'God has not left himself without witness' : a critical examination of the 'fulfilment' concept in the Christian understanding of other religions in Indian Christian thought, with special reference to the contribution of Krishna Mohan Banerjea and Sadhu Sundar Singh to Protestant fulfilment theology
The Christian Church has since its inception formulated various ways of relating its claims regarding the decisive and universal significance of the Christ-event to the religious traditions and experience of people of other faiths. A common theme that undergirds several of the approaches that have emerged in the history of the Christian engagement with other religions is the fulfilment concept. The fulfilment concept, with its roots in the New Testament and the early church fathers, continues to find prominence and creative theological expression in Roman Catholic circles. Protestant fulfilment theology, however, reached the peak of its development in the early years of the twentieth century, and subsequently fell into decline. This study presents a case for the revitalization of the Protestant fulfilment tradition based on a recovery and assessment of the fulfilment approaches of Indian Christian converts in the pre-independence period, focussing especially on the views of Krishna Mohan Banerjea and Sadhu Sundar Singh. Our analyses of the fulfilment approaches of Indian converts furnish us with a conceptual framework for a cumulative fulfilment proposal which complements the nineteenth century Protestant
Satyavrata, Ivan Morris
Indian Christian thought; Protestant fulfilment theology; Krishna Mohan Banerjea
'God has not left himself without witness' : a critical examination of the 'fulfilment' concept in the Christian understanding of other religions in Indian Christian thought, with special reference to the contribution of Krishna Mohan Banerjea and Sadhu Sundar Singh to Protestant fulfilment theology. The Christian Church has since its inception formulated various ways of relating its claims regarding the decisive and universal significance of the Christ-event to the religious traditions and experience of people of other faiths. A common theme that undergirds several of the approaches that have emerged in the history of the Christian engagement with other religions is the fulfilment concept. The fulfilment concept, with its roots in the New Testament and the early church fathers, continues to find prominence and creative theological expression in Roman Catholic circles. Protestant fulfilment theology, however, reached the peak of its development in the early years of the twentieth century, and subsequently fell into decline. This study presents a case for the revitalization of the Protestant fulfilment tradition based on a recovery and assessment of the fulfilment approaches of Indian Christian converts in the pre-independence period, focussing especially on the views of Krishna Mohan Banerjea and Sadhu Sundar Singh. Our analyses of the fulfilment approaches of Indian converts furnish us with a conceptual framework for a cumulative fulfilment proposal which complements the nineteenth century Protestant
god leave without witness critical_examination fulfilment concept christian religion indian christian thought special_reference protestant fulfilment theology christian_church since inception formulate various_way relate claim regard decisive universal significance christ event religious_tradition experience people faith common_theme several approach emerge history christian engagement religion fulfilment concept fulfilment concept root new_testament early_church father continue prominence creative theological expression roman_catholic circle protestant fulfilment theology however reach_peak development subsequently fell decline study present case revitalization protestant fulfilment tradition base recovery assessment fulfilment approach indian christian convert pre independence period focus especially view analyse fulfilment approach indian convert furnish conceptual_framework cumulative fulfilment proposal complement protestant