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James, Book Review  51 

 

Book Review 

 

Christianity in India: Conversion, Community 

Development and Religious Freedom  
By Rebecca Samuel Shah and Joel Carpenter, eds. 

 
Reviewed by Manohar James 

 
 

 
 

Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2018. $34.00 

 

The collection of articles in this book discusses the 

contemporary contentious topics of Hindu nationalism, 

conversion, Christian contribution, religious freedom, 

and violence in India. As the editors admit, this work is 

not an exhaustive overview of Christianity in India or a 

missionary account, but rather a timely effort that 

provides clarity on the current complex issues the 

Indian church is facing under the pressure of Hindu 

nationalism. The well-written essays by Indian and 

Western authors encapsulate the historical, 

socioreligious and political contexts of anti-Christian 

violence and Christian responses to the suffering in one 

volume.   

The book has three parts. The first part informs 

how Christian conversions have been negatively viewed 

and portrayed by Hindu nationalists, although many 

converts preserve their Indian identity and contribute 

to the development of the underprivileged and 

marginalized people around them. In the opening 

article, “Saving the Soul of India,” Rebecca Samuel 

Shah has beautifully captured in a nutshell the historical 

backdrop of the rise of Hindu nationalism, which 

evolved through various sociopolitical and religious 

revivals beginning with Swami Dayananda Saraswati 

and Swami Vivekananda of the 19th century. She points 

out how the presence and proselytization efforts of 

Semitic religions such as Islam and Christianity 

challenged, shaped, and helped the reconstruction of 

Hinduism and Hindutva ideology, enabling Hindu 

fundamentalists to show to the world that Hinduism is 

supremely ancient, authoritative, coherent, flexible, 

reasonable, inclusive, and tolerant. This reconstruction 

process became an inspiring focus of cultural and 

national unity, an anti-colonial political mobilization for 

Hindus and a prospect of self-evaluation for 

missionaries.  

In the second essay, Sean Doyle shows how the 

Christian faith influenced Laxmibai Tilak, a high caste 

Hindu convert from Pune, and impacted her thinking 

in the areas of human dignity, gender equality, and 

social disparities. Her conversion and life 

transformation did not alienate her from Indian culture, 

but rather inspired her to dig deeper into her heritage, 

and to value and uphold the Indian identity, even after 

becoming a Christian. Doyle notes, “Her embracing of 

the Christian message and her shift in religious identity 

were the primary impulses that led to her active 

promotion of cultural renewal…”  Along the same lines, 

the third essay by Bernardo A. Michael recounts the 

story of Anglican missionary C. F. Andrews, who 

reached across the boundaries of differences and left a 

legacy in India. Andrews was “quick to discern the 

divine working in the lives of others, even if they were 

from other faiths, a view that was not shared by many of 

his Christian peers.” Contrary to the anti-missionary 

allegations, Andrews stood by Indians in their struggle 

for freedom and became an Indian nationalist who 

called for India’s independence. Joshua Iyadurai’s 

article, “Christian Conversion in India” helps clear the 

fog on the Hindu Nationalist perceptions against 

conversions by exposing the political agendas of the 

major leaders of nationalist movements and by 

contending that not all conversions are irrational. His 

empirical research shows that “conversion is not a 

change of religious identity, but finding a new identity 

in Jesus who transformed their lives, who gave them 

peace and joy, and who delivered them from sin and 

curse.” 



Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 1(1),  Summer 2019 

James, Book Review  52 

 

The second part of the book offers insights on the 

importance of understanding the integral relationship 

between evangelization and social transformation. 

Aminta Arrington’s article, “American Evangelicalism, 

Social Action and Christianity in India,” explains how 

American evangelicalism traditionally carried out its 

mission to the world with new activities and old 

paradigms. While enumerating the reasons why some 

American evangelicals emphasized social engagement 

and economic development beyond personal spiritual 

transformation while others did not, Arrington shows a 

few examples of Indian Christian practices and 

theologies on holism and suggests that “American 

evangelicals engaged in social action must not only look 

at what God is doing outside the West, but hear the 

interpretation of what God is doing from theologians 

from outside the West.” In “What God has Joined 

Together Let No One Separate,” Darren Duerksen 

unfolds the challenges and gaps between the Christian 

Developmental Organizations (CDOs) and the local 

church in South India, and shows the need for a close 

collaboration between the two to act as co-agents of 

missional transformation. While I agree with his 

recommendation for divine marriage between the 

church and the CDOs in India, I am doubtful whether 

his assessment of South India churches fully represents 

the reality of the churches and denominations across 

India. In my opinion, he has not clearly addressed the 

economic and literacy problems the local church faces.    

The final part of the book focuses on how Hindu 

nationalism has been inspired, supported and 

promoted in various ways and forms, as well as how it 

poses a threat to the aspects of secularism affecting the 

religious freedom of minorities, especially Christians. 

Samuel Thambuswamy’s critical examination of 

Bollywood films demonstrates that the Indian films, 

especially Karan Johar’s movies, are invitational and 

inspirational to the people in India and to the Indian 

diaspora in the West to remain patriotic to their 

sociocultural pride, which privileges Hinduism. 

Thambuswamy argues that while Johar’s films achieve 

success because of their exclusive vision of Indian-ness 

which is tantamount to Hindu religious identity, their 

undergirded Hindu perspective affords support to 

Hindu Nationalist spirit that promotes the demarcation 

of boundaries between “us” (Indians) and “them” (non-

Indians).  Karuna M. Johnson’s interview of human 

rights advocates, John Dayal and Vijayesh Lal, captures 

the continued scenario of the opposition and 

persecution of Christians in 21st century India. The 

interviewees’ assertion of the escalated anti-Christian 

violence and the suffering of Christians is made clear in 

Vikas Ram and Kay Higuera Smith’s examination of 

the ground experience of persecuted Christians from 

four regions of India. In their research, the writers 

discovered that Christians love their country, culture, 

and Hindu neighbors, even amid violence. They also 

enact biblical archetypes by remaining strong and 

hopeful in their dedication to Christ, despite suffering. 

In “Religious Freedom Among the Marginalized,” 

Rebecca and Timothy Samuel Shah provide the 

historical context to the Freedom of Religion laws. 

They contend that under the influence of Hindu 

nationalist leaders, the ambiguity of the conversion laws 

restricts freedom of religion by placing a heavy price on 

the conversion of minority communities, reducing 

them to victims and objects. The price includes losing 

government benefits such as housing, food subsidy, and 

educational grants for children. In the final article, “The 

Burned Church,” Paul S. Rowe addresses how 

pluralism and secularism are threatened by a single 

religious nationalist movement, and how the Hindutva 

movement fails to recognize the dramatic diversity of 

Indian society. He also maintains that under Indian 

pluralism, Christianity generously contributes to the 

development of health, economics and society.    

This book is unique in a sense that it includes both 

historical and ground experience research which shows 

the ongoing Christian challenges in perspective and 

portrays a fair picture of the current Christian situation 

in India. It’s a useful resource for researchers in the 

field of Hindu nationalism and Christianity in India. 

 
 

 

 

 

Manohar James is Executive Director of Serving 

Alongside International, and pastor of Intercultural 

ministry at High Point Church in Madison, 

Wisconsin. He served as cross-cultural native 

missionary and seminary professor in India for 15 

years, and holds a PhD in Intercultural studies from 

Asbury Theological Seminary. 

 

Author email:  manoharjames@gmail.com  
 

 

 

mailto:manoharjames@gmail.com

