Christianity in India

Title: Christianity in India – Two Thousand Years of Faith

Author: Leonard Fernando, G. Gispert-Sauch

Publisher: Penguin Viking, 2004 (First)

ISBN: 9780650057696

Pages: 336

Christians constitute a tiny 2% of the population of India, but wield a clout considerably greater than their share in demography. They are generally peaceful and abide by the law of the land. Communal tensions between them and other religions are practically non-existent. Still, they occasionally come in the limelight mainly on the defensive side in an argument about religious conversions. Christians believe that it is their god-ordained duty to show others the true path to divinity and convert them to the Christian fold. Even with all this interaction between religions, it is a plain fact that most of the Hindus in the country are ignorant of the nature and tenets of Christianity, even in states like Kerala where Christians form a considerable chunk of the population. This book is an excellent introduction to Christianity in presenting the basic precepts of the religion, its history from its origins to how it arrived in India, the various forms in which Christian churches are divided and their functioning, and the innumerable ways in which Christians interact with others as responsible members of Indian society. The authors are the country’s foremost theologians. Leonardo Fernando was born in Tamil Nadu and has a specialized knowledge of Indian church history. He is the principal of Vidyajyoti College of Theology in Delhi. The co-author, George Gispert-Sauch was born in Spain, but has been a resident of India since 1949. His special area of interest is the mutual contact and the relations between classical Indian and Christian theological traditions.

The authors put great stress on establishing the historicity of Jesus as a human being as compared to a god-figure like what he is portrayed as in the gospels. This is logically a sound tactic, as they rightfully presume that if Jesus is presented simply as god, the accommodative Hindu theology might incorporate him into their pantheon. Only if the historical existence of Christ is proven beyond doubt, they could claim a radical freshness to their ideas. However, this attempt seems to have failed, since the authors are not able to come up with anything better than gospels as evidence. This does not mean that Jesus didn’t exist, but only that his physical life is not substantiated conclusively. As a justification for this exercise, it is stated that the relationship of the Christians to God can’t be reduced to that between a bhakt and divinity, since the Christian believer is in contact with the historical reality of Jesus as a human being. The human life (body and blood) and his role in history are at the core of the Christian experience. The authors display selective rationalism. When a typical Bible story of the feeding of thousands or walking on water is inconvenient to explain away to an audience of believers of other religions, they claim these epistles as symbolic in nature, but in other places, find no compunction in putting up illogical notions like Jesus’ historical existence. There is as much historical authenticity of Jesus from gospel references as there is for Rama from references in the Ramayana.

Christianity rejects casteism – at least, that is their official creed. Authors claim that it also denounces slavery. However, we know for sure that slavery was a flourishing concern in all Christian societies till the middle of the nineteenth century. This heinous custom could be wiped out only when the hold of religion on human societies was considerably weakened on account of intellectual enlightenment. Coming back to casteism, the book includes shocking accounts of how the missionaries – some of them anyway – discriminated against the lower castes. Several tricks of missionaries to obtain conversion can be seen in the book. Roberto de Nobili, a Portuguese proselytizer, came to Madurai in 1606. He built a mud house in which no European furniture was allowed. He removed his black priestly attire, wore saffron robes of a sanyasi and became vegetarian. Masquerading as a Hindu holy man, he chose his prey among the Brahmins of Madurai. He could convert some of the upper castes in many areas of Tamil Nadu. These elite were assigned separate places in the church and separate doors for entry and exit when the majority of the congregation was converts from lower castes. Moreover, the lower castes received communion only after the Brahmins were served. Criticism naturally ensued against such practice, but Pope Gregory XV decided in de Nobili’s favour in 1623. Different missionaries were assigned to work with different castes. Those working among upper castes were called Pandarasamis and Upadesiyars while those trying their luck with lower castes were known as Pandarams. Converted Brahmins continued to wear the sacred thread and hair tuft (kudumi). Such naked discrimination still exists in the church as out of the hundreds of bishops in India, only a handful belongs to Dalits. This is a serious bone of contention for the rising Dalit movement.

The book includes accounts of treatment early Christians received from Muslim kings in India. Akbar was broadminded in religious affairs and he instituted the Ibadat Khana in Fatehpur Sikri, which was a meeting place of scholars of all religions. He requested the governor of Goa to send two missionaries to Agra to teach him the religion. Unaccustomed to anything like tolerance, especially in religion, the catholic bishop in Goa rejoiced at the thought of coming so near to the conversion of the emperor, which in time would lead to the baptism of the whole country. Akbar was likened to be an Indian Constantine. However, the priests’ hopes were dashed in a short while after reaching Agra, as the emperor had no plans of conversion at all. The disappointed fathers returned gloomily back to Goa. However, Christian imagery soon acquired the pride of place in Mughal court painting. This was so, as Akbar found it expedient to propagate the image of Jesus with his disciples which helped to evoke the relationship between the emperor and his nobles in the minds of aristocrats. The magnanimity of Akbar was in sharp contrast with the bigotry of Tipu Sultan, who ruled Mysore. The book tells the accounts of Mangalore Christians who came under the rule of Tipu in 1782. Hyder Ali, his father, practiced a liberal religious policy and he did not interfere with the practices of Hindus and Muslims. But Tipu was not happy with the tolerance. He bodily uprooted the Christian community to Srirangapatnam. On arriving there, the women were put into harems and the men forcefully circumcised to convert them to Islam.

The authors passionately argue the case for conversion, or, their presumed right to convert anybody in the country. They claim that Dalits and tribals chose change of religion as the road to a fuller human life. But this claim is in contradiction to the tales of discrimination meted out to Dalits described in the other pages. The common allegation against evangelization in India is that it is helped by foreign money pouring in to lure the poor with the offer of economic benefits. The authors don’t outright deny this accusation, but states that though Jesus asked his disciples to preach in poverty, many missionaries are not keeping in line with this divine command. They have inexhaustible resources at their command and spend lavishly on propaganda (page 196). Conversion is dubbed harvest of souls in ecumenical terminology and more money is distributed to missionaries depending on the number of people they are able to convert. Even though spiritual conviction is touted as an essential prerequisite to a change of faith, authors admit that upward mobility in the social and economic spheres is a factor influencing such decisions. Their rankling point of contention with the modern Indian state is the denial of the benefits of reservation in government jobs and educational institutions to Dalits who had converted to Christianity.

An interesting fact mentioned in the book is that Buddha is a canonized saint in Catholic theology and explains the route by which this happened. The canonization was done in 1584, based on the story of Barlaam and Josaphat. In reality, this story is based on the Buddhist text Lalitavistara that mentions a Bodhisatva. When this story travelled to Europe through Persia and Greece, the word bodhisat was successively transformed into bodhisaf, yudasaf and finally josaphat. However, this incongruity is noticed by the church and he may probably be dropped from the list of saints.

Even though this is a book of Christian propaganda, the chronology is mentioned in C.E, rather than sticking on to the old A.D. Continuing with the occasional rational spirit, they acknowledge that the creation stories as mythical and attest the flood myth to the literature of Babylon and linked to matsya avatar myth. Taking the tempo a notch tighter, it is also admitted that the Bible was not dictated by god. It has human authors and has the imperfections of human writings. Rare errors of fact or understanding have crept in, in its composition (page 15). The book is also noted for extensive comparison of Christian concepts with Hindu and Buddhist analogs. Psalms are likened to Theragatha of Buddhism and prostration of Job with that of Arjuna at viswaroopadarshanam. Some of the similarities mentioned are not apt, however. When the authors employ Hindu philosophical ideas like sookshma shareera to explain away the resurrection of Christ, it is just a small step away from declaring Jesus as another incarnation of Vishnu.

The book is neatly written in a style appealing to all classes of readers. The collaborative spirit of the authors has blended ideas smoothly into the main argument. A good section on references and bibliography is included, along with a nice index. A few photographic plates are added for visual appeal. A factual error needs to be pointed out so that future editions may correct it. While describing the life of Blessed Joseph Vaz (1651 – 1711), who was a missionary, the authors assert that in the sixty years of his life, he revived the Catholic faith among Christians in Karnataka who were reeling under the persecution of Tipu Sultan (page 143). This is an error, as the life of the saint is actually seven decades before the reign of Tipu.

The book brings into focus the ways in which Christianity is similar to the ethos of Indian tradition, rather than the ways in which it differs from it. The concept of Original Sin is mentioned only once, in a casual way. The reason why a person is born as a sinner is never explained. On the other hand, the spread of Christianity in four waves in the country – during the times of St. Thomas, the Portuguese evangelism, Protestant missionaries and the conversion of Dalits and Tribals – is neatly catalogued and elaborated.

The book is recommended.

Rating: 3 Star

The First Spring, Part 2

Title: The First Spring, Part 2 – Culture in the Golden Age of India

Author: Abraham Eraly

Publisher: Penguin, 2014 (First published 2011)

ISBN: 9780143422891

Pages: 461

This book on culture in the golden age of India is an eminent continuation to its first volume in ‘The First Spring’ series on life in the era. Introduction to the series and the author may be seen in the review of the first volume which can be read here and not repeated in this post. This volume dwells on the sciences, philosophy, literature, arts and religion in the classical age of India, which is defined as the period from 500 BCE when the heterodox religions sprouted, to 500 CE, at the end of the Gupta dynasty. The time frame is rather a flexible one, as the author narrates details that are considerably later than this interval, but somehow culturally intertwined with it. The volume is noteworthy also for the encyclopedic nature of the content where the author has taken great pains to bring out lesser known ideas to the limelight. The treatise on Tantrism (both the Hindu and Buddhist types) is quite original in the amount of information made available, though overladen with open description of occult practices which include sexual acts that go against the established code of conduct on such matters. This volume is not as lively as the first, but the quantum of valuable information provided by it is quite impressive.

Unlike the first part of the work, this volume is more of a handbook than discourse and analysis. Throughout the text, the author bemoans the eclipse of creativity by the end of the Classical Period. This is attributed to the decline of Buddhism, which was said to be rationalistic, liberal and possessing urban ethos that was far more conducive to innovation and creativity than the fatalistic, pietistic, and rustic ethos of Puranic Hinduism which eventually replaced it. We encounter some inconsistencies in the argument on account of the lavish praise heaped on the heterodox religions. Eraly states that Hinduism was an inclusive religion which could accommodate the folk deities and rituals of the peninsular people in its capacious lap, which neither Buddhism nor Jainism could do. This goes against the grain of the argument that Aryanisation of the South took place under the zealous missionary activity of Buddhist and Jain monks that lasted nearly five centuries before Puranic Hinduism came along. So, without accommodating the local culture or at least reaching a working arrangement with them, how could Buddhism and Jainism stay ascendant for so long? The book does not offer a convincing solution to this question. A good discussion on Sankara’s philosophy is included, from which it may be deduced that Sankara actually helped to preserve many of the Buddhist concepts by integrating them into Advaita philosophy. What swept Buddhism out of India was the Hindu devotional Bhakti cults which were intellectually at the opposite end from Advaita.

The book presents a detailed description of the science, literature, philosophy and art of the Classical Period. Indians excelled in mathematics and astronomy, but lagged behind in physical sciences. One reason cited for this backwardness is that Indian intellectuals strived for identifying the ultimate principles behind any phenomenon, which meant broad theorizing and discouraged rigorous empirical investigation. The upper varnas which constituted the bulk of the intelligentsia scorned physical exertions of any kind in search of knowledge. This is evidenced by the low status attributed to physicians as they have to treat all castes and handle impure substances emitted from patients’ bodies. No great preceptor after Susrutha in the 4^th century arose in Ayurveda. This branch of ancient Indian knowledge is given a prominent place in the book for which a long chapter is dedicated. It may surprise many followers of yoga that Patanjali’s Yogasutra, considered to be the ultimate reference for all yogic practices, pays very little attention to asanas and pranayama as these are thought to be aids of meditation which is the advanced form of yoga.

As mentioned in the review of the first volume of this book, what differentiates Eraly from others is the prominent place he allots to South India and its languages, culture, literature, arts and architecture. A keen narrative on the development of language explains the mechanism by which Sanskrit came to be in the lofty position it now enjoys. Prakrit was the language of the people and Buddhist Pali was one of its dialects. Sanskrit had a renaissance in the Gupta age, since many of the rulers of this era were foreign in origin and they wanted to obtain legitimacy for their dynasty by placating Brahmins and encouraging Sanskrit scholars. Even Mahayana Buddhism took to Sanskrit as its own language of liturgy. However, with Bhakti movements in the early-Medieval period, Sanskrit turned into a dead language as the Bhakti saints encouraged vernacular languages by producing hymns which common people could understand. Even at its inception and zenith, Sanskrit was not the language of the people, but a literary language which was the preserve of the elite. This is in contrast to Tamil, South India’s oldest tongue. Sangam Age of the South coincided with the Classical period in the North. Though the word ‘Sangam’ itself is Sanskrit that might’ve denoted a Jain order, its literature is of the common people in their living language. Eraly states that this made them fresh and vigorous as compared to pretentious sophistication, hyperbolic literary conceits and stuffy pedantry of Sanskrit court literature.

The influence of Kalidasa on classical literature is uncontested and he is sometimes referred as the Indian Shakespeare, on account of the poems and dramas he has penned. This book analyses the possible influence of Greek drama on its Indian counterpart and discounts any possible imprint. It is true that Greek kings ruled over the north-western regions of the country and Greek influence is evident on other aspects of the culture. It is even possible that the stage curtain, which is called ‘yavanika’, owes its name to Ionia in Greece, but the two theatrical traditions are entirely unlike each other in ethos, structure and presentation. Aristotelian aesthetics of Greek drama that mostly handled tragedies was totally different from Indian theatre.

This book treats the definition of the Classical Age in a somewhat loose form. While it is generally agreed that the classical period extended only till 500 CE, the flowering of Indian architecture took place only around 1000 CE and thereafter, with magnificent temples built by the Cholas, Pallavas, Chandellas and Hoysalas. This is in contradiction with the author’s refrain that India went into a dark age with the downfall of Buddhism and rise of Puranic Hinduism after 500 CE and all forms of culture suffered a decline. To tide over this too apparent incongruity, the author treats that period as late-Classical when discussing architecture alone. This clearly shows the pitfalls of blanket classifications against which authors should always be on their guard. Eraly places Buddhism on a towering pedestal and assigns on it the reason behind the growth and development of Indian culture. Elsewhere, it is also stated that it was a religion of the elite, with no deep roots among the teeming masses with their own primitive systems of beliefs and rituals. It is precisely because of the elitism of Buddhism that it declined in the post-Classical period when Puranic Hinduism rose upon its innate strength to seamlessly absorb the numerous folk cults into its fold. As the author himself notes, Buddhism played no indispensable role in the lives of the common people, and people had no indispensable need for Buddhism. Worship of Shiva and Vishnu are the two pillars on which modern Hinduism rests, but there is a subtle but definite tilt to Shaivism everywhere you look in India. This book is silent on how this bias came about. It mainly bases its discourse on religious texts alone which is dominated by Vishnu worship and an unsuspecting reader may even be mistakenly led to believe that Vaishnavite temples outnumber those of Shiva.

The author hails from Kerala and has included many references to it and to South India in general. His assertion that Madhava, the preceptor of dvaita philosophy (dualism) who lived in the 13^th century was influenced by Christianity is dubious. The sage’s ideas carry some clear signs of affinity to Christian concepts and Udupi, his birth place, was frequented by Syrian Christians from Kerala. However, this is not sufficient proof of any ideological indebtedness of Madhava. When we come to the modern period, the social reformation of Kerala is noted for the slogan, ‘One Caste, One Religion and One God for Mankind’ propounded by the social reformer, Sree Narayana Guru. Eraly includes a quote from Tirumular (also known as Sundaranar), a Shaivite mystic, in which an echo of the modern slogan is evident. Tirumular exhorted his disciples to keep in mind that there is only one caste and one god (onre kulamum oruvane devanum). Any possible influence is for the scholars to bring out.

This book is a fairly large one, even though it is only the second volume. When this book came out as a single tome, it must have been really huge. Many repetitions from the first part is visible in the text, which is written much in the mould of A L Basham’s ‘The Wonder That Was India’. The diction is generally hearty and interesting, but the very long narratives on religion and philosophy is somewhat boring. The book contains an extensive section on bibliography and an excellent index.

The book is highly recommended.

Rating: 3 Star

The Honest Truth about Dishonesty

Title: The Honest Truth about Dishonesty – How We Lie to Everyone, Especially Ourselves

Author: Dan Ariely

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2012 (First)

ISBN: 9780007490561

Pages: 284

As we all know, corruption is a major issue in all societies to some extent, but more rampant and troublesome in some others. People cheat often and can be dishonest for no rational reason. Swindling money, whether from your fellow traveler’s pocket, or a business associate, or from the general public is deemed as a grave offence even in countries where corruption is widespread. So, what turns the gentle novices into notorious stealers? Is it possible for a hawk to arise spontaneously in a flock of doves? Answers to these and other related questions may be obtained from this excellent book on how and why ordinary people act dishonestly. Dan Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioural Economics at Duke University. He had authored two other best sellers titled ‘Predictably Irrational’ and ‘The Upside of Irrationality’. His work has been featured in many journals and major periodicals. This book is the result of the author’s deep research into the mechanics of dishonest behavior and the vindication of his theories validated by numerous trials and experiments conducted among volunteers. This book is a must-have for administrators and policy shapers on social mores.

It’s a common misconception that people make a rational decision on whether to cheat based on a cost-benefit analysis. This Simple Model of Rational Crime (SMORC) states that the urge to adopt unfair means stems from the balancing of possible reward of a dishonest act against the probability of being caught. If the reward is more, or there is no chance of being found out, people steal more. As a solution, it advises to increase monitoring and raise the quantum of punishment, so as to tilt the situation much more towards increasing the cost. Ariely refutes this argument. In fact, the whole book is all about how erroneous this notion is. All of us cheat, but only up to the level that allows us to retain our self-image as reasonably honest individuals, or in other words, up to the amount of cheating for which we are comfortable with our conscience. The author asserts – with the assurance of years of study and a battery of tests – that people are driven by two opposing motivations. The first thing is that we want to view ourselves as honest, honourable people and then to benefit from cheating and get maximum advantage from it, that is, sole monetary gain is having only a subsidiary consideration.

People know that they are gaining something by immoral means when cheating and are mentally troubled by it. However, they rationalize it by other means. Intelligence has nothing to do with it, but highly creative people can come up with many excuses for their deviant behavior. If the reward is more distant from direct money – like tokens which can later be exchanged with cash – the level of cheating was found to be more. People are more apt to be dishonest in the presence of nonmonetary objects. Ariely then presents a disturbing suggestion. In view of the above postulate, wouldn’t it be true that the society would grow more dishonest in the cashless economy to which we are rapidly rushing to? The book includes tests which show that people who are physically tired tend to cheat more. Our physical exertion tends to enlarge the fudge factor with which we deceive ourselves. If you wear down your willpower, you’ll have considerably more trouble regulating your desires and difficulty can wear down your honesty as well. Recalling moral standards, affixing one’s own signature and monitoring are all helpful in bringing down the tendency to cheat. There’s a shocking revelation in the book. People who use counterfeit products and working in collaborative, friendly groups cheat more, just as those who make illegal downloads. However, these conclusions are a little shaky if we take into account the industry’s vested interests on this.

This book is an eye-opener on the behavior of people including you and me. We all are going to take things from each other, if we have a chance. Many people need controls around them to do the right thing. The crux of Ariely’s whole argument is that we cheat for our own benefit while maintaining a positive view of ourselves. This is a crucial facet of our behavior that enables much of our dishonesty. This book is page turner with a thoroughly enjoyable strain of humour running throughout the text. It also offers glimpses on numerous related research in which the author has taken part.

On the negative side, what can be said against is equally applicable to all work in the non-exact sciences. The tests might have been coloured by subjective preferences. The randomization of the trials is in doubt. The author has not disclosed the number of participants which make it difficult to assess the statistical significance of the conclusions derived from it. For example, if the sample size is small, the results shouldn’t be extrapolated to the whole of humanity as Ariely has done in drawing conclusions such as the level of cheating among various nationalities are the same. This inference is politically correct and pleasing to us to know that no nation is above or below others in cheating, but this must be established in the proper scientific way with the level of confidence mandated by statistical techniques.

The book is highly recommended.

Rating: 4 Star