Anthropology is the science of human beings. One of its greatest contributions is the study of culture as human specific. As fish cannot live without water, human beings cannot live without culture. Culture is a comprehensive term. It signifies the way different human communities organize themselves to give meaning through the complex interaction of their economic, social, political, aesthetic and religious dimensions of life.
After the historical Resurrection-Experience of Crucified Jesus, the timid, discouraged and disillusioned apostles began to share their New Life in Jesus to people of all cultures by crossing the seas, climbing the mountains and facing all persecutions. Thus began the Christian Movement and encounter between Christianity and cultures.
This relationship between Christianity and Cultures is a dynamic process in human history involving cultural adaptation, accommodation, indigenization, contextualization, inculturation and interculturation. It includes challenge and celebration of cultures, dialogue, mutual fecundation, transformation, liberation and conversion.
Today, this movement is challenged by ethnocentrism, narrow cultural nationalism, religious pluralism, relativism and Post-Modern liberalism. In order to find new paths in Christian Mission, a deeper understanding of culture in the lives of people is a must.
This book is the result of many years of scientific research and reflection. It offers very significant insights into the understanding of the dynamic relationship between Christianity and Cultures in human history, especially in the context of Indian cultures. It will be a very insightful reading for social scientists, theologians, missionaries and all those who are interested in the relationship between Christianity and cultures.
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