Christian Engagement In Social Change - The Role of Theological Education

Christian Engagement in Social Change: The Role of Theological Education is a collection of reflections from authors from a variety of Indian Christian backgrounds in a context where Christian participation in the public sphere is becoming a great concern. Challenging the perspectives, including those by Christians, which continue to harbor discourses that isolate 'religion' from other aspects of life and that have the dangerous potential for leading to 'religious' ghettoization, the book brings together resources from different theological fields and perspectives to strengthen the directions that have been already initiated by many Indian Christian thinkers but have still a long way to go in a society like India.

Dr. Muthuraj Swamy is the Dean of Theology and Dean of Postgraduate Studies at the Union Biblical. Seminary, Pune, India. He teaches in the fields of Theology and Religion.

Dr. Wilson Paluri is the Director of Advancement and teaches Religion at the Union Biblical Seminary, Pune, India.

Dr. Asish Thomas Koshy is the Dean of Graduate Studies at the Union Biblical Seminary, Pune, India, where he teaches in the Department of New Testament.

It is matter of great joy to know that this collection of select papers, many of them originally presented at a seminar by the 2014-2016 batch of Master of Theology year students at the Union Biblical Seminary (UBS), is being published now. The writers are now teaching faculty members in various theological institutions in India and at different ministry positions of leadership in church and missions, and they have taken sincere efforts in revising and updating their papers. Included are also some select papers from professors in the teaching faculty from UBS and other theological institutions. The theme, Christian Engagement in Social Change,' was chosen with a view to bringing to light the historically strong social commitment of the Christian church which unfortunately seldom figures in the Indian public discourse. The fact however, remains that Christianity in India has attracted many from the excluded, deprived and marginalised of the religiously organised Indian society and polity because of one of Christianity's fundamental tenets which is social inclusiveness. Consequently, the Indian church continues to have a robust social engagement in the upliftment of its poor and disadvantaged, and equity in society despite the many odds and oppositions the church faces in doing so.

The essays published here comprehensively project range of perspectives from major areas of the theological discipline over the issue of Christian engagement in contemporary India. The writers are drawn from all over our country representing a wide spectrum of socio-cultural realities, as well as various sections/denominations of Christianity: therefore are uniquely placed in terms of their experience, observation and understanding of social change. Here they have been true critics who both authenticate and critically comment on the role of the church and Christianity as a whole as catalysts and agents of social development.