http://www.icassecretariat.org/index.php?q=node/419
Sarah Claerhout
Paper Title : The Colonial Project in India: Creating the Conditions of Conversion
Abstract :
Except for a brief period between 1813 and 1857, colonial authorities in India generally opposed missionary activity. In 1858, the Queen ordered her representatives in India to "abstain from all interference with the religious belief, or worship, of any of our subjects on pain of our severest displeasure." Many lamented the paradox of a Christian nation supporting idolatry. Indeed, a peculiar situation emerged: genuine Protestants who were convinced that theirs was the true religion and that all should convert to God's Will nevertheless opposed evangelization.
Moreover, the very same groups engaged in a civilizing mission which aimed to make India into the mirror image of the Christian West. Given this aim, why not simply evangelize India? How to make sense of this stance? 2.<b> My paper will present this hypothesis: the educational project of the British sought gradually to create the conditions for conversion to the true religion. They desired a patient and silent transformation of Indian society: (a) the natives would become aware that their âidolatrous' traditions could not possibly represent God's Will and (b) they would recognize the call of the Holy Spirit.</b>
intensifies the problem: How could these colonials be against active conversion in order to promote the conversion of Hindus will argue that we have to examine the internal Christian process of conversion to make sense of this puzzle. âConversio' is originally an internal theological process which transforms the believer into a real member of the Christian community. It is a process with specific characteristics: it can never be fully realized in this human life; it is the only route to real happiness and towards becoming a moral human being; only God can complete the conversion of a human soul; etc.
This Christian process underwent an important shift during the Reformation period: from a process restricted to the clergy it became the norm for all human beings. So, gradually, the internal theological process assumed another form-more accessible-as it became the standard for all humans. In this form, it became central to the western cultural experience. 3. Finally, my paper will show how the nature of this process of conversion can help us explain the educational project of British colonialism in India.
The British Protestants saw conversion as the work of God, in which human beings can maximally guide unbelievers to the stage where they are able to respond to God's call. <span style='color:red'>This, I will argue, expresses the dynamic through which the Christian religion spreads itself: it cannot do so through evangelization alone, because its message is unintelligible to non-Christians.</span> Therefore, a dynamic of secularization emerges in which this religion gradually transforms a society by dispersing secularized Christian frameworks and thus creating a fertile soil for conversion. The colonial project in India embodied this dynamic.-
<b>Iskon may be one of this project</b>
Sarah Claerhout
Paper Title : The Colonial Project in India: Creating the Conditions of Conversion
Abstract :
Except for a brief period between 1813 and 1857, colonial authorities in India generally opposed missionary activity. In 1858, the Queen ordered her representatives in India to "abstain from all interference with the religious belief, or worship, of any of our subjects on pain of our severest displeasure." Many lamented the paradox of a Christian nation supporting idolatry. Indeed, a peculiar situation emerged: genuine Protestants who were convinced that theirs was the true religion and that all should convert to God's Will nevertheless opposed evangelization.
Moreover, the very same groups engaged in a civilizing mission which aimed to make India into the mirror image of the Christian West. Given this aim, why not simply evangelize India? How to make sense of this stance? 2.<b> My paper will present this hypothesis: the educational project of the British sought gradually to create the conditions for conversion to the true religion. They desired a patient and silent transformation of Indian society: (a) the natives would become aware that their âidolatrous' traditions could not possibly represent God's Will and (b) they would recognize the call of the Holy Spirit.</b>
intensifies the problem: How could these colonials be against active conversion in order to promote the conversion of Hindus will argue that we have to examine the internal Christian process of conversion to make sense of this puzzle. âConversio' is originally an internal theological process which transforms the believer into a real member of the Christian community. It is a process with specific characteristics: it can never be fully realized in this human life; it is the only route to real happiness and towards becoming a moral human being; only God can complete the conversion of a human soul; etc.
This Christian process underwent an important shift during the Reformation period: from a process restricted to the clergy it became the norm for all human beings. So, gradually, the internal theological process assumed another form-more accessible-as it became the standard for all humans. In this form, it became central to the western cultural experience. 3. Finally, my paper will show how the nature of this process of conversion can help us explain the educational project of British colonialism in India.
The British Protestants saw conversion as the work of God, in which human beings can maximally guide unbelievers to the stage where they are able to respond to God's call. <span style='color:red'>This, I will argue, expresses the dynamic through which the Christian religion spreads itself: it cannot do so through evangelization alone, because its message is unintelligible to non-Christians.</span> Therefore, a dynamic of secularization emerges in which this religion gradually transforms a society by dispersing secularized Christian frameworks and thus creating a fertile soil for conversion. The colonial project in India embodied this dynamic.-
<b>Iskon may be one of this project</b>