EMQ » January–March 2022 » Volume 58 Issue 1
[memberonly folder=”Members, EMQ2YearFolder, EMQ1YearFolder, EMQLibraryInstitution”]By H. L. Richard
William Carey Publishing, 2020
91 pages
US$9.99
Reviewed by David Cashin, professor of intercultural studies at Columbia International University, who served nine years in Bangladesh and whose study area is Indology and the Sufi Muslim groups of Bangladesh.
Bringing the Gospel into the context of India is a topic of much discussion among missiologists and all who have a heart for Hindus. Cultural Gaps is a brief snapshot into the contextualized thinking of the nineteenth century Methodist missionary Benjamin Robinson as he sought to bring the gospel to Karnataka state in India. It is a reprint of Robinson’s own volume from 1912 with some very helpful commentary from H. L. Richard and Art McPhee.
Robinson understood the huge cultural gap that existed between western Christianity and the many iterations of the Hindu faith. It is fascinating to read his grappling not just with issues such as clothing and food, but also with Hindu thought. As an Indologist, I found his discussion of Lingayats and other schools of bhakti (devotion) a powerful example of Christian interaction with nineteenth century Hinduism. Much has changed since the nineteenth century, but the issues of understanding and the cultural gaps remain.
It is poignant to consider some of the things that Robinson did not adapt to. As an educator, he was forced to do his preaching tours in the summer. Typically, Hindu and Muslim esoteric cults do their work in winter. This poor timing contributed greatly to the breakdown of Robinson’s health and eventual early departure from India.
It is also typical that Robinson thinks primarily in terms of preaching and personal evangelism. These are uncommon forms in the Hindu world. Music and preaching through song seem outside of Robinson’s thinking. The German missionary Ziegenbalg figured this out in the eighteenth century. His Tamil poetry and music are now part of classic Tamil literature. Perhaps Robinson just needed more time to figure this out, as his career was cut short.
Robinson reflects on issues such as caste which seemed to create a double-edged sword of resistance. Believers were rejected by their own caste and yet, when brought together, formed a new caste that was equally resistant to outsiders. This helps to explain why the ancient Church in south India never grew. It became encapsulated as a new caste.
One also gains a deeper understanding of Robinson’s passion for his people. His book expresses a spiritual longing for breakthrough in India. He ponders how many ways he fell short in reflecting Christ. He realized how foreign and offensive western Christianity was to the Indian mind. He never found a solution to that problem.
Richard concludes with articles from contemporary mission journals and a short case study of the Salvation Army’s attempt at contextualization in the late nineteenth century.
This book is a worthwhile read for the history of missions and mission methodology. H.L. Richard’s footnotes are as interesting as the text itself where he critiques some of Robinson’s understandings of Hinduism. It is brief and succinct and a fascinating read.
