About 2.5% of India’s population are Christians. Christianity arrived in India almost about the same period as it arrived in Europe, meaning about 2000 years ago. Christianity originates in Israel. The first Christians were Jews and in the beginning Christianity was seen as a Jewish cult. Most of the Apostles of Christians acted in Europe to convert the Europeans to Christianity. But one of the Apostles, St. Judas Thomas, arrived in India and converted Indians to Christianity. St. Thomas was a carpenter and a disciple of Jesus. He was brought to India by a merchant to build a temple. St. Thomas arrived in Kerala, in south India in 52 AD. He succeeded in converting local Indians to Christianity. His converts were called Syrian Christians. One assumption says that some of the Syrian Christians were actually Jews converted by St. Judas Thomas to Christianity. The disciples of Jesus at first intended to convince the Jews to adopt the philosophy of Jesus as new Judaism. Later on other Christian saints arrived to India as missioners. But most of the Indian were converted to Christianity by the missionaries who arrived in India with the European powers from 15th century.
The European powers arrived in India for commercial reasons, especially spices. But they also started converting local Indians to Christianity. Five European countries sent their representatives to India, Great Britain; France; Denmark; Netherlands and Portugal. Of the five European powers the Portuguese were most enthusiast to baptize Indians. The Portuguese were the first European power to arrive in India. Their first ship, under the leadership of Vasco DaGama, arrived in south India in 1498 after it had circled the whole continent of Africa. The Portuguese inspired by the Pope’s order to baptize people around the world not only fought wars against the local Indian rulers, but they even tried to enforced their Roman Catholic prayers on Syrian Christians.
After many wars the Portuguese were defeated by local rulers and they had only one big pocket of control in India, Goa. The Portuguese not only fought the Indian rulers, but they also fought against other European powers in India especially Dutch and English. Many Portuguese churches in Kerala were turned into English and Dutch churches after they were captured by these powers.
The English missionaries started acting in India at a much later period. The British, unlike the Portuguese, didn’t allow the missionaries to enter their territory in the beginning. The British arrived in India in 1600 and they allowed the missionaries to enter their territory only from 1813. The British allowed different churches to establish missionaries in their territory. The missionaries didn’t only spread Christianity, but they also did humanitarian deeds giving the needy basic necessities of life like food, clothes and shelter. The missionaries also built schools in India and many of them even today have Christian or European originated name. The British church missionaries succeeded less than the Portuguese in converting Indians to Christianity, but unlike the Portuguese who tried to enforce Christianity, these Protestant converts were voluntary. The Portuguese were also aware of the Indian custom according to which the wife followed her husband’s faith and therefore married their men to Indian women.
There are about 30 million Christians in India. The major centers of Christianity in India are Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Manipur and Mizoram. There is also a big community of Christians in Mumbai. The main division of Christians in India is like in the Christian world, Protestants and Catholic. There are also different denomination among them, Syrian Church, Armenian Church, Anglican Church and others. Most of the India Christians were converted by the Portuguese. There is also an Anglo-Indian community in India.Christianity
Unlike many other religions, Christianity is a religion based on love and penance that will allow you into heaven no matter what your past wrongs or faults are. Most Christian denominations have a minister or pastor who serves as the leader or guide through the rituals and readings learned by the individual. The ultimate goals in these teachings are to be accepted into God’s kingdom by being baptized, devoting your life to God, and admitting that he is your savior. These teachings are based off the original teachings and life of Jesus of Nazareth.
The history of Christianity begins with the birth of its founder, Jesus of Nazareth. The traditional story says that he was born around 4 B.C.E. In a Palestinian City called Bethlehem which was occupied by Roman authorities. His mother was a young virgin named Mary, who had become pregnant through the action of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’s birth is believed to the fulfillment of prophesies in the Jewish Old Testament. In this testament, it said that a Messiah would save the Jewish people from captivity. This is where the term “Jesus Christ” is derived from. (7) Although not much is known about Jesus until he began his ministry around the age of thirty, there is one episode of his early life in the gospel of Luke. At the age of twelve, Jesus accompanied Mary and Joseph, his earthly father, and a large group of people to Jerusalem on pilgrimage. On the way back to Bethlehem Jesus wandered into the Temple without his parents knowing. A day later they returned to look for him and it took them three days to find him in the Temple. They found him in the Temple talking to elders, who were amazed at his learning, especially at the age he was in. (17)
In the first century of the Common Era there was political instability, famines, taxation and many epidemics. (7) In Jerusalem, which was also occupied by Rome, there was an increasing tension as a result of abusive and corrupt administrators. This caused an armed Jewish uprising called the Zealot Movement which occurred during the year of Jesus’s birth. (9) This political movement in 1st century Second Temple Judaism looked to encourage people to rise against the Roman Empire and remove it from the Holy Land. Rome responded to this uprising by crucifying approximately two thousand people. (8)
Jews during this time period believed that they were living in the, “end times.” This was characterized as a time of trial and tribulation that would end with Jesus’s intervention. They believed that God would eradicate their enemies and in its place create a kingdom of justice and righteousness. The Jews hoped that God would destroy the Roman Empire and that the Messiah would appear to rule the new world. (7) To this day Jews do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah because according to their scriptures, he did not fulfill all the requirements needed to be him. There have been many other people who claimed to be the messiah and others who have come closer than...
from the book of : mother Teresa
in my words,
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