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Review Of The Crisis Of Secularism, Chad M. Bauman Jan 2008

Review Of The Crisis Of Secularism, Chad M. Bauman

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

The essays in this volume address the "crisis of secularism" in India, a crisis which, the editors suggest, emerged during the Emergency and culminated in the 2002 Gujarat violence.


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.


Editor's Introduction, Bradley Malkovsky Jan 2008

Editor's Introduction, Bradley Malkovsky

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

The editor's introduction to this issue.


Postcolonial Theological Approaches To Hindu-Christian Studies, Susan Abraham Jan 2008

Postcolonial Theological Approaches To Hindu-Christian Studies, Susan Abraham

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

The disciplinary boundaries of "Hindu-Christian" studies call into question the cultural and political terrain in which it is engendered. As a Christian theologian from India whose encounter with academic Hinduism is as it is taught in the US, my experience is tangential and rather critical in terms of the power issues it raises. Nevertheless, as a theologian of culture I am most interested in how the project of decolonizing theology of the study of religion should take place in the context of the North American academy. Of primary importance here is the dissolution of problematic devaluations. For example, what goes …


Comparative Theology, Comparative Religion, And Hindu-Christian Studies: Ethnography As Method, Kristin Bloomer Jan 2008

Comparative Theology, Comparative Religion, And Hindu-Christian Studies: Ethnography As Method, Kristin Bloomer

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Concerns that likely inspired today's panel can be traced textually to the beginnings of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and to the earliest writings of what we now call Hinduism. In the field of Hindu-Christian studies, these concerns suggest ethnographic approaches that are not in themselves new, but which borrow in potentially new ways from the methodological tool-boxes of anthropology, theology and the history of religions.


Viewpoint: More Or Deeper? What Should Be Next In (My) Hindu-Christian Study, Francis X. Clooney Jan 2008

Viewpoint: More Or Deeper? What Should Be Next In (My) Hindu-Christian Study, Francis X. Clooney

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Recently I completed two books in the field of Hindu-Christian studies. The first is The Truth, the Way, the Life: Christian Commentary on the Three Holy Mantras of the Srivaisnava Hindus. This project, for Catherine Cornille's new series of Christian commentaries on the sacred texts of non-Christian traditions, is heavily indebted to Vedanta Desika's 14th century reading of the Tiru Mantra, Dvaya mantra, and Carama Sloka. The second book is Beyond Compare: St. Frances de Sales and Sri Vedanta Desika on Loving Surrender to God, an intensive doulbe reading of Desika's Essence of the Three Holy Mysteries (Srimadrahasyatrayasara) …


In Memoriam: Selva J. Raj (1952-2008), Corinne Dempsey Jan 2008

In Memoriam: Selva J. Raj (1952-2008), Corinne Dempsey

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Selva J. Raj was a man dedicated to life and work in all its breathtaking complexity. At the time of his untimely death of a heart attack on March 14th, he was the Stanley S. Kresge Endowed Professor and Chair of the Religious Studies Department at Albion College. In addition to tirelessly serving on a lengthy list of campus-wide, national, and international committees and boards, Selva was co-chair of the Comparative Studies in Religion Section of the AAR since 2001; he rekindled the Conference on the Study of Religions of India in 2004 and served as its annual organizer; he …


Can Christians Be Bhaktas? A Sanskritic View From Central India, C. 1850, Richard Fox Young Jan 2008

Can Christians Be Bhaktas? A Sanskritic View From Central India, C. 1850, Richard Fox Young

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

My essay focuses on an undeservedly obscure individual, Somanath Vyas, whose name hardly registers among South Asia scholars. Recently, however, Somanath's writings have elicited interest among Sanskritists in Central India where he lived. Of these, I focus on the Kalandikaprakasa, composed between 1847 and 1850. A major treatise in wissenschaftliches and Sanskrit, it discusses knowledge, scientific and religious, that the author, a traditionally-educated Hindu pandit, deemed worthy of knowing. Importantly, this knowledge included a knowledge of Christianity. For an era rife with interreligious polemics, to advocate on behalf of Christianity as a religion worth knowing in relation to its …


Book Review: "Bourgeois Hinduism, Or The Faith Of The Modern Vedantists", Brian K. Pennington Jan 2008

Book Review: "Bourgeois Hinduism, Or The Faith Of The Modern Vedantists", Brian K. Pennington

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

A review of Bourgeois Hinduism, Or the Faith of the Modern Vedantists by Brian A. Hatcher.


Book Review: "Loving God: Krsna And Christ, A Christian Commentary On The Narada Sutras", Lance E. Nelson Jan 2008

Book Review: "Loving God: Krsna And Christ, A Christian Commentary On The Narada Sutras", Lance E. Nelson

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

A review of Loving God: Krsna and Christ, A Christian Commentary on the Narada Sutras by Daniel P. Sheridan.


Book Review: "Christ Across The Ganges: Hindu Responses To Jesus", Bradley Malkovsky Jan 2008

Book Review: "Christ Across The Ganges: Hindu Responses To Jesus", Bradley Malkovsky

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

A review of Christ Across the Ganges: Hindu Responses to Jesus by Sandy Bharat.


Book Review Of "Indian Religions: Renaissance And Renewal", Chad M. Bauman Jan 2008

Book Review Of "Indian Religions: Renaissance And Renewal", Chad M. Bauman

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

The eighteen articles in this volume grew from papers delivered at the 2006 Spalding Symposium on Indian Religions. The Symposium featured both newer and more advanced scholars who presented papers on a variety of topics and traditions of India (but especially Hinduism and Buddhism).


History And Fiction In The Acts Of Thomas: The State Of The Question, James F. Mcgrath Jan 2008

History And Fiction In The Acts Of Thomas: The State Of The Question, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

The Acts of Thomas has not yet received as much attention as the Gospel associated with the same individual, and this is understandable. Current students of this early Christian work, however, are in danger of missing out on the discussions and differing perspectives long offered by scholars of the Indian church and Indian history on this work. The current study suggests that, while the Acts of Thomas is almost certainly a work of novelistic fiction, this should not lead us to ignore the instances of confirmable historical information embedded therein, as in many other works of historical fiction. The Acts …


Liberal Theology In The Weimar Era: Schleiermacher And The Question Of Religious Subjectivity In The Methodenstreit Between Georg Wobbermin And Karl Barth, Brent Hege Jan 2008

Liberal Theology In The Weimar Era: Schleiermacher And The Question Of Religious Subjectivity In The Methodenstreit Between Georg Wobbermin And Karl Barth, Brent Hege

Philosophy, Religion, and Classics

Recent historical studies of liberal theology in the Weimar era have called into question the popular thesis of liberal theology's sudden demise and disappearance coincident with the First World War and the publication of Karl Barth's Römerbrief. Historians of this period of theology are rediscovering a vibrant liberal theology active well into the 1920s and even into the 1930s. One of these liberal theologians, Georg Wobbermin, was particularly active in this period, and his work serves as an example of a constructive liberal theology pursued in the midst of dialectical theology's rise to prominence on the German-speaking theological scene. Wobbermin's …


A Retrospective Of Hindu-Christian Studies: Establishment Of The Journal And Formation Of The Society, Harold Coward Jan 2008

A Retrospective Of Hindu-Christian Studies: Establishment Of The Journal And Formation Of The Society, Harold Coward

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

A retrospective look at "How We Do Hindu-Christian Studies" can be had by going through the issues of our journal from 1988 to the present. In the first issue of the journal the approach was described as follows: "Materials selected for publication will be balanced between historical research and contemporary practice, and, where possible, should employ analytical and theoretical analysis set within the context of our shared human experience." The issue contained two articles illustrating this approach: an overview of Hindu-Christian dialogue in India in the 1970s and 1980s by Anand Amaladass, and an assessment of the various approaches to …


The Role Of Ethics In Hindu-Christian Dialogue, Arvind Sharma Jan 2008

The Role Of Ethics In Hindu-Christian Dialogue, Arvind Sharma

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

I would like to offer some remarks on the role of ethics in Hindu-Christian dialogue. I shall argue that the presentations of their respective ethical positions by these traditions are often too flat, which is to say, not sufficiently nuanced so that each side enters into dialogue with an inadequate understanding of the other side. I shall then further argue that the dialogue may be more fruitful, if it proceeded with a mutual recognition of the ethical complexities involved in their respective positions.


Reports & News Jan 2008

Reports & News

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Reports and news relevant to the Society for Hindu-Christian Studies, including information about the 2008 Annual General Meeting.


Book Review: "The History Of The Holy Servants Of The Lord Siva: A Translation Of The Periya Puranam Of Cekkilar", M. Thomas Thangaraj Jan 2008

Book Review: "The History Of The Holy Servants Of The Lord Siva: A Translation Of The Periya Puranam Of Cekkilar", M. Thomas Thangaraj

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

A review of The History of the Holy Servants of the Lord Siva: A Translation of the Periya Puranam of Cekkilar by Alaistair McGlashan.


Book Review: "Song Divine: Christian Commentaries On The Bhagavad Gita", Michael T. Mclaughlin Jan 2008

Book Review: "Song Divine: Christian Commentaries On The Bhagavad Gita", Michael T. Mclaughlin

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

A review of Song Divine: Christian Commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita edited by Catherine Cornille.


The Society For Hindu-Christian Studies Jan 2008

The Society For Hindu-Christian Studies

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Information about the Society for Hindu-Christian Studies.


Introductory Information Jan 2008

Introductory Information

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Introductory information, including the editorial advisory board and the editorial policy.


Nine More- Or Less-Related Observations On Historical Approaches To Hindu-Christian Studies, Brian K. Pennington Jan 2008

Nine More- Or Less-Related Observations On Historical Approaches To Hindu-Christian Studies, Brian K. Pennington

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

For the purposes of this panel discussion, it seems more appropriate to make a series of suggestions and observations about the difficulties and promises of writing history within a Hindu-Christian framework than to offer a paper arguing a single point or perspective. Hindu-Christian history presents a particular set of challenges given the shifting political and material conditions that have attended the dramatic encounter between these disparate cultures and traditions. In what follows I attempt to articulate some of the larger issues with which I wrestle as I study and write Hindu-Christian history.


Being Catholic The Tamil Way: Assimilation And Differentiation, Selva J. Raj Jan 2008

Being Catholic The Tamil Way: Assimilation And Differentiation, Selva J. Raj

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

The ritual life of Tamil Catholics in south India defies tidy, conventional categories like assimilation, differentiation, and othering, since the complex negotiations characteristic of this lived tradition often involve both assimilation and differentiation. This dynamic reflects/reveals their hybrid and liminal cultural and religious condition where boundaries are not fixed or absolute, but constantly fluid, permeable, and negotiable. While this pattern is manifest almost in all spheres of Tamil Catholic life and practice, in this paper I focus on how lay Catholics configure and maintain their "tamilness" in the realms of devotional music, caste discourse, and public devotional rituals with relevant …


Book Review: "Christian Inculturation In India", Corinne Dempsey Jan 2008

Book Review: "Christian Inculturation In India", Corinne Dempsey

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

A review of Christian Inculturation in India by Paul Collins.


Book Review: "The Quest For Postmodern Ethics: A Phenomenological Comparison Of The Philosophies Of Martin Heidigger And Sri Aurobindo Ghose", Reid B. Locklin Jan 2008

Book Review: "The Quest For Postmodern Ethics: A Phenomenological Comparison Of The Philosophies Of Martin Heidigger And Sri Aurobindo Ghose", Reid B. Locklin

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

A review of The Quest for Postmodern Ethics: A Phenomenological Comparison of the Philosophies of Martin Heidigger and Sri Aurobindo Ghose by R. Brad Bannon.


Table Of Contents Jan 2008

Table Of Contents

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Table of contents for Volume 21.


Book Reviews Table Of Contents Jan 2008

Book Reviews Table Of Contents

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

A listing of the book reviews available in this issue.


Methodological Approaches To Hindu-Christian Studies: Some Thoughts, T.S. Rukmani Jan 2008

Methodological Approaches To Hindu-Christian Studies: Some Thoughts, T.S. Rukmani

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

I was surprised that any one would want me to be a respondent for a panel which was primarily concerned with methodological approaches to Hindu-Christian Studies, my interest being mainly philosophical Sanskrit texts. However as a Hindu and having lived in India for most of my adult life I was interested to learn more about the way academics deal with this issue, which really is one that is fraught with many complications. Harold Coward, who gave a retrospect of the Society at the beginning of the session, did indeed give me a glimpse of the topics and methodology followed in …


Book Review: "Bishop Stephen Neill: From Edinburgh To South India", Adam Dodds Jan 2008

Book Review: "Bishop Stephen Neill: From Edinburgh To South India", Adam Dodds

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

A review of Bishop Stephen Neill: From Edinburgh to South India by Dyron B. Daughrity.