A History of Christianity in India: The Beginnings to AD 1707

Front Cover
Cambridge University Press, 1984 - Religion - 583 pages
Christians form the third largest religious community in India. How has this come about? There are many studies of separate groups: but there has so far been no major history of the three large groups - Roman Catholic, Protestant and Thomas Christians (Syrians). This work attempts to meet the need for such a history. It goes right back to the beginning and traces the story through the ups and downs of at least fifteen centuries. It includes careful studies of the political and social background and of the non-Christian reactions to the Christian message. The narration is non-technical and should present few difficulties to the thoughtful reader; the more technical matters are dealt with in notes and appendices. This book will be of interest to all students of Church History and will also prove fascinating to many who are concerned with the development of Christianity as a world religion and in the dialogue between different forms of faith.
 

Contents

PART ONE I
1
Christianity Comes to India
26
From Medieval to Modern
50
Christians in the Indian Middle Age
68
PART
87
Beginnings of Mission
111
The Jesuits and the Indian Church
134
Akbar and the Jesuits
166
Attempts at Reconciliation
321
The Dutch take a Hand
326
Stability in Spite of Strife
327
The Balance of a Century
331
Other Roman Catholic Missions
333
The First Vicars Apostolic
335
To Far Cathay
341
The Mission to the Great Mogul
343

Rome and the Thomas Christians
191
Eastern Bishops Enter the Scene
193
The Portuguese Take a Hand
195
Bishops Syrian and Others
199
The Mysterious Mar Abraham
203
Menezes and the Synod of Diamper
208
Controversy about the Synod
217
Lights and Shadows
220
The Portuguese Authorities Intervene
223
The Inquisition
228
Councils of the Church
232
The Great Visitor
234
Goa and its Environs
235
Coromandel
242
Other Extensions of the Work
245
The Work of Other Orders
248
To What Did it All Amount?
253
PART THREE II India in the Seventeenth Century
259
Shah Jahan
262
Aurungzīb
266
the Dutch
269
the English
272
the French
275
Other Nations
277
The Mission of Mathurai
279
Disputes and Conversions
283
Opposition and Controversies
285
Enemies from Without and from Within
287
Nobili on the Defensive
290
The Later Years of Nobili
293
Nobili as Writer
297
Later Years of the Mission
300
Some Conclusions
308
The Thomas Christians Again
310
Archbishop and Archdeacon
313
Rebellion and Schism
316
A Mission to Tibet
349
Developments on the Fisher Coast
352
Other Missionary Enterprises
357
NonRoman Catholic Christianity in India
364
Anglican Beginnings
368
Churches and Chaplains
370
The Dutch in India
377
Other Christian Communities
384
APPENDICES Chapter 2
388
The Learned Brahman and the Thomas Cross
390
Chapter 3
392
The Rise of Mahayana Buddhism in South India
394
The Dates of the Tamil bhaktipoets
395
Chapter 4
396
Nikitin in India
397
Chapter 5
398
The Powers of the King of Portugal over the Missions in India under the Padroado Agreement
399
Chapter 7
402
The Flos Sanctorum of Fr Henriques
408
Chapter 12
414
The Hortus Indicus Malabaricus
420
Select Bibliographies 424
511
Chapter 4
529
Chapter 5
530
Chapter 6
534
Chapter 7
536
Chapter 8
538
Chapter 9
540
Chapter 10
543
Chapter 11
545
Chapter 12
552
Chapter 13
554
Chapter 14
556
Chapter 15
560
Index
565
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