CONVERSION IN INDIA TODAY

Authors

  • Ishanand Vempeny Premal Jyothi, Ahmedabad

Keywords:

Conversion

Abstract

A little more than a decade ago I was attending a seminar on Christian Fundamentalism held in Manila, Philippines. I had the opportunity of meeting various groups of fundamentalists including those with military names like the Navigators of the Lord, Crusaders for World Conquest, etc. For the seminar, we had invited the representatives from some five groups for a panel discussion. All of them propounded the ideal that only those who have been baptized through the Holy Spirit and have had the experience of having been born again could attain eternal salvation. According to them, not only the Non-Christians but also the Christians of the Main Line Churches (who constitute more than 90% of Christians) will go to eternal hell. Since the seminar was organized by the Catholics, they made an effort to find some loopholes for the salvation of some of the Catholics under certain conditions.

Author Biography

Ishanand Vempeny, Premal Jyothi, Ahmedabad

Ishanand Vempeny, author of Conversion: National Debate or Dialogue (1999) and professor of Systematic Theology at Premal Jyothi, Ahmedabad, is actively involved in dialogue with persons belonging to different religions.

References

Sādhana, “Ishai Dharmana Dushpracharne Samajiye,” March 20, 1999, 40.

Frazer and Marathe, trans., The Poems of Tukaram, Madras: SPCK Press, 1931, no. 1394.

Ishanand Vempeny, Conversion, Anand: Gujarat Sahitya Prakash, 1999, 24-45.

A. M. Mundadan, “Origins of Christianity in India: The First Centuries,” in Christian Encyclopedia (1982), Vol. I, 7.

Indian Express, January 31, 1999, 2.

“Conversion as the Best, Simplest, Surest, and the Most Non-violent Way to Liberate Dalits,” January 1-15, 2003, 21.

P. Ram and Ishanand Vempeny, Conversion and Missionary, Varanasi: Satya Manthan Sanstha, 2000, 15-16.

Games We Religious Play, Delhi: Media House, 1977, 103-105.

J. A. Scherer and S. B. Bevans, eds., New Directions in Mission and Evangelization, New York: Orbis Books, 1992, 71.

Dignitatis Humanae, (DH), no. 2.

Delio de Mendonca, Conversions and Citizenry, New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company, 2002, 21-22.

"It’s Conversion Time in Valley,” The Indian Express, April 6, 2003, 3.

Vempeny, Inspiration in Non-Biblical Scriptures, Bangalore: TPI, 1973, 148-68.

Wesley Ariaraja, The Bible and the People of Other Faiths, Geneva: World Council of Churches, 32.

Scherer and Bevans, eds., New Directions in Mission and Evangelization, nos. 17 and 18.

India Today, March 17, 2003.

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Published

2003-03-31

How to Cite

Vempeny, I. (2003). CONVERSION IN INDIA TODAY. Journal of Dharma, 28(1), 73–104. Retrieved from https://dvkjournals.in/index.php/jd/article/view/588