• ISBN13: 9780199478378
• Binding: Paperback
• Subject: Religion and Philosophy
• Publisher: Oxford UP
• Publisher Imprint: Oxford UP
• Publication Date: April 16, 2019
• Pages: 428
• Original Price: INR 595.0
• Language: English
• Edition: N/A
• Item Weight: 380 grams
• BISAC Subject(s): General

The Christian community in India emerged from an Indian rather than a foreign or an imperial context. Its internal dynamics were shaped far more by Indian social realities than by missionary designs. This book presents a comprehensive social history of Christianity in north-west India, comprising Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, the Union Territories of Delhi and Chandigarh, and the Pakistani Punjab and North-West Frontier Province. The book discusses significant events in the history of the north-west up to 1947, after which it focuses only on India. These events left a lasting impact on Christianity and shaped its future course, culminating in the transfer of churches’ power from foreign missionaries to Indians and proliferation of churches, and the ongoing struggles of the Christian community. The author pays special attention to the Christian community’s caste composition—how caste status and social mobility affected intra- and inter-community relations—religious diversity, uneven demographic distribution, and development, as well as Christianity as a religious movement in the region.

John C.B Webster, Trustee of Union Theological Seminary,

John C.B. Webster serves as a Trustee of Union Theological Seminary in New York. He retired as a Diaconal Worker of the Worldwide Ministries Division of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and his last assignment with them (1994-2001) was as a scholar and writer.