The thesis is divided into three parts. Part One examines nineteenth and early twentieth century patterns of Christian theological encounter with religious pluralism in India. Chapter One explores three adventitious traditions in India - Syrian Orthodoxy, 17<sup>th</sup> century Roman Catholicism and 19<sup>th</sup> century missionary Protestantism - and argues that each failed to engage India’s religious pluralism theologically. Chapter Two examines nineteenth century and early twentieth century Indian Christian theologians, and demonstrates that, in contrast to the three adventitious traditions, engagement with religious pluralism became an essential component of indigenous Indian theology. Based on this conclusion, Part Two offers an in-depth study of three South Asian Christian theologians whose writing were influential in the second half of twentieth century: Stanley Samartha (Chapter Three) who represents a pneumato-centric engagement with religious pluralism; Samuel Rayan (Chapter Four) who illustrates the application of Indian liberation theology to the challenge of religious pluralism; and Wesley Ariarajah (Chapter Five) who represents a theo-centric approach to religious pluralism; and Each of these theologians from South Asia will be examined in his own theological environment, but in assessing their theological ideas, the thesis will identify issues which they raise for Pentecostal reflection on religious pluralism. Part Three of the thesis focuses on Pentecostalism and religious pluralism in India. Chapter Six reviews the work of the few Pentecostal theologians who address the issue of religious pluralism, and draws upon the relevance of selected Pentecostal theologians from outside India. Building upon this precedent, Chapter Seven returns to challenges identified in Part Two, and lays out what, in the considered opinion of the researcher, constitutes the bases of an indigenous Indian Pentecostal theology of religious pluralism. The chapter will argue that where manifestations of the Holy Spirit can be identified in the popular religious experiences of Dalit people, Indian Pentecostal theologians have an opportunity to build a theology of religious pluralism that recognizes the activity of God’s Spirit in the lives of Dalit people.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:651393 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | George, Geomon K. |
| Publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/1842/19785 |
Page generated in 0.002 seconds