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On Christian Literature

Sundar Singh, Ph.D.
M.S.Thirumalai, Ph.D.

What Is Christian Literature?

In this discussion note, we would like to look at what may really constitute Christian Literature, and what are its domains, how Christian Literature can be an effective means of sharing God's love to bring people in loving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We look at these things from an Indian perspective.

Situation in India: An Example from Tamil

There are several departments of Christian Tamil Literature or Christian Tamil Studies in public universities in Tamilnadu, India such as the University of Madras and Madurai-Kamaraj University. Discussions on defining what constitutes Christian literature, both during the establishment of such departments and during seminars and planning sessions conducted by these departments, must shed some interesting light on the subject. However, such papers are not readily available.

In such discussions, generally speaking, academic viewpoints as well as the socio-political reasons that demand and justify the creation of such departments were articulated. It was also easy, in some sense, to define what Christian literature is, because of the adjectival addition that delimits the application of the term. Moreover, the focus was more on ethnic identity of the entire Tamil community and its various religious segments. So, it was not only Chairs on Tamil Christian Literature but also Chairs on Tamil Islamic Literature, etc. that were established. Initial suggestions that denominations contribute some gifts to the universities for the establishment of chairs appear to be less emphasized as more departments were opened by the government orders.

The Focus of Christian Literature

Literature written by Christians on Christian themes as well as non-Christian themes seems to be the major focus on such efforts. Such literature could be written by non-Tamil Christians as well as Tamil Christians, but these were to be mostly relating to Tamil literature, presented in its manifold genres, Tamil history, Tamil Church History, written throughout the ages, in particular since the introduction of Christianity in Tamilnadu. Enrichment of Tamil literature, in general, through the translation of works such as Tirukkural and Tiruvasakam may have been done by Christian missionaries, but these were not generally included as part of Christian literature.

Distinguish Christian Religious Work from Literary Work

A Christian missionary, as part of his or her dedication to the spread of the Word of God among the Tamils, may have developed dictionaries and other materials, but these products are not considered to be Christian literature, even though these were developed by Christians.

There appears to be a distinction made between Christian contributions to the development of Tamil and for the spread of the Gospel, even though items under these categories may fall within the broad definition of Christian literature in some sense. Then, again, literary works such as the first Tamil novel, Pratapa Mudaliar Charitram, written by a Christian Tamil, is also generally viewed as part of the general literature, not as Christian literature, possibly because the novel does not emphasize Christian teaching explicitly as part of the story.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.


Sundar Singh, Ph.D.
Department of English
Karunya University
Coimbatore 641 114
Tamilnadu, India
sundarsingh@karunya.edu

M.S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
msthirumalai2@gmail.com

Hearing the Master's Voice: A Book on Celebrating the Lord in All Nations | The Moral Vision - A Misnomer in Today's World? John Updike and His Stories | The Nature of Fruit as the Product of Abiding in Christ in John 15:1-17 | Principles and Concepts for International Teaching Ministry | Waiting for God - Three Poems | Zac Poonen - A Leading Evangelist from India | Religious Freedom in Two Most Populous Nations of the World China and India | The Greatest Evangelist of India - Brother D.G.S. Dhinakaran | On Christian Literature | HOME PAGE of November 2009 Issue | HOME PAGE | CONTACT EDITOR


ISSN
1548-7164


Vol. 5 : 8
November 2009

Board of Editors

Dr. Tan Kok Beng

Olive Rajesh, Ph.D.

Stan Schmidt

Steven Wakeman

Sudhir Isaiah, Ph.D.

Sundar Singh, Ph.D.

Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

Vasanthi Isaiah, M.A., B.Ed.

M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D., Managing Editor


© Copyright 2008 M.S.Thirumalai. All rights reserved.