Abstract
The story of the mission movement in India is a complex and multifaceted one, demanding a nuanced review. This movement, spanning centuries, has left an undeniable mark on Indian society. Examining its history requires acknowledging both the positive contributions made by missionaries in areas like education and healthcare and the criticisms leveled at their methods, particularly regarding cultural imposition and religious conversion.
The complex legacy of the mission movement compels us to ask: how can we learn from the past to ensure a more positive future for interfaith dialogue and social development?
A key takeaway is the importance of cultural sensitivity. Missionary work that respects local traditions and fosters genuine understanding between religions is likely to be more sustainable and impactful. Collaboration with local communities, rather than a top-down approach, is essential in addressing social needs.
It is in this context, that the book under review: Transformative Rethinking: Christian Mission and Cooperation in a Multireligious Indian Society finds its space in the ongoing missional conversation in India. Missional conversation has evolved over the centuries and in the Indian context this is visible more than ever. Today, the church in India is not the recipient of the mission but an active agent of the Global missionary movement.
The book contains ten chapters apart from the Introductory chapter. These chapters are divided into three major sections: The International Missionary Council and Indian Christianity; Unity, Cooperation and Dialogue; Mission Theology and Theological Formation.
A few comments are in order here:
The book is an important contribution to the mission studies. It deals with the contemporary issues and conversations in and around mission challenges in India. The contributions are mostly from a Protestant context, however, there is an important chapter on the missional thinking from a Roman Catholic perspective. The title of the book: Transformative Rethinking: Christian Mission and Cooperation in a Multireligious Indian Society points towards two very important aspects – Transformative Rethinking & Christian Mission and Cooperation in a Multireligious Context (of India). Missional theology as transformative is a novel paradigm in missional conversations. The book addresses ‘Cooperation’ as a missional paradigm in the multireligious context. For the contributors of volume, this paradigmatic shift is indeed transformative rethinking in missional discourse. Interestingly, the book has four articles on Christian mission activities in North-East India. This is a welcome contribution because often the missional discourses in India have overlooked North-East India missionary conversations. However, the volume missed two important aspects of missional conversations in India, namely, it almost completely missed missionary activities in North-India and Central-India, and the significant shift in missionary activities in India from the mainline churches/denominations to ‘independent’ and charismatic churches/denominations. Two years ago, one of the largest selling political magazines in India, India Today published a cover-story on the missionary ‘explosion’ in Punjab (North-India) (“The Pastors of Punjab,” India Today Magazine, November 14, 2022). It is heartening to see an article on missionary contributions to theological education in India. This needs to be highlighted more in both the theological circles and missional discussions. The interplay, interaction, and collaboration between the two are paramount for both. Another important aspect that the volume addresses is the de-colonial critique of the traditional missional discourses. This is undeniably a transformative thinking in mission studies.
Any student or academic interested in South-Asian Christian Missional studies would find the book to be a very valuable addition to the global missional discourse.