of the doctrine of common grace should be explored. Conclusion Worship is the greatest privilege God has given us as his children. He has also set in his scripture about how should worship him. So God’s word guides us in the essentials of worship. On the peripherals the Church should show more charity. Elders should be taught to work out worship services in a culturally relevant way. Each session should constantly evaluate the relevance of their worship in a given context. Bibliography _______________. Asian Christian Theologies: A Research Guide to Authors, Movements, Sources. Vol.1. New York: ISPCK/Claretian Publishers/Orbis Books, 2002. Bennett, Christi-An. C. Seeking the Soul of India. Philippines: Journal of Asian Mission, Volume 4, Number 2, September, 2002. Bharati, Dayanand. Living Water and Indian Bowl. Delhi: ISPCK, 1997. Boschman, LaMar. A Heart of Worship: Experience a Rebirth of Worship. Florida: Creation House, 1994. Clarke, Sundar. Let the Indian Church be Indian. Madras: The Christian Literature Society, 1985. Francis, Dayanandan. Aspects of Christian and Hindu Bhakti. Chennai: The Christian Literature Society, 1987. Francis, Dayanandan. Editor. The Christian Bhakti of A. J. Appasamy (A collection of his writings). Madras: The Christian Literature Society, 1992. Hedlund, Roger. E. Quest For Identity: India’s Churches of Indigenous Origin: The “Little Tradition” in Indian Christianity. Delhi: MIIS/ISPCK, 2000. Immanuel, Sundararajan G. Indian Culture and Christianity. Secunderabad: OM Books, 2002. Joseph, Stephen. The Use of Mission Records and Publications for Academic Research. Chennai: Dharma Deepika, 2004(No.1). Kishore, B.R. Hinduism. New Delhi: Diamond pocket books, ND. Lott, Eric J. Editor. Worship In An Indian Context. Bangalore: UTC Publication, 1986. Rao, O.M. The Call for New Patterns of Worship in India. Bangalore: TBT Journal, Vol. 5, No.1, 2003. Richard, H. L. Christ-Bhakti: Narayan Vaman Tilak and Christian Work among Hindus. Delhi: ISPCK, 1991. Stott, John.R.W. The Message of Acts. Bible Speaks Today. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1990. Tennent, Timothy. C. Building Christianity on Indian Foundations: The Legacy of Brahmabandhav Upadhyay. Delhi: ISPCK, 2000.

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Dear Friends,

Sam Stroope of C-star recently sent me this article that was given by his leaders to him that is being circulated in his org. He asked for my thoughts on it, but I fall into a ‘dangerous’ category of one without a theological degree (alas what would Yeshu and his chelas think of me with all of their theological studies they gained as fishermen, carpenters and tax collectors!), perhaps less dangerous than those ‘theologians who only attend leadership meetings’, as the article mentions and attacks more than once, but certainly those long term field based sevaks like Rajesh, BDB Moses, Pete, Vijay Pandey or Rakesh Mehta (although Westerners and well known psyeudonym users!!!
very dangerous!) would like to respond to the paper, write a positive criteque or at least write a balanced one to give another angle to the story!

Perhaps even better would be for a Yeshubhakta like Naval Gupta, Pramod Dubey, Madhu (in TN), Swami M or DB to respond as this article as is not just a critique of a ‘theology or method’ but actually (in both tone and content) an unfortunate personal attack on the validity of who they are as Hindus following Christ!!! However, the authors commitment to factual detail is to be commended and we need to be prepared for these types of questions. However as a 35 year old YWAM leader perhaps it is best for me to bow out and ask one of the more mature (in both age and traditional study) to think about responding.

As usual an article of this sort has a veneer of ‘Biblical’ and ‘Historic Church’ authority and though it is entirely negative in tone (it reminds me of the article about Talwar in Light of Life magazine) we can learn from it and see historic markers that we would
do well to take into earnest consideration. I even like the fact that the article is a bit crotchety but it is sad that there is no love or even remote feeling that Paul had (distressed over the idols) and remains negative to the end. Perhaps the author had no time to give a kind word and felt he was in a position to get the whip out and clear the temple courts. Unfortunately, he also completely glosses over the biblical basis for sharing good news within community from Galations 2, Acts 10, etc and mentions not even one of the multitude of stories about the other side of Isa Muslims who love Isa and recognise him as their Lord and Savior and the strong movements in Bang & Indo that are happening.

The author also asks us to insert ‘Hindu, Buddhist, etc’ I did so and answered his question sheet at the bottom and feel I came out quite biblical and full of excitement for our contextual methodology! Articles of this sort never change anyones mind but
certainly cement ideas with those who are already leaning or against ‘C5/ insider movement/contextual approach’ but certainly make us well aware of the rheatoric that is out there from other believers who are against Hindus experiancing (and Muslims) the historic and very real and personal Christ, our Sadguru Yeshuji and following his commands in the BOOK (bible) i.e. our beautiful and eternally lovely Yeshugranth!

Enjoy!

Jai Veeramani

MY REPORT ON INSIDER MOVEMENT/ C5

by Roger L. Dixon, 33 years involved in Indonesian cp

M.Div.- Drew Theological School; Th.M.- Fuller School of World Mission;

Ph.D.- Intercultural Studies, Biola Univ.

dixon@lynchburg.net

Introduction

A strange phenomenon is gaining some acceptance in the mission fields of the world. It is promoted by western theorists who spend much of their time visiting training schools and writing articles that publicize various ministries in unnamed countries, financed by unnamed organizations, among unnamed people groups. This is the face of the Insider Movement or as it is commonly known- C5 ministry. Although much of the inner working of this movement is unclear, the most obvious characteristics are as follows:

(1) the extreme assimilation of the evangelist into the culture and religion of the focus culture. In some cases, this assimilation has taken the form of actually becoming a member of the focus religion in order to gain a hearing. At least 3 western Christian missionaries in Indonesia have become Muslims by saying the statement of faith (syahadah) “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his apostle.” I have heard reports that there are more in other countries. Many of these workers are members of respected evangelical agencies.

(2) the creation of new “bibles” that minimize the deity of Jesus through the rephrasing of terms such as “Lord” and “Son of God.”

The purpose of this paper is to report some of the theology/philosophy and activity surrounding this new methodology. Although it is good to theorize about new ways to do missions, this theory is being promoted on obscure references and the process is not accountable to the Church at large. In this report I include references and bibliography for further research.

My layout is as follows:

1) the strange rise of Insider Movement/C5 thinking by persons writing incognito;

2) the relationship of this movement with the philosophy of the “emerging church;”

3) some of the weaknesses of the Insider Movement/C5;

4) comments on the ISFM (International Society of Frontier Missions) meeting in Atlanta, GA Sept. 17-18, 2006 that highlighted Insider Movement/ C5;

5) the importance of agencies and churches monitoring and interacting with their missionaries in areas of theology and methodology.

1) The strange rise of Insider Movement/C5 thinking that is not accountable to the Church at large

a. This Insider Movement/C5 thinking is strange in that rarely has a missiological theory or methodology received so much attention with so little demonstration of results. Much is claimed for this fad but little is provable to the social scientist. The research that is claimed and quoted by some (Phil Parshall, 1998:406, Joshua Massey, 2004:297) is not available to mission scholars in general so that there is no way to verify the accuracy of assumptions and conclusions drawn from this research by a few people (see Tennent, 2006:109 where he has to quote Parshall rather than the original study). In my experience, social science research is not promoted as authentic when other scholars have no way to judge if it could be replicated. Most of the other reports of this phenomenon are merely the opinions of miscellaneous writers who do not give any details about the people groups or places about which they report. Some examples are: John Travis, 1998; Travis & Travis, 2005; & Rick Brown, 2006.

b. World politics has added to this atmosphere of non-accountability. Political opportunity has given some workers occasion to promote missiological philosophies and theologies in such a way that no one is able to verify their observations. In a world where Christian activity is increasingly under the spotlight in unreached countries, operations by tentmakers must be circumspect. However, their theology is also unnecessarily shadowed from the Church at large and in some cases even from their own sending churches and agencies. An example of this can be seen in the preponderance of material concerning Insider Movements (commonly called C5, appropriate Christianity, etc.). These writings are vague about doctrine and ecclesiology and are beginning to draw the attention of church leaders such as John Piper, 2006 and D.A. Carson, 2005. It is time for the Church at large to require accountability from them. It is not responsible for us to surrender the future of missions in unreached countries to a few training centers, a few agencies and a few individuals.

c. Some of the proponents of this new methodology say they are reporting what they have observed. “C5 is not a strategy to reach Muslims, it is a reality effected by the Holy Spirit among numerous Muslim peoples.” [sic] (Massey, 2004:299; see also: Travis & Travis, 2005:402). However, both of these names are pseudonyms and most people have no way of knowing who they are, where they studied, where they worked, and if they have had sufficient experience with church planting to make their observations valid. At the ISFM (International Society of Frontier Missions) meeting in Atlanta, GA Sept. 17-18, 2006, the two mentioned writers were frequently quoted as the main theorists of the Insider Movement/C5 approach. Many other missionaries are following the lead of this new fad and it is important for agencies and churches to know what their people are thinking, believing, teaching, and doing.

d. Some organizations such as Frontier Missions Fellowship from which grew the US Center for World Mission are promoting Insider Movements/C5 in their publications. Ralph Winter seems to be a major advocate. A connected entity, International Journal of Frontier Missions, also has advanced these writings and though the writers may be known to them, their ministry areas may not be. All this makes it difficult for missiologists to engage adequately with these new ideas and methodologies.

2) The relationship of this Insider movement/ C5 with the philosophy of the “emerging church”

For those who do not know about the “emerging church” theology, information can be accessed on the web. I want to highlight 4 areas of this philosophy in which we can see the influence on missions: ecclesiology, biblical interpretation, pluralism, and individualism.

a. Ecclesiology- “The emerging church movement is highly decentralized with little institutional co-ordination, choosing instead to communicate through fluid, and open networks. Participants avoid formulaic assumptions about the role and nature of the church ecclesiology and instead attempt to gather in ways specific to their local context; the idea of ‘being a local community of people on a journey’ and not “a corporate church.” (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia) Here we see a postmodern worldview that highly values individualism and loosely defined relationships while criticizing the way the Church uses structures to maintain superiority to other religions.

b. Biblical Interpretation – “An openness to consider a plurality of interpretations as well as the impact of the reader’s cultural context on the act of interpretation in contrast to the primacy of the author’s intent and cultural context. The influence of postmodern thinkers such as Jacques Derrida and Stanley Fish can be seen in the emerging church approach to interpreting Scripture.” (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia)

They “are often more than willing to reject the old doctrines and redefine what Christianity is. In this process of discovery, we see a deconstruction and what emerges is a reconstruction of their Christianity that would differ from the more established churches or denominations beliefs. Thus, they believe they are making their faith their own, personal and in some cases unique, even to what the Bible presents. Others have adopted a wider openness for other beliefs, that are originating in other religions and alternate spiritual beliefs and practices indicative of the new age movement. (Mike Oppenheimer- http://www.letusreason.org/current73.htm

“…granted that the Emergent Church movement is driven by its perception

of widespread cultural changes, its own proposals for the way ahead must be

assessed for their biblical fidelity. In other words, we must not only try to

evaluate the accuracy of the Emergent Church’s cultural analysis, but also the

extent to which its proposals spring from, or can at least be squared with, the

Scriptures” (D. A. Carson, 2005).

Carson is Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

In an article titled “The D Word: Has doctrine become the new dirty word?” Holly Pivec puts deconstruction of Christian theology in perspective. Historic doctrines such as the Trinity are being called into question. “Doctrines like hell and the exclusivisity of Christ are being challenged by [Brian] McLaren and other leaders in the ‘emerging church’ movement…” “The doctrine of God’s omniscience is also under attack…” (Biola Connections, Summer 2006:14-15).

c. Pluralism- “synonym for religious relativism; that one’s religion is not the sole and exclusive source of truth, and that some level of truth and value exists in at least some other religions. As a synonym for religious tolerance, which is a condition of harmonious co-existence between adherents of different religions or religious denominations.”

(Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia)

Mike Oppenheimer explains: “Experience is what many are looking for. They deny the importance of theology (they even question it). The fact is; most of the common words that describe important facets of the faith have lost their meaning to them. Instead, Yoga, Contemplative prayer, labyrinth walking and a variety of other non-Biblical practices are adopted from other religions. We now have a synthesizing with Christianity that is being practiced and defended as a new direction for the church. At the heart of all this is relativism (and pluralism), although the participants would not see it this way.” http://www.letusreason.org/current73.htm

d. Individualism – This seems to be the motor driving both “emerging church” philosophy and Insider Movement/C5 thinking. My impression is that most if not all of the C5 activity is connected with parachurch organizations. Also, the C5 writings emphasize the importance of the individual person staying in his/her culture even when he/she cannot witness clearly as a believer in that situation. C5 also seems to allow the new believer to decide for him/herself what it means to be a believer instead of following Jesus’ injunction to “make disciples.” This mirrors a Buddhist worldview that “ultimate truth can never be learned from man or revealed by a god, but can only be learned through the meditative experience of each individual” (Go Interserve, Second Issue 2006:5- this article is about Buddhism and does not refer to C5).

C5 promotes a model that isolates the individual from the Christian community at large, thus creating a situation where he/she must stand alone. Historically, this has been considered theologically unsound. Consider John Wesley’s comment:

“For will any man affirm that a solitary Christian(so called, though it is

little less than a contradiction in terms) can be a merciful man, — that is,

one that takes every opportunity of doing all good to all men? What can

be more plain, than that t his fundamental branch of the religion of Jesus

Christ cannot possibly subsist without society, without our living and

conversing with other men?”

(Sermon #24 Upon Our Lord’s Sermon On The Mount).

From my observation, it appears that Insider movement/C5 people are strongly influenced by the same kind of philosophical tenets that drive the emerging church development. Other areas of influence worthy of attention include syncretism, narrative theology, and inter-spirituality. Insider/C5 theory is not developing in a vacuum.

3) Some of the weaknesses of the Insider Movement/C5

a. The philosophy is based on a simplistic model (C1-C6 Spectrum) that isn’t a real model. It is a template that helps one to observe some characteristics of a ministry. However, it cannot begin to display the multiple and varied characteristics of a true contextual situation.

b. A dominant characteristic of the model is fear of man. A tentmaker visiting Pakistan asked the believers about the most important lesson they learned from the missionaries. They answered that the missionaries taught them to fear. They were afraid of everything from loss of life to loss of visa. This tentmaker determined that a major goal of his team would be to have no fear of man among their focus group.

The C5 model promotes fear of man by spiritually isolating converts so that no one is sure of who they are or what they believe. In Muslim societies, converts speak in vague terms such as being “followers of Isa.” Terms like these are strange to Muslims. C5 leaders encourage continued attendence at the Mosque and the practice of daily prayers even when the converts feel spiritually burdened by these activities. It is impossible to break spiritual bondages when one continues to do the very things that encourage spiritual darkness.

2 Timothy 1:8- “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,…” Insider Movement/C5 philosophy obscures the nature of Christian faith so that the converts will not be persecuted whereas the NT apostles and believers openly testified despite the persecution.

c. A crippling weakness of C5 is the lack of a biblical theology. Many writers have published papers purporting to exegete OT & NT passages that support their approach. However, these are very immature examinations of Scripture and all the passages that they claim undergird their philosophy have been refuted by better biblical scholarship. (See: Scott Woods, 2003; Tim Tennent, 2006; D.A Carson, February 01, 2005; & Bill Nikides, 2006)

d. At least one of the major theorists is Arian in his Christology. Massey’s theology is

given in more detail in his article: “Misunderstanding C5 and the Infinite Translatability of Christ” on this website:

http://bgc.gospelcom.net/emis/pdfs/Misunderstanding_C5.pdf

Part of his theology is based on the thinking of John A.T. Robinson who was a major force in shaping liberal theology and who suggested abandoning the idea of a God out there by substituting the theology of God as the depth of our being and existence. Massey writes: “For this reason, many theologians describe the incarnation (the Word became flesh) not as the human birth of an eternally pre-existent Son within the Godhead, but as the self-revelation of God in Christ. Or some put it, Jesus is the human face of God” (p.12). [Robinson, John A.T., The Human Face of God. Philadelphia: Westminster Press. 1973]

To remind you of Arian theology, I include Dorothy L. Sayers clever verse:

“Arius of Alexandria, I’m the talk of all the town,

Friend of saints, elect of Heaven, filled with learning and renown:

If you want the Logos-doctrine, I can serve it hot and hot-

God begat Him, and before He was begotten, He was not.”

The Emperor Constantine: A Chronicle, p. 119.

As Tennent points out, “Massey does not believe that Jesus shares the same essence with the Father” nor does he hold that Jesus is “an eternally pre-existent Son within the Godhead…” (2006:115).

K. Higgins provides a rationale for developing Insider/ C5 theology see: Kevin Higgins, 2004. This article summarizes some of the issues but has weak exegesis to support C5. Mark Harlan attempts to explain contextual theology, but there is nothing new in his material that would apply specifically to C5 ministry as opposed to any other cross cultural church planting ministry (Harlan:2005).

e. The most devastating aspect of Insider Movement/C5 theology is its revision of the NT to minimize the person and work of Jesus by eliminating the traditional translation of the Greek kurios (Lord) and substituting terms with lesser theological import. Also, C5 practitioners change the biblical writers’ way of explaining “Son of God” with a term that indicates only a personage who has come from God. This has been done in an Indonesian NT called Kitab Suci Injil (Holy Gospel) that was published by the Indonesian Bible Society in 2000. A similar revision is planned for a Malay translation. These translations are promoted by expatriates and mission organizations. I hear this has been done in other areas as well. Please contact me for further information about the Indonesian translation.

For the rationale in translating Insider/C5 bibles see: Travis, IJFM 2006 (especially sections #3 & #5); Rick Brown, 2000. Here we see what was mentioned in 2) b. above concerning “openness to a plurality of interpretations.”

In an interview, the Egyptian Jewish writer, Bat Ye’or, said: “There are many processes of Islamization. One of them is through theology and the adoption of the Muslim replacement theology, whereby the biblical figures from Adam-Abraham, Moses, down to Mary and Jesus- are all considered as ‘Muslim prophets.’ Hence, Israel’s history is transferred to the Muslim Palestinians, and it is easy to see from there the final transition to Islam where the Jewish Jesus becomes an Arab-Palestinian-Muslim prophet” (World, Nov. 19, 2005, p. 18).

Maxie Dunnam warns us of what has already happened in the Church: “Diminishing the authority of Scripture and enthroning doctrinal pluralism, we have diminished, and in some cases even denigrated the saving incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ” (“Ambassadors For Christ,” an address at the World Methodist Conference, July, 2006).

4) Comments on the ISFM (International Society of Frontier Missions) meeting in

Atlanta, GA Sept. 17-18, 2006 that promoted the Insider Movement/ C5.

a. Theme: “Jerusalem Council Applied: Apostolic Insights into Today’s Insider Movements.” This theme was overly ambitious and the only apostolic insights given were by the two speakers questioning the basis of the movement. ISFM was unable to fulfill their stated goals.

b. Speakers: Of the 6 speakers, only two questioned the basic tenets of Insider Movement/C5. These were Tim Tennent of Gordon Conwell and Gary Corwin of EMQ/ missiologist-at-large for Arab World Ministries. Their talks were the most useful of the conference. The other four speakers were all pro-C5. They were Dudley Woodberry of Fuller, John Ridgeway from Navigators, Kevin Higgins, executive director of Global Teams, & Brian Peterson. Information about the presenters did made clear who Brian Peterson was but his talk was the only one of the four pro-C5 speakers that had new material in it. The other speakers essentially presented introductory or Missions 101 talks. However, the audience included veteran missionaries, heads of denominational mission agencies, and other experienced professionals.

c. With few exceptions, the four pro-C5 speakers rehashed old ideas about missions that have been taught for years at Fuller and other training schools. These ideas have long been formulated by writers such as John Nevius, Roland Allen, and Donald McGavran and restated by many others. Most C5 missiology simply repeats these principles as though they were something new and thus most missionaries agree with 90% of what C5 people say. C5 theory about contextualization is very simplistic and does not deal with comprehensive contextualization such as that indicated by writers such as Moreau, 2006 and Dixon, 2002.

d. Missiological questions- The only two speakers who proposed challenging and relevant missiological questions were Tim Tennent and Gary Corwin who were questioning the very tenets of the Insider Movement/C5. (Corwin’s questions are supposed to be published in a future IJFM). Attempts were made to answer only a few of their many questions. The impression given by the other speakers was that they had not thought about these questions. The speakers also continually quoted Joshua Massey and John Travis as the experts indicating that they, themselves, did not have a comprehensive grasp of the Insider/C5 rationale.

They reminded me of a piece of an old limerick that I have revised as follows with apologies to the original:

A frustrated bear at the zoo,

Was confused with what he should do.

It bored him, you know

To walk to and fro,

So he decided to walk fro and to.

5) The importance of agencies and churches monitoring and interacting with their missionaries in areas of theology and methodology.

As I stated above, one of the primary purposes of this report is to urge the sending churches and agencies to monitor their missionaries and to help them process this new Insider Movement/C5 philosophy. Many new workers of all ages do not have training in cross cultural principles, missiology, or theology and thus are not prepared to understand and assimilate these teachings without outside help.

To assist agencies and mission committees, a list of questions are included in an attachment that may be useful in analyzing the theological understanding of workers.

The Center for the Study of World Christian Revitalization Movements, at Asbury Theological Seminary has recently highlighted a current initiative known as the Call to an Ancient Evangelical Future. Some 300 people participated in the formulation of this document. (For full information see www.ancientfutureworship.com ). Several of their points are critical to this report on Insider Movements/C5.

“We call for a return to the priority of the divinely authorized canonical story of the Triune God.”

“We call for the Church’s reflections to remain anchored in the Scriptures in continuity with the theological interpretation learned from the early Fathers.”

“We call for a catechetical spiritual formation of the people of God that is based firmly on a Trinitarian biblical narrative.” (Revitalization, Asbury Theological Seminary, Fall 2006:2-3.)

No matter how much we contextualize, Jesus Christ will remain a problem for the unbeliever. As Scripture states it: “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence.”

(1 Peter 2:8)

Attachment:

Questions for Mission Agencies & Churches for the Missionaries in their Care

In today’s mission enterprise, there is a considerable Islamization (and changes to agree with other religions) of the gospel spearheaded by western missionaries from various traditionally evangelical agencies. It is so extreme and rapid in some places that a number of agencies and churches are possibly unaware of the theological positions under which many of their missionaries are operating.

Leaders and field workers from several agencies doing cc cp have formulated the following questions which you may find helpful in analyzing aspects of your own group’s outreach.

* You may substitute Hinduism, Buddhism, or other religions for Islam in these

questions about religion.

DO YOUR WORKERS:

1. Understand that heresy usually begins with subtly changing the identity and work of

Christ?

2. believe that Jesus always pre-existed as the Son and not as a non-personal logos

(word) or wisdom?

3. call Jesus the Son of God, or refer to him as a special kind of prophet the way

Muslims do?

4. proclaim Jesus as Lord or have replaced the meaning of Lord with a Muslim-

friendly term that means something less than God?

5. believe that someone is saved even though he/she doesn’t believe that Jesus is God?

6. have a written biblical basis for their ministry?

7. consider that the Qur’an is a source of revelation about the Father and the Son?

8. know that Christianity & Judaism have a worldview different from the Islamic

worldview?

9. call themselves Muslims based on the meaning of Islam as submission to God, thus

tacitly affirming Islam?

10. follow the Muslim prayers in the mosque (sholat)?

11. understand that there is no Messianic hope in Islam such as Judaism has- that

there is no such thing as a Messianic Muslim?

12. understand how Muslim beliefs affect the faith and Christian worldview of new

converts?

13. have a theology of the Church as the body of Christ for converts who remain in

mosques?

14. teach that converts are part of the historic, visible church in the world and therefore

should have relational and ministerial ties to a disciplined body of believers?

EMQ – archives can be accessed at www.emqonline.com but you have to subscribe

IJFM – archives can be accessed at www.ijfm.org

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brown, Rick, 2000. “The ‘Son of God’ Understanding the Messianic Titles of Jesus.”

IJFM, January-March 17:1, 41-52.

Brown, Rick, 2006. “Contextualization with Syncretism.” IJFM, July-September 23:3,

127-133.

Carson, D.A., 2005. “The Emerging Church.” Modern Reformation Magazine, “Faith a

http://modernreformation.org/dac05emerging.htm

Carson, D.A. February 01, 2005. Responses to Massey 2004 in a personal letter.

Dixon, Roger L., 2002. “The Major Model Of Muslim Ministry.” Missiology:

An International Review, Vol. XXX, No. 4, October 2002. ( A study of

contextualization among Javanese)

Harlan, Mark, 2005. “De-Westernizing Doctrine and Developing Appropriate Theology

in Mission.” IJFM, October-December 22:4, 159-166.

Higgins, Kevin, 2004. “The Key to Insider Movements: The ‘Devoted’s’ of Acts.” IJFM,

October-December 21:4, 155-165.

Massey, Joshua, 2004. “MisunderstandingC5: His Ways Are Not Our Orthodoxy.” EMQ,

July 40:3, 296-304.

Moreau, Scott, 2006. “Contextualization That Is Comprehensive.” Missiology: An

International Review, Vol. XXXIV, No.3, July.

Nikides, Bill, 2006. “Evaluating ‘Insider Movements’: C5 (Messianic Muslims).”

St Francis Magazine Nr 4 (March 2006).

[St Francis Magazine is published by Interserve and Arab Vision

www.stfrancismagazine.info -www.interserve.org -www.arabvision.org]

Parshall, Phil, 1998. “Danger! New directions in contextualization.” EMQ October 34:4,

404-410.

Piper, John, 2006. “Minimizing the Bible?:Seeker-Driven Pastors and Radical

Contextualization in Missions.” Mission Frontiers: January-February:16-17.

(This article is available on www.desiringgod.org)

Sayers, Dorothy L. 1951. The Emperor Constantine: A Chronicle. London: Victor

Gollancz Ltd.

Tennent, Timothy C. 2006. “Followers of Jesus (Isa) in Islamic Mosques.” IJFM July-

September 23:3,101-115.

Travis, John, 1998. “The C1 to C6 Spectrum.” EMQ October 34:4, 407-408.

Travis, John & Anna Travis, 2005. “Appropriate Approaches in Muslim Contexts.”

In Appropriate Christianity, Charles H. Kraft, ed., pp. 397-414. Pasadena, William

Carey Library.

Travis, John, 2006. “Producing and Using Meaningful Translations of the Taurat, Zabur

and Injil.” IJFM April-June 23:2, 73-77.

Woods, Scott, 2003. “A Biblical Look At C5 Muslim Evangelism.” EMQ April, 39:2,

188-195.

Dear Jai,

Shanti!

Thanks for sending the Insider paper to me. The following is my selective response to Dixon’s article. You first read and let me know your response. Then I will send this to Rick and Hoeffer to know their view. Then we can share with others.

Dayanand’s response:

As Dixon has asked us to replace ‘Hindu’ for ‘Islam’, doing that I am writing as a Hindu bhakta of the Lord.

1. the extreme assimilation of the evangelist into the culture and religion of the focus culture. In some cases, this assimilation has taken the form of actually becoming a member of the focus religion in order to gain a hearing.

Keeping the mind set up of a missionary Dixon addresses to other missionaries who are working among ‘unreached’ people. But the old mind set of missionaries creating a divide of ‘we’ and ‘they’ viz. ‘missionaries’ and the ‘converts’, never finds any need to take the views of their converts when raises such issues in this article.

When the missionaries write with such mentality, the only answer that I would like to give is ‘ignore’ them. Because I often feel that we become merely an agenda or object for the missionaries to discuss, argue, quarrel. And still worst is that when we become a means for them to make a living, then it hurts me more. Time and again the way Dixon warns the ‘sending agencies’ ‘support group’ etc. endorses this view.

Now to the question of ‘assimilation’, unless one born as a Hindu, no one can become a Hindu. Even if an outsider, wants to become a Hindu (as several Westerners have done in the past), there is no need for them to confess any doctrinal statement in order to ‘gain a hearing’ by the Hindus. Hindu identity being more of sociological factor, in which culture and religion are overlap with each other, assimilation of the evangelist into Hinduism is done by few (outsiders) in order to learn the Hindu phenomena as an insider than just to impress the Hindus to ‘gain a hearing’. Though most of the Hindus, particularly educated one just ignore such assimilation by the outsiders, yet they are more sensitive to know when such assimilation is done only for the sake of sharing the gospel. On the other hand, if the outsiders in order to know the Hindu phenomena in all its aspects, try to assimilate Hinduism, even going to the extent of become a Hindu, then they welcome it. Without knowing the complicated Hindu phenomena, Dixon cannot simply ‘replace’ Hindu for ‘Islam’ in his approach to analyze the ‘Insider Movement’. Particularly the Semantic religious have their unique features, which won’t naturally fit with Hinduism.

2.’ Although it is good to theorize about new ways to do missions, this theory is being promoted on obscure references and the process is not accountable to the Church at large…. the importance of agencies and churches monitoring and interacting with their missionaries in areas of theology and methodology…. It is time for the Church at large to require accountability from them. It is not responsible for us to surrender the future of missions in unreached countries to a few training centers, a few agencies and a few individuals…. it is important for agencies and churches to know what their people are thinking, believing, teaching, and doing. –Dixon

Dixon demands for a larger accountability to the church. But he forgets that we, new believers are too part of that church and missionaries are equally accountable to us, as they are to their ‘sending agencies’. For people like Dixon ‘church at large’ always means their own churches back at home and they never consider the new churches on equal terms. To avert all kinds of syncretism and compromise should not be decided by any ‘sending agencies’ and their church at home, but mainly by the new churches with complete freedom to assimilate the gospel within their culture, tradition etc.

3. a. Ecclesiology- “The emerging church movement is highly decentralized with little institutional co-ordination, choosing instead to communicate through fluid, and open networks. Participants avoid formulaic assumptions about the role and nature of the church ecclesiology and instead attempt to gather in ways specific to their local context; the idea of ‘being a local community of people on a journey’ and not “a corporate church.” (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia) Here we see a postmodern worldview that highly values individualism and loosely defined relationships while criticizing the way the Church uses structures to maintain superiority to other religions. –Dixon

–Church that we understand as the body of Christ is completely different from Dixon’s ‘corporate church’. Like western theology, this western Ecclesiology is our main problem in India. In India society is organized not religion. And to insist on a ‘corporate church’ imitating western churches have completely failed to make any impact in India. Because Christianity becoming another community within Indian society, functions within the caste groups in Hindu communities. However the Christians gather in any ‘corporate’ church for three hours in a week, in their practical life they are part of the Hindu society at large. Read Badrinath’s ‘Finding Jesus in Dharma’ (ISPCK, New Delhi, 2000). Like the New Testament churches, unless Indian churches also become decentralized without any institutional co-ordination, then alone the gospel can make some impact in the larger Indian society. Otherwise it has to continue to struggle between its identity as an organized society (caste group) and organized religion. By remaining an organized society, it never fits within the (western) organized church, which claims transcending all kinds of race, class and caste evils. By remaining as an organized religion it remains away from the Indian main stream, viewed as the branch of western churches. So by its own makeup Indian churches are caught between rock and hard place of an organized (sociological) church and organized religious institution.

4. In this process of discovery, we see a deconstruction and what emerges is a reconstruction of their Christianity that would differ from the more established churches or denominations beliefs.—Dixon.

— When such glorious day will come to India. Unless the new churches differ from the ‘established churches or denominations beliefs’, there is no hope for gospel in this country. What we Hindu bhaktas of the Lord need? All these ‘denominational beliefs’ or faith in Christ? I want to stand on the top of the world and shout to all these denominationally established churches ‘LEAVE US ALONE’. We become tired of all these denominations and their doctrinal beliefs. Considering the existing more than 40,000 denominations in Christianity, people like Dixon has no right to talk about ‘a plurality of interpretations as well as the impact of the reader’s cultural context’.

If all these denominations can claim that their beliefs are ‘squared with, the Scriptures’ (D. A. Carson, 2005), through their own interpretation of various contexts, then we too have a place among them. Christians, particularly Protestants have no right to talk about ‘biblical fidelity’, having several thousands of denominations. With all these denominations and their doctrinal beliefs, ‘Insider Movements’ won’t make much problem.

5. ‘… religion is not the sole and exclusive source of truth…’—Dixon

At least in India, we Hindus never believe that no religion is the sole and exclusive source of truth. That’s we believe as our Veda says, ‘Let noble truth come from everywhere’ (Rig. I. 89.1). Christianity as a religion can never claim to be the only source of Truth. But for a bhakta (believer) once she confronted the Truth in the Lord Jesus Christ, He becomes the sole exclusive source of truth. Thankfully, our Lord stands outside the organized Christianity to reveal the Truth about him in his way through the word of God to us. This I experienced and hope other Indians also can receive it outside Christianity.

6. a variety of other non-Biblical practices are adopted from other religions.

We all know all the non -Biblical practices that the church adopted from pagan cultures in its history from every where. Claiming any practice as biblical itself is doubtful. Because several Jewish practices which we find in the bible we are not following. For example burial. The way Christians bury their dead in a coffin is not biblical. Jewish people never buried their dead but kept the body in a tom for one year. After one year they collected the bone in a small box and put it in a chamber inside the family burial cave. So, what is wrong in adopting new practices like Yoga (which of course I am not doing) according to the need of the contemporary need of the people that is relevant to their cultural context.

7. C5 also seems to allow the new believer to decide for him/herself what it means to be a believer instead of following Jesus’ injunction to “make disciples.”

— Faith in Christ is like a contaminating decease. A person affected by this decease, even does not like to spread cannot help herself. Any sincere believers will share the gospel both by words and deeds to others. Of course she may not do in the same way as the evangelicals expects her to do. But a bhakta’s life cannot remain without influencing other people around her.

8. They were afraid of everything from loss of life to loss of visa. This tentmaker determined that a major goal of his team would be to have no fear of man among their focus group.

Such tent makers coming from outside keeping all kinds of securities for them back in home, want to teach the natives about ‘no fear of man’. Once such tent makers left, the natives will return back to their own local version of ‘fear of man’. ‘No fear of man’ is not a theological issue in Asian countries but they are more sociological. Outsiders without having any inner experience with such kind of sociological groups will never understand such ‘fear of man’ aspect in different from in every society. They see everything in life only from theological point of view and try to resolve them again from theological perspective. Whereas, in spite of having strong faith, as long as we live on this earth, the struggle between ‘sprit’ and ‘flesh’ will come in various form, taking local color and context. The Tent makers may not have ‘fear of man’ in the same way an Asian has, but they have their own struggle on different kind. So the best way to teach ‘no fear of man’ is to help the natives to understand the strength and weakness of their own society and workout their own strategy as an insider than to listen from an outsider the try to implement their advice as if divine word.—db

9. whereas the NT apostles and believers openly testified despite the persecution.

This persecution, a pet subject to many evangelical Christians never understand the core of the bible on this subject. Persecution is not only physical and mental, but also social. In the name of witnessing (not necessarily for the gospel or the Lord but for Christianity as an organized religion), a convert can accept persecution. But in countries like Asia, the families of the converts are also persecuted for the faith of their alienated children. Some times the converts’ parents pay a heavy price for the faith of their children, whereas outsiders in the name of faith and witness separate the new believers from their family and community. But in the long run, the mental persecution which the convert faces is too much for others to understand. Persecution (of any kind) is not the only way to witness for the Lord. But to remain with in the family and community, at the cost of being misunderstood by other Christians, which is also a kind of persecution, a new believer can witness for the gospel and the Lord. What a new believer need is proper teaching not mere emotional challenges in the name of persecution etc.

10. their philosophy have been refuted by better biblical scholarship. (See: Scott Woods, 2003; Tim Tennent, 2006; D.A Carson, February 01, 2005; & Bill Nikides, 2006)

This ‘better biblical scholarship’ is a relative term. These Woods, Tennents and Carsons never have any kind of absolute Theological authority to decide about other’s view. I don’t know about others. But I had a chance to read few chapters of Tennents and I gave my response. From that reading, I can understand what kind of ‘better biblical scholarship’ they have to measure other’s theological perspective.—db

11. Or some put it, Jesus is the human face of God” (p.12). [Robinson, John A.T., The Human Face of God. Philadelphia: Westminster Press. 1973]

Such theology like ‘Jesus is the human face of God’ or ‘the self-revelation of God in Christ’ etc. of the so called liberal theologians need not threaten or impediment for one to understand all about the Lord and God. These (liberal) theologians can help to rephrase certain terms for a new believers to understand the biblical theology in its totality (which according to me impossible) step by step, than wrestle with very conservative theology which close the mind once for all. The problem with the (so called) conservatives is that they expect others, particularly new believers to understand everything about god, bible, theology, church etc. only through their particular terms and meanings. Maturity never comes over night. God has no problem even if a new believer has a wrong understanding about him and the bible initially. Where the liberal theologians challenges one’s mind, the conservatives only create guilty conscience and close the mind to learn further. I never read all that Robinson wrote. But when I read two of his books, I liked the way he challenged my understanding of the bible. While his writings forced me to go back to the bible and seek understanding from the Lord, several conservative theologians’ writing look Pharisaic to me.

Summary:

Most of the issues which the author raises is theology, whereas the identity of a convert is sociological. We all need theology to understand the bible and also to follow the Lord. But when everything is viewed as mere theological issue, then theology instead of becoming a discipline to understand the faith become a burden like Law. We all need to obey law but not to follow some legalism which interpret the very law according to one’s own interest like that of Pharisees.

In any movement all kinds of ‘identity’ is important for people. Particularly for every convert in Asian society this is very crucial. In the name of guarding the faith, when they are extracted from their family, community and society and made a member of a denominational church, s/he not only looses her/his natural identity but also never get the intended ‘identity’ as a Christian by the missionary.

The author talks about the ‘individualism’ in the context of isolating the ‘individual (convert?) from the Christian community at large’. This reflects the Western mind set up of this author. No ‘convert’ stand ‘alone’ in Asian society. We Asians are not free after 18 as in the west. Of course the author keeping again only a ‘theological’ perspective forget the ‘sociological’ importance of Asian society, including that of the bible. There is no point in quoting Wesley. What he wrote in the context of addressing his own people in the West never fit in our context. What Wesley talks about ‘society’ is the denominational Christians in the West. Does those Christians communities really reflect the biblical aspect of body of Christ as the ‘god’s society’? Because in the West or anywhere in the world, a Christian can join one church and leave it and can join another church. She can also change her denomination and therefore can change her Christian society. For example, in America where (religion) church is organized, the society within the context of what the author writes is a particular denomination. So a Baptist can leave his Baptist society and join a Methodist society. This is because of their ‘individualism’, which gives one the freedom to choose any religious group in the name of society. This can be understand from another perspective. There, individuals can live without marriage and can easily divorce and remarry again. Whereas the Asian reality is that an individual belongs to one ‘society’ by birth, which she cannot leave, unless she is excommunicated by that society.

In Wesley’s comment who is the other men? Fellow Christians in the church? Then how far they are truly representing the so called ‘Christian society’. Because, countries like India, Christian society functions more like other Hindu caste societies. All their interaction and living is only for three hours in a week inside the church. Rest of the time, they live like others around them. So even if a convert joins such a Christian society, still s/he belongs to her/his natural (birth) society. In most cases the denominational churches formed on caste basis, each convert belongs only to her/his ‘caste’ Church and thereby never get lost her/his original identity. That’s why still marriages are arranged for a convert with someone within the same caste and society who is not a ‘convert’. Or in several cases, just for the sake of marriage, the boy or girl are ‘converted’ to Christianity to keep the caste identity of that particular church.

Above all in a country like India, the identity of the society is not religion but caste. So insisting that forming a society in the name of religion in order to have fellowship is artificial, because no society functions exclusively based on religion. Of course in few places, Muslims do this, as they live in separate place from rest of the communities.

Suppose a person, through some means hear the gospel. Then what needs to be done? According to the traditional evangelical method, he will be baptized in one denominational church, his name will be changed, if he is a young man, he will be forced to marry a ‘Christian’ girl. If he has no other employment, will be recruited as a fulltime worker and will be sent away from his place to preach ‘Christianity’ to some other place.

People like Dixon thinks that this will solve all his spiritual and other (social, cultural, economic etc.) problems. But people like him forget other problems that he has to face in the long run of his life and also his natural family, which is humiliated by other members of their community and society.

Whereas what the Insider movement tries to do? Accepting all the challenges and the problems that a new believer will face, it encourages him to continue to live as a member of his family and community and be a ‘LIVING WITNESS’ for the gospel to his people first. In order to help him to grow in his faith, it helps him to understand the bible in its given cultural, social and theological context rather than ‘imposing’ their own understanding which they learnt according to their denominational interpretation. As they cannot understand all the problems that a new believe would face in his community and society, they too try to become part of that culture and if possible in the community to have a better understanding of that community to help the new believer with much empathy. At the same time such Insiders, knowing their limitation as an outsiders, however they try to assimilate the new culture and community as their own, they allow the new believer to take most of the decisions—even if he goes wrong initially. In stead of ‘controlling’ him in the name of guarding his faith in the Lord, they respect his god given freedom and mind to think and reflect his issues in the light of the bible and encourage him to take the decision, which will never force him to deny his faith or compromise his conviction. Of course there will be lots of initial struggle and in several time he will be forced to decide like Naaman. But in stead of becoming judgmental, the Insiders understanding his struggle, never create any guilty conscience nor break his sprit.

Human life is complex one. Try to find solution to them through ‘theology’ alone won’t help us. Theology is important but thankfully bible never prescribes one all time theological solution to the complexity of human problems. For example, Paul’s approach to marriage, slave etc. has nothing to do with any theology but based on his contemporary situation. Every society in the world, through its tradition and god given mind evolved its own solutions to the complexity of human problem. Those traditional solutions which are not opposed to the bible needs to be preserved. This is possible when a new believer is allowed to remain an insider. And to help him to remain an insider, outsiders should try to identify with in on various levels. As our Lord has come down to identify with us as an Insider, these outsiders are doing their best by becoming the insiders. Without understanding their commitment when people like Dixon become judgmental, then they will continue to represent the Imperialistic Christianity, which the Asians or any other society is not ready to accept.

Dayanand Bharati

Db’s response:

Acts: 21:20-22. … Jerusalem is not what it had been in Acts 2; tensions are rising, and in the temple sicarii, or assassins, are murdering aristocrats suspected of collaborating with the Gentiles. Jewish nationalism is on the rise, and nationalism’s exclusivity makes it intolerant of supposedly faithful members of its people who have fellowship with members of other peoples. Thus it is incumbent on Paul to prove the integrity of his Jewishness; he cannot compromise the Gentile mission, but he will intentionally affirm his Jewish heritage at any cost short of unbiblical exclusivism.

The Jerusalem church is providing an effective indigenous witness within its culture. Modern Gentile Christians who oppose Jewish Christians’ keeping the law while these Gentile Christians observe church and cultural traditions of their own are out of keeping with the spirit of the New Testament, which calls people to forsake their sin, not positive or neutral elements of their culture. (The second-century Christian apologist Justin Martyr notes this controversy in his own day but clearly maintains the earlier Christian view that Jewish people could both practice the law and follow Jesus—Dialogue with Trypho 47.)— — Craig S.Keener , BBC NEW TESTMENT, Illinois, IVP, 1993 p.386

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Is it right or good for Indian Christians to celebrate Diwali?

Yes. They can. If not on the same day they can have it on a different day. If not the same way they can celebrate it in different way. Let me try to explain my view on this.

First I like to explain why Diwali is celebrated in India. I raised the question about celebrating Diwali to my father as I was growing up in my Hindu family. He told me the story of the killing of the demon Narakasuran by Beeman from the Epic of Mahabaratha. Diwali is celebrated to remember the destruction of an evil person and the saving power of the godly person. Most of the South Indians believe this for the celebration of Diwali. The term Diwali comes from the Tamil words “light from lamp” Deepaohli. Each religious sect in India gives different historical events and stories for the celebration of Diwali. The reason for celebrating Diwali in North India is different from the South India. Hindus in North India celebrate Diwali to commemorate the return of Rama and Sita to Ayodhya after their 14-year exile. Rama’s army of good defeated demon king Ravana ‘s army of evil. This is how the North Indians look at it. But for the South Indian Tamils do not view Ravanan as the evil king but a great devotee of God Shiva. The North Indians put the rows of light in their houses to celebrate Diwali. The word Diwali comes from the Sanskrit word deepavali, meaning “rows of lighted lamps” for the North Indians. This is from the Epic of Ramayana.

The Hindus who belong to the sect Vaishnavism believe that god Vishnu killed the Demon Narakasuran, who was the evil king of Pragjyotishapura, near present-day Assam and released 16000 girls captivated by him. Diwali is celebrated as a significance of triumph of Vishnus victory over Narakasura.

The Bengali Hindus celebrate Diwali to the Mother Goddess Durga or Kali who destroyed a demon called Mahisha.

The Hindu households especially worship Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth to receive blessings of fortune and prosperity during the Diwali festival.

Sikhs particularly celebrate the release from prison of the sixth guru Hargobind Singh from Gwalior Fort in 1619. The Guru, who was imprisoned by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, was standing against the emperor’s regime’s oppression of the Indian people. So to the Sikhs, the festival represents freedom from oppression. But Sikhs celebrated the festival before this date. In fact, the foundation stone of the Golden Temple at Amritsar, the most holy place in the Sikh world, was laid on Diwali in 1577.

The Jains celebrate Diwali with the belief that Mahavira reached a state called Moksha at that moment. According to the Jain tradition, this practice of lighting lamps first began on the day of Mahavira’s nirvana in 527 BCE.

The Newar Buddhist sect celebrates Diwali by worshipping Lakshmi. Newar Buddhists in Nepalese valleys celebrated the Diwali festival over five days, in much the same way, and on the same days, as the Nepalese Hindu Diwali-Tihar festival. This reflects the freedom within the Mahayana Buddhist tradition to worship any deity for their worldly betterment.

The Indian Christians in general do not celebrate Diwali. Who are the Indian Christians? Majority of the Indian Christians are the product of western Christianity, a religion developed in Europe. Majority of the Indian Christians are dalits, oppressed people of India. Western Christian missionaries freed them by their philanthropic services. Philanthropic services are integral part of the Christian gospel. Christians are called to preach the gospel by Word and Deed.

Jesus did not start a new religion. He did not start Christianity out of Judaism. He started a radical spiritual movement among the Jews of Judaism by his teachings and his personal life. Christianity as a religion came to existence gradually 30 years after Jesus and being well established as a religion after the conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine. Then it vigorously engaged in proselytism not in discipleship. The goal was to expand Christendom in the world not the Kingdom of God.

In order to maintain a religion or to produce a religion for the masses it has to have lot of rituals, feast, festivals and superstitions. The Roman Christians contextualized their new religion in the context of Roman religion and culture. They adopted the Roman feasts and festivals. For example, the birth day celebration of Sun god became the birth day of Jesus as the Sun of righteousness. This is how many religious traditions have come to existence in the world. The new religion Christianity became captive to Roman culture and thought. In the same way Christian denominations have become captive to the culture and thought of the countries in which they were originated.

Unfortunately the spiritual movement of Jesus became as a religion in Europe. This Christianity adopted the method of contextualization in order to hold the people within their culture. The people who propagated the western Christianity failed to adopt contextualization when they promoted Christianity in India. They failed to bring educated caste Hindus to Jesus. Few people like DeNobly, Veerama Munivar, Jesudason, Jules Monchanin, Henri Le Saux (Swami Abhishiktananda) and Bede Griffiths, S. Jesudason, Dr. E. Forrester Paton and Stanley Jones attempted to contextualize it through Christian Ashram method. Some people like Brahmaband Upadyaya who came to Jesus from Hindu background also attempted to do that but did not succeed. In my view none of them succeeded in their efforts. I too started a Christian Ashram and conducted many seminars on contextualization to change the Christian evangelists and ministers. I did not succeed but miserably failed. One of the reasons is that the Christian ashrams did not receive support from institutional Christianity. On the contrary, it opposed the Christian Ashram movement in India.

I have come to realize that it is not possible to bring Hindus to Jesus even by adopting contextualization through the Christian ashrams. The colonial Christianity we have in India is the barrier for Hindus to come to Jesus.

In this context I have adopted the Diwali and Pongal (harvest) festivals in my Ashram. This does not mean that the ashram people are worshiping any god. The ashram family came together and had good time. We became part of the local community and given the impression that we are not foreigners. In that way we are able to develop organic relationship with non Christians. This identification helped me in communicating Jesus among the local Hindus. I have been given opportunity to speak in Hindu temples and Sat Sang centers. Please see the attached pictures.

Basically Diwali signifies the triumph of the good over evil and light over darkness. That is darkness of ignorance is overcome by the light of knowledge. It signifies freedom from Spiritual darkness. Diwali is celebrated in India symbolically to tell the story of the destruction of the devil.

Whatever the origin of Diwali may be it is a national festival in India like the Christmas in the USA. Since it is a national festival Christians in India Indian Christians should not alienate themselves from the customs of India by not celebrating Diwali. Many Hindus in USA celebrate Christmas by having Christmas tree in their home during Christmas season to identify themselves with the American people. I have gone to their homes with my Christian friends to sing carols and present Christ as the gift from God. In the same way Diwali provides an opportunity for Christians in India to tell about the true light, Jesus, to the Indians. Therefore, Christians must participate in the Festival of Light with the Hindus in India. It is an opportunity for Christian children to have fun with the Hindu children by lighting fire crackers and sharing sweets.

Indian Christians can have Diwali festival as a time to reflect on one’s life, past deeds and making the right changes for the upcoming year. It is an important occasion for them to reconcile and renew the broken relationship. They can make it as an occasion to unite people from every caste and religion. It is a time for them to be happy and vibrant spiritually. It can be a time to destroy all our carnal desires and evil thoughts in order to have inner spiritual awakening as they think about Jesus as the light of the world.

Light is the main symbol for God in many religions in the world. In Zoroastrianism fire represented God’s Light. Fire was the main object in the Zoroastrian temple. In Judaism there was light over the Ark of the Covenant in the temple. The Jews also have a Festival of Light in their religion known as Hanukkah. While Jesus was on this earth He attended the Hanukkah festival. (John 10:22). Hanukkah is the Jewish word for ‘dedication’. During the celebration of Hanukkah the temple and the houses in Jerusalem were illuminated with lights. In this context, Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12) Jesus himself has become Hanukkah for all the people who came out of darkness. Jesus has been presented as light in the gospels in many places. Simeon, a devotee of God, praised baby Jesus by saying he is a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles. (Luke 2: 32) John said, “In Him was life and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5)

In view of this I feel and think that Diwali is an occasion for Christians to remember that Jesus is the light of the world and he is the True light that lighted every person that come into the world. People in India do not know that Jesus is the light that destroyed the darkness in the minds of the people by his presence as light in their hearts. Hindus in general identify Christ with Christianity of the west brought by the colonial rulers. They do not know He is the light that dwells in the heart of everyone who comes into this world. Diwali provides good opportunity to Christians to share Jesus with the Hindus.

One of the reasons why Indian Christians stay away from celebrating Diwali is that they were taught to reject everything in Hindu religion and culture as pagan or demonic. I have explained that it is not a pagan festival celebrated for Satan. I say this on the basis of theology I have developed after studying world religions and anthropology. Christian theology is the product of the European theologians who mainly developed their understanding of God presented in the Bible. They do not accept any other scriptures of the world to draw an understanding of God. I strongly believe that God is the God of all people and He has revealed Himself in many ways to the people called Gentiles in the Bible. He revealed his light to the saints and religious teachers of all religions. Christian theology is relevant only to the Europe and America. It is irrelevant to India and China.

Indian Christian theologians and evangelists are confined to the imported theology from the west. The Indian Christian theologians failed to recognize the meaning of Diwali and failed contextualize the Diwali festival to communicate the true meaning of Diwali to the Hindus, Jains and Sikhs in India. Christians in India can light the Indian lamps to celebrate the victory of Jesus over Satan. As a follower of Christ I strongly advise the Christians to celebrate Diwali with the Hindus. They can share the sweets with the Hindu neighbors and help the poor by providing cloths and food.

The idea that the light over comes darkness, truth overcomes falsehood, and good overcomes evil has been present in every culture and being expressed through stories, mythologies, redemptive analogies and symbols. Since no one knows the origin of Diwali and it is being celebrated by the Hindus, Jains and Sikhs, Christians also can celebrate it in order to present Jesus as the light of the world and how He overcame the power of Satan by His death on the Cross (Hebrew 2:14, 1 John 3:8)

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Dialogue with Christians to be revised Part Eleven

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