Christology in Context- A Tribal-Indigenous Appraisal of North East India (Christian Heritage Rediscovered-49)

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About the Book One theological theme that requires serious consideration is a contextualized Christology. Too many tribal people envision Jesus in terms of the portrayals presented by the Buro-American missionaries. Indigenous people continue to imagine Jesus as fair skinned, blond or red-headed, and blue eyed. This book attempts to construct a contextual Indigenous Christology that is revealed in Naga cultural values and metaphors. In all, this book raises a serious question on the adaptability of western Christology by the tribal people. The author asserts that a Christology must not only incorporate socio-economic and political realities of the people, but also peoples' values and traditions.

Any attempt to articulate a Naga- Indigenous Christology must begin by defining Christology and the gospel for ourselves in ways that might be more compelling and more culturally appropriate for us. And we do this by asking who Jesus is and what might Jesus mean for the Naga community? How might we profess and proclaim Jesus in a manner that is genuinely derived from and centered in the Naga people's experience and cultural reality?

The author in the present brain-storming research work has employed various historical, political, and cultural resources to move a step beyond the existing Indigenous theological work by providing a comprehensive and in-depth treatment of the identified theological theme.

About the Author Rev. Dr. Yangkahao Vashum is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at the Eastern Theological College, Jorhat, Assam, India. He is Head of Department of Theology at the College. Earlier, he served as the Dean of Tribal Study Centre, Executive Editor of the Journal of Tribal Studies, and Dean of the Post- Graduate Studies of the College. He is an ordained Baptist Minister from Ukhrul, Manipur.

He received his BTh, BD and MTh degrees from the Senate of Serampore College (University); ThM from the Princeton Theological Seminary; and PhD from the Iliff School of Theology and Denver University, USA. He has edited and co-edited a number of books including Tribal Theology and the Bible; Peacemaking in Northeast India; Search for a New Society: The Quest for Harmony. He has also written many scholarly papers in reputed journals, nationally as well as internationally. He is married to Semmichon Shimrang Vashum; they are blessed with a daughter and a son.

Foreword The euro-christian colonialist world has proclaimed its gospel to Indigenous Peoples now for more than a couple of centuries. We Indigenous People have longed to hear our own voices speaking back to the colonial missionaries, speaking in tones that make sense in our own cultures. In this book, Yangkahao Vashum takes a giant step towards accomplishing this goal. An Indigenous Naga from a predominantly Naga state in the northeast of India, Vashum has long attended to notions of Indigenous Theology-both as writer and as editor, particularly as editor of the Journal of Tribal Studies. He is a leader among an ever growing cadre of exceptionally strong Indigenous scholars who are rising to the postcolonial challenge of speaking back to the colonial masters in forceful and convincing fashion. His announced project, going back now several years, was the development of an Indigenous Theology that would speak out of Naga culture to Naga people living the contemporary postcolonial (neo-colonial?) realities of greater Nagaland. While his direct topic here is the development of Christology in the Indigenous context of Naga Peoples, his greater goal is to generate the political, economic, theological and philosophical language that will help Indigenous Peoples in India establish their voice within the greater societal whole of India.

Introduction Christianity came to Nagaland about 145 years ago when American Baptist missionaries, entered Nagaland. Until then Nagas, practiced or more precisely they lived their traditional religion as did other Indigenous peoples. The two essential elements of their religion were the belief of the Sacred Other, and the people's understanding of the presence and activities of spirits, indeed, the profound influence of each of elements is still evident today. However, with the propagation of Christianity that followed those first missionaries, the principles, rituals, and ceremonies of our traditional religion have been largely forgotten. It is thought that today nearly 95% of Nagas have become Christians.

Until quite recently, Naga Christians have adhered strictly to theology promulgated by the Baptist missionaries over one and a half centuries ago. These missionaries failed to understand or appreciate the religious and cultural ethos of the Naga people. Unfortunately, Naga Christians have assimilated Euro-american ideologies and prejudices embedded in the missionaries' message which denounces and condemns the traditional beliefs and religious values that had sustained for generation upon generation. To this day, most Naga Christians believe that to be authentically Christian they must shun everything from the past and embrace every idea and norm espoused by the Western Church; indeed they believe that the most important obligation of a Christian is to adhere strictly to the tenets of the Christian faith as promulgated by the Christian West.

**Contents and Sample Pages**