Protestantism in India

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Protestants in India are a minority and a sub-section of

Hindu majority country, but form majorities in the north-eastern states of Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland and significant minorities in Konkan division, Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, with various communities in east coast and northern states. Protestants today trace their heritage back to the Protestant reformation of the 16th century. There are an estimated 20 million Protestants and 16 million Pentecostals in India.[1]

History

Colonial India

St. Paul's Cathedral was built in 1847 and served as the chair of the Bishop of Calcutta, who served as the metropolitan of the Church of India, Burma and Ceylon.[2]

As the

established church of England, "it had an impact on India with the arrival of the British".[3] Citing the Great Commission, Joseph White, a Laudian Professor of Arabic at the University of Oxford, "preached before the university in 1784 on the duty of promoting the universal and progressive message of Christianity 'among our Mahometan and Gentoo Subjects in India'."[4] In 1889, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury expressed similar sentiments, stating that "It is not only our duty but is in our interest to promote the diffusion of Christianity as far as possible throughout the length and breadth of India."[5]

The growth of the

Diocese of Calcutta of the Church of India, Burma and Ceylon (CIBC) was erected, with its St. Paul's Cathedral being built in 1847.[3] By 1930, the Church of India, Burma and Ceylon had fourteen dioceses across the Indian Empire.[7]

Missionaries from other

Baptist Missionary Society, began doing missionary work in the Indian Empire.[10] In Neyoor, the London Missionary Society Hospital "pioneered improvements in the public health system for the treatment of diseases even before organized attempts were made by the colonial Madras Presidency, reducing the death rate substantially".[11]

After 1857, the establishment of schools and hospitals by British Christian missionaries became the "a pivotal feature of missionary work and the principal vehicles for conversion".

Bible, were a part of the curricula.[12] During the colonial era in India, Christian missionaries developed writing systems for Indian languages that previously did not have one.[14][15] Christian missionaries in India also worked to increase literacy and also engaged in social activism, such as fighting against prostitution, championing the right of widowed women to remarry, and trying to stop early marriages for women.[16] Among British women, zenana missions became a popular method to win converts to Christianity.[12]

In

religious freedom for both organisations and individuals; this came to be reflected in the Constitution of India.[17][18]

Independent India

Many Protestant denominations are represented in India, the result of missionary activities throughout the country especially under

Anglican congregations with approximately 4 million members as of 2014. The broadly similar Church of North India had 1 million members. (Both churches are in full communion with the Anglican Communion
.) There were about 1.3 million Lutherans, 473,000 Methodists, and 425,000 Baptists as of 1995.

Pentecostalism, one of the largest Protestant denominations worldwide, is also a rapidly growing denomination in India. It is spreading greatly in

India Pentecostal Church of God
(IPC).

As for the smaller denominations, another prominent group is the Brethren. They include Plymouth Brethren, Indian Brethren, Kerala Brethren etc. The Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Churches in India has more than 100,000 members.

One of the oldest denominations meanwhile is the Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Notable missionaries

Protestant

Calcutta and other cities founding churches. On the educational front, in addition to starting the Serampore College, he also translated the Bible into Bengali and Sanskrit, continuing with these labours until his death in 1834.Anthony Norris Groves, Plymouth Brethren missionary came to India in 1833. He worked in the Godavari delta area of then Madras Presidency
, until his death in 1852.

Missionaries such as Amy Carmichael, Ida S. Scudder and Joyce M. Woollard continued the work in the 20th century.

21st century

According to the 2015 India Demographic and Health Survey, 2.6% of the population is Christian.[19] Other reports stated that Catholics make up 1.71% of the population, suggesting that less than 0.9% of the country has a Protestant background.[20]

A report in 2021 noted that many Indian Christians share Hindu beliefs, in particular in karma (54%), and reincarnation (29%);[21] it also noted that three-quarters of Indian Christians come from a lower-caste background.

Protestant Churches in India

Part of a series on
Christianity in India
Christianity in India
Communities
People
Denominations

Saint Thomas Christian denominations

Latin Catholic

  • Oriental Orthodox

Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church

Independent Oriential Orthodox

Malabar Independent Syrian Church

Chaldean Syrian

Mar Thoma Syrian, St. Thomas Evangelical

Protestant denominations
Andhra Evangelical Lutheran, Assemblies Jehovah Shammah, Christian Revival Church, Church of North India, Church of South India, Garo Baptist, Indian Brethren, Indian Pentecostal Church of God, Church of God (Full Gospel), North Bank Baptist Christian, Northern Evangelical Lutheran, Methodist Church, Presbyterian, The Pentecostal Mission, Seventh-day Adventist, United Evangelical Lutheran

Organisations

Source of the list: World Christian Encyclopedia.

See also

References

  1. ISBN 978-90-04-29102-7
    . Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  2. ISBN 9781442250161
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 9788184753967
    .
  4. ISBN 9781847795397
    .
  5. ^
    ISBN 9781620323151
    .
  6. ISBN 9781786220202
    . The growth of the army in India also led to many army chaplains. After the change in the Charter in 1813, Anglican missionaries began to work across North India. The missionaries translated the Book of Common Prayer into various Indian languages. The first Anglican diocese was Calcutta in 1813, and bishops from India were at the first Lambeth conference. In 1930 the Church of India, Burma and Ceylon became an independent Province and created its own Book of Common Prayer, which was translated into several languages.
  7. ^ The Indian Year Book. Bennett, Coleman & Company. 1940. p. 455. The three dioceses thus formed have been repeatedly subdivided, until in 1930 there were fourteen dioceses, the dates of their creation being as follows : Calcutta 1814; Madras 1835; Bombay 1837; Colombo 1845; Lahore 1877; Rangoon 1877; Travancore 1879; Chota Nagpur 1890; Lucknow 1893; Tinnevelly 1896; Nagpur 1903; Dornakal 1912; Assam 1915; Nasik 1929.
  8. ISBN 9780191607431
    .
  9. ^
    ISBN 9780567662460
    .
  10. ISBN 9780802839565
    .
  11. ISBN 9781443869287
    .
  12. ^
    ISBN 9781781385630
    .
  13. ISBN 9781467440394
    .
  14. ISBN 9781630874858
    .
  15. ISBN 9780802849007
    .
  16. ISBN 9781611645514
    .
  17. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8386-1021-3
    .
  18. ^
    doi:10.1111/1467-9809.00138
    .
  19. ^ US State Dept 2022 report
  20. ^ Catholics And Culture website, retrieved 2023-08-08
  21. ^ Pew Research website, article dated July 12, 2021
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