Debating 'Conversion' in Hinduism and Christianity

Hindu and Christian debates over the meanings, motivations, and modalities of conversion provide the central connecting theme running through this book. It focuses on the reasons offered by both sides to defend or oppose the possibility of these cross-border movements, and shows how these reasons form part of a wider constellation of ideas, concepts, and practices of the Christian and the Hindu worlds. The book draws upon several historical case-studies of Christian missionaries and of Hindus who encountered these missionaries. By analysing some of the complex negotiations, intersections, and conflicts between Hindus and Christians over the question of conversion, it demonstrates that these encounters revolve around three main contested themes. Firstly, who can properly speak for the convert? Secondly, how is tolerating the religious other connected to an appraisal of the others viewpoints which may be held to be incorrect, inadequate, or incomplete? Finally, what is, in fact, the true Religion? The book demonstrates that it is necessary to wrestle with these questions for an adequate understanding of the Hindu and Christian debates over conversion. Questioning what conversion precisely is, and why it has been such a volatile issue on Indias political-legal landscape, the book will be a useful contribution to studies of Hinduism, Christianity and Asian Religion and Philosophy.