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History of Religions of Eastern Origins

Butler University

Christianity

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

Does God Have A Body? Rāmānuja’S Challenge To The Christian Tradition, Jon Paul Sydnor Jan 2018

Does God Have A Body? Rāmānuja’S Challenge To The Christian Tradition, Jon Paul Sydnor

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

The Christian tradition’s core theological assertion is the embodiment of God in the person of Jesus Christ. Yet, even while asserting God’s incarnation in space and time, the tradition has usually denied embodiment unto the Godhead itself. Theologians have based this denial on Jewish iconoclasm, Greek idealism, and inferences from God’s omnipresence, transcendence, and infinity. This speculative essay will argue that Hindu Śrīvaiṣṇava theologian Rāmānuja successfully addresses these concerns. He argues for the embodiment of an omnipresent, transcendent, and infinite personal God. Rāmānuja largely derives his arguments from the Hindu scriptures. Nevertheless, their rational explication and internal coherence render divine …


Redeeming Indian ‘Christian’ Womanhood?: Missionaries, Dalits, And Agency In Colonial India, Chad M. Bauman Jan 2008

Redeeming Indian ‘Christian’ Womanhood?: Missionaries, Dalits, And Agency In Colonial India, Chad M. Bauman

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

This study of dalit Christians in colonial North India suggests that women who converted to Christianity in the region often experienced a contraction of the range of their activities. Bauman analyzes this counterintuitive result of missionary work and then draws on the work of Saba Mahmood and others to interrogate the predilection of feminist historians for agents, rabble-rousers, and gender troublemakers. The article concludes not only that this predilection represents a mild form of egocentrism but also that it prevents historians from adequately analyzing the complexity of factors that motivate and influence human behavior.


Postcolonial Anxiety And Anti-Conversion Sentiment In The Report Of The Christian Missionary Activities Enquiry Committee, Chad M. Bauman Jan 2008

Postcolonial Anxiety And Anti-Conversion Sentiment In The Report Of The Christian Missionary Activities Enquiry Committee, Chad M. Bauman

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Conversion to Christianity is one of the most politically charged issues in contemporary India and has recently been very much in the news.1 For example, in 2006, on the fiftieth anniversary of B. R. Ambedkar’s conversion to Buddhism2 hundreds of dalits gathered to convert, some to Buddhism and others to Christianity, rejecting Hinduism, a religion they claim oppresses and demeans them. In attacks on Christians in Orissa at the end of 2007 (and associated reprisals), dozens of churches, homes, and businesses were destroyed, hundreds of people were injured, and thousands were displaced.


Singing Of Satnam: Blind Simon Patros, Dalit Religious Identity, And Satnami-Christian Music In Chhattisgarh, India, Chad M. Bauman Jan 2006

Singing Of Satnam: Blind Simon Patros, Dalit Religious Identity, And Satnami-Christian Music In Chhattisgarh, India, Chad M. Bauman

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

This paper explores the Indianization of Christianity in late colonial Chhattisgarh, India, with special reference to a Salnami-Christian catechist and composer, Blind Simon Patros.