Dalit Theology and Christian Anarchism [Hardcover]

A second generation of emerging Dalit theology texts is re-shaping the way we think of Indian theology and liberation theology. This book is a vital part of that conversation. Taking post-colonial criticism to its logical end of criticism of statism, Keith Hebden looks at the way the emergence of India as a nation state shapes political and religious ideas. He takes a critical look at these Gods of the modern age and asks how Christians from marginalised communities might resist the temptation to be co-opted into the statist ideologies and competition for power. He does this by drawing on historical trends, Christian anarchist voices, and the religious experiences of indigenous Indians. Hebden's ability to bring together such different and challenging perspectives opens up radical new thinking in Dalit theology, inviting the Indian Church to resist the Hindu fundamentalists labelling of the Church as foreign by embracing and celebrating the anarchic foreignness of a Dalit Christian future.Contents: Foreword; Preface; Introduction; Part I Understanding the Postcolonial Context: Subversion and resistance in postcolonial discourse; Cosmic courtship and the violence of the gods; Self preservation society. Part II Resisting the State in Colonial and Postcolonial India: Missiological controversies on church and state; Fathers of the Nation: the Gandhi and Ambedkar controversy. Part III Dalit Theology and Christian Anarchism: a Subversive Synthesis: Resistance from the margins; Dalit theology and the powers that be; Jesus the foreigner; Select bibliography; Index.Keith Hebden is an assistant curate at Saint Katharine's Anglican Church in Matson, Gloucester. Gloucester Diocese is twinned with two partner dioceses in India. Previously studying and co-tutoring at Queen's Foundation Birmingham, Keith completed his PhD in Dalit theology in January 2008 at Birmingham University. Keith has spent over a decade travelling to India to conduct field research and to work with churchel°