Aizawl Theological College

AIZAWL THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE

Paper Presentation on: HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA

Topic: Development and Quest for Indian Identity – Devolution: Self- Support, Self-
Propagation and Self- Government. NMS, IMS, IBM, FMPB and the like

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INTRODUCTION:

From the invasion of Christianity from the West, India, especially the South of India has witness
the Christian teachings and doctrines. All invasions cannot be termed as a total destruction for
the natives because we have seen how India has grown from the invasion of the Mughals. So
also, India has received many developments in the political, socio-religio-economic sphere from
the invasion of the West. Due to this colonial power, the Indian society was changing slowly into
a different culture, a culture of the colonized. It was due to the deep philosophical and mystical
background that India was rescued from the cultures of the West. With the culture and an attempt
for indigenization of Christianity, the Indian identity (especially for the Indian Christians) was
revived. Moreover it was the work of the great Indian Christians that the cultures and traditions
were resisted from dilution, eventually reclaiming their identity.

COLONIAL MISSION IN INDIA:

It was in the nineteenth century that the missionary expansion of the colonial countries started to
gain momentum. The reason was because there was peace and understanding among the sub-
continent, law and order was maintained, trade monopoly was permanently established and the
scar of Mutiny of 18571 was starting toheal.2This makes the travel safe and made the mission
movement much easier. Mission societies were already well established in India by the end of
the nineteenth century. The mission societies started to get more converts from those classes that
suffered most from the existing social and economic order. These converts came due to
discrimination in the society from caste and class system.

The Christianity which was brought in to India was called the modern missionary
movement which came from a number of foreign missions from Europe and America. 3Initially it
was due to the Evangelical Revival in Europe which changed the condition and climate of church
life especially in South India4. An evangelical and missionary zeal was planted in the hearts of
many which changed the mission and ministry in India. Most of the churches were Protestant but
1
This was also known as the Revolt of 1857, where the country of India fought for their political
independence for the first time. But due to their un-sophisticated weapons and disunity among the Indian rulers, the
British could easily put it under control.
2
Jacob S Dharmaraj, Colonialism and Christian Mission: Postcolonial Reflections (Delhi: ISPCK, 1993),
108.
3
CB Firth, An Introduction to Indian Church History (Madras: The Christian Literature Society, 1961),
233.

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this does not mean that the Roman Catholics were not involved in the missionary movement in
India. The modern missionary movement of the Roman Catholic beginning maybe dated from
about 1830 and is separated from the earlier movement by a period of about seventy years during
which Roman missions fell into a state of decay.5India was raided by different churches in the
nineteenth century with their colonial theology and western thought of dominancy. This does not
mean that there was hatred among the churches, but healthy communion between them. But due
to their political dominance and dominant theology from the west, the Indian identity was
affected leaving them powerless, subjugated and in captivity.

FACTORS THAT LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT AND QUEST FOR INDIAN

IDENTITY:

The quest for Indian identity happened in the end of 19 th century to the beginning of the 20th
century due to different reasons. The Indians started to have the feeling of freedom, to be self
support, to be self propagate and a self government where they can exercise their power without
the consent of the western dominion.

i) Enlightenment and Liberty:

The Edinburgh concept of mission was largely world evangelization and conversion of
the non-Christians. It is absolutely separated itself from the colonized people’s struggle
for independence and freedom. Enlightenment and liberty were understood and
interpreted from a spiritual point of view: the enlightening of the minds from darkness
and the liberation of natives from their bondage to superstition with the message of the
Gospel.6 The enlightening of the people towards standing on their own and to struggle for
freedom was completely kept aside, emphasized only on the spiritual interpretation. The
reason was because the mission was controlled and is kept a close watch by the
Colonizers.
ii) Asymmetrical relationship between the missionaries and native Christians:
It was due to the wrong structure of the western missions and the growing Asian
churches. The missionaries paid the native Bishops and other Christian workers very low
and some the Pastors have to live in servant’s quarters. The foreign educated native
leaders were refused the handshake of the Europeans and refused to give high post to the
educated native Indian.7This un-equality was there even in the mission movements, a
division due to race, color where the native Christians have the intention of having their
own missionary movement not controlled from the west and of the west.
iii) Revival of Nationalism:

4
BengtSundkler, Church of South India: The Movement towards Union 1900/1947 (London: United Society
for Christian Literature, Lutterworth Press, 1954), 19.
5
CB Firth, An Introduction to Indian Church History…, 215.
6
Jacob S Dharmaraj, Colonialism and Christian Mission: Postcolonial Reflections…, 110.
7
Jacob S Dharmaraj, Colonialism and Christian Mission: Postcolonial Reflections…, 111.

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The first sign of the emergence of Indian Nationalism within the Christian Church was at
the Second Decennial Conference, held in Calcutta in 1882. He was a leading Bengali
Christian and asked that the native church be safely left alone, to a certain extent at least.
This spirit of nationalism spread to different parts of India especially in South India. 8 The
spirit of nationalism was uniting the different denominational churches and the
missionary forces and the church in the west began to prepare themselves to make rooms
for Indian form of Christianity. Some of the Indian church leaders were strongly
influenced by the nationalist movement especially by the Swadeshism of the National
Missionary Society, who received new impetus and strength through the ideas of a radical
Indian group in Madras led by V Chakkarai. 9 Gandhi’s inspiration from the Sermon on
the Mount may have also been a driving force to unite the Christians towards
nationalism.
iv) Conflict in Cultural settings:
The missionaries were concerned with ensuring that Indian Christians received the
correct behavior, right set of doctrines, and the true model of church order which was
developed in Europe. But what they do not know, unlike other colonized land is that
India had its own advanced language system, philosophical thought, critical theories and
religious literatures rich and advanced vocabularies for the understanding and expression
of abstract, philosophical, and religious thought10 What the Western missionaries fail is to
use the existing cultures and traditions in mission and a study of the context and
implement a relevant theology. In the words of Kosuke Koyama
“Human history is always cultural. A denuded a cultural history is an
impossibility.
That history to us is the record of human experience implies an
interrelatedness
that is present between theology and culture”.

STRUGGLE FOR IDENTITY AND LIBERTY:

Different missionary societies which came up in this period had their reasons for their birth. The
political, social, economic and religious context was very important for their formation and these
missionary societies had purposes for the evangelization of the citizens. These different
missionary societies which came into existence in the nineteenth century in India were National
Missionary Society (NMS), Indian Missionary Society (IMS), Friends Missionary Prayer Band
(FMPB) and others like Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) and Student Volunteer
Movement also work towards evangelization and reformation of the society.

Indian Missionary Society (IMS):

8
BengtSundkler, Church of South India: The Movement towards Union 1900/1947…, 27.
9
BengtSundkler, Church of South India: The Movement towards Union 1900/1947…, 86.
10
Jacob S Dharmaraj, Colonialism and Christian Mission: Postcolonial Reflections…, 121.

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The Indian Missionary Society was founded by Fr. Gasper Pinto in 1941 in the holy city of
Banares (Varanasi). The shortage of Indian Missionaries was the specific context of its founding.
The purpose was to promote all that was good in cultures and to present Jesus in a way that is
acceptable to the people of India. World War II and its consequences were the immediate context
of the founding of the society. There was shortage of missionary in India due to the World War.
So Fr. Gasper had the idea of using the indigenous missionarieswho could work for the welfare
of the people and that the shortage of missionary crisis would not rise again.11

The struggle for independence was influencing the missionary society, but things were
difficult because of the diverse religious faiths and communal harmony was a major problem. On
the other hand there was a growth of national feeling in which the missionary society was also
involved. The charism of the missionary society also brought to the Indian church a new
understanding of evangelism in an indigenous way. The vision of Fr Gasper was to have an
indigenous missionary society, and use the natives as workers so as to reveal the identity. And
most importantly this will help every individual to be self-sufficient and self- propagating, which
was also believed to bore an important outcome. Lastly, since the ruling government was the still
the colonial power, there was negligence of the poor and oppressed sections like women. Indian
Missionary Society had an autonomous self government to opt for the poor and the marginalized.

National Missionary Society (NMS):

National Missionary Society was established on 1905 with its mission field in Tamil Nadu
among the tribes of the Javadi Hills near Jolarppettai. 12 It was founded at Serampore at a meeting
of Young Indian Christians from different parts of India and different denominations with the
help of the American G. Sheerwood Eddy. Prominent among them were V S Azariah and K T
Paul.13 C F Andrews took part, as the only European in the conference of the National
Missionary Society at Delhi and made a bold plea for making ashramasa vehicle for the
evangelization of India.

The aim of this society was to awaken the people a national consciousness, to create a
sense of patriotism and to unite all denominations and provinces. It was to be conducted by
Indian men, supported by Indian money and controlled by Indian management. Their object was
to evangelize the unoccupied fields in India and to lay upon fellow countrymen the burden of
responsibility for the evangelization of the land. This will further create a heart for the Indian
church and shall preserve denominational loyalty.14

This attempt to indigenize the Christian mission in India was necessary as it will enable
different denomination and the mission to support itself, to act alone without the help form the

11
Philip Sevanand, “The Indian Missionary Society”, Mission Today (Oct-Dec 2003), Vol. 4, No 4, pp340.
12
HugaldGrafte, History of Christianity in India, vols. I-6 (Bangalore: Church History Association of India,
1990), 60.
13
CB Firth, An Introduction to Indian Church History..., 254.
14
M K Kuriakose, History of Christianity in India: Source Materials (Delhi: ISPCK, 1999), 277-278.

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west and further create unity among the different churches. It also will give concerns to the
social and religious problems and a relevant Indian Christianity from the Indian life and thought
which was entirely different from the western thought.

Friends Missionary Prayer Band (FMPB):

The Friend’s Missionary Prayer Band is a completely indigenous mission agency started in the
middle of the 19th century with the prime objective of reaching the unreached people of India
with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 15In fact it was started by a group of young believers in Southern
India who regularly gathered together for prayer to seek the purpose of God for their lives. 16 The
objective of the Friends Missionary Prayer Band is in obedience to the Great Commission of our
Lord Jesus Christ to enhance the growth of the Church in India. It works for the revival of
Churches and to promote missionary vision in them. This church Mission relationship will help
in the growth of the church.

FMPB help in raising native Christian leaders to give leadership to the younger churches
through relevant leadership training and value addition efforts. They challenge the church to take
up responsibility of reaching their own people. Missionaries addressed the message in a cultural
setting and a language which the people understood. Missionaries were often the first to learn
tribal language, put them in writing, translated the Bible, and wrote grammar and dictionaries.17

FMPB may not contribute much in the nationalism process but their work was devolution
as to bring the people to stand on their own, no longer depending on the missionary societies
from the West. The leaders not only preach to the unreached but they work hard to indigenize
Christianity and build a church where western traditions were absent. Mission was carried out to
promote an Indian vision of Christianity, persevere in hope for divine deliverance.

CONCLUSION:

The development and quest for identity was one of the most important aspects in the history of
Christianity in India. The theology and mission of the West came in the country taking their
initial steps towards the marginalized and the poor. So the mission was finding success and was
spreading vigorously. But at the same time, since the missionaries were controlled and influence
by the colonized countries, their mission also involves the spirit of dominancy. Indian Christians
suffer under their mission and also the evangelization process was killing the Indian identity
since their theology pulled the Indian Christians in imitating their cultures and traditions. So, in
the midst of liberty and quest for identity, nationalism played a very important role as it was a
reminder of who they were. The unifying forces of different churches and indigenizing the
15
“Friends Missionary Prayer Band”, http/www.fmpb.org (8th September’12)
16
According to Hedlund the praying team included with many others Dr. Sam Kamaleson, Dr. Theodore
Williams, Mr. P. Samuel and Mr. Satyasingh. See Roger E. Hedlund, ed, Christianity in India (Delhi:ISPCK,2000),
216.
17
AmiritTirkey, “The Tribal Church in India: Its Identity and Challenges Today”, Jeevadhara, vol 23, No.6,
2005, 319.

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Indian Christianity was a redemption for Indian church and its Christian citizens. Thus, as a
whole it was the native Missionary society which brought light and the main instigator for the
development of Indian identity and a motivating force to re-possess the fading Indian identity.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Dharmaraj, Jacob S. Colonialism and Christian Mission: Postcolonial Reflections. Delhi:

ISPCK, 1993.

Firth, CB.An Introduction to Indian Church History.Madras: The Christian Literature Society,
1961.

Grafte, Hugald. History of Christianity in India, vols. I-6. Bangalore: Church History
Association of India, 1990.

Hedlund,Roger E. ed.Christianity in India. Delhi:ISPCK,2000.

Kuriakose, M K. History of Christianity in India: Source Materials. Delhi: ISPCK, 1999.

Sevanand, Philip. “The Indian Missionary Society”, Mission Today. Oct-Dec 2003. Vol. 4. No 4.

Sundkler, Bengt. Church of South India: The Movement towards Union 1900/1947. London:
United Society for Christian Literature, Lutterworth Press, 1954.

Tirkey,Amirit.“The Tribal Church in India: Its Identity and Challenges Today”, Jeevadhara, vol
23, No.6, 2005, 319.