Indian Christianity

HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA : M. M. NINAN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
NORTHERN INDIA
In the earlier chapters we have concentrated mainly onto the development of Christianity in the Malabar
Coast after the Mahabali Period. This is because the Malabar coast had direct connection with the
Churches in the Greco Roman world - the Roman and the Antiochian tradition. Soon after the seperation
of the Nasranis of Malankara and the two sects -Saivites and Vaishnavites - who were apostazised under
the influence of the Mani of Syria and later Gnostic sages of India. As a result the gap between the two
became large enough to form distinct religions. The latter merging with other local religons formed the
Hindu religons. They were not yet considered as a single religion until the time of British.
While the coming of the Syrian Christian immigrants from Syria to Kerala made the Christianity in this
area as the Syrian Christians since the form of worship and traditions were all borrowed from Syrians.
After another ten centuries following Islamic invasions, came the Colonial invasions. These opened up a
large influx of foreigners for trade and openned up an influx of Christian missions - Portugese, French,
Dutch and finally the English.
Since these people could not recognize the religion of the rest of India, they classified them under three
head - Christians, Islam and all the rest as Hinduism. Even though they were woshipping all sorts of
different gods, they were all clubbed together as Hinduism as a complex religion. This suited the Hindu
people in that it gave them a new identity. The theology of OM, the Upanishads and the Sanatana
Dharma became the identity of Hinduism and no more connected to the Christianity.
Several Christian missionaries and other evangelists reached India along with the colonising capitalism.
The missionary methods usually followed the "Mission compound method." In this method the
missionaries remained exclusively alien and lived in their own culture within the compound and preached
reaching out side. Cultural barriers meant that those who came in faith transformed and immitated the
culture of the missionaries. In fact this is what happenned in Malankara where the living style, worship
method and liturgy followed the Syrians. When the Roman Catholics came they brought with their faith,
their ways of worship and living style. When the Reformation missions came they brought with them their
ways of worship and living style. Of course eventually there would be a mixing up of cultures. A better
way of mission is the "Immersion" method where the missionary immerses himself in the culture where
the message is to be delivered. In this method the language and forms and symbols of the local culture
is employed.
One effective method of interaction was being actively involved in educational , health and social
reformation in the country. This method takes a long time to effectively transmit the faith. As such we
can see large number of Christian Institutions of Education and Hospitals and Clinics established by the
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