HISTORY OF
CHRISTIANITY
IN INDIA
SEMINAR REPORT ON:
DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTIANITY IN
NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES:
BANGLADESH
Submitted By: Samson Samuel
Submitted To: Biju Krishnan
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HISTORY OF
CHRISTIANITY
IN INDIA
SEMINAR REPORT ON:
DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTIANITY IN
NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES:
BANGLADESH
Submitted By: Samson Samuel Submitted To: Biju Krishnan
INTRODUCTION
Bangladesh is a South Asian country. With a population of more than 165 million people, it is the world's ninth most populous country. (57,320 sq mi). It has land borders with India to the west, north, and east, and Myanmar to the southeast; it also has a coastline along the Bay of Bengal to the south. Christianity is the world's fourth most popular religion. We will study how Christianity developed in this country during this course. We will especially cover Bangladesh's historical background, then the people who settled there and are still living there, and ultimately, how Christianity got to Bangladesh, how it formed there, and the current situation of Christianity in Bangladesh and the reasons behind the success of conversion. These are all the subjects we will be discussing during this seminar.
Awami League, a nationalistic party, won a majority in the 1971 national elections, the campaign to reintroduce the Bangla language evolved into a call for self-government, and Pakistan's president, faced with an unfavourable outcome, delayed the formation of the National Assembly.^7 East Pakistan experienced riots and strikes, Bangladesh unilaterally declared its independence, and Pakistan sent troops to put an end to the uprising. The Pakistani army seized all major towns, used napalm against villages, killed and raped civilians, and the ensuing battle was one of the briefest and deadliest in recent history. Pakistan's violent actions are referred to as "attempted genocide" by Bangladeshis. Indian- trained insurgents from Bangladesh crossed the border, escalating border clashes between Pakistan and India. Full-scale conflict broke out when Pakistan's air force attacked Indian forces as a preemptive strike. The Pakistani army learned that it was under attack from the Indian army from the east, from insurgents in the north and east, and from civilians on all sides after Indian troops crossed the border. It was all over in 11 days, and Bangladesh officially became the world's 139th country. Sheikh Mujib of the Awami League, one of the founders, became the country's first prime minister in January 1972; he was assassinated in 1975 during a period of instability.^8 In 1973â1974, famine struck the newly devasted nation, which was then followed by martial law, military coups, and political assassinations. Nothing happened following these declarations, which the local press hailed as evidence that Bangladesh was actually a democracy, until 1991. General Ershad, a military dictator, was forced to step down that year as a result of an extraordinary public uprising led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Awami League. In the run-up to national elections in February 1996, political dogfighting between the BNP and the Awami League became heated, leaving the country strike-ridden and rudderless. The Awami League received the most votes in the elections.
2. PEOPLE OF BANGLADESH The people of Bangladesh have ancestors from a variety of human races, including Austric, Dravidian, Mongoloids, Homo-Alpine, Mediterranean Brown, Aryan, and more. Up until the arrival of the Europeans, the Semitic people of the Arab world had maintained diplomatic and commercial ties with this region of the world.^9 Eastern Bengal was frequently visited by mongoloid stocks from the Arakan region and Tibet, and many of them had settled here. Bengali, one of the first modern languages of the subcontinent, is spoken by more than 95% of the people in Bangladesh. It came from the eastern Prakrit branch of the Indo-Aryan language family. The lyrical form of early Bengali dates to the seventh century AD. Poetry with prominently religious and romantic themes gradually became more prevalent during the Middle Ages. There are about a million minorities, with the Chakma being the most numerous, along with the 250,000 Biharis and other tribes. Approximately 83 percent of Bangladeshis identify as Muslims. Hinduism is the next major religion (16 percent). Buddhism and Christianity are two other significant religions. Bangle (also known as Bengali), a member of the Indo- European language family, serves as Bangladesh's official tongue. Bangladeshis strongly (^7) David Kopf & Safiuddin Joarder, ed., 1977, âReflections on The Bengal Renaissanceâ published by Institute of Bangladesh Studies, Rajshahi, pp. 6 - 14. (^8) Kane Herbert J., cited op.p.133. (^9) Drewery Mary, cited op.pp.
associate with their native tongue.^10 Bangla has a rich literary, musical, and poetic tradition, with at least two well-known Bengali poets in the West: Kazi Nazrul Islam, a Muslim who is regarded as the "voice of Bengali nationalism and freedom," and Rabindranath Tagore, a Hindu and Nobel laureate. The enhancement of Bangla by several regional tongues. The dialects of Sylhet, Chittagong, and Noakhali have Arab-Persian traces. English continued to be a significant language in Bangladesh even though its cultural influence appeared to have peaked by the late 1980s. The Biharis, a community of Urdu-speaking non-Bengali Muslim refugees from Bihar and other parts of northern India, numbered over one million in 1971 but had declined to 600, by the late 1980s. They used to rule the higher echelons of Bengali society and sided with Pakistan during the 1971 war. Following the war, hundreds of thousands of Biharis were repatriated to Pakistan. Bangladesh's tribal population is around 1 million individuals, accounting for less than 1% of the total population. The majority of tribal people are of Sino Tibetan origin and have noticeable Mongoloid characteristics. They communicate in Tibeto- Burman languages and the percentage distribution of tribal population by religion in the mid- 1980s was Hindu 24, Buddhist 44, Christian 13, and others 19. (^11) The Chakmas, Marmas, Tipperas, Tipras, and Mros are the four major tribes (or Moorangs). They are of mixed heritage and prefer to reside in highland valleys. The majority of Chakmas are Buddhists, but some also practise Hinduism or animism. The country's population is nearly evenly spread across its 64 districts, with an average population of 1.8 million, a Thana of 230,000, a union of 25,000, and a village of 2,000 people. There are 490 Thanas, 4,451 unions, and 59,990 villages in the state. A household has an average of 5.6 people. The tribal people are largely self-sufficient, providing their own food and drinks and weaving their own garments. The country has four urban cities and 119 municipalities, with 80% of the population living in rural areas. Dhaka, the capital city, has an estimated population of 8.58 million people. The population's yearly growth rate has slowed to 1.75 percent, but adoption of family planning measures has risen to 48.7 percent. The crude birth rate per 1000 people is 25.6, with a mortality rate of 8.1. The average life expectancy at birth is 59.5 years, and the child mortality rate per 1000 has dropped to 76.8 and maternal mortality to 4.5. 44.3 percent of the population is literate, with 5 million having completed secondary education and another 1.27 million having graduated. The food-for-education initiative has been expanded to over 16,000 schools to increase the promotion of compulsory primary education.
3. CHRISTIANITY IN BANGLADESH The Portuguese traders and missionaries brought Christianity to what is now Bangladesh in the late 16 to early seventeenth centuries AD. Christians make up about 0.4 percent of the entire population. The overall Christian population is approximately 600,000, including 221,000 Roman Catholics and 379,000 Orthodox and Protestants.^12 (^10) Kane Herbert J., cited op.p. (^11) Harold Bridges, cited op.pp- 7 (^12) Barton George A, 1975, âThe Religions of The Worldâ, The University of Chicago Press, Ill ions, p.
down and missionaries were manhandled. After this, the Dominicans left the place forever.
- 1602 AD: Father Francisco Fernandez was captured by the Arakanese and placed in a dark prison, where he died on November 14, 1602 AD becoming the first Christian martyr in Bangladesh.
- 1608 AD: Islam Khan made Dhaka the capital of Bengal, attracting Portuguese, Dutch, French and English merchants.
- 1612 AD: Portuguese Augustinian missionaries introduced Christianity in Dhaka.
- 1628 AD: The same missionaries established a Church, called the "Church of the Assumption", in the Narinda area of the city.
- 1695 AD: The Church of St. Nicholas of Tolentino was constructed at Nagori, 25 kilometers north-east of Dhaka.
- 1764 AD: Portuguese missionaries built a Church at Padrishibpur in Barisal district.
- 1777 AD: Another Portuguese Church was built at Hashnabad, 30 kilometers south-west of Dhaka.
- 1793: Baptist Missionary Society (British)
- 1805: Church Missionary Society (British)
- 1862: Council for World Mission (British Presbyterian)
- 1882: Australian Baptist Mission
- 1886: New Zealand Baptist Mission
- 1895: Oxford Mission (British Anglican)
- 1905: Churches of God (American)
- 1919: Seventh-day Adventists
- 1945: Assemblies of God
- 1947: All-one-in Christ Church (Fellowship Church)
- 1956: Santali Mission (Lutheran)
- 1957: Bangladesh Mission of the Southern Baptist Convention American
- 1958: Association of Baptists for World Evangelism (American)
- 1959: Churches of God Mission- USA
- 1965: Association of Baptist World Evangelism (ABWE) 3.2. ROMAN CATHOLICS 14,120 Roman Catholics lived in Bangladesh territory in 1682.^16 The Portuguese-converted Catholics in Bangladesh have Portuguese surnames, such as Gomes, Rozario, Cruze, Dores, D' Silva, D' Souza, and so forth. To recognize Catholics by names, the missionaries used to give one Christian name and one of their surnames to the newly-baptized person. Later Catholic missionaries from France, USA, Canada, and Italy did not follow the Portuguese in naming the new Christians. Presently, the Catholic Church has six dioceses with a population (^16) Kane Herbert J. 1979 âA Global View of Christian Missionâ Grand Rapids, Backer, Book House, Michigan, P. 57.
of 221,000, 70 parish Churches, 200 priests, 50 Brothers, 700 nuns, 1,000 catechists, and many educational, healthcare, and welfare institutions and organizations. 3.3. PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONS^17 A Protestant missionary named William Carey arrived in Serampore, West Bengal, in 1793 AD. He established Serampore Mission and College, wrote numerous other books and a dictionary, and translated and printed the Bible in Bengali. Dr. John Thomas, William Ward, Felix Carey, John Pearson, and other members of his team also made contributions to Bengali literature. Following the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 AD, a new influx of Protestant missionary societies entered Bangladesh, establishing and managing numerous educational, medical, and welfare institutions. Bangladesh has an estimated 350,000 Protestants, but only 0.5 percent of the country's population identifies as Christian. 3.4. CHURCH PLANTING MISSION IN BANGLADESH SINCE 1971 According to Arne Rudvin, every Christian has a personal responsibility to carry out the religious duty of witnessing and evangelising. The goal is to get all of humanity to acknowledge Jesus as Lord because, according to the New Testament religion, he is Lord and everything and everyone is rightfully his. Because evangelization was the primary task of the twelve disciples and other apostles (Barnabas, Paul, and others), the task of mission is frequently thought of as the mandate to proclaim the good news. However, following the Renaissance in Europe and America, there is a dramatic movement in evangelization to the countries of the world's south, mainly Asia. As Andrew Walls puts it, âAt the threshold of a new age of Christianity, its main base will be in the southern continents, and where its dominant expressions will be filtered through the culture of those countries.â There are two approaches to church planting missions: Roman Catholic and Protestant. These will be discussed separately.
- Roman Catholicism began through Portuguese settlements. Jesuit Missionaries entered through the wake of Portuguese exploitations in 1776. In the following decades Augustinians and Dominicans also opened the work there. By 1666 there were thirty-three thousand Roman Catholics in the country, most of them centered on Portugueseâs trading establishment.
- William Carey (1761â1834) was a British missionary who came to Bengal at the age of 32 in 1793 and was not welcomed by the East India Company of England, which thought if they supported him for evangelism, people would become Christians. He compared the English people with Christians and found that they were not following Jesus' teachings, leading to a potential revolution against the English East India Company. After arriving in India in 1795, William Carey made the decision to begin his missionary work among the Hindus. He was involved in social welfare work, and our churches still frequently use his famous translations (^17) Hake Donald, ed. âThe Church in Asiaâ Moody Press, Chicago, p.78.
Table: 1 Census year Total Muslim Buddhist Christian Others 1941 100.00 70.3 0 --- 0.1 0 1.6 0 1951 100.00 76.9 0 0.7 0 0.3 0 0.1 0 1961 100.00 80.4 0 0.7 0 0.3 0 0.1 0 1974 100.00 85.4 0 0.6 0 0.3 0 0.2 0 1981 100.00 86. 65 0.6 2 0.3 1 0.3 0 1991 100.00 88.3 1 0. 58 0.3 3 0.3 0 2001 100.00 89. 58 0. 62 0.3 1 0.2 0 2011 100.00 90.80 0.61 0.35 0. Source: BBS Population Census-2001, p-66 & 2011, p- 49
5. THE REASONS BEHIND THE SUCCESS OF CONVERSION In Bangladesh, Christianity may be attributed to the fact that after the 1971 Liberation War, a large number of western NGOs started working in the humanitarian fields of emergency relief, universal healthcare, eradicating poverty, micro-enterprise development, managing floods and cyclones in coastal regions, and advancing the nation while still operating independently. The first groups to enter Bangladesh to aid the victims were the missionaries Mother Teresa sent aft er 1971. The Bangladeshi government also flung open the door and encouraged NGO operations. The Christian community has made a significant contribution to social action, particularly in the field of health. The native population holds that hospitals run by Christians have provided standard, unadulterated, and free care to everyone (Islam 2015:307). These include Haluyaghat Hospital (Mymensingh), Baptist Mission Hospital Malumghat (Cox's Bazaar), The Holy Family Red Crescent Hospital of Dhaka, Arthington Hospital Chondroghona (Rangamati), and Karamtola Hospital of Pubail (Gazipur). It is interesting to see that these hospitals are situated in under-developed areas. Christians are operating in many areas for alleviating poverty by helping development efforts of Co-operative society, Housing society, Credit union, Education etc. The Christian community usually enjoys a better opportunity for education and standard of living. NGOs put emphasis on reading Bible and made it compulsory for their staff. A student had to be a Christian in order to receive board and lodging in one NGO's hostels, and that NGO only employed Christian teachers in its schools. In contrast to Bangladeshi students, who are only taught about their religion in both private and public schools, most missionary schools require all students to study Christianity. What are best referred to as "neo-missionaries" are these NGO activities that resemble missionary work. These organisations raise money to aid native people, but they use it to further their covert mission of converting them to Christianity. Due to their financial insolvency and lack of resources, illiterate, distressed, underprivileged, and helpless people accepted Christianity for this reason.^20 6.1 Qualitative Growth: (^21) It is similar to a general who sends his army out to conquer other lands but neglects to maintain a strong base of operations in his own country when he would rather evangelise those outside the Church while neglecting the upbuilding of those within the Church. The ultimate purpose of Christ in giving (^20) Islam, S.A.M Ziaul, Christianization in the South-Eastern Hill Districts of Bangladesh (1947-2011), Historical Writings 2015, Itihas Academy Dhaka, February 2016. 305 - 08 (^21) Gibbs Eddie,1981; âI believe in Church Growthâ; William B. Erdmannâs Publishing Company; Grand Rapids; Michigan; p.83.
gifted men to the Church was âfor the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, with the building up of the body of Christâ (Eph.4:12). âbe no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wise of error; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into him, who is head, even Christâ (Eph.4:14- 15 ). Currently, the local body, which is the working agency of God on earth, is where this purpose of God for the entire body of Christ finds its outworking and visible manifestation. It is the front line of God. However, a lot of local assemblies don't go through this growth, so they don't make good candidates for the front lines. (^22) The spiritual gifts and gifted men that God has given us are still largely untapped resources. The local Church is a means to an end, not an end in itself. Faithfulness to the local assembly offers the essential opportunity for considering one another and inspiring the brethren to love and good deeds, as is noted in Hebrews 10:24â26. The apostle Paul reminds the Corinthian Church that they must continue to grow as a group. Using the figure of the local Church as Godâs husbandry, he says, âI have planted, Apolloâs watered; but God gave the increaseâ (I Cor.3:6). Although God was the reason for the Church's expansion, Paul had founded it and Apollos had taken over as its minister. The local Church should be growing qualitatively, but this could be abruptly stopped by a narrow perspective that fails to look past Church leaders to God, who is the only one who brings about growth. The threat is real because the Church will soon lack quantitative outreach if it doesn't develop its constituency on a qualitative level. 6.2 Quantitative Growth: A local church will be burdened with quantitative growth when its membership is growing qualitatively. The fact that many local Churches are stagnant simply shows how immature their spiritual development is. The local Church develops a desire for outreach when it starts to share the heart of Christ and sees the masses as He did.Luke writes: â And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christâ (Acts 5:42). Surely this is the appropriate response to the divinely appointed commission to the Church: â Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe whatsoever things I have commanded youâ (Matt 28:19). Thus, the scope of completion of the commissions for the Church is open at any particular time in the whole world. Such a task demands a vigorous evangelical testimony that results in a continually expanding outreach. 23 Equipping members for ministry: It is a happy Church that recognizes the value of equipping its members for the work of the Church growth ministry. (^24) Blessed are the life and the Church that equips in the manner prescribed by the Bible. Such a church is filled with the most joy. 25 The body is full of life and health when each member carries out the purpose and directives of the Head, the Lord Jesus. The individual member's life was marked by joy. It permeates every aspect of church life. Equipping God's people yields the greatest fruit. If His followers stay with Him, Jesus said, they will bear much fruit. Participating obediently in a life centred on Christ is abide. As a Church body abides in Jesus, it brings forth maximum fruit and carries out the best results. â He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper (Ps.1:3) (^22) Skivington Robert S; 1977; âMission to Mindanaoâ; Conservative Baptist Publications; Philippines. Pp- 66 (^23) Estolas Josefina V & Daisy T.Beguiren, 1973, âFundamental of Researchâ; G. Mirinda and Sons, Manila; p.4. (^24) Radmacher Earl D.; 1978; âWhat the Church is All Aboutâ; Moody Press, Chicago; p.361. (^25) Gibbs Eddie, 1981; âI Believe in Church Growthâ; William B. Erdmannâs Publishing Company; Grand Rapids; Michigan, P. 240.
Kane, Herbert J. A Global View of Christian Mission. Michigan: Backer Book House, 1979 Peter, McNee. Crucial Issues in Bangladesh. California: William Carey Library, 1976. Comms. (2022, November 22). New Census reveals Christian decline in Bangladesh. International Christian Concern. Retrieved December 1, 2022, from https://www.persecution.org/2022/07/28/n ew- census-reveals-christian-decline-bangladesh/