Dear Mr Benjamin
Thank you for the article you have circulated to the participants of the consultation in Toulouse entitled: "Proselytisation: An Indian Christian Perspective". I did not realise that after the consultation we would be receiving proselytising articles from you to convert us to your point of view!
My comments are as follow:
1. You have to decide whether Jesus Christ was (1) mad or (2) correct in his claims. He was either one or the other. There is no middle way. You write: "I do value and cherish the teachings of Jesus". However, his claims in the Christian scriptures are so clear that it is not possible just to accept him as a good, albeit mistaken, teacher. He is either the Son of God, as he claimed to be, or he is a mad imposter. You cannot have it both ways. It is for you to decide - without any compulsion on my part.
2. If Jesus Christ is correct in his claims it is the duty of the Christian church to spread his message, as he commanded his disciples to do.
3. I very much doubt whether at the present time the impetus for Christian evangelism in India emanates from Western Christian Church groups and missions. From my understanding it appears that it is indigenous Indian Christians who are spreading the Christian message.
4. You refer to people's "obsession" for promoting religious conversions. One person's obsession is another person's duty to obey what God has commanded.
5. You quote a Hindu as saying: "Let the Church declare that there can be salvation outside the Church also, and the whole atmosphere will undergo a radical change…". That is not an option for the Christian church. Many Christians throughout the past two thousand years have died for that belief. The Christian scriptures are clear. Salvation is found in Christ alone.
6. Christians who are faithful to the teachings of Jesus Christ will not accept the pluralistic tradition of Hindus which is to consider all religions as equal. These people are not "fundamentalist" Christians as you suggest; they are ordinary Christians who believe what the Christian church has believed for the past 2,000 years.
You apologise that you do not see Christ through Western eyes. I hope that you never do. I pray that you see God through His revelation in scriptures through the Indian eyes that He has endowed you with.
Kind regards
John Langlois
Tuesday, 21 August 2007
Proselytisation: an Indian perspective - by P.N. Benjamin
Proselytisation: An Indian Christian Perspective
P.N.BENJAMIN
Since colonial times to the present, the impetus for Christian proselytizing work in India has largely emanated from Western Christian Church groups and missions. The latter's continuing obsession for promoting religious conversions under the aegis of India's Constitutional guarantee of religious freedom has triggered a raging debate among religious and political leaders of my country. Over seventy years ago, Mahatma Gandhi stated that: "proselytizing under the cloak of humanitarian work is unhealthy, to say the least. It is most resented by people here"[1]. The resentment that Gandhi alluded to has increased in India over the years, mostly due to the persistence of religious conversions engineered by Christian evangelists who derive their financial support from foreign sources. Fundamentalist Muslims too have entered the fray in recent years with substantive financial contributions from Muslim countries interested in furthering the spread of Islam in India. Some Hindu groups have resorted to reverse conversions. All these trends are destructive to India's time-tested culture of religious tolerance. The muteness of liberal Indian Christians, both in India and overseas, is indeed surprising. I hope that liberal Indians of all faiths will debate this issue with their fundamentalist counterparts in a similar vein to prevent the spread of inter-religious conflicts in that subcontinent. The Indian tradition of allowing people of diverse faiths to seek their own spiritual centering is now under attack in India at the hands of fundamentalists of all religions.I am not a religious scholar. But, I do value and cherish the teachings of Jesus as conveyed to me through my early religious influences in my childhood. Therefore, I am able to empathize with the angst of an adherent of any religion when he or she is confronted by the caricature of one's personal faith as portrayed by a fundamentalist of another religion. Like all my non-Christian friends, I too am annoyed when a well-meaning Christian fundamentalist knocks on my door and asks me whether I am "born-again" and whether I would like to be saved! I can internalize the frustration of a non-Christian subjected to such an intrusive interrogation. My reading of the history of early Christianity leads me to believe that the Western churches' obsession for converting others to Christianity is based more on their historical tradition of using proselytization as an instrument of statecraft for the extension of their political and mercantile influences, than in furthering the spiritual welfare of their flocks. Even in today's post-Communist Russia with its newly established religious freedom, the Russian Orthodox Church does not look upon kindly at proselytization undertaken by any religious sect. In Greece, its Constitution also prohibits proselytization. Whenever it is flouted by a religious sect, the Greek Orthodox Church seeks governmental intervention to suppress it. I am not holding up either Greece or Russia as a model of democracy. I am merely citing Greece and Russia as examples of two western nations that do not tolerate proselytization even when they are undertaken by Christian denominations. The fundamentalist Christians both in India and abroad have been too quick to condemn as draconian the recent anti-conversion legislations enacted by a few Indian states. Proselytization was not a distinctive hallmark of Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches of early Christianity. Jesus himself appears to have condemned proselytization when he said, "woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more than the child of hell than yourselves". I often think of those verses whenever I hear of mass conversions of Dalits and tribals in India. They often seem to become outcasts twice! Conversion to Christianity does not eradicate caste prejudice in India any more than it eliminates racial discrimination in the US. P.N.BENJAMINCoordinatorBangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue(BIRD)
P.N.BENJAMIN
Since colonial times to the present, the impetus for Christian proselytizing work in India has largely emanated from Western Christian Church groups and missions. The latter's continuing obsession for promoting religious conversions under the aegis of India's Constitutional guarantee of religious freedom has triggered a raging debate among religious and political leaders of my country. Over seventy years ago, Mahatma Gandhi stated that: "proselytizing under the cloak of humanitarian work is unhealthy, to say the least. It is most resented by people here"[1]. The resentment that Gandhi alluded to has increased in India over the years, mostly due to the persistence of religious conversions engineered by Christian evangelists who derive their financial support from foreign sources. Fundamentalist Muslims too have entered the fray in recent years with substantive financial contributions from Muslim countries interested in furthering the spread of Islam in India. Some Hindu groups have resorted to reverse conversions. All these trends are destructive to India's time-tested culture of religious tolerance. The muteness of liberal Indian Christians, both in India and overseas, is indeed surprising. I hope that liberal Indians of all faiths will debate this issue with their fundamentalist counterparts in a similar vein to prevent the spread of inter-religious conflicts in that subcontinent. The Indian tradition of allowing people of diverse faiths to seek their own spiritual centering is now under attack in India at the hands of fundamentalists of all religions.I am not a religious scholar. But, I do value and cherish the teachings of Jesus as conveyed to me through my early religious influences in my childhood. Therefore, I am able to empathize with the angst of an adherent of any religion when he or she is confronted by the caricature of one's personal faith as portrayed by a fundamentalist of another religion. Like all my non-Christian friends, I too am annoyed when a well-meaning Christian fundamentalist knocks on my door and asks me whether I am "born-again" and whether I would like to be saved! I can internalize the frustration of a non-Christian subjected to such an intrusive interrogation. My reading of the history of early Christianity leads me to believe that the Western churches' obsession for converting others to Christianity is based more on their historical tradition of using proselytization as an instrument of statecraft for the extension of their political and mercantile influences, than in furthering the spiritual welfare of their flocks. Even in today's post-Communist Russia with its newly established religious freedom, the Russian Orthodox Church does not look upon kindly at proselytization undertaken by any religious sect. In Greece, its Constitution also prohibits proselytization. Whenever it is flouted by a religious sect, the Greek Orthodox Church seeks governmental intervention to suppress it. I am not holding up either Greece or Russia as a model of democracy. I am merely citing Greece and Russia as examples of two western nations that do not tolerate proselytization even when they are undertaken by Christian denominations. The fundamentalist Christians both in India and abroad have been too quick to condemn as draconian the recent anti-conversion legislations enacted by a few Indian states. Proselytization was not a distinctive hallmark of Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches of early Christianity. Jesus himself appears to have condemned proselytization when he said, "woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more than the child of hell than yourselves". I often think of those verses whenever I hear of mass conversions of Dalits and tribals in India. They often seem to become outcasts twice! Conversion to Christianity does not eradicate caste prejudice in India any more than it eliminates racial discrimination in the US. P.N.BENJAMINCoordinatorBangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue(BIRD)
Attacks against Christians in India - by P Benjamin
ATTACKS AGAINST CHRISTIANS INDIA
A senior Hindu ‘extremist’ leader told me in an interview: “The incidents of violence against Christians are a reaction to the aggressive propaganda and mindless evangelism, abusing the Hindu Gods and indulging in similar activities. The incidents are bloated out of proportion. We have decided not to tolerate intolerance of other faiths. Let the Church declare that there can be salvation outside the Church also, and the whole atmosphere will undergo a radical change…” The statistical approach implied in the words “the unreached millions” is derogatory to neighbours of other faiths. “Unreached” by whom? When Indian Christians themselves use these phrases, which have originated outside the country, to describe their neighbours living next door to them in the community, Christians should not be surprised if the nehigbours are offended. (Dr. Samartha).The real source of danger to the Indian Christian community is not the handful of Hindu extremists. Most of the violent incidents have been due to aggressive evangelising. Other than this there have been few attacks on Christians. Finally the sensitive and sensible Christians must realize that acts of certain “born-again” varieties of Christian evangelists who denigrate Hindu gods and abuse Hindu rituals as barbaric are the root cause of tension between Christian and Hindu communities. Christian leaders known for their erudition, equipoise and empathy should come out in the open to disown such acts of intolerance.P.N.BENJAMINI wrote THE HINDU as follows:The Editor The Hindu Chennai. Sir, The report that two Christian preachers were severely beaten up by Hindu activists makes sad reading( May 9). But, it is heart wrenching for me to see fundamentalist Christians assert that they alone are the holders of valid visas to heaven and paradise! Many preachers of the Gospel lay enticing traps for people whom they think must be "saved" at all costs. It is worse still that their attitudes, though they (Christians) are a tiny minority in India, often create counter-reaction from among militant Hindus who sometimes incite violence against Christians. The Hindu fundamentalism is a reaction to the provocations of Christian proselytizers. I hope that the fanatics among the Christian faith will soon realize that theirs is a losing battle even if they derive their financial and other means of support from the wealthy nations overseas. Militant Islam and evangelical Christianity are the two remaining Neanderthals who are still committed to proselytization and religious conversions. India will continue to remain hospitable to all religions only if the Muslim fanatics and the Christian fundamentalists will accept the pluralistic tradition of Hindus which is to consider all religions as equal. Pluralistic Christians and liberated Muslims of India have done that. The overwhelming majority of Hindus practice it.
P.N.BENJAMIN
A senior Hindu ‘extremist’ leader told me in an interview: “The incidents of violence against Christians are a reaction to the aggressive propaganda and mindless evangelism, abusing the Hindu Gods and indulging in similar activities. The incidents are bloated out of proportion. We have decided not to tolerate intolerance of other faiths. Let the Church declare that there can be salvation outside the Church also, and the whole atmosphere will undergo a radical change…” The statistical approach implied in the words “the unreached millions” is derogatory to neighbours of other faiths. “Unreached” by whom? When Indian Christians themselves use these phrases, which have originated outside the country, to describe their neighbours living next door to them in the community, Christians should not be surprised if the nehigbours are offended. (Dr. Samartha).The real source of danger to the Indian Christian community is not the handful of Hindu extremists. Most of the violent incidents have been due to aggressive evangelising. Other than this there have been few attacks on Christians. Finally the sensitive and sensible Christians must realize that acts of certain “born-again” varieties of Christian evangelists who denigrate Hindu gods and abuse Hindu rituals as barbaric are the root cause of tension between Christian and Hindu communities. Christian leaders known for their erudition, equipoise and empathy should come out in the open to disown such acts of intolerance.P.N.BENJAMINI wrote THE HINDU as follows:The Editor The Hindu Chennai. Sir, The report that two Christian preachers were severely beaten up by Hindu activists makes sad reading( May 9). But, it is heart wrenching for me to see fundamentalist Christians assert that they alone are the holders of valid visas to heaven and paradise! Many preachers of the Gospel lay enticing traps for people whom they think must be "saved" at all costs. It is worse still that their attitudes, though they (Christians) are a tiny minority in India, often create counter-reaction from among militant Hindus who sometimes incite violence against Christians. The Hindu fundamentalism is a reaction to the provocations of Christian proselytizers. I hope that the fanatics among the Christian faith will soon realize that theirs is a losing battle even if they derive their financial and other means of support from the wealthy nations overseas. Militant Islam and evangelical Christianity are the two remaining Neanderthals who are still committed to proselytization and religious conversions. India will continue to remain hospitable to all religions only if the Muslim fanatics and the Christian fundamentalists will accept the pluralistic tradition of Hindus which is to consider all religions as equal. Pluralistic Christians and liberated Muslims of India have done that. The overwhelming majority of Hindus practice it.
P.N.BENJAMIN
Urgent need to convert the converters - A further article by P.N. Benjamin
"URGENT NEED TO CONVERT THE COVERTERS
Christian converters and the converted have been making too much noise about the recent TN Anti-Conversion Bill. It has invited strong reactions from different quarters. The achievements on the part of the converters and the converted are normally measured in terms of the new-found economic independence and social dignity. The process of conversion involves interventions such as church planting, evangelization etc., and culminates in an event called baptism. Well, the mission is accomplished in compliance with the command of God: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them….”. But, whatever that has to follow, “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you …” is virtually missing. The very important elements in the teachings of Christ are conveniently ignored: “You encompass sea and land to make one convert and then you make him twice the son of hell as you are… Love your enemy. Love one another as I have loved you”. And in the whole process the converter and the converted make themselves a laughing stock and Christ, an object of mockery. In the end, Dalits’ conversion to Christianity means nothing but substitution of social discrimination within the Churches for discrimination within the Hindu society.Revival songs the converters sing, long prayers they pray and long sermons they preach amount to lip-religion and at the same time they swallow widows’ houses. To preach what they do not practise is to put the cart before the horse. “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven”.It is time that the converters convert themselves first, shedding their dubious distinction of claiming “I believe in one God, father almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible...” on the one hand and calling people of other faiths as “Non-Christian” on the other. Preaching, teaching and propagating one’s faith should happen in an environment where there is mutual love, respect and tolerance among people of different faiths and not with ill-will, hatred and malice."
P.N.BENJAMIN
CoordinatorBangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue(BIRD)
Christian converters and the converted have been making too much noise about the recent TN Anti-Conversion Bill. It has invited strong reactions from different quarters. The achievements on the part of the converters and the converted are normally measured in terms of the new-found economic independence and social dignity. The process of conversion involves interventions such as church planting, evangelization etc., and culminates in an event called baptism. Well, the mission is accomplished in compliance with the command of God: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them….”. But, whatever that has to follow, “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you …” is virtually missing. The very important elements in the teachings of Christ are conveniently ignored: “You encompass sea and land to make one convert and then you make him twice the son of hell as you are… Love your enemy. Love one another as I have loved you”. And in the whole process the converter and the converted make themselves a laughing stock and Christ, an object of mockery. In the end, Dalits’ conversion to Christianity means nothing but substitution of social discrimination within the Churches for discrimination within the Hindu society.Revival songs the converters sing, long prayers they pray and long sermons they preach amount to lip-religion and at the same time they swallow widows’ houses. To preach what they do not practise is to put the cart before the horse. “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven”.It is time that the converters convert themselves first, shedding their dubious distinction of claiming “I believe in one God, father almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible...” on the one hand and calling people of other faiths as “Non-Christian” on the other. Preaching, teaching and propagating one’s faith should happen in an environment where there is mutual love, respect and tolerance among people of different faiths and not with ill-will, hatred and malice."
P.N.BENJAMIN
CoordinatorBangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue(BIRD)
John Longlois' response to P.N Benjamin's article
Dear Mr Benjamin
Thank you for your email in which you ask for comments on your article which you wrote in May 2005. In brief my comments are that:
(1) the uniqueness of Christ as the sole Saviour of humankind is the basic issue in what you have written,
(2) the uniqueness of the Christian message of salvation is applicable to all peoples at all times,
(3) this does not mean that the Christian message cannot be contextualised in local situations and
(4) through 2,000 years of historical tradition the Christian message often bears with it non-biblical accretions (both "Western" and "non-Western") that can be discarded.
My detailed comments are as follow:
1. The answer to your question in the title: "Convert to God or Christianity" is "neither". One "converts" (or "turns") to Jesus Christ alone for salvation, as the promised Messiah, not to Christianity. Jesus himself said: "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father [God] except through me". Across the world and in many languages "God" is a generic word, which refers to any supreme deity and not always to "Yahweh", the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2. Conversion to Jesus Christ, that is, coming to a living experience of Christ as Saviour and Lord, is a common experience throughout the Christian churches worldwide, although it takes many forms. It makes no difference whether one is in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox or Evangelical tradition. There are people in all churches with a living faith in Christ and those without such a faith.
3. You write: "If the churches were engaged in conversion spree, the whole of India would have been Christianised," claimed Richard Howell of Evangelical Fellowship of India". Maybe, but "Christianised" does not mean that they would have found salvation through Christ. Being "Christianised" is not enough. (Since writing this I have received Richard's denial of having said it.)
4. I would not personally have referred to Richard as "the guy", as I try to treat everyone with respect even when "I react swiftly and sharply" or disagree with them. It is for Richard to respond as to whether he is "living in the proverbial fool's paradise" and "touchingly naive and provocative".
5. Please let me know which "body" you are talking about when you write "But when a well-organised body financed by foreign money begins to shift a whole herd of people from one caste to another one begins to suspect their motives.". I feel certain that not all follow the same modus operandi. Incidentally, I do not know what caste you belong to, but as a non-Indian I would never refer to Dalits as a "herd of people".
6. Dr Kaaj Baggo may have been "a brilliant Danish Professor" but that does not mean that he was right when he said that "Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists should never give up their religion for the Christian Church." There are undoubtedly good aspects in other religions but Christians believe that salvation is only found in Jesus Christ.
7. I agree with you that "the Church should humble itself and find ways of identifying with other groups, taking Christ with them". We can and should all identify with the humanity and sinfulness of humankind.
8. Dr Baggo was right when he said that "Christ…was not the chairman of the Christian party". There is, of course, no such thing as "the Christian party". I do not know if Dr Baggo thought there was one or not.
9. If God is the Lord of the universe he "can" (not necessarily "will") work through every culture and religion but any revelation will be of the truth as revealed in His revelation to humankind.
10. I agree with you regarding "the crusading spirit". I am no admirer of the crusades which occurred from 1094 to 1450. They were a disastrous demonstration of what was not real Christianity. I am an admirer, however, of the evangelising work of St. Thomas and others in India in the first century A.D. and many missionaries to India since, including William Carey, who did much work on the translation of the Christian scriptures, and Mother Theresa, who as a superb example of the spirit of Christ.
11. I agree that we should stop singing hymns such as "Onward Christian soldiers marching as to war". It should be remembered that that particular hymn was written for children for a particular occasion in England in 1865 by the Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould, an Anglican clergyman. It was never meant to be sung in India. The hymnwriter explained it as follows: "One Whit-Monday, it was arranged that our school should join forces with that of a neighbouring village. I wanted the children to sing when marching from one village to another, but couldn't think of anything quite suitable; so I sat up at night, resolved that I would write something myself. "Onward, Christian Soldiers" was the result. It was written in great haste, and I am afraid some of the rhymes are faulty. Certainly nothing has surprised me more than its popularity."
12. I can remember the first time I came to work in India in 1969, I attended a Methodist Church. We sang "From Greenland's Icy Mountains". I was amazed as it was so out of context. I had hoped to learn some Indian hymnody.
13. I am not surprised that the Indian Christians were furious at Dr Baggo's comments and conclusions, as it is difficult to see how "Hindu Christianity" or "Buddhist Christianity" can be Christocentric Christianity at all in their pantheon of deities.
14. I note what you say about the very important Anglican Church dignitary who was Metropolitan of Calcutta. I personally have no time for opulent Christianity. We can so easily fall short of the example of Christ. To me Mother Theresa was an immensely greater example of Jesus Christ in Calcutta.
15. I entirely agree with you that "The most precious freedom that Indian Christians enjoy is to hold Jesus Christ as their Saviour, as the Son of God, as the "only true divinity"" and that "It is their absolute right to cherish that belief".
16. I have not heard that Christianity in India tries to impose this belief of only one true God, Jesus Christ, on the world, although you are better placed than me to know who has sought to make such an imposition. God has given all of us freedom of choice. To the best of my knowledge Indian Christians have always proclaimed and continue to proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ as the only way and it is then for others to accept this or to reject it. Imposition of belief is not a biblical concept.
17. You write: "If "all religions are ultimately for the welfare and salvation of humankind", then conversion is absurd". It is a big "IF". We Christians believe that Yahweh has revealed the truth to us through Jesus and it is our duty to proclaim that truth to the world, irrespective of whether it is accepted or not. Conversion to truth is rational. Adherence to non-truth is not.
18. If as you write "the Church leaders have miserably failed to take care of the 16 million Dalits converted to Christianity" this does not mean that conversion to Christ is wrong. It merely means that this unsatisfactory state of affairs must be addressed. I trust and pray that this will change and that they will see true Christlikeness in Indian Christians.
19. When you write: "Besides, indiscriminate conversion has ruined the spirit of Christianity into savagery." I assume you are referring to the Dalits. Conversion is an individual decision to follow Christ, not "indiscriminate". I agree with you that the Christian life is a path paved with suffering and service.
20. I agree with you that "Christians in India can play a creative and critical role in the life of our nation. What matters most is the quality of their life as Christians and the courage of their faith." Christ's call to conversion is a turning towards Yahweh, His Father.
21. If the Christian Church in today's India is to be true to its calling it has to proclaim the Gospel as written in the Christian scriptures without unbiblical occidental accretions. The Indian church has had long experience of this since the times of St Thomas and there is no reason why it should not rise to the challenge.
My belief in the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as sole Saviour is not through arrogance but through my humbly accepting the Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible as God's final revelation to humankind.
John Langlois 19th August 2007
Thank you for your email in which you ask for comments on your article which you wrote in May 2005. In brief my comments are that:
(1) the uniqueness of Christ as the sole Saviour of humankind is the basic issue in what you have written,
(2) the uniqueness of the Christian message of salvation is applicable to all peoples at all times,
(3) this does not mean that the Christian message cannot be contextualised in local situations and
(4) through 2,000 years of historical tradition the Christian message often bears with it non-biblical accretions (both "Western" and "non-Western") that can be discarded.
My detailed comments are as follow:
1. The answer to your question in the title: "Convert to God or Christianity" is "neither". One "converts" (or "turns") to Jesus Christ alone for salvation, as the promised Messiah, not to Christianity. Jesus himself said: "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father [God] except through me". Across the world and in many languages "God" is a generic word, which refers to any supreme deity and not always to "Yahweh", the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2. Conversion to Jesus Christ, that is, coming to a living experience of Christ as Saviour and Lord, is a common experience throughout the Christian churches worldwide, although it takes many forms. It makes no difference whether one is in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox or Evangelical tradition. There are people in all churches with a living faith in Christ and those without such a faith.
3. You write: "If the churches were engaged in conversion spree, the whole of India would have been Christianised," claimed Richard Howell of Evangelical Fellowship of India". Maybe, but "Christianised" does not mean that they would have found salvation through Christ. Being "Christianised" is not enough. (Since writing this I have received Richard's denial of having said it.)
4. I would not personally have referred to Richard as "the guy", as I try to treat everyone with respect even when "I react swiftly and sharply" or disagree with them. It is for Richard to respond as to whether he is "living in the proverbial fool's paradise" and "touchingly naive and provocative".
5. Please let me know which "body" you are talking about when you write "But when a well-organised body financed by foreign money begins to shift a whole herd of people from one caste to another one begins to suspect their motives.". I feel certain that not all follow the same modus operandi. Incidentally, I do not know what caste you belong to, but as a non-Indian I would never refer to Dalits as a "herd of people".
6. Dr Kaaj Baggo may have been "a brilliant Danish Professor" but that does not mean that he was right when he said that "Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists should never give up their religion for the Christian Church." There are undoubtedly good aspects in other religions but Christians believe that salvation is only found in Jesus Christ.
7. I agree with you that "the Church should humble itself and find ways of identifying with other groups, taking Christ with them". We can and should all identify with the humanity and sinfulness of humankind.
8. Dr Baggo was right when he said that "Christ…was not the chairman of the Christian party". There is, of course, no such thing as "the Christian party". I do not know if Dr Baggo thought there was one or not.
9. If God is the Lord of the universe he "can" (not necessarily "will") work through every culture and religion but any revelation will be of the truth as revealed in His revelation to humankind.
10. I agree with you regarding "the crusading spirit". I am no admirer of the crusades which occurred from 1094 to 1450. They were a disastrous demonstration of what was not real Christianity. I am an admirer, however, of the evangelising work of St. Thomas and others in India in the first century A.D. and many missionaries to India since, including William Carey, who did much work on the translation of the Christian scriptures, and Mother Theresa, who as a superb example of the spirit of Christ.
11. I agree that we should stop singing hymns such as "Onward Christian soldiers marching as to war". It should be remembered that that particular hymn was written for children for a particular occasion in England in 1865 by the Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould, an Anglican clergyman. It was never meant to be sung in India. The hymnwriter explained it as follows: "One Whit-Monday, it was arranged that our school should join forces with that of a neighbouring village. I wanted the children to sing when marching from one village to another, but couldn't think of anything quite suitable; so I sat up at night, resolved that I would write something myself. "Onward, Christian Soldiers" was the result. It was written in great haste, and I am afraid some of the rhymes are faulty. Certainly nothing has surprised me more than its popularity."
12. I can remember the first time I came to work in India in 1969, I attended a Methodist Church. We sang "From Greenland's Icy Mountains". I was amazed as it was so out of context. I had hoped to learn some Indian hymnody.
13. I am not surprised that the Indian Christians were furious at Dr Baggo's comments and conclusions, as it is difficult to see how "Hindu Christianity" or "Buddhist Christianity" can be Christocentric Christianity at all in their pantheon of deities.
14. I note what you say about the very important Anglican Church dignitary who was Metropolitan of Calcutta. I personally have no time for opulent Christianity. We can so easily fall short of the example of Christ. To me Mother Theresa was an immensely greater example of Jesus Christ in Calcutta.
15. I entirely agree with you that "The most precious freedom that Indian Christians enjoy is to hold Jesus Christ as their Saviour, as the Son of God, as the "only true divinity"" and that "It is their absolute right to cherish that belief".
16. I have not heard that Christianity in India tries to impose this belief of only one true God, Jesus Christ, on the world, although you are better placed than me to know who has sought to make such an imposition. God has given all of us freedom of choice. To the best of my knowledge Indian Christians have always proclaimed and continue to proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ as the only way and it is then for others to accept this or to reject it. Imposition of belief is not a biblical concept.
17. You write: "If "all religions are ultimately for the welfare and salvation of humankind", then conversion is absurd". It is a big "IF". We Christians believe that Yahweh has revealed the truth to us through Jesus and it is our duty to proclaim that truth to the world, irrespective of whether it is accepted or not. Conversion to truth is rational. Adherence to non-truth is not.
18. If as you write "the Church leaders have miserably failed to take care of the 16 million Dalits converted to Christianity" this does not mean that conversion to Christ is wrong. It merely means that this unsatisfactory state of affairs must be addressed. I trust and pray that this will change and that they will see true Christlikeness in Indian Christians.
19. When you write: "Besides, indiscriminate conversion has ruined the spirit of Christianity into savagery." I assume you are referring to the Dalits. Conversion is an individual decision to follow Christ, not "indiscriminate". I agree with you that the Christian life is a path paved with suffering and service.
20. I agree with you that "Christians in India can play a creative and critical role in the life of our nation. What matters most is the quality of their life as Christians and the courage of their faith." Christ's call to conversion is a turning towards Yahweh, His Father.
21. If the Christian Church in today's India is to be true to its calling it has to proclaim the Gospel as written in the Christian scriptures without unbiblical occidental accretions. The Indian church has had long experience of this since the times of St Thomas and there is no reason why it should not rise to the challenge.
My belief in the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as sole Saviour is not through arrogance but through my humbly accepting the Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible as God's final revelation to humankind.
John Langlois 19th August 2007
Richard Howell's response to P.N. Benjamin
Dear Brother Benjamin,
I reject your charge: 1). I never wrote any article in Bangalore
daily. 2) who misquoted me I do not. 3) I am happy you forgave me
without even checking with me whether the statement was made by me or
not.
I have consistently written and spoken in press conferences that
Conversion is an act of God. I still maintain it.
God bless you.
Regards,
Richard Howell
I reject your charge: 1). I never wrote any article in Bangalore
daily. 2) who misquoted me I do not. 3) I am happy you forgave me
without even checking with me whether the statement was made by me or
not.
I have consistently written and spoken in press conferences that
Conversion is an act of God. I still maintain it.
God bless you.
Regards,
Richard Howell
Convert to God or Christianity - by P. N. Benjamin
CONVERT TO GOD OR CHRISTIANITY?P.N. Benjamin
“If the churches were engaged in conversion spree, the whole of India would have been Christianised,” claimed Richard Howell of Evangelical Fellowship of India, writing in a Bangalore daily some time ago. I reacted swiftly and sharply in the same paper three days later, wondering whether the guy wasn’t living in the proverbial fool’s paradise. Wasn’t he touchingly naive and provocative? And I prayed: “Father, forgive him, for he knows not what he is talking.”No one can deny that genuine conversions do take place through the influence of one individual on another. In the mid-1970s, a lovely Canadian girl came to Bangalore on a Government of India scholarship to learn Bharata Natyam. (She was staying with the late Dr. Fredrick Mulyil and Mrs. Gladys Mulyil. Dr Mulyil was a Professor at the United Theological College and Mrs. Mulyil, Professor of English Language and Literature at the Central College, Bangalore. I was their neighbour.) Like most of her generation in the West, she was an agnostic. She was U.S. Krishna Rao’s star pupil and made her debut in six months. One day she met Mother Teresa. She fell under her spell. She abandoned dance and donned the robes of a nun. “You are a born artist. How dare you become a nun?”—Krishna Rao raged in vain. She went to Calcutta and later to Mexico where she was working in a slum when I last heard about her. Not even the RSS or the VHP could quarrel with such a conversion. But when a well-organised body financed by foreign money begins to shift a whole herd of people from one caste to another one begins to suspect their motives.Some forty years ago, a brilliant Danish Professor, Dr Kaaj Baggo, in the United Theological College, Bangalore, made history when he said: “Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists should never give up their religion for the Christian Church.” On the other hand the Church should humble itself and find ways of identifying with other groups, taking Christ with them Christ, he said, was not the chairman of the Christian party. If God is the Lord of the universe he will work through every culture and religion. We must give up the crusading spirit of the colonial era and stop singing weird hymns like “Onward Christian soldiers marching as to war”. This will lead to Hindu Christianity or Buddhist Christianity.It may involve the disappearance of the Indian Christian community, but he reminded us “a grain of wheat remains a solitary grain unless it falls to the ground and dies”. Needless to say, the Indian Christians were furious. He left the College, the Church and the mission and took refuge with the Danish Foreign Service! He later returned to India as his country’s Ambassador and died in harness in 1988.About a hundred and fifty years ago England was sending out a very important Anglican Church dignitary as Metropolitan of Calcutta. The Brahmin priests got wind of it. They were perturbed. This foreign religion might become a threat to their own traditions. They must investigate. So, they sent one of their men to assess the situation. He wandered around the city till he came to the Bishop’s residence. It was a vast sprawling opulent mansion. As he stood at the gate, the great man walked down the steps, dressed in his magnificent robes. He stepped into the waiting carriage drawn by two horses with a postillion sitting at the rear. The Brahmin returned to his friends. “Have no fears,” he said. “This is not a religion we need to fear.” The priests were relieved for the pomp and splendour of organised Christianity holds no appeal for any genuine seeker after truth.The most precious freedom that Indian Christians enjoy is to hold Jesus Christ as their saviour, as the Son of God, as the “only true divinity”. It is their absolute right to cherish that belief—and if any Hindu outfit or government tries to impeach upon that liberty, then definitely Indian Christians should fight tooth and nail for their religious privileges. They would be justified to speak about Hindu fundamentalism, saffron brigade or Hindutva. But the moment Christianity tries to impose this belief of only one true God—Jesus Christ—on the world, then it is itself impeaching upon the freedom of others. For this belief of the “onlyness of our God” as the real one and all others are false is at the root of many misunderstandings, wars and terrorism.If “all religions are ultimately for the welfare and salvation of humankind”, then conversion is absurd. The Church leaders have miserably failed to take care of the 16 million Dalits converted to Christianity. Besides, indiscriminate conversion has ruined the spirit of Christianity into savagery. Christianity is a path of life paved with suffering and service. Christ said: “If anyone wants to follow me, let him take up the cross and follow me.” The Indian Christian leaders want the government to carry the Cross of Dalit Christians!Christians form just about 2.5 per cent of the Indian population. “Very often they have to depend not so much on their rights as on the goodwill and generosity of the powerful majority Hindu community. Christians in India are dependent in a double sense, on the goodwill of the Hindus and on the Churches in the West whose fellowship sustains them and whose affluence often supports them. Judging from numbers there is hardly any equality in relationship. But Christians in India can play a creative and critical role in the life of our nation. What matters most is the quality of their life as Christians and the courage of their faith.” (Dr Stanley Samartha, Courage for Dialogue). While Christ’s call to conversion is a turning towards God stands what it need not imply is conversion to Christianity.Christianity in today’s India with a renascent Hinduism faces an unprecedented crisis. If it is alive to the situation and sensitive to the signs of time, it has to rethink itself, reorient itself, and rediscover its basic substance and interpret that in terms acceptable to the Indian mind and genius.P.N.BENJAMINbenjaminpn@hotmail.comVijay Times, May 12, 2005
“If the churches were engaged in conversion spree, the whole of India would have been Christianised,” claimed Richard Howell of Evangelical Fellowship of India, writing in a Bangalore daily some time ago. I reacted swiftly and sharply in the same paper three days later, wondering whether the guy wasn’t living in the proverbial fool’s paradise. Wasn’t he touchingly naive and provocative? And I prayed: “Father, forgive him, for he knows not what he is talking.”No one can deny that genuine conversions do take place through the influence of one individual on another. In the mid-1970s, a lovely Canadian girl came to Bangalore on a Government of India scholarship to learn Bharata Natyam. (She was staying with the late Dr. Fredrick Mulyil and Mrs. Gladys Mulyil. Dr Mulyil was a Professor at the United Theological College and Mrs. Mulyil, Professor of English Language and Literature at the Central College, Bangalore. I was their neighbour.) Like most of her generation in the West, she was an agnostic. She was U.S. Krishna Rao’s star pupil and made her debut in six months. One day she met Mother Teresa. She fell under her spell. She abandoned dance and donned the robes of a nun. “You are a born artist. How dare you become a nun?”—Krishna Rao raged in vain. She went to Calcutta and later to Mexico where she was working in a slum when I last heard about her. Not even the RSS or the VHP could quarrel with such a conversion. But when a well-organised body financed by foreign money begins to shift a whole herd of people from one caste to another one begins to suspect their motives.Some forty years ago, a brilliant Danish Professor, Dr Kaaj Baggo, in the United Theological College, Bangalore, made history when he said: “Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists should never give up their religion for the Christian Church.” On the other hand the Church should humble itself and find ways of identifying with other groups, taking Christ with them Christ, he said, was not the chairman of the Christian party. If God is the Lord of the universe he will work through every culture and religion. We must give up the crusading spirit of the colonial era and stop singing weird hymns like “Onward Christian soldiers marching as to war”. This will lead to Hindu Christianity or Buddhist Christianity.It may involve the disappearance of the Indian Christian community, but he reminded us “a grain of wheat remains a solitary grain unless it falls to the ground and dies”. Needless to say, the Indian Christians were furious. He left the College, the Church and the mission and took refuge with the Danish Foreign Service! He later returned to India as his country’s Ambassador and died in harness in 1988.About a hundred and fifty years ago England was sending out a very important Anglican Church dignitary as Metropolitan of Calcutta. The Brahmin priests got wind of it. They were perturbed. This foreign religion might become a threat to their own traditions. They must investigate. So, they sent one of their men to assess the situation. He wandered around the city till he came to the Bishop’s residence. It was a vast sprawling opulent mansion. As he stood at the gate, the great man walked down the steps, dressed in his magnificent robes. He stepped into the waiting carriage drawn by two horses with a postillion sitting at the rear. The Brahmin returned to his friends. “Have no fears,” he said. “This is not a religion we need to fear.” The priests were relieved for the pomp and splendour of organised Christianity holds no appeal for any genuine seeker after truth.The most precious freedom that Indian Christians enjoy is to hold Jesus Christ as their saviour, as the Son of God, as the “only true divinity”. It is their absolute right to cherish that belief—and if any Hindu outfit or government tries to impeach upon that liberty, then definitely Indian Christians should fight tooth and nail for their religious privileges. They would be justified to speak about Hindu fundamentalism, saffron brigade or Hindutva. But the moment Christianity tries to impose this belief of only one true God—Jesus Christ—on the world, then it is itself impeaching upon the freedom of others. For this belief of the “onlyness of our God” as the real one and all others are false is at the root of many misunderstandings, wars and terrorism.If “all religions are ultimately for the welfare and salvation of humankind”, then conversion is absurd. The Church leaders have miserably failed to take care of the 16 million Dalits converted to Christianity. Besides, indiscriminate conversion has ruined the spirit of Christianity into savagery. Christianity is a path of life paved with suffering and service. Christ said: “If anyone wants to follow me, let him take up the cross and follow me.” The Indian Christian leaders want the government to carry the Cross of Dalit Christians!Christians form just about 2.5 per cent of the Indian population. “Very often they have to depend not so much on their rights as on the goodwill and generosity of the powerful majority Hindu community. Christians in India are dependent in a double sense, on the goodwill of the Hindus and on the Churches in the West whose fellowship sustains them and whose affluence often supports them. Judging from numbers there is hardly any equality in relationship. But Christians in India can play a creative and critical role in the life of our nation. What matters most is the quality of their life as Christians and the courage of their faith.” (Dr Stanley Samartha, Courage for Dialogue). While Christ’s call to conversion is a turning towards God stands what it need not imply is conversion to Christianity.Christianity in today’s India with a renascent Hinduism faces an unprecedented crisis. If it is alive to the situation and sensitive to the signs of time, it has to rethink itself, reorient itself, and rediscover its basic substance and interpret that in terms acceptable to the Indian mind and genius.P.N.BENJAMINbenjaminpn@hotmail.comVijay Times, May 12, 2005
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