Church of the Poor and Powerless

2953 Words12 Pages
Introduction The last two year have witnessed attacks on Christian’s in several part of India, particularly in Gujarat and Odessa. The fundamentalist groups justify these attacks in the name of conversions through illegal means. They allege that Christians convert the poor and powerless through inducements. While a few abuses may exist, they are not the norm. By and large these attacks are integral to the effort of the dominant classes to maintain themselves in power. They view the conversion of the poor as an attempt to free the poor in general and the Dalit’s and tribal in particular form of their state of oppression and bondage. Dominant reaction usually takes the form of a fundamental religious revival that goes against the right of the subaltern classes not merely to practice their beliefs but also against their aspiration to be human. Hence we need to understand the background these attacks. By attacking a religious group that the Dalit’s and tribal perceive and liberating them the dominant in reality agree that the church belongs to the poor? In this paper we shall take a look at the historical background see to what extent the poor have been the centre of the churches concern and whether this understanding is relevant today. The poor and powerless in early church The first obvious source for this search is the bible in some or the much of it lays the foundation of an understanding of human equality that is basic to the concept of the church as belonging to the poor. The later church did not always adhere to the spirit of the preaching of human equality that is intrinsic to the scripture. But one can state with confidence that the early church lived up to this mandate. To some extent both the concept of the poor in the scriptures and the failure of their adherents to live according to the spirit, is true also about other religions. For example in the last
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