ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the changing trends in 'mission' in the Indian context that shaped by ongoing theological reflections on three specific themes are the relation between 'Christ' and 'culture', Christian attitudes to the religions of the world, and the purpose of Christian 'mission'. The political constructions of Hindutva seek to impart a timeless quality to the Hindu nation by claiming its unbroken cultural continuity from the Vedic past to the modern times, during which its standard-holders are said to heroically fight and resisted the onslaughts of the Muslim, and later the British, invaders. The secular Indian nation-state attacked, who argue for a civilisational unity which is circumscribed by certain markers of Hindu identity and is antagonistic to 'foreign' religions Islam and Christianity. The internal diversity of Christian positions on the theological significance of religious plurality whether the non-Christian religions are merely natural constructs is integrally connected to the diversity of Christian views on the precise relation between 'Christ' and 'culture'.
