Abstract
Rev P. Y. Luke and his wife, Mrs. Devapala, did a study of village Christians in the Medak Diocese of Church of South India (CSI) in the 1950s. They found, “Christians had a pattern of life that was both Christian and Hindu” (2). John B. Carman, the co-author of the book, Village Christians and Hindu Culture, with P. Y. Luke, had teamed up with Vasantha Rao from Andhra Christian Theological College and done a study among the same villages in 2008 with the help of eight students to see whether the village congregations grew or declined over the years or remained the same. They identified three features: (1) the number of CSI congregations decreased and membership in the existing congregations also decreased; (2) many new churches comprising members from “higher” or non-Dalit castes emerged contrary to 50 years ago when only Malas and Madigas, the Dalit castes, were the majority in the CSI congregations; and (3) new members were added to some of the CSI churches by the efforts of lay Christians, primarily due to healing in the name of Jesus and power encounters.
The present study found that the congregations take liberty to contextualize the Christian faith. The authors observe, “Adaptation includes both altering earlier Christian rituals and changing Hindu ritual forms so that they fit into a larger Christian context” (153). This indicates that village Christians were not swayed by the framework offered by missionaries or theologically trained pastors to express Christian faith in a rural context. “Dual religious participation” of village Christians is a common feature found by both the studies. Baptism is a crucial factor in India for people to join a church as full members, especially for the Dalits. Therefore, many do not take baptism. Such scenarios raise fundamental question like, Who is a Christian? or Who is a good Christian?
Studies on conversion movements in India and elsewhere find similar features of adaptation and choosing beliefs and practices that are suitable to their context. The decline of CSI churches and the increase of new churches that attract members from different caste groups are interesting phenomena. One reason for the decline of CSI congregations is due to lack of pastors. On the other hand, pastors of the new churches are less educated and, unlike the CSI pastors, theologically untrained. But what makes them succeed? They all have personal encounters with Jesus and are able to persuade others to try Jesus. This finding raises a serious question as to the relevancy of Indian theological education; the authors have not raised this issue, though.
Methodological sophistication is not presented in the book in spite of the extensive field work involved in the study which might inhibit its appeal beyond the field of missiology. This volume is a valuable resource for those who are interested in Indian Christianity and the dynamics of caste and religion in rural communities.