Between Hindu and Christian

Khrist Bhaktas, Catholics, and the Negotiation of Devotion in Banaras

Kerry P. C. San Chirico (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

360 Seiten

2025
Oxford University Press Inc (Verlag)
9780197827710 (ISBN)

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On the second Saturday of each month, on the outskirts of the ancient city of Varanasi, Shiva's own city, thousands of shudra and Dalit devotees worship Yesu (Jesus) at a Catholic ashram. In an open-air pavilion more than three thousand women and men alternately sit, stand, and sing; they offer testimonials of healing, and receive the blessings of encounter from an unlikely deity. Facing this ocean of humanity is a 12-foot billboard Christ, arms outstretched, urging in Hindi: "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." At the lectern stands a saffron-clad priest offering teachings punctuated by hallelujahs, met with boisterous echoes.

Between Hindu and Christian sheds light on a novel movement of low and no-caste devotees worshipping Jesus in the purported heart of Hindu civilization. Through thick description and analysis, and by attending to devotees and clergy in their own voices, Kerry P. C. San Chirico examines the worldview and ways of life of these Khrist Bhaktas, or devotees of Jesus, along with the Catholic priests and nuns who mediate Jesus, Mary, and other members of the Catholic pantheon in a place hardly associated with Jesus or Christianity. San Chirico places this movement within the context of the devotional history of the Banaras region, the history of Indian Christianity, the rise of low caste and Dalit emancipatory strategies, and the ascendance of Hindu nationalism. Attending to convergences and disparities between devotional Hinduism and charismatic Catholicism, Between Hindu and Christian demonstrates that religious categories are not nearly as distinct as they often seem.

Kerry P. C. San Chirico is Associate Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University.

Figures
Preface
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Note on Translation and Transliteration

Introduction

1. At the Confluence of Rivers: Situating the Khrist Bhaktas

2. More Streams at the Sangam: Indian Christianities, Isai (Christian) Banaras, and Subaltern Liberations

3. Adi Kahaniyan (Origin Stories): A History in the Telling

4. An Encounter with the Light of Truth

5. The Substance of Things Hoped For: Visvas in the Kali Yug and Worldview in the Making

6. The Evidence of Things Not Seen (Through the Things That Are): Kindling Presence, An "Abundant Place," and the Stuff of Salvation

7. The Shape of Things to Come: Imprudent Prognostications on Khrist Bhakta and Indian Catholic Futures

Conclusion

Appendix: A Sermon in Translation (with Gloss)
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index

Erscheinungsdatum	14.08.2025
Verlagsort	New York
Sprache	englisch
Maße	162 x 232 mm
Gewicht	513 g
Themenwelt	Religion / Theologie ► Christentum ► Kirchengeschichte
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Hinduismus
ISBN-13	9780197827710 / 9780197827710
Zustand	Neuware