EVANGELIZATION:

IN A MULTI-RELIGIOUS INDIAN CONTEXT

RAJESH LOPEZ

1. Introduction

In the Gospel of we come across the command of Jesus: "Go and make all nations my
disciples (Mt. 18:19-20) The church from its very origins has been missionary in nature
because it founder our Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to fulfill God plan/mission of
salvation of all humanity. The sole aim of Jesus was to proclaim this Good News and to
establish the 'reign of God' on earth. Jesus called for a 'renewal of ones self' or 'conversion of
heart' for one to become a part of the kingdom of God. After the Pentecost event the mission of
Christ was continued by his disciples. We can see in the early church the disciples proclaiming
the good news with great zeal. Paul, Thomas and Bartholomew traveled to far ends of the earth
to spread the good news. Later on the European colonizers brought in the missionaries along
with them to spread Christianity to their colonies. But the focus of these missionaries now quite
different from what Christ preached 'conversion of heart and coming back to God' had taken a
backseat and was now replaced by 'conversion to Christianity.' History shows us the
missionaries showed scant respect to the new religions and cultures that they encountered.
People were uprooted from their tradition and culture and the western culture was imposed upon
them. In a way they shared the colonial mentality of the imperialist rulers.
If we read the gospels carefully we notice that all the four evangelist had different
interpretation of the mission command of Jesus. They understood and proclaimed the good news
to address the problems that arose in the context and situation in which they lived. Today it
would be a great mistake to apply the text or understand the message in the same manner as two
thousand years ago. There is a vast difference between the two thousand-year-old primitive
Jewish society, which consisted of simple tribal people with little advancement in religion,
philosophy or science and the world today and especially India. The evangelist did not
encounter religions of the east when the proclaimed the universality and supremacy of
Christianity in Asia Minor and Europe. And therefore our whole approach of evangelization has
to be different in the context of the Far East and India in particular. Before we determine our
different approach toward India we need know the Indian context and how it differs from the
west.
 2. The Indian Context

2.1 Inequality, Diversity and Complexity:-

India is a land of immense diversity and complexities, it is a civilization which has a
history of over 5000 years. Compared to other European countries where one can see uniformity
almost everywhere the language of the people, their religion, their culture and traditions etc.
Today the Indian population stands over 1 billion which is more the population of the whole of
Europe put together. Even though the national language is Hindi it is barely spoken 5-6 states of
this country. All the other states have their own state language. The dialect changes at almost
every 5-10 km there exist almost 1600 dialects in this country. India is a land of contrasts.
Today India is one of the fastest developing nations on this earth, the Bombay sensex recently
crossed the 10,000 mark and a lot of Indian companies making it big among the top corporate
houses in the world. The recently published Forbes list of billionaires had fifteen Indians in it.
Corporate profits are at a record high due to a frenzied consumption spree by the middle class
Indians, which is growing richer today. When economies all over the world are struggling to
grow India is showing a steady growth in its GDP of over 7% every year. The Indian IIT and
IIM graduates are earning exorbitant salaries today. Compared to this the flip side of the Indian
success story is not good. 50% of Indians are deprived of proper education and are languishing
below the poverty line. Globalization is pushing the farmers to the brink and their growing woes
of unpaid debts has resulted in many farmers committing suicide. India's GDP growth may be
highest in the world but its 'quality of life' index is among the lowest in the world, also India is
know to be one of the most corrupt nations on earth. The oppression of women and exploitation
of the backward class is still a burning issue in this country.

2.2 Religious and Philosophical:-

Unlike Europe - which cannot claim to be birthplace of a single great religion- India has
given the world many great religions like Bhuddism, Jainism, Hinduism, Sikism etc. Indian
religions have traveled to lands in the Far East and have made a great impact on the lives of the
people there. Hinduism has a whole series of sacred book, the oldest collection among them are
the Vedas, which were composed as early as 1500 B.C. According to Raimundo Panikkar, the
Vedas are a monument not only of broad religious significance, but of deeply human meaning as
well. Some see them as the highest manifestation of truth, the definitive revelation never to be
surpassed. (Bulhmann:158) Religiosity literally outpours in all the spheres of life, it is an
integral part of the life all Indians. Most Indians begin their day with their morning worship
hence one can find a mandir, a statue of a deity, a mosque or a gurudwara everywhere. In the
west there is a distinction between the secular and the sacred, whereas in India the sacred is very
much a part of the peoples daily life. One can see the presence of religion in offices, local
transport, and government departments. Religion is all pervasive and deeply rooted in Indian
society. On the down sided one witness that religiosity has almost reached to a fanatical level in
India therefore we can see more and more right wing parties emerging in Indian politics. One
can also see various 'godmen' and 'babas' playing on the religious sentiments of the people.
Today more and more people are falling prey to the abuse of religion in Indian society.
The Indian philosophical systems are one of the most advanced and ancient in the
world. Even before the Jews could practice monotheism we had the 'astika' and the 'nastika' dars'
anas. The six dars' anas, which acknowledge the authority of the Vedas, are called astika dars'
anas they are: Nyaya, Vaiseshika, Sankhya, Yoga, Mimansa and Vedanta. The three nastika
dars' anas are Bhuddism, Jainism and Carvakas.

2.3 Pluralism of religion :-

Pluralism of religious practices is deeply ingrained into the Indian society. From ancient
times all the great religious have peacefully co-existed in India. The secular fabric of India of
which we are all proud of existed from ancient times. Respect for other cultures / religions and
peoples is evident from age old Hindu teaching of 'atithi deva bhav' meaning one should see
God in the guest. The mogul invaders and later on the European colonizers too were
unsuccessful in imposing their own religion on the Indians and convert the whole country to one
religion as they realized that the pluralistic character of the Indian people was very strong.
It is against this background that the church has to discern its mission of evangelization
in a country like India.

3. Evangelization in The Church Documents and Its Meaning

3.1 Definition and Meaning of the Term:-

Evangelization implies, 'affecting and as it were upsetting thorough the power of the
gospel, mankind's criteria of judgement determining values, points of interest, lines of thought,
sources of inspiration models of life which are in contrast to the Word of God. - EN- 19
(Saldanha 1984: 176) "There is only one mission of the Church in the world and it is traced back
to the mission of Jesus, which is the most authentic expression of God's mission. This mission
of the church is accomplished in many spheres of public life among people of all faith. All that
the Church does in fulfilling this mission is called 'evangelization'"
The sole aim of evangelization is renewal of humankind or the perfect and final liberation of
humans in the kingdom of God. Evangelization is a rich and many faceted reality. Any partial or
fragmentary definition which attempts to render the reality of evangelization in all its richness,
dynamism does so only at the risk of impoverishing it and even of distorting it." (EN 17)

3.2 Evangelization in Church Documents:-

3.2 a) Evangelii Nuntiandi:
This was the first papal document to use the word Evangelization extensively prior to
this the term was very little in use. Vatican II uses I only 31 times, instead the council uses the
term 'missionary activity' quite often. A very important point this document makes is that
evangelization and liberation cannot be divorced from each other. The Christian struggle for
liberation is a part of the universal plan of salvation that the church proclaims. In this document
Pope Paul VI relativizes conversion, baptism by integrating these into the larger picture of
evangelization of culture or renewal of humanity (Saldanha 2006:17-22)
3.2 b) Redemptoris Missio:
This encyclical was published on the 25th anniversay of Ad Gentes. The focus here is on
'missionary activity' rather than on the broader concept of 'evangelization' An important element
present in this document which is missing in E.N. is Inter Religious Dialogue. It acknowledges
the present the Holy Spirit in other religions. However what is confusing about the Pope's
thinking that in the same document he affirms the 'fullness of truth and revelation' exists only in
the church. (Saldanha 2006:20 )
3.2 c) Ecclesia in Asia:
This document has caused many debates in recent years. In a way the Pope added fuel to
the fire of conversion that was already burning in this country. To make matter worse it was
released in New Delhi on November 6, 1999 when the BJP was in power in the centre. The
Pope's claim: 'Jesus as the one and only saviour for all people (no. 10) gave ready made
ammunition to the fundamentalist Hindus against conversion. The language of this apostolic
exhortation stems from western-imperialistic mentality of domination. It speaks of spreading
Christianity in the vast Asian continent as it was done in Europe and America. But what Rome
fails to realize is that there is a world of difference between Asia and Europe or America.
 3. The Church's Claim As The Only Means Of Salvation

The church's missionary activity and its missionary goal were determined up to a large
extent by its theology. Prior to the Vatican Council II the church was ecclesio centric and hence
it was believed that anyone staying outside the church could not partake in eternal life and
'saving souls' became the only missionary goal of the church. After the Vatican Council II our
theology was mainly Christo-centirc the church acknowledged that salvation was possible even
to those outside the church, yet even for these salvation came only through Christ who is
considered to the one and only source of eternal life.

"The Saviour wills all men to be saved. Those who, through no fault of their own do not know the
Gospel of Christ or his church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, moved by grace try to do his
will through the dictates of their conscience" (LG16)
"The church …. Is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is mediator and the way of salvation." (LG14)

The church or even Christ as the only means of salvation is not well received by many
people today. Jacob Kavunkal says: It is a claim of uniqueness for Jesus Christ and the Church,
denying the salvific value of other religions, which makes church's mission objectionable to
other religions in Asia (Kavunkal: 292). Even though it is clear according to the N.T. that a
Christian must believe that Jesus Christ is the only mediator, we must refrain from making such
claims of uniqueness in a religiously pluralistic context. We should learn to respect salvific
values of other religions and at the same time preserve the true missionary vocation. In E.A.
mission is still anchored on salvation. It fails to realize the ground realities in Asia. (Kavunkal:
299)
The council of Florence (1438-45) says All those outside the church will go to hell. This
teaching of the council has simply been discarded. Pope Nicholas I claimed that such a teaching
was against the Divine and Natural Law. (Saldhana 1997: 410 )
Jesus Christ is the Son of God is a faith statement made by Christians and hence it is normative
for Christians all over the world. But to make it an absolute statement in matter of revelation is
to ignore the reality of the other and his religious traditions. Claims for the uniqueness of Jesus
by quoting the scriptures, which have relevance only for the Christians, means nothing for the
people of other faith. In the early Church the Fathers of the Church had to deal only with the
pagans and tribals; they were never challenged with great religions like Hinduism and Buddhism
which professed their own and unique ways of attaining salvation (Moksha/Nirvana). The
dogmas of yesteryears have served their purpose. As Cardinal Dopfner says, we certainly
cannot apply them to this age in their original formulation. They surely need to be reinterpreted;
especially exclusivist dogmas and doctrines which show no respect to the reality of other rich
religious faiths. Otherwise in this age of dialogue and inter-faith communion we could be
termed as a bunch of fundamentalist who are adamant to assert and force their revelation on
others. (Schoonenberg, 1971: 33)
J. Ratzinger makes the following remark in one of his books:
"For modern consciousness, the certainty that God's mercy transcends the bounds of the lawfully
established church is an evidence of such elementary force that there really is no longer any problem with it at all.
This renders all the more questionable a church that for a millennium and a half, not only tolerated its own claim to
be the unique way to salvation, but has elevated it to an essential element of its self-understanding, and seems to
have made it part of its very faith."

4.The Challenge of Evangelizing in India Today.

1. Today communication technology, media and fast means of transportation has made
the world a small place or a 'global village' as many call it. What is said and done in one corner
of the world at a moment becomes news throughout the world the very next moment. We
interact with hundreds of people every day who belong to different culture, caste, religion and
even nationalities.In such a world we cannot afford to live as we did before - engaged in a world
of our own thinking nothing is better than my religion or culture. Healthy relationships with
others and a respect for their beliefs and traditions are imperative.
2. Today we seriously need to rethink our theology and our doctrinal statements that our
ancestors have promulgated. People today are apprehensive of accepting books as infallible and
submit unconditionally to men who claim to speak in the name of God. Many disagree that
revelation is limited only to the Bible. The theology of revelation, which has already produced
such a great variety of models in the course of the centuries, must undertake yet another radical
adaptation in our own day. (Dulles: 'Revelation Theology' pg. 175-177 as cited in
Bulhmann:202) Today there is a need for us to seriously rethink our Christo-Centric theology
and be open minded to a Theo-Centric theology
3. Today being religious mean being Inter-Religious, hence our attitude has to be of
mutual respect and enrichment. We need to geniuenly respect the positive elements in other
religions. As the great thinker J. Neuner says: No one is ever saved by any religion, we are
saved by God alone who touched our human hearts in many ways ( Neuner: pg. 27) One fails to
understand how serious the church is about Inter- Religious Dialogue when it promulgates
documents like Dominus Iesus.. Hence it is essential to be careful also about the kind of
language we use in the formulation of doctrines and encyclicals. Today we are caught with old
ideals of missiology. Saving the whole world from damnation is still our approach. We need to
accept that even people of other faith can be saved by God even if they do not profess their faith
in Christ.
4. Carrying out the mission requires "a truly local church which is truly indigenous and
inculturated. It shares in the life of the people their aspirations, and traditions of the people."
The First Plenary Assembly of the FABC stated " The primary focus of our task of
evangelization then, at this time in our history, is the building up of a truly local church." ( Class
Notes ). For this we need to get rid of our western image. But things seem to be going in the
opposite direction today, the Roman Curia is trying its best to stamp its authority on the local
churches by curtailing their autonomy.
5.In Asia the challenge before the church is to rethink its old missiological approach. In
the past the church grew very strongly in the west America and Europe because the church
entered fully into the culture of the people. Unfortunately the church has become too much
western. Today when the Pope talks of repeating the success story of evangelization of the west
in the East (E.A. 11) There are many things he overlooks. The church like the west could
neither destroy nor penetrate the great cultures of east. Therefore in the east the church has to
understand its mission anew. Past formulas won't work now. Modern world does not accept
conceptual dogmas like Christ being one and only saviour of the world. Our mission has to deal
with the concrete life situation of the people. Also our multi-religious and secular society does
not admit monopolies. (Neuner 2000:540)

4. A New Model for Evangelization

4.1 - From Particularism to Universalism:
Israel as the "chosen people" was called to reach out to other people. Their call entailed a
mission the other nations. It is well depicted in Deutero Isaiah: "Turn round to me, be save all
ends of the earth! For I am God and no other is." ( Is 45:22) But Israel as a nation always turned
to themselves. The notion of 'chosen people' made them proud, self-righteous and treat others
with contempt and disgust calling them 'pagans' (Bhulmann 1982:33-34) God's universal plan
of salvation was limited particularly Israel as a nation. The book of Jonah is quite explicit that
God's plan of salvation extends to all people.
 "The book of Jonah is so significant for understanding the biblical basis of mission because it treats God's
mandate to his people regarding the Gentile peoples and thus serves as the preparatory step to the missionary
mandate of the New Testament. But it is also important for catching a glimpse of the deep resistance this mandate
encounters from the very servant Yahweh has chosen to discharge his worldwide work. The book of Jonah reveals
the need for a radical conversion of one's natural tendencies and a complete restructuring of his life to make it

serviceable for mission." (Verkuyl 1978: 96)

4.2 Evangelizing in a Particular Context:-

In Ecclesia in Asia Pope John Paul II draws attention to the definite historical and
geographical context in which the Son of God was incarnated: That context exercised an
important influence on the life and mission of the Redeemer of man. Jesus' life, mission and
message would have taken on another form in a different context. This is precisely the task of
mission: to embody the life, mission and message of Jesus in all the diverse socio-cultural
grouping of the world. It means that mission will assume different forms in different contexts.
In the Indian context no evangelization can be genuine unless the church involves itself
in the life and struggles of the people. We cannot claim to give Jesus to the world if we do not
address the problems of gender bias, social inequalities, poverty, education, exploitation of the
weaker class. Evangelii Nuntiandi says there can be no proclamation without promoting justice
and peace and authentic human advancement. 'In the past we were used to defining our
Christian identity by the difference, even by contrast to the world both secular and religious.
Today Christian life means solidarity with all people and commitment to the world around us to
the secular problems and to the tragedies of religious communalism' (Neuner 3rd millieniumPg
27-28)

4.3 Priority to Proclaim the Human Jesus Not Abstract Dogmas :-

Synod of Bishops asked that Jesus Christ be presented in Asia as "the teacher of wisdom,
the healer the liberat9or, the spiritual guide, the enlightened one, the compassionate friend of the
poor…. Such initial proclamation will be completed with a fuller catechesis on Jesus Christ as
truly God and man." ( Tablet 23/7/98 pg 676 as cited in saldanha vj. 'proclamation in India
Today' 1999/3 pg 190) The uniqueness of Jesus whatever its exact meaning is a dogmatic
statement. No Poclamation or spiritual initiation should ever begin with a dogma, it frightens
people and evokes resistence. Jeus never proclaimed himself son of God or messiah but invited
people to follow him and to learn from experience who he really was. Dogmas are a last
conclusion of a spiritual initiation surely not its beginning (Neuner :26)
 Presenting Jesus to the Asian context as the only saviour is forcing people to accept
truth. It is percieved as arrogance and disrespectful to their freedom and religions sentiments.
Jesus must be presented in the same way by which he presented himself in his own earthly
mission. People must be introduced to his life and radiant personality. ( Neuner pg. 542 )

Evangelization is the mediation, or transmittal, of the gospel, of Shalom ( and so evangelization could be called
"shalomization".) of the good news, of salvation, of a hope and meaning for life. And therefore it needs no further
justification. Such an offer speaks for itself. Every sincere man and woman will welcome it, for God himself has
created the human being as a being who, unlike the brute beast, is a 'salvation seeker' Evangelization is not the
outgrowth of the free initiative of some dynamic group of human beings whom God has chosen. The initiative is

always God's." (Bulhmann : 241)

Be one with the struggles of the people. A starving and an oppressed man should not be
promised pie in the sky after he dies while his earthly life is miserable.

6. Conclusion

The purpose of our evangelization always needs to be aimed at building a new human society.
based on the values of the gospel. We should always look to the future with a new outlook
Bishop Patrick D'souza : - There is no return to the past neither to past mission theories, nor to
the past mission methods, nor to the past mission goals.
According to In de Groot: "Israel is the opening word in God's proclaiming salvation, not the
Amen." In choosing Israel as segment of all humanity, God never took his eye off the other
nations; Israel was a minority called to serve the majority. ( "Contemporary Missiology An
Introduction" J Verkuyl, Eerdmans Publishing Michigan 1978. Pg 91

According to M. Mueller 'the worst heresy is to hold that God had revealed himself to one
people alone, to the Jews."
 BIBILIOGRAPHY

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Kavunkal J. ( ) "Church's Mission in Asia in The Light of Ecclesia in Asia: A Critical

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Neuner J. (2000) "Proclaiming Jesus Christ", Vidyajothi - July 2000.

Neuner J. ( ) "The church's mission in a pluralistic society' Third millennium, Vol 1

Saldanha J. (1999) "Proclamation in India Today" Vidyajothi - March-1999

Saldanha J. (1997), "Space For a Different View", Jeevdhara, Vol 27 pp 408-416

Schoonenberg P.(1971), "God's Presence In Jesus", Theology Digest, Vol - 19 Spring 71

pp.29-38

Saldanha J. (1984) "Missiological Studies in India" Indian Missiological Review, pg. 176

Saldanha J. (2006) "Mission Today Themes and Issues" Cleratian Publication - Bangalore

Verkuyl J. (1978) "Contemporary Missiology An Introduction" Eerdmans Publishing Michigan.