ARTICULATION OF RELIGIOUS COMMITMENT IN A MINORITY SITUATION: A STUDY OF CHRISTIANS OF PUNJAB FROM 1979 TO 2010

A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Comparative Religion Faculty of Islamic Studies (Usūlūddīn) in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Submitted by

Ms. Taimia Sabiha

(66-FU/PhD/F06)

Supervised By

Dr. Muhammad Imtiaz Zafar

Department of Comparative Religion, Faculty of Usūlūddīn

International Islamic University, Islamabad.

2016

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TO

MY MOTHER AND FATHER-IN-LAW

WHOSE INCESSANT BENEVOLENCE, ENCOURAGEMENT, AND BENEFACTION

MADE THIS WORK VIABLE.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is with deep sense of gratitude to Allah SWT for all His bounties and for the success He grants to us in all our life endeavors. Praise be to Him as does He deserve. طثحُك ال عهى نُا إال يا عهًرُا إَك أَد انعهٛى انحكٛى “Glory be to You, of the knowledge that we have none, save what You have Taught us: In truth it is You who is perfect in knowledge and wisdom.” (Al-Qur‟an 2: 32) We seek refuge in Allah SWT from the evil of our souls and from the wickedness of our deeds. Whoever Allah SWT guides cannot be led astray and whoever is led astray shall find none other to guide him. May the blessings of Allah be upon the Righteous Prophet Muhammad SAW, his Family, Companions and the followers of the guided path (Amen) I am very much indebted to my supervisor Dr. Muhammad Imtiaz Zafar whose thoughtful guidance and valuable support made me eligible to accomplish this task. He has been kind enough to spare his precious time to guide me despite his exceedingly tiring schedule. I am very much thankful to Dr. Muhammad Akram (Head Department of Comparative Religion, International Islamic University, Islamabad) for his astute surveillance and readily available counseling. I further owe a great debt of gratitude to Dr. Tamara Sonn (George Town University, Washington DC), Dr. Ebrahīm Moosa (University of Notre Dame, Indiana), and Dr. Christine Amjad-Ali (Director, Christian Study Centre, Rawalpindi), for their benign guidance and graciously addressing my queries. It is with due thanks to Dr. Muhammad Modassir Ali (University of Qatar, Doha), Dr. Qaisar Shahzad, Dr. Abid Masūd, and Khurshīd Ahmad (International Islamic University, Islamabad) for introducing me to some profound Christian religious scholars and providing valuable sources. My special thanks are due to Dr. Sājid Asdullah (Government Post Graduate College, Faisalabad) for kind assistance and provision of his research on Punjabi Christians.

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I have no words to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Drakhshān Azam for her continuous stimulation, benefaction and valued academic discourses, which helped me to shape the basic structure of this research.

I profoundly acknowledge the academic and technical assistance of the library staff at the Central Library, and Dr. Muhammad Hamīdullah Library (International Islamic University, Islamabad) particularly Mr. Sher Nowrooz (Chief Librarian), Sidra Shan (Coordinator, Lincoln‟s Corner), and Mr. Muhammad Abid (Central Library).

I am earnestly thankful to Ms. Mussarat Inayat (Librarian, Christian Study Centre, Rawalpindi) for her incredible cooperation and kindness. Also I am very much grateful to the sisters of The Daughters of Saint Paul at Saint Joseph‟s Cathedral, Rawalpindi for providing me some essential publications.

I am thankful to all my friends and colleagues particularly Qudsia, Munazza, Iffat and Ayesha for their kindness, encouragement and a lot of prayers. I extend my heartfelt gratefulness to the warm acknowledgement, enlivening clique, enduring benevolence and sincere prayers of my intimate friend Soumia. I pray for them promising future and success here and hereafter.

I also express immeasurable gratitude to my siblings and innocent kids; Abdullah, Musfirah and Hasan, who waited for the long period of my studies with patience, for their earnest prayers, giving me courage and stimulus to work hard. I deeply acknowledge the help of my sisters-in-law; Sadia, Rabeea and Atiya for their every assistance during the course of dissertation writing. All at the top is my husband, Shamsulhaq Khalid whose tremendous motivation and incessant help ultimately enabled me to shape this work.

My paternal uncle Zubair Rasul whose deep concern, encouragement, and providing me some essential sources owes my heartfelt gratitude. There are indeed the devout supplications and affection of my grandmother, mother and all kith and kin, which remained with me throughout and enabled me to realize the wish of my late father (ghafara Allahu lahu).

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May Allah SWT grant them all, the best of this world and the hereafter. (Amen)

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Abstract

التعبير عن اإللتزام الديني لدى األقليات

(دراسة تحليلية و نقدية لوضع المسيحيين في بنجاب من ٩١٩١ إلی ٠٢٩٢ الميالدي)

قد نعة اندٍٚ دٔرا ْايا فٙ ذكٍٕٚ انًجرًع اإلَظاَٙ يُذ تداٚح انحعارج اإلَظاَٛح عهٗ األرض٠ٔ قد ذأثز انزٔح

اندُٙٚ تإَرشار فهظفاخ شرٗ فٙ انقزٌٔ األخٛزج. سٚادج ذأثٛز عهى اإلجرًاع ٔاألَثزتٕنٕجٛح أدٖ إنٗ ذقٛٛى أطض

دراطح اندٍٚ ٔتزسخ أطانٛة جدٚدج فٗ دراطح انعالقاخ تٍٛ اإلَظاٌ ٔ اندٍٚ ٔ انًجرًع يٍ خالل أطض انعقٛدج ٔ قٛى

األخالق ٔانزيٕس اندُٛٚح عهٗ يظرٕٖ انفزد ٔ انًجرًع . نى ٚرًكٍ نعهًاء عهى اإلجرًاع أٌ ٚجًعٕا عهٗ ذعزٚف

شايم نهدٍٚ نكُٓى أجًعٕا عهٗ أًْٛح اندٍٚ كأطاص رئٛظٗ فٙ انًجرًع.

حأند ْذِ اندراطح رصد ذأثٛز حزكح انُٓعح اندُٛٚح انعانًٛح نثٛاٌ انٕظع اندُٙٚ انًظٛحٙ عهٗ يظرٕٖ تاكظراٌ.

ٔاإلنرشاو اندُٚٗ ْٕ انٕفاء ٔانشعٕر تإَرًاء انفزد ندُّٚ ٔ ال ٚعُٗ انطاعح فٗ يعُاْا انثظٛط ٔنٓذا ٚصعة فٙ تعط

األحٛاٌ ذحدٚد قدر انردٍٚ فًٍ انًًكٍ أٌ ٚكٌٕ انفزد يردُٚا فٙ أحد انجٕاَة يٍ انحٛاج دٌٔ اٜخز.

ٚزكشْذاانثحث فٙ انثداٚح عهٗ تٛاٌ يفاْٛى اإلنرشاو اندُٙٚ يٕظحا اإلذجاْاخ اندُٛٚح اإلجرًاعٛح انًعاصزج ثى ُٚرقم

إنٗ دراطح ذارٚخ انًظٛحٍٛٛ فٙ يجرًع انثاكظراٚ .َٙرُأل انثحث قعٛح اإلنرشاو اندُٙٚ انًظٛحٙ ٔ أتعادْا تصفح

خاصح ٚٔحرٕ٘ عهٗ تٛاٌ انثعد انعقد٘ ٔانعًهٗ ٔ انثقافٙ ندٖ ْذِ األقهٛح اندُٛٚح.ٔفٙ َٓاٚح انثحث ٚعزض انرحدٚاخ

انرٗ ذٕاجّ انحٛاج اندُٛٚح نهًظٛحٍٛٛ فٙ يُطقح انثُجاب .

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Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ...... iv Abstract ...... vii Table of Contents ...... viii INTRODUCTION ...... 1 Chapter 1 ...... 15 THE RELIGIOUS COMMITMENT: MEANING AND APPROACHES ...... 15 1.1 The Functional and Substantive Approaches in a Retrospect: ...... 18 1.5 The Denial of Religion: ...... 24 1.6 Secularism and Secularization- A Conjunction between Religion and Irreligion: ...... 26 1.7 Being “Religious Committed” – Meaning and Determination: ...... 31 1.8 Glock-Stark Model of Religious Commitment: ...... 32 1.9 Religious Consciousness Approach: ...... 33 1.10 Rosabeth Kanter’s Model of Commitment: ...... 34 1.11 Attitudes of People towards Religion: ...... 35 Chapter: 2 ...... 39 THE CHRISTIANS OF PAKISTAN: A SOCIO-HISTORICAL OVERVIEW .... 39 2.1 Advent of Christianity in the Indian Subcontinent: ...... 42 2.2 The Christians of Indian Subcontinent- Resurgence in the Modern Era: ...... 44 2.3 Pakistani Christian Settlements: ...... 45 2.4 Christianity in the Punjab: ...... 46 2.5 Punjabi Christian Colonies: ...... 50 2.6 The Christians and the Foundation of Pakistan:...... 51 2.7 The Christians in Pakistan- An Epoch of a Religious Minority: ...... 52 2.8 Punjabi Christians in Pakistan: ...... 53 2.9 Religious Organization and Education: ...... 55 2.10 Christian Study Centers- An Overview: ...... 57 2.12 A Survey of the Major Publications of Christians (Catholic and Protestant) in the Punjab: ...... 61 Chapter 3: ...... 64

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RELIGIOUS COMMITMENT OF THE CHRISTIANS IN THE PUNJAB: MAGNITUDE AND DIMENSIONS ...... 64 3.1 Christian View of Religious Commitment: ...... 67 3.2 Socio-Religious Factors Shaping the Christian’s Religious Formation: ...... 70 3.4 The Devotional Dimension: ...... 80 3.5 The Experiential (Behavioral) Dimension: ...... 94 3.6 The Intellectual Dimension of Religious Commitment: ...... 101 Chapter 4: ...... 117 THE RELIGIOUS COMMITMENT OF THE CHRISTIANS IN THE PUNJAB: OBSTRUCTION AND CHALLENGES ...... 117 4.1 The Challenges to the Christian’s Doctrine: ...... 119 4.2 The Dilemma of Devotional Life: ...... 121 4.3 The Behavioral Challenges: ...... 123 4.4 The Intellectual Challenges- Church Life, Education and Ministries: ...... 131 Bibliography and Appendices ...... 149 Bibliography: ...... 150 Appendix 1 ...... 161 Appendix 2 ...... 166 Appendix 3 ...... 168

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INTRODUCTION

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Religion is an essential part of every human society. It is part of people‟s beliefs, behavior, ethics, and their culture. Religion has meaning to individuals. It helps them cope with adversity and tragedy and provides hope that things will get better. No society can relinquish the religion in whatever form. In spite of the growing influence of modern philosophies particularly materialism, skepticism, Darwinism (evolutionism) and positivism, religion exists and flourishes in every human civilization. It influences the individual‟s behavior and his communal life as rooted in the social, economic, cultural and political circles. In the postmodern age religious resurgence in different global contexts has made this subject of worth significance. Many contemporary sociologists study the role of religion as a source of social stability and social change.1 Religion establishes and maintains social control through a series of doctrines, moral and ethical beliefs, individual or collective rites and rituals. Scholars have identified more than fifty characteristics of religion, from belief in gods or God to sophisticated ideas about a philosophical worldview. Some regard religion as a particular kind of human experience, as a special way of living together in a society. It also mobilizes its members for collective action, thus increases communal solidarity among them. Although it maintains social order, religion can promote change. In different countries religious movements aimed at the revitalization of the society have gained popularity. Contemporary religious trends include both rising secularism and a resurgence of religious fundamentalism. The question of finding “ultimate truth” or quitting it altogether is common in the postmodern era; likewise to ponder on the belonging of people to a certain worldview has gained the interest of many sociologists of religion.

The sociologists, though unable to get consensus of what may be encapsulated in the name of religion, yet they focused on the phenomenon as an indispensable characteristic of every society. The nineteenth century had witnessed the growth of positive philosophies and the scientific propensity, which gravely influenced the intellectual traditions of different fields. Darwinism had affected almost all disciplines

1 For instance Guy E. Swanson in The Birth of the Gods (1960), Clifford Geertz in his treatise Religion of Java (1960) and Islam Observed- Religious Development in Morocco and Indonesia (1968), Dean M. Kelley‟s research having title: Why Conservative Churches are growing? (1977), R.N.Bellah and P.E. Hammond in their joint work: Varieties of civil religion (1980) and Bryan Wilson‟s book: Religion in Sociological Perspective (1992).

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of knowledge, so the sociologists and anthropologists focused on identifying the origin of religion. However, the scholars like Max Müller (1823-1900), Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), Edward B. Tylor (1832-1917), James Frazer (1854-1941) and Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) attempted to define the religion afterwards, as they perceived it based on some essential qualities and common substratum of its various forms. Though, Durkheim and Max Weber (1864-1920) dissented in a way that they envisioned to analyze the dominant social and cultural characteristics of the industrial societies2. A remarkable shift had occurred in the twentieth century from historic and rational locus to spiritual and transcendental, approached to psychological and phenomenological dimensions. Rudolf Otto (1869-1937), Jochim Wach (1898-1955), William James (1842-1910) and later Ninian Smart (1927-2001), Charles Glock (b.1919), and Rodney Stark (b. 1934) had dealt the religion from these various angles.

The emphasis on studying dimensions of religion has made scholars to identify either the functions performed by religion in a society or to ponder upon the substantive core of religious claims. The dichotomy is largely accepted in sociological discourses on religion except some dissidence as that of Rodney Stark3 and Peter Berger4. Many cross-cultural studies reveal that religion performs different functions in human society. These include explanatory, emotional, social, and ecological functions. The provision of meaning, addressing to the ultimate questions of human being and various social patterns and establishing a social structure are the fundamental functions of religion. The substantive approach hinges on the identification of substance which makes the essence or core of a religion as the transcendent, the Ultimate Reality, gods or a God. It primarily focuses on the belief system of religion, forsaking the rituals and social impact.

2 As discussed in their key works on sociology. See: Emile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, Translated from French by Joseph Ward Swain, (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 2008) and Max Weber, The Sociology of Religion, translated by Ephraim Fischoff. (Boston: Beacon Press, 1963), and The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, (New York: Routledge, 2005). 3 Rodney Stark & William Sims Bainbridge, The Future of Religion: Secularization, Renewal, and Cult Formation, (Berkley: University of California Press, 1985). 4 Peter L. Berger, “Some Second Thoughts on Substantive versus Functional Definitions of Religion”, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 13: 2 (1974) 125-133.

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Atheism and secularism are twined with the religious phenomena ever studied. The other sociologists like Karl Marx have studied religion and social change5, while propounding religion an obsolete epoch of the primitive age. The cultural and psychological atheistic traditions were enunciated by Feuerbach and Freud. Not a theory as secularism-protesting against the Christian turmoil of the west, secularization as a norm is practiced now. At the advent of twentieth century many sociologists claimed of diminishing religion by the advanced techno-oriented world. Yet the real history vitiated the secularization theory and thus promulgated the neo-secularization theory of Berger that the world is as religious as ever before. Stark and others have coined the „rational choice theory‟ and maintained that religion is not declining rather undergoing change in its structure and manifestation.

The Stark‟s approach made it plausible that religiousness at personal or social level is invigorated in a competitive „market‟ of various ideologies as well as loyalty and commitment are worth studying though not believed in.

Religious commitment is a comprehensive sociological term that can be defined as the quality of being religious. It manifolds the religion in social transformations. It is closely connected with both belief and conduct, and intimately related to life‟s moral, political, and aesthetic dimensions. Religious commitment describes how faith is connected with attitudes, emotions, and conduct, and how religious experience may support it. It measures the extent to which personal religious beliefs play a central role in public life. Commitment can be described as loyalty and a sense of belonging to one particular faith. It necessarily does not mean obedience. Hence it is sometimes difficult to measure the commitment of people because a person can be highly religious in one matter while completely irreligious in the other. This enigma has led the sociologists to approach it with multidimensional models of religious commitment. Glock-Stark five dimensional model, the Religious Consciousness Approach of Davidson and Knudsen, and the Rosabeth Kanter‟s model are among various measures to collect, examine, and validate the religiosity of people.

5Karl Marx, Communist Manifesto, (London: Penguin, 1967).

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Inspired from the religious resurgence worldwide, I have been curious to study the religious affinity of Pakistanis, apparently increasing after the political shift and religious revolution in neighboring countries since 1979. Not only in the individual life of the inhabitants, but at public and institutional level, has religion seemed to be a significant entity.

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan occupies a unique position among Muslim states, insofar as it was founded primarily for religious considerations. The creation of Pakistan in August 1947 was a result of the partition of British India into two sovereign states. The very basis for the creation of Pakistan was the argument that its populace adhered to a separate religion, had formed a separate nation. Hence religion has been playing a vital role in political, social and economic life of her citizens, with an ongoing confrontation between secularists and religious on constitutional status of the country. Many attempts have been made to Islamize or secularize the law and the constitution. Apart from law and institutional character, religion marks a considerable influence on individual‟s personal and social life.

The population of Pakistan is diverse religiously. There are people adhered to different religions such as Islam (96%) , Christianity(1.63%), Hinduism(1.40%), Qadiyānīs (0.35%), scheduled caste (0.33%), other religions (0.06%) like Zoroastrianism (Pārsīs), Sikhism, Bahāism, shaman traditions of Himalaya etc6. We also find variations with in a religion. For example, Muslims‟ population constitutes 15% Shīa community, while Christians divide almost 50-50 between Catholic and Protestant denominations and Hindus between Jātī and Scheduled castes. Pakistani people are customarily sensitive to keep their religious identity, and thus it is significant to study the religious commitment of different religious communities in Pakistan.

II- Statement of the Problem:

The staunch religious fervor of Pakistanis in general, has predominantly influenced the social life of people irrespective of their faiths. Christians have formed

6 Percentage population by religion in 1998. Source: Census Report of Pakistan, Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan, 1998.

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the second largest community of the believers in the Punjab, having a significant history of conversion from low castes Hindus, almost a century ago, residing mainly in villages or urban slums. Their transformation from pagan to a monotheistic triad of Christianity, and elevating their social status from untouchables to the people, developed under the royal patronage of the British government, has made their case of worth consideration.

This research is aimed to study the extent of religious commitment of Christians of Punjab and to determine the challenges facing towards their religious life being minority religious group through selected published works by themselves from 1979 to 2010. The period is significant in the history of Pakistan for an increased religious fervor promulgated by the state since political shift in 1979. The study though includes later sources, primarily comprised of the literary archives published till 2010, when I have submitted the proposal to be discussed in Board of Advanced Studies. I have largely analyzed the case through the Christian archives published by theological centers at Multan (Pastoral Institute, established by the Conference of Major Superiors of Pakistan, serving as an ecumenical training institution for priests) and Christian Study Centre, Rawalpindi, an ecumenical organization to promote interfaith harmony.

The research propounds the meaning of religion and religious commitment in the beginning, considering the current sociological approaches and preceded to the socio- historic overview of the Christians of Punjab. The next discussion has undertaken the glimpse of religious commitment of the community, based on a multidimensional approach, in which I focused on the following questions in particular:

 What does it mean to believers themselves to be Christian?  How does their religion help them make sense of their lives?  How, too, does their religion influence their political and moral behavior?  Do they experience a sense of belonging to a community of fellow believers? Do they feel, their religion giving them identity in the society?  In which manner Christians of Punjab have indigenized the religion?  What are the various obstructions and challenges for Punjabi Christians pursuing their faith? Do they increase or decrease their commitment?

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They are the fundamental questions, determining the religious belonging of people in a closed community as the Christians of Punjab. The four dimensional model, on which I have posited the religious commitment of Punjabi Christians, is primarily inspired by the Glock-Stark five dimensional model of religious commitment. However, I have reformulated the variables, and specified them according to the particular case in study and the available resources.

The last part of the research expounds the problems and challenges faced by the Punjabi Christians in maintaining their religious life, provoked by both the fellow believers and the Muslim majority.

III- Significance of the Study:

There is a global tendency to understand the phenomenon of religion, for it touches almost every facet of life, from themes in popular culture, to perceptions of well-being, and to motivations for revival of religious rule. Even those who reject religion and blame it for human problems, or who regard it as a relic of the past have to study history of religion, its power, its spread outside its birthplace and also contemporary religion. People‟s affiliation and practice of a religion or its rejection and condemnation in a society cannot be ignored by those who wish to understand the forces that motivate societies. Religious commitment is also among those phenomena which are critically challenged in postmodern era. Usually there is no unifying world view, no truth, belief or concept or behavior has universal validity. So we find both scholars and religious ministry concern the rise and decline of commitment in their community.

In case of Pakistan, religion was a central theme of its founding ideology. It has been dynamically shaping its constitutional and social structure. Religion is part of people‟s individual and social life. It is perceived that religious consciousness and extremism has been increasing after enforcement of the Islamic laws and Pakistan‟s

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active role in Afghan war since 1979. Unfortunately we find very few academic studies about the religious commitment of Pakistani society (mostly there are public surveys by Gallup, Pew etc.). The study of religious minority communities is almost rare. The majority of Pakistani population consists of Muslims, where the Christians form a significant minority especially in the Punjab province. This is usually observed that religion of minority group is affected by the influence of dominant culture and religion. Pascal Robert, a Pakistani theologian affirms the fact while writing about challenges facing towards religious life of Christians of Pakistan7.

Hence it is needed to measure the extent of faith as depicted in doctrinal, devotional, behavioral, and intellectual attitudes and challenges it is facing, which is the main objective of this study.

IV- Review of Literature:

There is a lot of literature describing the religious commitment and religious change in a society. Almost every book written on sociology of religion mentions the dimensions of religious life of people in a society. Kevin J. Christiano, William H. Swatos, and Peter Kivisto have studied the case of Catholicism in the United States8. They observed cultural change affecting religious commitment of Catholics. The commitment rate is quite well among the Catholics especially after the second Vatican convened in 1962, as depicted in surveys conducted by Gallup, NORC (National Opinion Research Centre) and other researches.9 This is a congenial case of belonging without obedience. The authors propounded different challenges affecting the commitment of people like declining membership, collapsing authority, expanding mission, declining resources reveal the challenges facing towards conservative religions. The globalization has its effect on religious life.

7Pascal Robert OFM, Dr. Fr.,The Way, the Truth and the Life- Christian Commitment in Pakistan, Biblical and Theological Reflections, ( Karachi: National Catholic Institute of Theology, 1998) 96-97 8 Kevin J. Christiano, et.al., Sociology of Religion-Contemporary Developments, (California: Altamira Press,2002) 9 See: Kevin J. Christiano, et.al., Sociology of Religion, 216-218

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Keith A. Roberts and David Yamane mentioned in their joint treatise10, the socio-religious theories of Bryan Wilson, R.N.Bellah and P.E.Hammond suggesting alternative forms of religion that are civil religion, quasi-religious movements and invisible religions. They discussed the models of Glock-Stark and Rosabeth Kanter to measure the religious commitment in the United States11. They have described pros and cons of these models preferring the Kanter‟s treatment of small communities who are in need to maintain higher level of commitment to survive and protect their identity. Written as a text book for undergraduate courses on the sociology of religion, the book is well documented yet provides the basics of defining religion in functional and substantive approaches, methods of studying religion, macro and micro theoretical approaches with a critical analysis of classical and contemporary sociologists‟ thought. It also provides a prologue of conversion and commitment, forms of religious organization, secularization, social strata and change in the globalized world. However, the book does not deal a single issue in depth.

The religious commitment was first studied empirically by Charles Y. Glock and Rodney Stark, who maintained that people act and perform in various ways, as the religion itself is multi-dimensional. It comprises of beliefs, rituals, spirituality, theology and so on, which emerges as multiple dimensions of religion. People are quite religious in an aspect, while totally irreligious in another way. Thus they promulgated a five dimensional model includes determining religious commitment of a community that can be shortened to first four dimensions. Their model has been much debated as the scholars have annunciated many other dimensions according to their preferred definitions and measuring components of religiosity. It is also criticized being formulated on the theistic religion that is Christianity and its constrain to be applied on other world religions. I have adapted their typology in four dimensions as doctrinal, devotional, behavioral, and intellectual, applied to the Christians of Punjab12.

10 Keith A. Roberts and David Yamane, Religion in Sociological Perspective. Fifth edition,( :Sage Publications,2013) 11 Ibid … 12 See chapter three of the present study.

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Hermann Shalück13 also tried to solve the problems facing religious life of European Christians.14 He has discussed the issues of increasing skepticism, growing materialism, and declining church authority. Schalück does not analyze the religious life globally and seems indifferent to the problems emerged in the third world churches.

Primarily all these books written in a western context determining the religious commitment, finding causes and effects in their secular Judeo-Christian society. A need is there to study the phenomenon in Muslim majority country like Pakistan, where religion is a deep rooted vital phenomenon, active both at intimate and public arena.

The case of Christians of Pakistan has also been studied in many aspects which I have approached bifurcated as socio-historic overview and the religious life. Regarding the first prospect, Future of Christians in Pakistan is one of the earliest books shortly written after the partition of the subcontinent by Joshua Fazaluddīn. It was a collection of essays addressing the various issues regarding the status of minorities in an Islamic state, their responsibilities, and instruction for Christians to be loyal citizens. This is a historic treatise to understand the Christian speculation of maintaining their identity and demand of religious liberties at the time of birth of Pakistan. The book is substantial to fathom the variations occurred in the Christian stance, after half century had passed in Pakistan.

Frederick and Margret Stock‟s People Movements in the Punjab (Bombay: Gospel Literary Service, 1978) is a history of advent of Christian missionaries and their subsequent success in converting the untouchables to Christian fold in the united Punjab. Basically it is a book of mission history relied on the primary sources available to authors, who belonged to American Presbyterian church themselves. It gives some valuable insights of the religious development of the Punjabi Christians. However I couldn‟t get its updated edition, if ever published, so the historic span covered in it ends up at 1969 (the year of its first publication). The golden jubilee of Pakistan has witnessed publishing of a biographical account of Christians in Pakistan. Emmanuel Zafar‟s A Concise History of Pakistani

13Former Minister General of the Franciscans and president of MISSIO. 14 Hermann Schalück, “Religious Life on the Threshold”, FOCUS 20: 1, (2000).

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Christians gives a historic record of Christian‟s political background, their endeavors and role in national development in different walks of social, educational and political institutions. Although the book is a compilation of different biographies from various sources, occasionally unauthentic, or not citing the reference at all, yet it is helpful to determine Christian contribution in defense of Pakistan, judiciary, civil service, education, health care, mass media, fine arts, and even sanitation. The author has mentioned the renowned theologians, lawyers, journalists, and social workers.

The one of its kind, an anthropological account of the historic, social, and ethnic origins of Pakistani Christians has been enunciated by John O‟ Brien in The Construction of Pakistani Christian Identity, (Lahore: Research Society of Pakistan,2006). He discovered the strong impact of old pagan traditions and social structures on the religious life of indigenous Christians of Pakistan. O‟Brien proposed in his study that survival of identity is a vindication of the dignity of the human spirit and thus helps a „marginalized and oppressed‟ community to shape its future progressively. Usually most of the recent studies on ethnographic identity focused on the individual identity, whereas in this book, the author successfully explored the group identity and how the social existence is internalized when established. He expounded the cause of inferiority complex of Punjabi Christians, associated with their oppressive history and ethnography as untouchables and their endeavor to completely forget it.

A dissertation Authority Structures in a Punjabi Village, submitted by Tassawur Rashid (unpublished M.Sc. thesis for the award of Master of Philosophy degree in anthropology, Islamabad: Quaid-e-Azam University,1993) is a detailed case study of a Punjabi Christian village, Mariamabad, where he had stayed for six months. Although the religion has not been discussed primarily but it gives a good account of social stratification and religious organization of rural Christians in Punjab.

The Christians of Pakistan: the Passion of Bishop John Joseph by Linda S. Walbridge (London: Routledge Curzon, 2003) is a scholarly case study of the suicide of a Pakistani bishop John Joseph to record the protest against blasphemy laws enacted in the country. The writer has mentioned the history of Pakistani Christians and their social strata from British colonial rule till 1999. She has discussed the religious zeal of

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Muslims of Pakistan and the process of Islamization of laws in the country that reached to its peak in 1980‟s. The response of minorities and their fears are mentioned along with the international intervention in the said case.

Charles Kennedy‟s Islamization of Laws and Economy: Case Studies on Pakistan (Islamabad: Institute of Policy Studies, 1996) is a compilation of research articles by an author who observed the case of Pakistan for twenty years. He covered many areas under went the Islamization during 1980s which include Hudood laws, economy (Ribā elimination) , enactment of blasphemy laws, Qisās and Diyyat laws, land reforms which effected the status of non-Muslims and women. I have found his research and findings much valuable regarding tension between fundamentalism and secularism in Pakistan. He favors the procedure of implementing shariāh in Pakistan for this may bring good change. He also discussed the misconceptions and fears of non- Muslim and secular countries.

The studies administered in the seminaries address the Christian religious life and their problems in great detail. I have accessed a few unpublished dissertations which discussed the various aspects of evangelical missions, church structure and her role in development of people in Pakistan. The doctoral dissertation of Emanuel Khokhar, A Study of Mission as Christian Social Concern for Evangelization and Discipleship in Pakistan (Seoul: Kukje Theological University and Seminary, 2009; an unpublished thesis) embarked on the social outreach services provided by missionaries as a prime tool to create opportunities for evangelization and discipleship in Pakistan. Though the work basically discusses the missiological theology in a particular context, yet provides an outlook of the history, and contemporary socio-economic situation of Christians in the Punjab. Primarily focused to “awaken the hearts and awareness of church leaders and laymen”15, it elucidates the effective mission strategies which are helpful to comprehend the different aspects of Christian religious life.

Church and Development : A Case Study from Pakistan (Karachi: Centre for Mission and Development, 2001) is a socio-economic comparison of development work

15 p.4

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between Multān and Hyderābād dioceses, by Pervaiz Sultan, Rev. based on his doctoral research. An empathetic and detailed account of the Christian populace of both the dioceses, it highlights the local life (religion being a part), religious displacement and problems of the community in an objective manner, which brings about an ample evidence to study Punjabi Christian life.

However, none of above mentioned books and documents propound on religiousness of the community. The questions of their belonging to their faith in various ways, have almost untouched in Pakistani context. This research is thus an initial study to encapsulate the different dimensions of Christian community in the Punjab.

V- Research Methodology:

The present study has undertaken according to the content analysis research methods used in humanities to get replicable and valid inferences. This is a small scale qualitative research based on systematic, historic, archival and documentary evaluation of the text being investigated. I have studied mainly from the selected publications and journals of Pastoral Institute, Multan, and Christian Study Centre, Rawalpindi. I have thematically explored the documents in order to find out major concerns of the community and situation of different dimensions of religious commitment adapted from the Glock-Stark typology16.

16Referred to the Glock-Stark five dimensional model of religious commitment. See: Rodney Stark, & Charles Y. Glock, American Piety: The Nature of Religious Commitment, ( Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968) and Charles Y. Glock, “On the Study of Religious Commitment” in Religion‟s Influence in Contemporary Society, Readings in the Sociology of Religion, edited by J.E. Faulkner, (Ohio: Charles E. Merril, 1972) 38-56.

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VI- Limitations of the Research:

This study is aspired to spotlight the four dimensions of Christian commitment to religion, in the Punjab, as they illustrate in their publications. The open ended interviews were conducted to understand their concern in a particular case, and not applied as a basic instrument to find out or validate a theme.

Initially, I tried to examine the case of Protestants and Catholics separately, as their villages, seminaries and published material are distinct. Later it came out to a difficult job to access these diverse institutions, libraries and places, due to unwelcoming cautiousness of the community in turmoil of law and order and increased security hazards in the country. Hence, I performed the research, relying on the available sources at ecumenical organization like Christian Study Centre, Rawalpindi and others which I was able to get through some personal contacts.

The researchers can incorporate further insights, reexamine the cases and analyze new ways subject to their access to a community, residing with Muslims sometimes at ease and cautious occasionally.

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Chapter 1 THE RELIGIOUS COMMITMENT: MEANING AND APPROACHES

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Religion is a universal phenomenon, which appears in different forms. It has a significant influence on people‟s lives and their society. It exists in a social context and influences it. Religion is one of the most powerful, deeply felt, and influential forces in human society. It has shaped people‟s relationships with each other, influencing family, community, economic, and political life. Religious beliefs and values motivate human action, and religious groups organize their collective religious expressions. And still it is thought a difficult and complex problem to define “religion” and to describe someone as “religious”. Many different approaches have been expounded on to demonstrate religion exhibiting its different manifestations in individuals and society. From psychological to phenomenological; historical, anthropological and social; all envisage the very nature of religion, its value for individual or its role in society. Some definitions are too narrow and specific to exclude some religions such as Buddhism as a religion. Other definitions are so broad and inclusive that much social behavior may be considered forms of religion like patriotism, systematic racism, or any set of values and beliefs that provides an individual or community with a sense of worth and meaning in life. Definitions of religion are an issue of serious debate. The scope and thrust of academic research as well as studying the role of religion in a society is based on how one has defined it. Different definitions of religion result in different interpretations of issues, such as social change, modernity, religiosity, secularism, public religion, official and non-official religion. Usually it is thought that a “religious” person might be one who attends religious service, reads the scripture, prays, feels the presence of a deity or a supernatural being, or lives an ethical, righteous life. The definition of any concept establishes boundaries (somewhat arbitrarily) around those phenomena to be considered as instances of that concept.

Religion has its roots in Latin; „religio‟ originally meaning “a kind of superstitious awe” developing into scruples or conscientiousness implying religious feeling and worship of the gods.17 The attempt to define religion and to distinguish it from the rest of human life is one of the most intriguing intellectual phenomena of the mid-twentieth century stemmed primarily from the speculative and scientific disposition

17 The Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, ) v. VIII

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of the West. In the nineteenth century generic definitions of religion were common but these approaches have been discredited in the forthcoming scientific studies of religion in 20th century. Many sociologists think religion is shaped by different social context. The varied meaning of the word “religious” has long been a favorite topic of social scientists studying religion. At first, anthropologists and sociologists tended to write of religion principally in its alleged inappropriateness to industrial societies. Religion was regarded as a phenomenon whose significance diminished as societies evolved to more advanced condition.

This form of evolutionary thinking was rejected by a number of sociologists writing from the turn of 1920s. The most significant figures who pioneered in studying relationship of society and religion were Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. They have a common desire to comprehend and expose the dominant social and cultural characteristics of industrial societies in spite of their different interests and conclusions. However we notice a remarkable silence for thirty years or more after the death of Weber in 1920. Sociologists either happened to neglect religious phenomena or to deal with them on a narrow, descriptive basis, during the period from early 1920s to late 1950s.

After while a number of sociologists revived studying religious phenomenon in 1960s onward in Catholic Europe and USA like Peter Berger, Thomas Luckmann, Guy Swanson, Clifford Geertz and Robert Bellah. The sociologists are interested in studying religion primarily because of its significance for many peoples. Religious values influence their actions, and religious meanings help them interpret their experiences. Religion is an important object for sociological study due to its influence on society and society‟s impact on it. The nature of religion‟s relationship to society has been much debated. Why do religions vary from one society to another? Does religion merely reflect the structure of a society, or can religion influence that structure?

Furthermore, the practical and political requisitions have let the human scientists to posit the boundaries of what can be appropriately called a „religion‟ as it affects a country‟s legal codes and public policy. Many countries allocate certain benefits to religious communities like legal protection, allowing them to collect funds and

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membership fees, tax-exemption, the right to plead religious freedom or having due prestige among masses.

The wide variety of religious phenomena has made it difficult to produce a definition. Durkheim, Marx, and Weber offered very different sociological perspectives on religion. There have been two predominant approaches in the socio-scientific studies to the definition of religion; which are functional and substantive.18

1.1 The Functional and Substantive Approaches in a Retrospect:

Functionalists tend to define religion in terms of its utility and effects in society. The functions manifested in these definitions include the provision of ultimate meaning, the attempt to interpret the unknown and control the uncontrollable, personification of human ideals, integration of the culture and legitimating the social system, projection of human meanings and social patterns onto a superior entity, and the effort to deal with ultimate problems of human existence. They seem to draw into the secular ideologies who rarely deal questions about ultimacy of religion. It may sacralize the norms, values, moral codes and outlook of society performing a social control function with injunctions of divine commandments or ethical propositions. Religion helps establishing the social structure by constructing an environment of obligation towards social ethos. It also can serve as a source of social change. The functional sociologists do not fundamentally seek for the question, whether a society is becoming less religious, rather how is it undergoing cultural change and what are the new forms of religion therein.

The Functional definitions are usually based on a presupposition that religion is a human attempt to create meaning and identity. They deal equally with the divine or secular ideologies but rarely consider the question of ultimacy. Some sociologists like Weber studied an impact of religion on economic and political institutions as well as its influence on individuals.

18 The distinction between functional and substantive definitions was introduced by anthropologist, Melford Elliot Spiro (b. 1920).

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Functional definitions are broader and inclusive in their nature as they extend to those phenomena which substantive definitions identify as non-religion like ideologies, ethos, value systems, leisure activities, voluntary associations, interpersonal relations etc. Many functionalists include nationalism, Marxism, Maoism, spiritualism, scientific humanism, psychologism, and even atheism as religion.

These definitions are quite workable for extensive cross-cultural, trans- historical, and changing aspects of religion in societies. However instantaneously they overemphasize that society has certain functional requisites, some of which can be uniquely fulfilled by religion. Such an argument is circular, describing religion as that which provides that which is defined as religion. The inclusiveness of functional definitions makes it hard to be used for empirical studies requiring precise, quantifiable data. Another remarkable characteristic of all-inclusive tendency of functionalism is that they identify those phenomena religion, whose participants or adherents do not consider themselves religion. As the members of Transcendental Meditation (TM) strongly maintained and argued (even before the court) that TM is a technique and not a religion. Scientific Humanism declares itself a therapeutic contemplative modus operandi, not a religion.

Peter Berger has criticized the all-inclusive breadth of functional definitions and maintained that an intrinsic quality of a substance may not be overlooked logically. He says:

“….[F]unctional definitions have at least the tendency to violate the methodological premise I learned from Weber- that any human meaning must, first of all, be understood in its own terms “from within” in the sense of those who adhere to it.”19

He further added, “…functional definitions are likely to include such meaning- complexes as nationalism, or revolutionary faiths, or the mobility ethos, or any number of new "life-styles," with their appropriate cognitive and normative legitimations. One result of this casting of a very broad definitional net is quite simple. The commonalities

19Peter L. Berger, “Some Second Thoughts on Substantive versus Functional Definitions of Religion”, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 13: 2 (1974): 127.

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between, say, the Hindu metaphysics and the new "sensitivity" of the contemporary counterculture are brought into focus and, by the same token, the differences between them are relegated to inattention.”20

The inclusiveness of functional definitions conceals the variations between what is usually termed as “religion” and “non-religion”. However, not all functional definitions are broad; neither all substantive definitions are specific.

Berger tried to formulate a few boundaries around the scientific study of religion, which he thought would lead towards secularization- “a progressive loss of plausibility to religious views of reality”.21 He mentioned that the scientific study of religion must exhibit a “methodological atheism” and would eventually forge to the “flattening out of” religious phenomenon and the “greyness” of the view of reality.22 Berger espoused such dichotomies discussed by the scientists of religion as substantive and functional; secular and religious. He further stressed transcendence and the transcendental as essence of religion, the sine qua non of religion.

The functionalist perspective instantaneously ignore the divisive and disruptive agency/faculty of religion, giving little consideration to internal disputes within a community and overlooking the hostility among different religious groups in a society. Charles Glock and Rodney Stark have criticized the functionalist approach for this reason:

“We find it difficult to reconcile the general theory with considerable evidence of religious conflict. On every side it would seem that religion threatens social integration as readily as it contributes to it. The history of Christianity, with its many schisms, manifests the great power of religion not merely to bind out to divide.”23

The pervasive influence of religion on a society‟s culture and social welfare cannot be neglected especially on literature, art, music and on education of any society. India and Indonesia can be well illustrations of such rich socio-religious heritage.

20 Berger, “Second Thoughts…” 21 Berger, “Second Thoughts…” 132. 22 Berger, “Second Thoughts…” 129. 23 Charles Glock and Rodney Stark, Religion and Society in Tension,( Chicago: Rand McNally, 1965)

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The Substantial definitions of religion generally hinges on the identification of “substance” or “essence” of religion which usually include such meanings and meaning-complexes, for instance, the conventional transcendent figures as sense-God, gods, weltgeist, supernatural beings and worlds, or such meta-empirical entities as, the ma'at of the ancient Egyptians or the Hindu law of karma. These definitions (usually western-derived) have tended to emphasize the sharp distinction between the religious and non-religious dimensions of behavior, culture ethos and sometimes have equated religion with beliefs, particularly belief in a supreme being. They usually alleged the model of core essence and manifestation, shared equally by all religions.

The problem of a substantive definition is its emphasis on belief in supernatural, which itself is not part of every religion. However, the advantage of substantive definitions is their specification in determining the content of religion, which has made them easier to be used in empirical studies. They correspond more closely to commonsense notions of religion, because they are usually based on Occidental interpretation of reality. For instance, the distinction between natural and supernatural is an elaborated product of medieval Western (based on Greek philosophy) cosmographies. Many substantive definitions centered round the concept of divine beings, spiritual beings, superhuman beings, nonhuman agencies, supernatural realm, super-empirical reality, transcendent reality, and sacred cosmos. Most of the substantive definitions are culturally and historically bound to a particular apprehension of religion in a certain place and time. Nevertheless, this fact has turned their application limited to account for non-Western religious phenomena. Confucianism and some sects of Buddhism, having no conception of deity and dualistic nature of being, cannot qualify to be a religion if supernaturalism is a key criterion of defining religion. Many nomadic and tribal systems have meaningful expressions and established symbols, to elaborate their being in this universe or to convey a relationship of their ego to this world.

An explicit demarcation can be established with a well-defined, specified phenomenon being an account of a substantive definition distinguishing religion from non-religion.

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Moreover, substantive definitions are significantly workable in studying relatively stable, less pluralistic societies where problems of social change and cross- cultural diversity are minimized. If religion is expressed in terms of a specific historical period of time, any deviation from it seems as non-religion (or at least as a trend toward secularization). They have difficulty accounting for religious change through a due course of time hence produce quite distinct interpretation of social change than do functional definitions. A subtle feeling is there that religiosity can be measured significantly with substantive definition, saying religion is a matter of belief.

The Muslim‟s perspective is a bit inclusive one. Based on the Arabic denotations of dīn, Sayyid AbulA´la Mawdūdī had described religion when used in the Qurānic context means a whole life system entailing four basic elements;

“Governance and sovereignty; Obeisance and surrender as opposed to governance and sovereignty; A system of thought and life that develops under its dominion and control; Dispensation of punishments and rewards in lieu of loyalty to the given system or non- compliance and rebellion against it.”24

Considering his explication Qur‟ānic term dīn cannot be equated to religion rather it is an overwhelming encompassing concept which implies:

“A system of life wherein humans accept someone as sovereign and then follow him in all aspects without reservation, harmonizing their lives to his laws in the hope of receiving compensation on compliance while fearing him for his humiliation and punishment on noncompliance.”25

Mawdūdī‟s account of religion26 is largely inclusive when he mentioned, “the term dīn means the entire system of life hinged on dogma, ritual praxis, substantive norms, concepts, morals, and practical aspects.” based on his interpretation, religiosity

24Sayyid AbulA´la Mawdūdī, Four Key Concepts of the Qur‟ān, (Leicestershire: The Islamic Foundation, 2006) 150. 25 Mawdūdī, Four Key Concepts, 159 26 Though he did not like to use “religion” as a rendition of Arabic „dīn‟, saying „dīn is more comprehensive having all the four dimensions, can well be equated with “state”. See: Mawdūdī, Four Key Concepts 159-160.

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or religiousness refers to a wide variety of phenomena. Religion‟s integrative aspect gives divine authority to ethical and moral principles.

Talal Asad27, while examining the historic and anthropological essence of religion argued that a universal definition of religion cannot be devised inasmuch as the constituent elements of religion and their relationships are historically specific, and that definition is itself the historical product of discursive processes. 28 He viewed that religious forms vary in the due course of history, emphasizing that the notion of studying religion autonomously is a modern, post-Enlightenment trend. It may be defined as a trans-historical and trans-cultural phenomenon in which religion is coupled with politics, law or science. The meaning of God, pain, and afterlife, is not perceived today as they were implied in the medieval Christianity for instance. Hence it is for researchers and scholars to determine what they mean by religion on basis of a certain context.

Though Asad is charged of committing the genetic fallacy29 here, but his argument is widely discussed as definitions are specific to contexts and purposes, having formal criteria of suitability and others. Religion is one of such definitions, who are always subject to critique including morally or publically.30

A viable question arises after discussing several different inclusive and exclusive definitions of religion, few focusing on function where rest describing the substance; whether such a universally valid definition is possible to be devised or this is just a juxtaposition of letters and personal preferred values. The wide variety of definitions and approaches to study religion manifest the aptitude of investigators and depict the latent reflections of versatile human nature. They are applied in a definitive mode pursuant to the situation being studied. Lack of consensus on a single description

27 A leading Muslim anthropologist born in 1933 pioneered the theory of anthropology of secularization. 28 Talal Asad, Genealogies of Religion- Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam, (Maryland: The John Hopkins University Press, 1993) 29. 29 Genetic fallacy is the assumption that an account of the origin and development of a claim can determine its adequacy for present purposes. 30 See, Gregory D. Alles, “Religion- Further Considerations,” in Encyclopedia of Religion –Second Edition, edited by Lindsay Jones, (New York: Macmillan, USA, 2005).

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of religion does not adduce its ambiguity rather substantiates the diversity of human social behavior which is illustrated as a variety of responses.

1.5 The Denial of Religion:

At the same time, there is a significant atheistic31 trend in society, an almost compulsory companion of religion in every community, though not new as many ancient philosophers like Greek, and some schools of Indian and Chinese philosophy denied the existence of gods.32Atheism or ir-religiosity even present in preliterate and “primitive” societies as religions was there with the very early people. However, in recent history the significant thrust was initiated after Thomas Hobbes33 and philosophers like Hume34 and Kant.35 Hobbes was the very first to attack religion with severe brutality and bitter denouncement in his treatise , Leviathan, as “credulity”, “ignorance”, and “lies”, claiming the gods exist in the minds of the believers, and are “creatures of their own fancy”, where people “stand in awe of their own imaginations”.36

At the advent of the nineteenth century, August Comte37 coined the term “sociology” as a new science that would replace the primitive metaphysics to make moral judgments. Two centuries later the anti-religious wave was profoundly evident in the approaches given by Feuerbach38, Marx39 and Freud40, - all influenced by anti-theist accounts of Hegel, who significantly advocated a theory viewing God as a human

31 Atheism is being used here as an antonym of faith in a super being (religion). 32 Anthony C. Thiselton, “Atheism,” in A Concise Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Religion, (Oxford: Oneworld, 2006)18. See also: Anders Jaffner, “Atheism and Agnosticism,” in The World‟s Religions, edited by Stewart Sutherland et al. (London: Routledge, 1988) 52-60. 33 Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was an English empirical, political philosopher of seventeenth century. His book Leviathan had been published in 1651 on religious philosophy. 34 David Hume (1711-1776) was a Scottish empirical post Enlightenment philosopher known for his skeptical philosophy, arguing against the existence of innate ideas. 35 Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was an influencing German philosopher, author of the Critique of Pure Reason (Kritik der reinenVernunft, 1781). 36 Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan,I, (Chicago: Regency, 1956) 1-98. 37 A French philosopher and sociologist (1798- 1857). 38 Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872). 39 Karl Marx (1818-1883). 40 Sigmund Freud (1856-1939).

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projection and human construct, and more recently by people like the biologist, Richard Dawkins41, who compares religion to a computer virus passed from one brain to another.42

Karl Marx argued that religion is not based on an encounter with a supernatural deity neither a relation with a transcendent personal being rather it is a whole human construct. The Marxist view of religion denies any role of religion in social harmony and societal solidarity. Marx declared religion, “an expression of suffering”, a “protest against suffering”, “the sigh of the oppressed creature, the sentiment of a heartless world and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people”.43 According to his socialist theory religion does not exist in the communist utopia where social classes and socio-economic differences are diminished, all the members control their own destinies and work together to achieve a common good. Considering material factors the basic cause of social change, he assumed that instead of activating the social change religion works to nullify the masses and helps maintaining the status quo. It is employed as a tool of the bourgeois to suppress the masses for their vested interests as well as offers an illusionary hope to masses for not to revolt against the prevailing injustice. Religion has no space in a socialist society.44Marx primarily denounced the perpetual, replicated and elitist established attitudes embodied by religious myths or philosophical idealism. He considered material conditions the basic factors of social change.

Like Marx , Feuerbach was a staunch critical of religion, interpreting God as projection by people of their own human essence , which should be deluded by a materialist philosophy in which people themselves are deified not abstract ideas as

41 Clinton Richard Dawkins (b. 1941) is an ethnologist, evolutionary biologist and founder of Richard Dawkins Foundation-innovation for secularism. Apart from his other contributions in genetic biology he consistently writes up and lectures on evolution, primacy of science and negation of all sort of religion. Among his books are The Selfish Gene (1976), The extended Phenotype (1982), The Greatest show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution (), and the most famous was The God Delusion (2006). 42Richard Dawkins, A Devil‟s Chaplain- Selected Essays, edited by Latha Menon, (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003). 43 These excerpts are repeatedly mentioned by Karl Marx (1820-1895) in his treatise „Communist Manifesto‟ which ends up calling workers (proletariat) of all the world to unite and over throw the oppressing chains of capitalism and religion. See: Communist Manifesto, (London: Penguin, 1967) 121. 44 Expounded in his collection of essays: Capital- A Critical Analysis of Capitalist Production, translated by Samuel Moorre and Edward Aveling; edited by Frederick Engels, (London: Swan Sonnenschein, 1904).

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religion.45He says that religion becomes a designed celebration of humanness, in which infinite human consciousness becomes transposed into a finite consciousness of the infinite beyond humanity. Religion is consciousness of the infinite and the Trinitarian Christian form is a projection from the „infinite‟ capacity of human reason, human will and human love. 46

Freud considered religion reduces anxiety, fears and believes it an outcome of a „neurosis‟ which eventually outgrows. It overcomes the psychotherapy on neurotic illusions of religion.47

The twentieth century‟s social trends can be summarized in „cultural‟ and „psychological‟ atheistic traditions, which went side by side.[Rodney Stark‟s analysis]

There are various instances where religion is neither a visible confined system, bound to a limited part of social life, nor a world-view pervading all aspects of society and culture. Rather it is described as a series of institutions with significant activities but not specifically characterized as religious. The religion of Kapsiki-Higi48 can be an illustration. This is where secularism took its roots.

1.6 Secularism and Secularization- A Conjunction between Religion and Irreligion:

The broad social change spectrum moved forth to bring certain modifications in the worldviews of many individuals as well as societies. Reformulation of the entirely different epistemology, rationality, science and empiricism has changed the religious patterns and conservative models of thought in the last two centuries. The trend named as, „secularism‟ was first coined in by the works of George Jacob Holyoake49 though

45 See: George Ritzer, Sociological Theory, (Singapore: McGraw-Hill, 2000) 20. 46 Ludwig Feuerbach, The Essence of Christianity, (New York: Harper, 1957) 2. 47 Sigmund Freud, The Future of an Illusion, translated by W.D. Robson-Scott, (Mansfield Centre: Martino Publications, 2010) 88. 48 Or Higi-Kapsiki; a tribe settled in the Mandara mountains on the border of Nigeria and Cameroon. 49 Holyoake was born in 1817 in England in a Christian family. But due to many personal and social circumstances he has abandoned belief in God, but didn‟t call himself an atheist, rather became a radical social reformer, an agnostic of that age. See: Eric S. Waterhouse, “Secularism”, in Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, James Hastings, (T&T Clark, 1962), 11:348.

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later modified by many other sociologists50. Secularism is a characterized phenomenon, a structural property where as secularization is a process of change in religion.

The word „secular‟ has its roots in Latin, sæculum meaning both an age or an era and the world; probably implied to the “spirit of an age”.51Initially it was used in contrast to the sacred and ecclesiastical authority. The church had a distinction between “religious” clergy (who was designated to serve within a religious order) and “secular” priests (who functioned for wider society).52The scholastic distinction53 between nature and supernatural, this world and that world (sacralizing the other world for the reward or salvation of entire humanity) was considered first and decisive step towards secularization (primarily of secularization of knowledge). Many scholars consider it an important contribution to the development of modern science.54

The Secularism is basically a protest movement, destructive and negative in its nature against the political, social, and religious turmoil of Christian West. The philosophical foundations of secularism were based on the post Reformation, “positive” and “utilitarian” schools of August Comte55, James Mill56, Jeremy Bentham57. In principal, secularism was unconcerned to religious dogma and theology, neither theism nor atheism includes in secularism. However, historically it has been associated throughout its due progression with astute atheism and ir-religiosity and it has become an antonym of religion.

50 Among those Max Weber introduced the notion “disenchantment of the world” meaning disillusionment of the world from magic, superstitions and such things as a means of salvation which leads towards the secularism of old held theological doctrines. 51 http://dictionary.reference.com/. Accessed on 22nd April, 2014. 52 Bryan R. Wilson, “Secularization,” in Encyclopedia of Religion – Second Edition, edited by Lindsay Jones, (New York: Thomson Gale, 2005). 8214. 53 More precisely this distinction was traced back to the ancient Greek thought. See: Philosophy book 54 For instance see : J. Van Baal, “The Role of Truth and Meaning in Changing Religious Systems” in Official and Popular Religion, edited by Pieter Hendrik Vrijhof and Jacques Waardenburg, (The Hague: Mouton Publishers, 1979), 607-627 and Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular Christianity, Islam, Modernity, (Stanford: University of Stanford Press), 2003.

55August Comte (1798-1857) was a French philosopher, who is commonly known as the founder of sociology and the doctrine of positivism. 56James Mill (1773-1836) was a Scottish historian, economist, political theorist and philosopher. He was the father of John Stuart Mill and a central pioneer of utilitarian, liberal philosophy. 57 Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) was a British political philosopher, jurist and social reformer. He was the founder of utilitarian theory.

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Based on the treatment of Mary Douglas , W.E.A. Van Beek analysed that “secularism typifies a religion that „knows its place‟, is relevant to certain actions while remaining less relevant to other fields and , for a third category of action even quite irrelevant”,58 which seems quite appropriate in a diverse society.

Graeme Smith described secularism as,

“Secularism is Christian ethics shorn of its doctrine. It is the ongoing commitment to do good, understood in traditional Christian terms, without a concern for the technicalities of the teachings of the church.” 59

Talal Asad‟s exploration of genealogy of religion reflects that the secularization as well as rise of religion as a distinct institute from politics was the aftermath of the European Christian Reformation.60

Secularism is an ideology whereas secularization is a political and social process, an outcome of a Christian society ruled by pope and knights of medieval centuries as distinguished by Muhammad Naquib al-Attas61, who deconstructed secularism and said it is man‟s deliverance first from religion and then from metaphysical control over reason and language.62

Secularization is a process, originated in Christian West63, in which religious consciousness, control, institutions, and activities lose their significance and autonomy in a society. It consists of esacralization,64 laicization,65 and de-

58 W.E.A. Van. Beek, “Traditional Religion as a Locus of Change” in Official and Popular Religion- Analysis of a Theme for Religious Studies, op.cit, 530. 59 Graeme Smith, A Short History of Secularism (New York: I B Tauris, 2008) 2. 60Talal Asad, Genealogies of Religion, (Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1993), also Formations of the Secular Christianity, op. cit. 61 A Malaysian social scientist, born in 1931. 62 Muhammad Al-Naquib Al-Attas Syed, Islam and Secularism, (Kuala Lumpur: Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia ABIM, 1978) 16-17. 63 It began particularly in England as specifically referred to, in the works of Voltaire 64 It refers to “the loss of sense of the sacred particularly related to the places, properties, and activities.” See: Bryan R. Wilson, “Secularization”, in Encyclopedia of Religion, Lindsay Jones (New York: MacMillan, 2005)12:215. 65 It means “the abrogation of priestly offices and functions or to the transfer of certain functions like judicial roles, teaching and social work etc.” See: Ibid

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christianization.66Increasing relegation of religion to the private sphere, overall growing trend of societalization67and also at the individual level, decline in a person‟s religious belief are significant indicators of secularization in the modern age. 68 The universal pluralism, rapid globalization and growing rationalism are the possible main causes of secularization, according to the sociologists‟ narrative, posited during last half century belonged to different paradigms69. The dilemma of modern age is its non-providing adequate religious meaning and norms to human beings. The old patterns have been demolished. Modern science and tremendously growing technology have yet not provided the sufficient alternate religious needs.

There are two inevitable reflections associated with any theory of secularizations which are;

At first, the concepts of secularism and secularization are deeply associated with the definitions of religion itself. As long as religion is defined substantively in terms of beliefs and structures related to supernatural, its rise or decline can be measured significantly, which is not possible within a functional framework.

Secondly, validity of secularization thesis relies on historical evidence, that we know the religious situation of people some certain years back which is obviously not available in all the cases in every society.

This has been widely believed in the nineteenth century that industrialization and advancements in science and technology would lead to the decline and eventually

66 Wilson has described it as, “the decline of only one religious tradition, particularly in its control of institutional activities.” See: Bryan R. Wilson, “Secularization”, Op. cit 67 That is small- scale communities lose power and influence in hands of large-scale organizations. 68 See: Olivier Tschannen, “The Secularization Paradigm,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 30 (1999): 395-415 and Karel Dobbelaere, “Toward an Integrated Perspective of the Processes Related to the Descriptive Concept of Secularization,” in The Secularization Debate, edited by William H. Swatos Jr. and Daniel V. A. Olson (New York : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers , Inc. , 2000), 21-40. 69 Olivier Tschannen has analyzed the sociological theories on secularization and placed Thomas Luckmann, Peter Berger, Bryan Wilson, David Martin, Richard Fenn, Talcott Parsons and Robert Bellah in one group, according to the “Trend report” of Karel Dobbelaere on secularization in 1981. Whereas, another paradigm includes Sabino Acquaviva, Jϋvgen Habermas, Niklas Luhmann, Rodney Stark and William S. Bainbridge on the basis of Confe‟rence Internationale de Socilogie des Religions (CISR now SISR). See: Olivier Tschannen, “The Secularization Paradigm,” op.cit.

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towards diminishing of the religion from society.70 Nevertheless, it has been challenged and revised by sociologists71 , who have evaluated that problems intensify in the absence of generally agreed definitions of religion and secularization, arguing,

“Perhaps the most important attribute of those who perceive secularization to be going on is their commitment to a particular view of what religion means.”72

A “revised secularization thesis” that the world was as religious as it was ever before,73 was thus enunciated and sociologists like Stark wrote,

“It seems time to carry the secularization doctrine to the graveyard of failed theories, and there to whisper “requiescat in pace”.74

Stark and Bainbridge introduced “rational choice theory”75insisting that science can never replace religion because empirical methods are incapable of addressing non- empirical (spiritual) needs. The emergence of new religious movements76, worldwide resurgence of religious activism has caused Finke and Stark to postulate that pluralism in the society makes the religious market competitive, therefore invigorates the participation and do not undermines the plausibility or commitment.77Stark and Bainbridge maintained that secularization is transformation of religion, not its destruction or eradication. 78Hence instead of saying religion is declining it is better to

70 Comte, Durkheim, Weber, and Marx, all viewed of the retention of the central role of religion from society. Even the sociologists like Berger, Wilson, Bellah predicted the same. 71 Rodney Stark, William Bainbridge, Roger Finke, and Stephen Warner are among others who posited a “new paradigm”. 72 73 It is mentioned by Peter Berger who once advocated secularization that “the assumption that we live in a secularized world is false. The world today, with some exceptions… is as furiously religious as it ever was, and in some places more so than ever”. See: Keith A. Roberts and David Yamane, Religion in Sociological Perspective, 330. 74 Rodney Stark, “Secularization,” in The Secularization Debate, op.cit, 62. 75 Which lies on the very observation of human behavior that “humans seek what they perceive to be rewards and try to avoid what they perceive to be costs”. See: Rodney Stark and William S. Bainbridge, The Future of Religion-Secularization, Revival, and Cult Formation (Berkley: University of California Press, 1985) 5. 76 Such as Scientology, Aetherius Society, Aladura, Ansārūllah Community, The Body of Christ, Nation of Islam, The Church of Satan, Jehovah‟s Witnesses ,Heaven‟s Gate etc. They shall be abbreviated as NRM henceforth. 77 Stark , Finke , “American Religion in 1776: A Statistical Portrait” in Sociological Analysis (spring), 39- 51 78 Rodney Stark and , A Theory of Religion( New Jeresy: Rutgers University Press, 1987)289

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mention religion is changing. Change is not necessarily an element of secularization but it is mostly alleged with religious development in modern period.

Since worship, belief or role of religion in shaping political or educational life can be emphasized in a definition of religion, so the measurement of increasing religiosity or decreasing is an intricate phenomenon. It leads Stark and his fellows to devise their multi-dimensional scale of religious commitment.

1.7 Being “Religious Committed” – Meaning and Determination:

Commitment denotes to belonging or a sense of ownership and the extent of individual‟s involvement in various aspects of life, whether they are religious, mechanical or secular. It is the commitment of individuals to an organized group, or to the group members with whom one has strong emotional bondage, or to the worldview and ethos of the group. Religiosity is the intensity and consistency of practice of a person‟s (or group‟s) religion (an emblem of faith, beliefs, rituals, practice and experience)79. In social scientific use, “religiosity” or “religiousness” is a generic term for religious commitment, which can be measureable along more than a single dimension. It varies significantly among different groups in society. If one attempts to measure some of the “deeper” aspects of what has been called religiosity, the problems multiply tremendously. The measurement of religiosity has itself long been debated. There is an ongoing discussion in sociological circles, how to determine relationship between personal religiosity and social fabric of society. The majority of research attempting to relate religious factors to other social factors has limited to such measures as membership of a particular sect or denomination, performance of a ritual, and attendance of worship place. Usually such social researches are based on public polls, small or large scale surveys, which are cautiously accurate for being based on self- reports and the fact religiosity itself is multi-dimensional. Most of these data indicate the extent of religious identification but tell little about religiosity. As long as

79 As discussed in prior.

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definitions of religion are different, the various instruments to measure religiosity can be designed and applied on different groups in various states.

1.8 Glock-Stark Model of Religious Commitment:

Among sociologists, the multidimensional models which have been devised and applied to measure the internal as well as external manifestations of religious commitment, the most influential model of this kind was produced by Rodney Stark and Charles Glock80 and empirically examined in American Piety over 40 years ago. They reduced religious commitment to five dimensions; ideological, practice, knowledge, experience, and consequences. The Ideological dimension refers to the internalized beliefs that a religious person should have (e.g. belief in God, Jesus, and the Bible). The practice dimension includes engaging in external acts such as church services and Bible study as well as internal acts such as prayer or reading the Bible. It encompasses both rituals (formal, public religious acts) and devotion (personal acts of worship and contemplation). The subjective religious experience is part of every religious activity, though minimal, explicitly demanded or imprecisely stated, taken into account by the experience dimension. Both Stark and Glock include,

“[all] those feelings, perceptions, and sensations which are experienced by an actor or defined by a religious group (or a society) as involving some communication, however slight, with a divine essence”.81

Further, the knowledge dimension refers to the fact that persons claimed to be religious must have some basic information about their belief, rituals, scriptures and traditions. The authors mentioned another consequential dimension, identifying the effects of religious belief, practice, experience, and knowledge in persons‟ daily lives. However, they considered the above four dimensions suffice for an assessment of religious commitment. 82

80 Stark, Rodney, &Glock, Charles Y, American piety: The nature of religious commitment, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968). 81 Divine essence may be God, ultimate reality or a transcendental authority. See: Glock and Stark, op. cit., 15. 82 Glock and Stark, American piety, 16.

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In 2000 Stark and Finke explicated some further dimensions of religion, expanded and elaborated their previous held theory and defined the religious commitment as,

“… The degree to which humans promptly meet the terms of exchange with a god or gods as specified by the explanations of a given religious organization.”83

Religious commitment is a sort of organizing and administrating force works in a social enterprise to create, maintain and supply a link between an individual and a group. Stark and Finke proposed that a religious organization will be able to require extended commitments to the extent that it offers otherworldly rewards, which themselves are proportionate to the scope of the God or gods. They elaborated that commitment comprises of behavior (Objective commitment) and beliefs or feelings (Subjective commitment). The objective religious commitment includes all forms of religious participation or practice (taking part in rites and services for example), material offerings (sacrifices, contributions, and donations), and conformity to rules governing actions (not sinning).84

However, they include three distinct dimensions in the subjective religious commitment which refers to believing, knowledge, the particularly held explanations, and having the appropriate emotions. Apart from deep faith and good knowledge it is the emotions of people associated with the same event which decides whether it is religious or secular, such as emotions of awe, reverence, fear or ignorance, and so on.85

1.9 Religious Consciousness Approach:

A subjective approach, preferable while distinguishing between a „secular‟ and a „religious‟ Christian or between a highly committed and less committed individual, is how he is relating “meaning” to behavior and religious consciousness. Davidson and Knudsen have suggested a new (religious consciousness) approach based on the cognitive understanding of religion that,

83 Rodney Stark and Roger Finke, Acts of Faith- Explaining the Human Side of Religion, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000), 103 84 Stark and Finke, Acts of Faith, 103. Emphasis added by authors. 85 Stark and Finke, Acts of Faith, 104

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“The most committed people are those who believe they are religious (cognitive); feel religion is a positive rather than a negative force in their lives (affective); and feel their religious convictions should affect their daily lives (behavioral)” where as “the least committed people believe they are not religious; feel religion has been more of a negative than a positive force in their lives; and do not try to base their daily lives on religious considerations.”86

The religiousness is absolutely different when one watches a religious show on television while walking, talking or performing different chores and undergoing an inwards contemplation at a worship place. Though it is hard to measure the extent of feelings and consciousness but both Davidson and Knudsen applied and validated the theory on a number of groups.

1.10 Rosabeth Kanter’s Model of Commitment:

The insights of Rosabeth Kanter‟s87 study of elements of commitment in utopian communities and communes presented that how a multidimensional model can equally work for a mainstream religious groups study.88Kanter segmented the commitment occurring in three different levels; instrumental (consisting Sacrifice and investment), means that the individual must be convinced that the association with the group is worth the time and effort it demands. Many times members of a religious movement are asked to sacrifice the popular social or leisure lifestyle for sake of religion like prohibition of alcohol, dance, drugs, eating meat etc. Members usually increase their commitment being part of a group consciously or unconsciously. Another mechanism of group commitment can be visible through the investment of time, energy and money from the members in the group. 89Secondly, affective commitment, which refers to an emotional dependence on the group, when belonging is just not primary but it, becomes

86James D. Davidson and Dean D. Knudsen, “A New Approach to Religious Commitment,” Sociological Focus 2: 2 (April 1977): 155. 87 Born (1943) United States, she is a professor of business at Harvard Business School, author of several books on sociology, business, economic policy and finance and consultant of a number of organizations like IBM, VOLVO, and GAP etc. 88Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Commitment and Community- Communes and Utopias in Sociological Perspective, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972). Kanter‟s work has been cited more than thousand times by different types of organizations but it can particularly be applied to religious groups‟ commitment. 89 The examples are some new religious movements (NRMs) like Mormons and Hare Krishna.

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chronologically prior. The author mentioned two mechanics involves in the affective commitment process; (detachment or renunciation of all former relations, friends, social ties and Communion with the new group, to build emotional solidarity with other group members. The final level of the commitment is moral commitment which means the commitment to the norms and values of the group, or belonging to the meaning system of the religion. This is the most sublime and foremost important level of religious commitment, which includes ideological, the worldview and ethos formulated by the leaders of the religion. There are two further mechanisms which can enhance the moral commitment of devotees; mortification and transcendence. The mortification places heavy emphasis on the willfulness, egotism, selfishness and thus generates a sense of profound humility, which helps groups cohere and mortification mechanisms foster that humility. It eventually leads towards the second stage of creating the sense of awe about the group‟s ideology, reverence of its myths, symbols, rituals, leadership, also de- emphasizing the individual and the group‟s claim of holding absolute “truth”, which serve as the foundational stones of moral commitment.90

Kanter‟s study was limited to small communes; however patterns of commitment can vary in different communities and various groups. Religious groups usually need commitment at multiple levels because of their complex binding factors. The conventional religions are a bit different but nonconventional groups or religions (such as NRMs or other sectarian groups) are in need to sustain themselves through very high level of commitment.

1.11 Attitudes of People towards Religion:

Kanter‟s findings are important for further researches. In Pakistani Christian‟s case it seems interesting that often commitment at one level can lead to commitment another. It usually begins from affective commitment, followed by instrumental commitment to the organization and then the moral commitment, to the ideas, and

90Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Commitment and Community- Communes and Utopias in Sociological Perspective, op. cit., 70-110

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beliefs of the group. The sequence does not remain same, a fact shown by Andrew Greeley M., in his treatise, The Denominational Society:

“Instead of Americans belonging to churches because they believe … there may be a strong tendency for them to believe … because they belong.‟91

Currently social scientists are in general agreement that religious commitment varies across all religions, and that religious commitment may manifest itself in different ways within the same religious tradition. Another plausible consideration is that a man is „religious‟ in one dimension, and totally „ir-religious‟ according to another dimension. The emphasis, parameters of deciding (religious decisive authority) is different in every religion, according to various frameworks. A paradoxical instance is however, the increased religiousness and a very high level of secularization both exist in the United States. Greater rate of religious affiliation does not necessarily illustrate a strong commitment to religion as many American Christians (sometimes 40-50%, according to Gallup 1984) reject very basic articles of Christian faith as Christ‟s miracles, the resurrection, life after death, the virgin birth, or the second coming of Christ. Many „believers‟ negated the divine authority in the pope, and differed from the church on the issues such as ban on divorce, or abortion etc. Can it be named as „secularized religion‟ or „non-religious religion‟ or be mentioned as a less committed religion?

The common people manifest a variety of response towards religion:

For some people intensity of specific religious commitment is very real thing. It may be more powerful than family ties, or other social obligations, as deep spiritual commitment, which was depicted by disciples of Jesus or sahābah at the time of rise of Islam. The missionaries do uphold a high level of commitment.

Other people are mainly motivated by a yearning for deep personal mystical experience, for expansion of consciousness and inner well-being. For instance, Yoga is followed as the ancient Indian and Chinese sages‟ spirituality. The Christian monastic

91 115

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orders and the life of church fathers, saints, sisters and brothers may fall in this category.

Some people move towards groups which offer them an image of a lifestyle; rural, urban, or what so ever, which they think as a model. Imitation, charismatic leadership and hero worship, maintained by missionaries, are the examples of this attitude. The majority of Punjabi Christians entered the religious fold, inspired by the various material benefactions made by the missionaries in the subcontinent.

There are people who seek to rediscover tradition, ethnic roots, and their past like the revival of orthodoxy among Jews, the traditionalist movement in Roman Catholicism, conservative evangelicalism among Protestants and Muslim‟s renaissance movements emerged in the twentieth century.

There is a wide variety of scales being used to measure specific aspects of religious commitment. The more appropriate in the case of Christians are religious Commitment Scale (RCS) of Pfeifer and Waelty92 which operationalizes religious commitment primarily in terms of behavioral practices or affective experience and Altemeyer‟s Religious Emphasis Scale (1988)93. The Roof and Perkins Salience in Religious Commitment Scale94 is not specific to any religious tradition, though it relies upon self-reported assessment of religious commitment. The Religiousness Measure95 assesses religious involvement and contains variables, which concerning religious beliefs, religious practices, and the influence of religious beliefs on behavioral practices. These scales can further be modified or altered cautiously persistent to the requirement of the research modules and population being studied.

Usually studies of religiosity or religious commitment are focused on models or patterns involved by mainstream religious groups of society as the majority of people

92 S. Pfeifer and U. Waelty, “Psychopathology and Religious Commitment: A Controlled Study,” Psychopathology, 28 (1995):70-77. 93 B. Altemeyer, Enemies of Freedom: Understanding Right-wing Authoritarianism, (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1988), 205-206, 214, 218. 94 W. C. Roof and R.P. Perkins, “On Coceptualizing Salience in Religious Commitment,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 14 (1975):111-128. 95 It was devised by S. Sethi and M.E.P. Seligman, “Optimism and Fundamentalism,” Psychological Science 4 (1993): 256-259.

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belonged to them. However, the minority groups in a society are more conscious of keeping their religious affinity in order to maintain their separate identity. Christians in Pakistan being a minority group elicit all or most of these commitment processes mentioned, in order to maintain their identity and to keep the religious fabric intact. The present study focuses on this particular case.

In short, religious commitment of a person can be determined either by his belief or his behavior, the two primary indicators of religiosity. Sometimes belief, practice, and self-perception all determine the relative effect of religiosity or religiousness on behavioral and attitudinal measures. A more successful group has lower member‟s commitment, yet a closed or minority sect is in need to protect its religious fabric with a high level of its members‟ religious commitment.

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Chapter: 2 THE CHRISTIANS OF PAKISTAN: A SOCIO- HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

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The Islamic Republic of Pakistan96 occupies a unique position among Muslim states, insofar as it was founded primarily for religious considerations. The creation of Pakistan in August 1947 was a result of the partition of British India into two sovereign states. The very basis for the creation of Pakistan was the argument that its populace adhered to a separate religion had formed a separate nation and Islam has been declared as the state religion.97

The Christians formulated the largest minority group98 having almost 2.104 million (1.59%) of the total 132.353 million population of Pakistan.99 Thus their case is significant to study the different dimensions of religious commitment, manifested by a religious group dwelling abreast with major populace of Muslims.

The Christians of Pakistan had a history associated with the intruding merchandise from the Portuguese Padroado100, Dutch and English traders, who were accompanied by soldiery and clergy for their service. The existence of any organized church before sixteenth century in the subcontinent is not historically proved, yet there have been individual Christians or few families reported to reside in different cities and worked in the royal court or troops. After the seventeenth century onwards, Roman Catholics (from the beginning of the seventeenth century), Armenians (after the beginning of the eighteenth century), and Protestants (from the beginning of the nineteenth century) entered in, established their churches, somewhere succeeded and dwindled out at places.

96The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, (Amended till 2012 ) Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Law, Justice, Human Rights and Parliamentary Affairs, Art : 1(1) http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/part1.html. Accessed on 28th May, 2014. 97 Ibid. Art: 2 98 Many Christians do not see it appropriate to be designated as “minority”, whereas some view that using the word “non-Muslim” causes problems for them. “Minority” being a political terminology can be equated with dhimmi (which according to their perception are not granted equal rights of citizenship) and non-Muslim is a social label which defines people negatively, hence a debate continues among Christians themselves. As Christine M. Amjad-Ali viewed that the status of “minority” is one which is imposed on the Pakistani Christian Community by the majority Muslim population.” See: Christine M. Amjad-Ali, “New Testament Churches As Minority Communities,” Al-Mushir, 27:4 (1985): 190. 99 These figures are based on the last census conducted in Pakistan in 1998 and published by Ministry of Statistics division, Government of Pakistan. www.statpak.gov.pk. Accessed on 13th May, 2014. An estimated increase is observed on the basis of 1.59 % growth per annum, thus making population of the country in 2014 about 196,174,380 approximately. According to CIA the World Fact Book it is over 186 million of which 97% are Muslims and remaining are non–Muslims. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pk.html. Accessed on 27th May, 2014. 100The Portuguese word which means “patronage”. It is the series of treaties signed between the Catholic Church (Holy See) and the Kingdom of Portugal, beginning in the fifteenth century and confirmed by Pope Leo X in 1514, delegated the kings to administer the church officials. It was an example of a religio- political authority.

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The majority of present Christian population, though native to land, converted from the untouchable classes of Hindus, the Shudrahs and Daliths after the overwhelming missionary movements zealously started working in the Indian subcontinent under the British rule.101 The Church of England officially started working in 1813, and then in the mid nineteenth century, United Presbyterian missionaries mostly from America102 landed in to evangelize the Indian people. However, by the end of twentieth century, the Catholic Church has been able to extend its numerical strength and influence among Christians due to its structure, established pastoral character and services provided to people. The Christianity in the subcontinent has a history, which may be divided in two phases; ancient and modern related to the British colonialism.

101 Historically, there are evidences that until 1813 it was not easy to get a license for a mission in a British ruled area of the Sub- Continent. In 1698, when the East India Company was granted the charter by the British Parliament, missionaries were not permitted to work freely. It stated that there would be no compulsory conversion, no interference with native habits, and no cow killing in Hindu quarters. See: Arthur J. Mayhew, Christianity and Government of India (London: Faber and Gwyer Ltd., 1929) 26. But in spite of the secular official policy, the missionaries were protected and occasionally supported by several government officials resulting in an enormous growth in mission work during the nineteenth century. 102 American Presbyterian, American Methodists, and the Associated Reformed Presbyterian (A.R.P) Church were the first among them.

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2.1 Advent of Christianity in the Indian Subcontinent:

The Indian Christian community had its roots back to Syrian Christianity came from Baghdad and Jerusalem around 52 AD103. It is traditionally believed that Apostle Thomas104 himself visited the subcontinent, in the period of Indo-Bactrian (Kushan) King105, Gondulphares or Goduphar106 who held courts at Taxila and Kabul.107 He was reported to have some converts both at Taxila and Bhambore, who were not survived108 but mainly focused preaching the Jewish merchant community at Malabar and Kerala (South India) as instructed by Jesus and in the second Council of Jerusalem.109 Christians of the south India claimed to have his shrine and relics and associated them being of his lineage.110

The historians are not agreed on the Apostle‟s coming and building a community as the archeological archives are not sufficient, yet the conjecture is considerable for reasons: the recurrent merchandise between East (India and China) and West (Roman Empire), by both land and sea is known historically. Indus River, cities on its delta111, towns on its bank like Jhelum, Taxila, Charsadda were great trade centers between, Kashmir, China, Iran and Afghanistan. Secondly the apocryphal gospels contain the few historically proved facts. Like a merchant going to India from

103 See: P. Thomas, Christians and Christianity in India and Pakistan, (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1954), 12 and Abraham Vazhayil Thomas , Christians in Secular India (New Jersey: Associated University Press, 1974), 90. 104 One of the apostles of Jesus mentioned in the Gospels. See: Mark 1: 18, Matth4:18, Luke 6: 12-13, John 11:16, 21:1-2 105 Nearly about 45-47 CE but more cautiously first century CE. As discussed by Ahmad Hasan Dani, “Taxila,” in St. Thomas and Taxila – A Symposium on Saint Thomas and Taxila ( Rawalpindi: Christian Study Centre, 1988), 11-13. 106 It has been debated a lot whether he was the same king mentioned in the Acts of Thomas, the Nag Hammadi Gospel of Thomas and the Apocalypse of Thomas (Apocryphal Gospels). The historians like Rooney, Dar, and Dani had discussed in the light of available archeological sources from the Taxila and adjacent area like Takht Bhai, Mardan and maintained the possible connections between Greek remnants, East and West itinerary and the reliability of the literary evidence for St. Thomas‟s visit. See: St. Thomas and Taxila, cf. The name also has variations, as discussed by many authors. I preferred here the transliteration, used by Rooney. See also : P. Thomas, Christians and Christianity in India and Pakistan, (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd. , 1954), 1-11. 107 See: John Rooney, M.H.M, Shadows in the Dark, (Rawalpindi, Christian Study Centre, 1984), 20. 108 John. C. B. Webster, “Christianity in the Punjab,” in Missiology: an International Review, 6:4 (1978): 469. 109 John Rooney, M.H.M, Shadows in the Dark, (Rawalpindi, Christian Study Centre, 1984), 104. 110 Although critically challenged by many like Christine Amjad-Ali and William G. Young, it has been repeatedly mentioned by church historians of Indo-Pakistan. See: Amjad-Ali, “The Literary evidence for Thomas in India,” in St. Thomas and Taxila – A Symposium on Saint Thomas and Taxila, ( Rawalpindi: Christian Study Centre, 1988), 38-40 and Young, The Life and History of the Church in Pakistan, ( lectured at the Protestant International Congregation in Islamabad on the 3rd of May, 1971) published in Al-Mushīr, 13: 9-10 (1971). Also narrated by BarkatUllah, The Archdeacon, Saint Thomas The Apostle of India (Church History of Indo-Pak Part 1), (Lahore: National Council of Churches in Pakistan), and S.K. Das, The History of the Church in Pakistan (Lahore: J S Publications, 1998). 111 For instance Barbarike (situated near present day Karachi) was one of the busy trade ports.

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Alexandria, would certainly pass through Andrapolis112 and mentioning Gondulphares and his brother Gad. The author of the Acts of Thomas when writing it in the south- west Turkey, two centuries after the king, might have access to some written account of the Apostle‟s visit to the Punjab.

Eastern Church flourished under the rule of the Sassanid Empire, whose borders were stretched from the Roman Empire to the river Indus.113 The Nestorians were probably able to reach at some towns of Mehran114 and Makran115. By the fifth century, the Indian Christianity came under the control of the Persian Church. Another indication of an extended church from Herat, (Afghanistan) is recorded in the Synod of 420 that the land of “Ardushir Pharidh” was included in it, which is probably the Northern Baluchistan. However, the multiple factors causing decline of Persian Church had affected the missions and churches in its vicinity. Henceforth Pakistani Christian history entered from its ancient phase to modern period.

112 Situated on the river Nile. 113 It includes the modern countries of Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Oman, and some parts of Pakistan (Baluchistan and Khyber Phakhtunkhaw). 114 Sindh province of Pakistan. 115 Baluchistan, Pakistan.

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2.2 The Christians of Indian Subcontinent- Resurgence in the Modern Era:

The beginning of maritime presence of Portugal in the Indian Ocean was confirmed when Vasco de Gama reached the coastal land of Calicut (south India) in May 1498. It was followed by both Franciscan friars and Jesuit missionaries. The Franciscans built monasteries and churches but did not successful in winning the converts, whereas Jesuits were able to get few converts from the local inhabitants.

Among Catholic friars 116 both Augustinians and Carmelites had approached India. Since the beginning of sixteenth century, the non- friar Jesuit missionaries tried to convert the Mughal emperors Akbar and Jehāngir anticipating it would eventually lead to Christianizing whole of the north India. The kings allowed them to stay and to build a chaplain near Agra.117

The Catholic Mission of the Jesuits remained in India from 1579 until 1783 and was closely associated to the royal court, had its churches at Agra and Lahore, which were banned when Portuguese had seized a Mughal ship in 1613.118 After the failure of these missions they shifted their emphasis towards the conversion of ordinary people. The Christian congregation thence onwards chiefly composed of three groups:

Armenians (Christians of eastern origin); European (including traders and soldiers); and thirdly Christians, who converted during the former British India. The Christians of Goa, and other former Portuguese colonies since Portuguese invaded the West coast of Indian subcontinent in 1533119 formed large Indian Christian communities of that era.

The Carmelite mission, who worked to provide chaplaincy services for Portuguese residents at Thatta, was closed in 1672. It did not carry on mission or establish any church for local Christian community. Though Portuguese and Dutch evangelical missions arrived earlier, the British Parliament formally permitted missionary activity in 1813, through the Charter Renewal Act, after getting a license from East India Company to enter, due to the agitation of evangelicals. The act was revised in 1833 to allow unlicensed entry of missionaries. 120

116 The friars who got official Papal sanction for missionary work. 117 John Rooney, Heels of Battles op. cit., 90 118John O‟Brien, The Construction of Pakistani Christian Identity, ( Lahore: Research Society of Pakistan, 2006), 549 and for details see : John Rooney, Symphony on Sands ( Rawalpindi: Christian Study Centre, 1984), 5-15. 119 Introduced to Christianity by a Spanish Jesuit, St. Francis Xavier, one of the first missionaries, formed the early foundations of Catholic persuasion in South India. 120 Kenneth Ingham, Reformers in India 1793-1833: An Account of the Work of Christian Missionaries on Behalf of Social Reform, (Cambridge: The University Press, 1956), 10.

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2.3 Pakistani Christian Settlements:

Early Christian settlements in Pakistan were historically located in Lahore, Thatha and Lahri Bandar121 where the Catholic missions were reached in the seventeenth century122. The Armenians were prior to Catholics and had their special quarter in Lahore. Many of them served in the Mughal court and artillery but perished during the wars between the Mughals and Rohilās or baptized by Anglicans.

In the beginning of 1877, when the Diocese of Lahore came into being after its separation from Calcutta, the largest Anglican dioceses in history, under the provision of Act of the British Parliament, it served almost the entire area which is now Pakistan, extending to Delhi, the Eastern Punjab, Kashmir and some states of the Arabian Gulf.123

The church in Pakistan was founded and developed in the British rule and its various institutions were set up to serve the cantonments, which kept all natives out of its operational bounds.124 The British officers largely belong to Anglican and Scottish Presbyterian Church, whereas their soldiery was committed to Roman Catholic (The Church of Ireland).125 Hence in any Christian locality a complex and segmented division both ethnic and sectarian was apparent since the colonial period presumably maintained by the British to maintain their rule. A predictable pattern of geographical placing of Anglican or Scottish Presbyterian for higher ranks and Catholic churches for lower masses can be observed in any city of Pakistan which had the British cantonment. For instance, in the city of Lahore, the Lahore Cathedral was established for Europeans, the Church of Empress road for Anglo-Indians and Anarkali Church was for the Punjabis. For more than a century local or rural Christians had no role in the institutional life of the Church nor any part in its decision making processes. The failure to indigenize the church was the primary cause of death of many missions in eighteenth

121 A locality situated near Indus delta some two hundred miles away from Thatha. 122 Catholic Church remained operative in these areas of Sindh between 1613 and 1672. However the community maintained itself in Lahore till the beginning of nineteenth century. In 1832, the Bishop of Agra was recorded to have communication with the churches in Lahore. See: John O‟Brien, The Construction of Pakistani Christian Identity, ( Lahore: Research Society of Pakistan, 2006), 551. 123 Thomas Valpy French was appointed as first bishop of Lahore. See: Herbert Birks, Life and Correspondence of Thomas Valpy French, (London: John Murray, 1895), vol. 1. 124 The Catholic clubs which were established for Goans and Anglo-Indians were never open to the local (Punjabi) population. See: Charles Amjad-Ali Dr. Changing Realities in Pakistan and the Church‟s Response, ( Rawalpindi: Christian Study Centre, 1991), 33. 125 A church diary of a Scottish Kirk was kept in the records of St. Paul‟s Church Rawalpindi which among other sources provides a historic perspective of the colonial Church of Scotland‟s two chaplains at St. Paul Rawalpindi and St. Margaret at Murree during 1877 to 1912. A copy is available at Christian Study Centre, Rawalpindi.

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and nineteenth centuries. A change went on after Pakistan came into being and by the end of 1984 all bishops of all the churches were Pakistanis.126

2.4 Christianity in the Punjab:

In the Punjab127, the first church was established in 1834 at Ludhiana, which was joined by three missions at the end of 1850 that were The Church Missionary Society, The United Presbyterian Church of North America and the Church of Scotland. In the beginning Church and mission were serving the British troops stationed in India and acclimated when the United Presbyterian missionaries mostly from America reached the subcontinent. Later other Protestant churches joined in like American Methodists, the Salvation Army, New Zealand Presbyterian Church, Seventh Day Adventists and Pentecostal groups. They remarkably established schools for non- Christian Indians as they strongly believed in the Western science and philosophy could overrule the entire Hinduism. Their American experience made them to stress the individual‟s commitment to Christ, which would require a prolong education and training. They used to train the converts in their monasteries, relinquishing all his relations, kindred, friends, possessions, and inheritance.

The missionaries were successful in gaining two types of converts; urban, educated and elite from mission schools and rural, non-educated, poor people who were in majority of number embraced Christianity during 1885 to 1925. It forms the present Christian community of the subcontinent. Nevertheless, the evangelical history reveals that Christian missions were not very successful among Hindus nor they were able to convert a considerable number of Muslims. Before 1870 all the Protestant missions together made about a thousand converts.128 Unlike conversion of people in Africa and Europe, the number of converts in the Punjab was insignificant in spite of the tremendous missionary endeavors.129 Both Catholic and Lutheran ministries had to witness large scale apostasies in nineteenth century , when native converts noticed themselves being colonized by the fringīs.130 The Abbe J. A. Dubois131 had written

126 Amjad-Ali Dr. Changing Realities 35. 127 Before partition, it constitutes both provinces of East and West. 128 William G. Young, “The Life and History of the Church in Pakistan” in Al-Mushir 13:9-10 (1971): 12. 129 See for detailed account : Arvil A. Powell, “Processes of Conversion to Christianity in Nineteenth Century North-Western India,” in Religious Conversion Movements in South Asia- Continuities and Change, 1800-1900, edited by Geoffrey A. Oddie, ( Surrey: Curzon Press, 1997), 17. 130 Means Europeans, an appellation derived from Frank, under which the Europeans were designated by the natives of India. 131 He was a missionary in Mysore, India for thirty two years in early decade of nineteenth century.

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several letters to his friends, Church officials and others about the obstacles faced by mission,

“The very name of Christian carries along with it the stain of infamy; and the proposal alone to become a convert to Christianity is considered by every well-bred Hindoo as a very serious insult, …”132

The reasoning and arguments of missionaries were barely rejected logically but,

“ … when the arguments of my opponents in vindication of their own religion are exhausted, and they have nothing more to say, they rarely, fail to conclude and sum up their reasoning by this solemn and, in their mind, unanswerable appeal, exclaiming with much exultation and emphasis, “ After all, your religion is the religion of the Fringy;” refraining, however, from, a feeling of respect, or perhaps from motives of prudence, from adding , in my presence, the second part of this forcible sentence , viz. “ and all that comes from so impure a source must be radically bad.”133

Thus he concluded that,

“… it is my decided opinion that under existing circumstances there is no human possibility of converting the Hindoos, to any sect of Christianity, and, secondly, that the translation of the Holy Scriptures circulated among them, so far from conducting to this end, will, on the contrary, increase the prejudices of the natives against the Christian religion, and prove in many respects determined to it.”134

But all his fears were not correct as the mass conversion135 momentously increased the Christian population. The conversion movements significantly worked among the outcastes136 and low castes137 between 1885 and 1925 who embraced Christianity in a hope to get personal dignity and social respect in Indian society. There was almost one third population (34.8 %) who claimed to embrace Christianity for spiritual reasons, to get salvation or peace whereas vast majority had the secular motives for that.

Robert Stewart had pointed out that majority has just “followed the crowd” and “… it was doubtless felt by many poor people that the change from an outcaste

132 Abbe‟ J. A. Dubois, Letters on The State of Christianity in India, (London: Paternoster-Row, 1823), 14. 133 Dubois, Letters on The State of Christianity, 15-16. 134 Dubois, Letters on The State of Christianity, 20. 135 Mass conversion is the conversion of a group instead of individual decision of embracing the faith. 136 Outcastes are those people who are not born into either of a Hindu castes (varuna) that are; Brahman, Kashtheriya, Veshva and Shudrah. 137 They are menial workers such as the Meghs (weavers), the Chamārs (leatherworkers) and the Chuhrās (sweepers).

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condition to that of brotherhood in religion with the ruling race was a distinct rise in civil and social standing.”138

However, the conversion with such worldly, motives as looking for a better future for their kindred, or freeing themselves from the oppressions of their landlords, the Christianity helped them believing a new form of a monotheistic faith as cited by Frederick and Margaret Stock, on the authority of J. Waskom Pickett that the commitment of converts was an evidence that early motivation to change their faith were not significant. They mentioned:

“ We find that 70% of the men who say they became Christians for some motive not accounted as spiritual, and 75 % of those who declare that they became Christians because others of their family or caste did so, have become regular attendants at church services. We also find that the homes of 93.2 % of the former and 94.8% of latter are free from all signs of idolatry; that 90.5% of the former and 91.4% of the latter contribute to the church; that 86.8% of the former and 84.1% of the latter regularly confess themselves as Christians to their non-Christian neighbors and in such official records as the census, despite many inducements to refrain from doing so.”139

In addition to the increasing religiosity of once untouchable class of society, Christianity had raised their socio-religious status. Arya Samaj and Ad-Dharm were popular reform movements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries but unable to diminish the caste differentiations. Musallis140are still discriminated in some Muslim‟s villages, restricted to enter all type of mosques, or to eat with them in a same place despite the denial of caste in Islamic ideology.

In 1881, according to the first census report of the British India,141 there were 3823 Christians in the Punjab, who grew over to 493, 081 in 1947.142 At the advent of twentieth century the Christian population of Punjab was significantly Protestant143 dominated.144 In spite of the demographic growth factors which led increase in Catholic population such as partition of India specially Gurdāspūr was given to India, where

138 Robert Stewart, Life and Work in India, (Philadelphia: Pearl Publishing Co., 1896), 202. 139 Frederick and Margret Stock, People Movements in the Punjab, (Bombay: Gospel Literary Service, 1978): 71-2. 140Musallis are those converted to Islam from the Chuhrās. 141 Based on the ethnographic report of D. Ibbetson on the census of the Punjab, “The Races, Castes, and Tribes of the People,” which was published under the title, Punjab Ethnography, (Calcutta, 1883) and republished as Punjab Castes, (Lahore: Sang-e-Meel, 1994). 142See: John. C. B. Webster, “Christianity in the Punjab,” Missiology: an International Review, 6:4 (1978): 469. 143 Protestants, who were belonged to Presbyterians, Anglicans, and Methodists churches. 144 In 1911, the Protestants were 121,452 as compared to 8002 Catholics, who were increased by 1921 census as 258,049/31,649, in 1931 the returns showed 395,200/ 45,641 and in 1949 an estimated population was 474,369 / 123, 164 (last figures indicated the number of West Pakistani Christian population).

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6.5% Christian population of Punjab,145 the significant Goan (Catholic) population residing in Karachi was counted in the statistics as a whole , the Protestants remained a majority. The Catholics were nearly tripled by 1972 in the West Pakistan but remained 38.5% of the total Christian population146.

Lately in 1978, Webster evaluating the state of Christians of Punjab mentioned, “Even today the number of Punjabi Catholics is so small that one may safely say that Punjabi Christianity is Protestant Christianity.”147 However, the no of Catholics has been continuously growing with a remarkable urbanization trend which is almost half of the entire Christian populace of Pakistan.148

In the West Punjab149 mass conversion started at around 1873 by Presbyterians150 but not joined by the Catholics. The main reason was their being undergoing an entire restructuring. They over took the mission during 1930s151 when both the Flemish Capuchins and Italian Dominicans were joined in their missionary undertakings in the whole area comprising the present dioceses of Faisalabad, Multan, Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Sargodha. Many of the converts during the mass movement became Christians (Īsāi) without being baptized, barely catechized and much less received any education in the faith. The chief motive of that conversion was not doctrinal or following a religious order rather most of the missionary affiliation (if occurred even loosely with either of a missions) was on the basis of geographical location, or family ties, or on account of being impressed by a missionary‟s ability to get things fix like acquiring land in a rural area. This trend has turned into a palpable feature of Punjabi Christianity.

Catholics began in the area of Sialkot where re-baptism was a common practice as the religious loyalties were not very strong. Many times Protestant missionaries paved the way for Catholic Church to baptize in its folds. The poor Catholic masses were not able to get adequate education due to the colonial structure of the Christianity. The schools served only the elite and British soldiery until their leaving in 1947. It was

145 Mostly Protestant. 146 341,231 were Catholics as compared to 886,732 Protestants. These all ratios were based on the population census conducted by Indian government and then the West Pakistan governments and are mentioned by John O‟ Brien , Christians of Pakistan, op. cit. 147 John. C. B. Webster, “Christianity in the Punjab,” Missiology: an International Review , 6:4 (1978): 469. 148 Unlike Indian (East) Punjab and Pakistan as a whole where rural to urban ratio is 72: 28, Christians in East Punjab were 82% rural in 1978 as compared to 50 % urban in Pakistan. See: Pieter H. Streefland , The Sweepers of the Slaughterhouse: Conflict and Survival in a Karachi Neighbourhood, (Van Gorcum, 1979), 36. 149 Which is now part of Pakistan. 150 John O‟Brien, The Construction of Pakistani Christian Identity op. cit 55.2 151 And the current lasted until 1950s according to some writers. See: John O‟ Brien, “The Turn to Catholicism in Pakistani Christianity”, Al-Mushir, 47:3 (2005): 81.

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not only in Punjab but the Goans in Karāchi also used to complain to the Bishop of Bombay for not being given a chance in the Cambridge section of the Catholic schools.

The missionaries worked in specific geographic areas of Punjab (or India to a large extent) according to comity of different denominations, thus resulted in a way that Christians from a specific region embraced a labeled Christianity of that particular denomination. It helped the local Christians to form a harmonious religious affiliation and availability of denominational arrangements at their doorstep but yielded to lack of positive, healthy competition and scarcity for people to choose a denomination themselves.

The mass conversion did not occur after 1930; however a few tribal Hindus of lower castes from the Katchi, Parkari Kholis and Marwaries tribes in interior Sindh were converted to Christianity in the 1990‟s.

2.5 Punjabi Christian Colonies152:

Another salient move of Christian converts and immigrants in the Punjab was part of the canal and railway colonies. In the beginning of the nineteenth century, canals were dug to irrigate the vast uncultivated lands with adjacent settlements for workers and railway colonies were constructed to house the migrant employees. The Belgian Capuchins were the first to lay down the establishment of the Christian colonies for the native converts where they could practice their religion with full vigor. Firstly, Clarkabād was built near Lahore in 1867 after the name of its founding father, Robert Clark. The village of Maryamabād established in 1895, near the Chenab section of the Punjab canal irrigation scheme. The other colonies were constructed after on; Khushpūr (1900), Francisabād (1905), Anthonyabād (1914) and Rahmpūr (1916) becoming the foot stone of mission stations at Lyallpur153 and Sahiwāl154. Many Christian families moved to these colonies at that time.

An estimated number of Christian villages in Pakistan were 53 in 1991,155 where 47 are located in the Punjab. The 80% of the Christians‟ colonies were established by the missionaries. Many of the villages were formed in unfertile and saline land, lacking the irrigation facilities. Thus agriculture means do not suffice for the entire population and many families survive through labor in local industries or working in the fields of other villages. In many villages, land ownership is not legalized and not allotted to the

152 Christian colonies here are referred to those villages and settlements, which were originally allotted in the name of and for the Christian community. 153 Established in 1909. 154 In 1923. 155 Charles Amjad-Ali, et al., Changing Realities in Pakistan and the Church‟s Response, (Rawalpindi: Christian Study Centre, 1991) 46.

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people. The total land holding is in the name of the Church or mission which had founded the village.

2.6 The Christians and the Foundation of Pakistan:

The Christian community didn‟t actively take part in the political movement against the British colonialism in spite of the foundation of the Indian National Congress by a British Christian Allan Octavian Hume in 1885. The Congress was formed as a secular party, joined by the Hind┴s, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs alike, aimed to work for their national interest though both of the Muslims and Christians were organized them lately as in the All India Muslim League (founded in 1906) and the All India Christian Association (incepted in 1942). In the beginning of the freedom movement, the Christians were actually perplexed as the British missionaries were being officially supported by the government, their ministers and churches were considered „alien‟ by the local populace. The Dutch and Scottish missions had to declare themselves not indulging in any political activity, were ambiguous on involvement in the national movement. The leaders like Joshua Fazl-ud-din advised the community to keep its neutrality and cooperate with both of the Hindus and Muslims in individual acts. Elucidating the twofold Christian ideal of neutrality, he mentioned:

“Firstly to maintain our separate entity as a religious community which is pregnant with the belief that it is destined to make important contributions to the social, economic and political structure of our Motherland; secondly, our goal is not to take sides in the present communal strife of the two major communities and thus maintain our ability and availability to the Hindus as well as the Muslims for any and every constructive work.”156

However, there were a few exceptions like Rāja Harnām Singh, Rājkumāri Amrit Kaur, Chaudhry Chandu Lāl, C.E. Gibbon and S. K. Datta but majority of Christians specially who belonged to lower castes remained out of conflict. As late as in 1940s, All India Christian Association, Punjab and All India Christian League, Punjab decided to support All India Muslim League in the election of 1945-46 which would had to decide the partition of India. The All India Christian Association opposed the pro Congress National Christian Association who was working under E.H. Bannerjee. The

156 Joshua Fazl-ud-Din, “Whom Shall the Christians Join?” The Civil and Military Gazette, 26th July,1946. Reprinted in Future of Christians in Pakistan, First edition (Lahore: The Punjabi Darbar Publishing House, 1949), 24.

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three Christian members of provincial assembly voted for Pakistan under the leadership of Diwān Bahādur S.P. Singh157.

At the time of partition many Christians publically manifested cross or declared themselves a follower of Christ to announce their impartiality in order to avoid the mass riots in the Punjab among Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims. However, unluckily a number of Christians suffered stabbing, arson and looting at the hands of both Muslims and Hindus on giving protection to Hindus and Muslims respectively. There were almost insignificant Christian migrations from India to Pakistan. Usually they alleged themselves with the state in which they happen to find them.

2.7 The Christians in Pakistan- An Epoch of a Religious Minority:

Soon after Pakistan came into being, the Objective Resolution was passed in 1949, which had marked the Islamization of the constitution had made Christians suspicious of their identity in a Muslim state. They were not organized and had no institution, remained aloof from the national politics and stayed confined to their own ghettos, tried to nourish and safeguard the faith of young Christian community. However, in the decade of sixty the Church expanded its role and contributed in the socio-economic development of the country. In this era they started participating in the political and parliamentary affairs of the state.158 They were confident to establish their own ecumenical institutions as Christian Study Centre, Rawalpindi and Pastoral Institute, Multan and to begin the Christian-Muslim dialogue.

The period from 1971-1977 was significant for Christians as the pro socialism government nationalized all the private educational institutions including Convent and missionary schools and colleges. An independent ministry for minorities was also formed after the constitution was sanctioned in 1973 which initiated publishing a monthly magazine, „Hamwatan‟, celebrating „Minorities Week‟ all over the country and introducing national awards for artists and writers belonged to the religious minorities.

The Church itself had organized after the nationalization of all its institutions and up surged working for human rights, specially the rights of workers and demanding social justice in the land. The social organizations like Pakistan Christian Industrial Service (PCIS), Caritas Pakistan and Idāra-e-Amn-o-Insāf (Committee for Justice and Peace) were founded. Another remarkable trend emerged after the nationalization of

157 Last speaker of the united Punjab assembly and also was the first speaker of Punjab Assembly after the partition. 158 A strong cause of this change was the enforcement of the second constitution of the country in 1962 which had introduced the system of Basic Democracy and local body members as a fundamental electoral body.

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convent schools, to form a Catechetical Centre to cater the provision of religious education to the Christian students. The public role of Christians was increased in that period by actively participating in national politics and forming a political party to safeguard their political rights.

The church witnessed momentous upsurge in its educational, medical and agricultural projects during 1960s. Development becomes a significant issue in the discussions around the meaning and purpose of missionary work after the papal encyclical Populorum Progressioin 1967 which sums up the phrase: “Development is the new name for peace.”159 Getting an inspiration from these injunctions, and learning from the Latin American liberation theology experience, Caritas Pakistan160 started to concentrate on social education and development of the infrastructure rather only to distribute aid. It also initiated the projects like SALT (Social Awareness and Leadership Training) to educate farmers, laborers, students, teachers, catechist, nurses, women, religious and priests of the forms of oppression and exploitation. The ecumenical organizations as Idāra-e-Amn-o-Insāf aimed to focus on the issues like military rule, islamization, neo-colonialism, and other legal and constitutional revisions.

The Zia-ul-Haq regime (1977-1988) was much significant in the life of minorities, by introducing the Islamic provisions in the constitution, giving them back many of the nationalized schools and introducing the system of separate electorate in the country. The Christians were divided on the government‟s acts to protest or to applaud, which was vehemently appeared in their publications at that time. The Islamization process continued to the next decades through legislation of the Shari‟ah Bill and enactment of the laws of blasphemy and other penalties according to the Islamic fiqh. It was rigorously highlighted and condemned in the Christian circles. Many of the Christian organizations started working together with different NGOs161 demanding the abolition of the Islamic provisions being discriminatory against religious minorities.

2.8 Punjabi Christians in Pakistan:

Punjab is home for the largest Christian population in Pakistan162 as well as the 98% of entire Christian populace in Pakistan is ethnically Punjabi. There are 47 villages of Christians in the Punjab, out of which 17 were established after 1947. The partition in 1947 had brought several changes in the Christian demography and religious

159http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p- vi_enc_26031967_populorum_en.html. Article no: 76. Accessed on 27th July, 2014 160 A worldwide Catholic organization working for public welfare. 161 Non-Government Organizations as SAHI, Dastak, Aurat Foundation etc. 162 The total Christian population in the Punjab is 1, 699,843, of which 946, 711 (56 %) is rural and 753,132 (44%) are urban. Percentage population by religion 1998, Pakistan. Source: Census Report of Pakistan, Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan.

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structure. The strong drift towards urbanization, the challenges of church authority, managing the finances, splitting of the United Presbyterian Church-the largest Protestant denomination, decline in the group conversions and opening access of missions to the states of Bahwalpur, Khairpur, and Swat which were banned during the British rule, were among the gravest turn over.

The very strong urge to indigenize the church grew with the growing number of native Christians after the British left in 1947. Though some portions of the Psalms had been translated in prior163, but the service in Punjabi started later. It enhanced the spiritual impact of the worship, easily grasped and appreciated by the masses providing them more meaningful worship, expressing praise, adoration, thanksgiving, confession and consecration. Almost all Punjabi churches adopted vernacular version of liturgy and mass and had left English.

The church which was mainly providing the chaplaincy service to the British soldiers, the schools, orphanages and hospitals were catering the military needs before the Independence, almost every diocese especially Catholics geared up the social welfare works in different parts of Pakistan. The convent and mission schools, hospitals and dispensaries in rural areas made a well contribution in the expansion and growth of the Christianity in Pakistan. Initially the Catholics concentrated on elite class English medium schools and hospitals unlike the Protestants who opened up the government aided vernacular schools and hospitals for poor. Religious Sisters were invited and requested to run the different schools and hospitals. Sisters of Jesus and Mary arrived in 1856 and established the school in Sialkot. Saint Patrick School was founded in Karachi in 1861. The Church of Scotland had commenced many schools in Sialkot, Wazirabad and Gujrat in 1864. The Presentation Sisters led by Mother Ignatius McDermott ventured in 1895 and opened their first school in Rawalpindi to teach the Christian children of British and Irish army personnel. Later they branched out to several schools in different cities of Pakistan.

The Catholic Church established many orphanages in the second half of the nineteenth century in Lahore, Sialkot and Murree separately for European children, local boys and another for girls. 164

The indulgence of the church in development work in Pakistan and providing the social welfare facilities in the disastrous flooding in 1950s made her mass contact programs worthwhile. The Church World Service (Protestant) and the Catholic Relief Service provide relief services in calamities and opened up new ways of missionary

163 Rev. I. D. Shahbaz, a pastor in Sialkot had translated the Psalms in Punjabi in 1891. By 1916 the Psalter was published and distributed among rural Christians. 164 Saint Anthony was established for Europeans, Saint Francis for boys and Saint Joseph for local girls in Lahore. It was named after Saint Thomas in Murree.

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work. They launch up the attractive schemes to initiate acquiring land and subsidizing the building and occupation of housing colonies. They also initiated agricultural development schemes specifically in Christian villages to train their people to respond to needy fellow beings.

A significant urbanization occurred in Christians after the Independence. Many of them moved to the cities in a hope to get better livelihood, occupied the area wherever they succeeded same as the poor Muslims did. They were the early dwellers of the slums or katchi Abadī, which had no planned infrastructural services. There was no proper church documentation so they joined the denomination on the basis of who approached them first and offered a handsome aid which made them far too dependent on missionary and pastor.165

On the account of historical reasons, including the mass conversion from low Hindu casts to Christianity, ethnic background, majority of Christians involved in doing menial jobs, the socio-economic status of majority of the Christian community is low. They do not share the upward mobility of other Christians because of their immersion in certain nether professions and social marginalization. Only an estimated 10% of them are landholders, businessmen, lawyers etc. and the rest of the majority about 70% are sweepers (chuhras) who are deprived of education and the economic opportunities. A dichotomy even exists in the schools, run by church herself. The Christians dwelled in bastīs sometimes fail to get admission in the English medium convent schools on the basis of their socio-economic status (poverty or weakness in English.166

2.9 Religious Organization and Education:

The Catholic Church was built up in Lahore in 1852 and then in Siālkot in the following year. A vicariate was created in 1887 and Kashmir and whole northern areas were placed under Mill Hill fathers.

The Lahore diocese was established in 1886, Multan in 1939, which was extended up to the states of Bahawalpur and Muzaffargarh, Jhang, Lyallpur and Sargodha which later became part of different dioceses. Rawalpindi got the status in 1947 covering the whole northern part of Pakistan including provinces of NWFP (then) and Kashmir. The diocese of Lyallpur (now Faisalabad) was erected in 1960. Karachi became a diocese in 1948 and Hyderabad in 1958.

165 See: Louis Mascarenhas, “Historical Development of Ecumenism- History of the Development of the Catholic Church,” in The Christian Church in Pakistan: A Vision for the 21st Century, edited by Dominic Moghal and Jennifer Jivan, (Rawalpindi: Christian Study Centre, 1997) 28-32. 166 Hamid Henry highlighted in his short treatise. See: “English Schools and the Community” Focus 4:1 (1984) 58-60.

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Denominationally the Roman Catholics constitute about 55% of the whole Christian community, and the rest are divided among different Protestant denominations. Among the Protestants the Church of Pakistan was formed in 1970 (a united church comprising of the old Anglicans, American Methodists, Scottish Presbyterians and Scandinavian Lutherans) , followed closely by the American Presbyterians, and the rest are from different Evangelical Churches. The Catholic church of Pakistan and The Church of Pakistan both have eight dioceses each in Pakistan.167 The Church of Pakistan has a Bishop for Gulf ministries as well.

In 1870, Lahore Divinity School was founded to educate and train the local clergy. It had detailed courses on Church history, learning Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament, taught in Urdu. The basic theme was to enable the preachers to deliver sermons and impart religious education in a Muslim dominated area of Punjab.168 A seminary (Christ the King Seminary) was founded in Karachi, staffed by both Franciscans and Dominicans, which provided and trained the religious ministry throughout Pakistan for decades.

The minor Catholic seminaries were started in Lahore (1951) and Quetta (1952) coping the need to educate the local clergy.

Gujranwala Theological Seminary is the largest Protestant seminary in Pakistan. It was developed from a casual part time Theological School opened up in 1877 in Sialkot to an organized Union Seminary. Initially it was run by United Presbyterian but reconstituted in 1954 as a Protestant seminary offering training to priests and pastors of all sects.

Many missions in Pakistan preserve historic archives, but the most significant set of printed archives is found in the Gujranwala Theological Seminary Library. It is equipped with a good collection of theological studies containing Biblical Studies, Christian Doctrine, apologetics, Missiology, Church history, Pastoral theology as well as Mission reports of nineteenth century, British India s census reports, and a good number of documents related to Asian church‟s history.

167 See: Appendix 3. 168It is mentioned by the founding director, Father French in the history preserved by the Church Missionary Society. See : J. Slomp, “A Theological College in Lahore” in Al-Mushīr 12:9-10 (1970).

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2.10 Christian Study Centers- An Overview:

The inception of study centers in Muslim countries is not confined to Pakistan but it has been associated with the historic process of building Christian-Muslim relationships and evangelization in the lands with Muslim population.169A Christian Study Centre has some specific characteristics, which were once elaborated by Father Jacques Levart in his report on the Christian Study Centers in Muslim Countries that:

“Study Centers are institutions established in Muslim countries by a Christian community for pursuing studies which prepare that community for cultural and religious dialogue with Muslims.”170

The earliest established center was the Institut des Belles Lettres Arabes (IBLA), in Tunisia, in 1927 by Roman Catholic priests. It did not aim at religious dialogue yet it provides a well consortium of Tunisian Muslims and Christians to construct and reinforce mutual understanding. The review journal IBLA has been publishing since 1937 predominantly consisting articles on Islam and Tunisian culture and very few contributions from Christian community.

In 1930, the Henry Martin Institute of Islamic Studies (HMI) was founded in Lahore by the “National Council of Churches in India,” a Protestant institute serving Catholics simultaneously. It was primarily sought to let Christians understand Islam and to fulfill their missionary duties.171 Later,172 during the Vatican II they included the promotion of dialogue in their strategies and “confrontation” was replaced by “conversation”. They also publish journals in English and Urdu and published many other books in local languages on Islam, Christianity and interfaith dialogue.

The Institut Dominicain d‟ Etudes Orientales (IDEO) was founded in 1944 in Cairo to bridge between East and West. It has been serving as a Dominican center in the heart of Arab world, had several publications mainly in French on Islam and Muslim- Christian relations. Initially it worked as a research center with a vast collection in its library, had very little connection with local Coptic community, yet gradually their involvement has been increasing.

169 This is somewhat debating whether study centers in the Muslim world are extending the evangelism. Most of them deny it and has not set up evangelization, a part of their publicized aims and objectives. Simultaneously, authors like Frederick and Margret Stock while mentioned the evangelism among Muslims , referred to different approaches and methods, included the Christian Study Centre, saying: “ In 1967 the Christian Study Centre was established in Rawalpindi to interpret the Muslim faith to Christians and train them in more effective ways of witnessing to Muslims;…. They believe a low-key approach to evangelism among Muslims will bear more fruit in the long run.” People Movements in the Punjab, op.cit., 200. 170 Jacques Levrat, Christian Study Centers in Muslim Countries, summary of a doctoral thesis published in Al- Mushir 26: 3&4 (1984): 173. 171 Ibid 175 172 In 1963.

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The center, Centre d‟EtudesDiocésain, was founded in Alger by the Roman Catholic Church in 1966. A journal Revue des Revues has been published by the theological section of the center, who also offers distant learning theological courses. This center has a translation department for translation from Arabic to French and vice versa as well as a cultural center publishing books and a Revues de Presse (press review).

In 1977, an Institut d‟Etudes Islamo-Chrétiennesi was established in Beirut as a department of Saint Joseph‟s University which was run by Jesuits but included faculty from different denominations. They also hired the Sunni Muslim professors, started dialogue in a way that the same subject was taught by Muslim and Christian teachers, giving each other‟s insights to students. The local community did not welcome such method but it turned out to be beneficial for mutual understanding and better communication. Beirut has other institutes involved in Muslim-Christian dialogue as “Middle East Council of Churches” and “Near East School of Theology” as well.

Another Université Pontificale: Vidyajyoti was formed by Jesuits in Delhi, India having a theological faculty in 1977 comprised of a whole section devoted to Islamic Studies. Few Muslims participated in the courses with Christians. A journal, books and conferences are maintained as regular activities of the center.

I have consulted the publications of the following Pakistani Christian institutes; hence a brief introduction is mentioned here.

2.11.1 Christian Study Centre in Pakistan: Christian study Centre, Rawalpindi Pakistan173 is an ecumenical institute formed as a Pakistani extension of the historic Henry Martin School, Aligarh.174 Soon after the partition of India, Christians of Pakistan urged to build up an institution on the similar grounds to cater the needs of local community and to promote the interfaith relations. Initially, the Committee for the Study of Religion and Society of the West Pakistan Christian Council 175 discussed the foundations of such a center in 1951. The Christian Study Centre was actually formed in 1967 with an overwhelming interest in the following arena:

1) To assist the Churches in Pakistan in their attempt to gain a better understanding of the relationship between Islam and Christianity and the particular nature of their calling as churches in a Muslim state.

173 The complete name is Christian Study Centre- Centre for the Promotion of Interfaith Dialogue and Social Harmony. 174 Now Henry Martin Institute: International Centre for Research, Interfaith Relations, Reconciliation, situated at Hyderabad, India. 175 Now renamed as, the National Council of Churches in Pakistan.

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2) To undertake and encourage academic research into Islam and Christianity in Pakistan and their relationship. 3) To encourage dialogue, between Christians and Muslims to foster mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence and promote cooperation in various spheres of nation building.

A number of activities are part of center‟s annual program to fulfill its objectives as launching publications, maintaining a research library, arrangement of seminars and running the training program for the Christian community in the name of Institute of Theology and Christian Formation. Promotion of interfaith harmony and emphasis on dialogue are the Centre‟s foremost fundamental concerns.

The Centre has been working to develop the contextual (local) theology which is “contextually sound and emancipator in focus also reaches out to the broader society.”176

Dialogue is another prime focus of the Center‟s activities. Christine Amjad Ali177 mentioned in an interview the significance of dialogue to maintain the identity of a minority community like Christians and to resume its socio-religious fabric178. Elucidating the center‟s three approaches towards dialogue i.e.; Dialogue of Mind, Dialogue of Life and Dialogue of Hearts, she says:

“The former one is important but yet not very much in practice in Pakistan.179 Dialogue of life includes cooperating and working with social welfare organizations and NGOs to improve the quality of life and the social and economic status of the people. The Dialogue of Hearts is the foremost important process carried on at the level of people belonged to different religious groups to build understanding and harmony among each other. It makes all the social work a very spiritual act, making the participants to tolerate, respect the values and beliefs of other communities.”

Al-Mushīr is the center‟s quarterly bilingual theological journal having particular insights on Christian-Muslim relations, interfaith dialogue, minority rights and, theology in context of Muslims majority and Pakistani identity.180 I have extensively consulted the journal to learn the community‟s stance on various issues.

176 Dominic Moghal , “Building the Kingdom of God on Earth with special reference to Pakistan through the Work of the Christian Study Centre,” in Al-Mushīr 43:2 (2001): 46. 177 The then Director, Christian Study Center, Rawalpindi. 178 Conducted on 10th of June, 2014. 179 The Dialogue of Mind means reflecting on the religious resources like scriptures and tradition, and creating a critical consciousness among people in order to help them building the Kingdom of God. 180 The introduction of Christian Study Centre is based on its brochure published in 2013 and reviewing the annual reports of years 2004, 2006, and 2010.

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The overall survey of these centers in the Muslim‟s lands reveals that promotion of dialogue has become their foremost objective to address Muslims and to build up relations with Muslims. Some of them were established as the chairs of Islamic Studies or Arabic at an university whereas most of them were founded and developed as ecumenical centers to formulate new styles of relationships after the theological changes within the church itself proposed at the Vatican II (1962-1965). Another common element is their being established by the Western denominations and not by the local church. The indigenous community had adopted and contributed in the centers very late. Still they need to work to increase their impact and relations in the community of the believers.

The study centers develop relationships with Muslims by providing access to their libraries, through the contribution or subscription of their journals, or they either attend or are invited to deliver lectures and build up the relations at personal level. However, sometimes socio-political situation has made both Muslims and Christians getting cautious of each other. Like the historic periods of colonialism and proselytism, fear of secularization and materialism and issue of blasphemy laws in Pakistan.

2.11.2 Pastoral Institute, Multan:181 The Pastoral institute, Multan182 was established in 1968 for pastoral and catechetical studies in the Diocese of Multan, to train primarily the mission personnel (bishops, priests, brothers and sisters) and their co-workers in the apostolate, catechists, teachers, boarding masters, boarding mistresses, and lay leaders. This is a multi- functional Catholic institute started working with following eight centers in 1971:

An Instruction Centre helps to supplement the religious knowledge of catechists, teachers, boarding masters, etc. The Formation Centre encourages the development of correct attitudes in the trainees and to train them effective techniques to carry out their job. Thirdly, a Pastoral-Work Centre which provides the trainees orientation between received training and individual apostolic work as well as evaluates the effectiveness of various methods. The Production Centre supplies the material for use by the mission people and their co-workers. An Experimental Centre administers the liturgical and apostolic methods. The Contact Centre remains in close contact with other institutes to build better communication and to get benefit of their development and catechists. It is associated by the Islamic Centre, collecting information on Islam, working on dialogue

181 The information is collected from the various issues of the journal of the institute, Focus. See for instance: FOCUS on the Pastoral Institute, Multan, 8:5 (1979). 182 It is one of the five pastoral organizations in Pakistan led by catholic church including Catechetical Centre(Karachi), Dārul Kalām (Lahore), Pastoral Centre (Rawalpindi) and Catechists‟ Training Centre (Khushpūr).

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and Christian- Muslim relationships. The Research Centre coordinates all the other centers and also publishes the journal Focus.

The activities of the institute include different courses for catechists and religious leaders, conducting seminars and meetings and an intercommunity formation program to enhance the belonging to the community by offering common liturgical celebrations, meals and accommodations for living together. The regular publications of the Pastoral Institute include a journal in English language, Focus183 and in Urdu, Acha Charwāhā (Good Shepherd), as well as a number of booklets and reports of different religious conferences and synods held in Pakistan. Both of these journals are not meant to be theological journals, nevertheless contain a good amount of theological and catechetical articles as well as include matters of significance for the church in Pakistan. A well number of essays are republished from various theological journals and church associations abroad.

2.12 A Survey of the Major Publications of Christians (Catholic and Protestant) in the Punjab:

Christian publications include those print and electronic materials which are published or casted by the Church of Pakistan or Catholic Church of Pakistan or any of the editorial board affiliated with any denomination. The very first press was established by the Capuchin missionaries to publish prayers and catechesis in the native languages in 1922. It was named as Catholic Publishing House, later known as Punjab Vernacular Catholic Truth Society which embarked upon publishing prayer hymns, lives of saints, religious and apologetic books in Urdu and Punjabi. The early Catholic literature was mostly translated from Latin, depicting Roman liturgical settings, consisting solely of the religious matters, and the articles and poems about Christmas, Easter, the lives of saints and Christian morality. Still it is not very much related to the real life of believers and their sufferings.

A number of publication centers and media production organizations were founded lately in 1970s after Pakistan came into being, which published religious literature, catechetical text books, periodicals and launched electronic products as cassettes, compact discs, DVDs etc. The renowned publishing centers include National Commission for Mass Media (since 1979), Catholic Literature Board (since 1975), Catechetical Centre, Karachi (involved in publication since 1980), Maktaba-e-Anāvīm, Karachi and Mariamabad (since 1988), Pakistan Catholic Press Association (since

183 In the beginning it was published bi-monthly with a Focus Supplement in alternate months. Later probably around 1978 it became a quarterly journal of the Pastoral Institute, but has been published quite irregularly since 2005.

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1987), South Asian Christian Writers Association and Masihī Isha‟at Khāna, Lahore. Catholic Broadcasting Association, Lahore(1956), Radio Veritas (stationed in the Philippines aimed at evangelizing Asian countries producing Urdu programs since 1987), Good News Television (internet based channel run by Archdiocese of Karachi), Issac TV and Jesus Christ Television are among various electronic media established and being run by either church or laymen producing faith based religious programs. Wave studio established by the Catholic Bishops‟ Conference in 1976, has been providing audio video recording facilities since its formation.

2.12.1 Publications by Church: The very first magazine published in Lahore was the weekly Catholic News of Lahore, in 1914 primarily focused for the English Catholic community. However, it was ceased to publish in 1966 after completing its golden jubilee. In 1929, the Urdu fortnightly Catholic Naqeeb (Catholic Herald) began to publish for local community including news and catechetical articles.

The Rawalpindi diocese started publishing an Urdu magazine, „Acha Charwāhā (The Good Shepherd) in 1936 for religious teachers and catechists. Later, it was handed over to Multan diocese and is now being published by the Pastoral Institute, Multan. The same institute launched a scholarly journal Focus, containing research articles on specific topics like contextual theology, interreligious dialogue, minority identity, mission, and church service. It has extended half of its readership to foreign countries and reprinted a quarter of its all published stuff from the sources, unavailable to majority of Pakistani readers. Appeared up thrice a year, it is supplemented by Focus documentation which includes reports, minutes of church meetings, and news of the church in Pakistan.

In 1988, a religious-cum–secular magazine Shālom (Peace) was embarked on by Rawalpindi diocese serving the needs of Pastoral center, Rawalpindi. Another magazine namely Sha‟ur (Consciousness) on the same grounds was started by the Faisalabad Diocese. Al-Mushīr is published by the Christian Study Centre, Rawalpindi as an ecumenical theological research journal. Caritas Pakistan184 has launched a monthly newsletter Caritas, projecting the underneath philosophy of the organization and highlighting its various activities. The Spirituality and Theology Commission brings out a monthly magazine, Umīd–e-Nau (New Hope) in Urdu.185

184 A welfare organization founded by the Catholic Church of Pakistan. 185 There are other journals and magazines published by various institutes in Karachi disseminating their objectives and projecting their different activities. The oldest one is an English weekly Christian Voice, an official newspaper of the Karachi Archdiocese. Jars (A Bell) is a bilingual (Urdu and English) journal published by Christ the King Seminary. The Catechetical Centre brings out Baidār (Awaken) in Urdu and

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There are few periodicals brought out by the laymen focusing on the socio- political arena of Christian community such as Ham Sukhan, Tajdeed (Renewal) in Urdu and Minorities View in English.

The last ten years have witnessed the number of electronic journals and news posts being run by organizations and mostly by the human rights activists, individuals and free-lance journalists. Pakistan Christian Post is an example, claimed itself a voice of poor and oppressed Christians, who are “victims of Muslim majority and Church administration”.186

--*---*---*--

It is evident that Christians of Punjab have maintained their religious existence as an indigenous group, rooted in the soil. They continue developing their social, economic, political and religious life as the citizens of Pakistan, since 1947. This study is focused on the exploration and description of their religious enterprise, in different dimensions.

Update in English. Furthermore Ecumenical Pakistan Christian Industrial Service publishes a house journal PCIS Newsletter. A widely read magazine Jafākashis published by an ecumenical organization, Idāra-e- Amn-o-Insāf promoting Christian Muslim dialogue among human rights activist groups, lawyers, journalists, trade unions and workers. They publish a newsletter in English for expatriate readers. 186http://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/vieweditorial.php?editorialid=84. Accessed on 2nd July, 2014.

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Chapter 3: RELIGIOUS COMMITMENT OF THE CHRISTIANS IN THE PUNJAB: MAGNITUDE AND DIMENSIONS

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Commitment is the belonging and involvement of a person with a particular phenomenon. Religious Commitment is his utmost affiliation with his religion; which is the cumulative speculation of his belief and practice. The religious commitment is manifested in personal faith, individual‟s behavior, his indulgence in local customs and applying social norms. In the beginning of this research I have tried to maintain the popular insights of religious commitment. However, what do the Pakistani Christians understand by “religious” and what is referred by “commitment” according to their perspective is determined here.

Religion, a Latin originated term, etymologically comprises of faith, trust and belief. A staunch believer in his brief description of religion enunciated it to maintaining a subtle and strong relationship among the three. The core purpose of religion is to strengthen the “relationship of the Creator with His creation”187 as He had created Adam and Eve, built a fellowship with them, walked and talked to them.188

Pascal Robert189 mentioned “religious” as a substantive narrative where God must be the focus of individual existence and his will. He says,

“Religious are, men and women consecrated to God, who, by being in union with the Divine, nurture in themselves, through an on-going process of conversion and submission, their commitment to Divine plans for themselves and for their fellow human beings.”190

Father Robert has viewed the objective of religious life is to reflect God in the life, through words, action and inter-relationships, which results in an ideal religious life confirming the good and challenging every evil in the society.

187 Asif Mr. “The Only Way to God” in Pakistan Christian Post http://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/vieweditorial.php?editorialid=84 . Accessed on 3rd July, 2014. 188 The author pointed here to the Genesis 3:8. 189 Dr. Father Pascal Robert is a Franciscan Priest and served as the Academic Dean of the National Catholic Institute of Theology, Karachi. 190 Pascal Robert OFM, The Way, the Truth and the Life – Christian Commitment in Pakistan: Biblical and Theological Reflections, ( Karachi: National Catholic Institute of Theology, 2007) 91.

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Anthony Lobo191maintained the “religious” finds its ways in the postmodern world in its adherence to well-defined Biblical world view based firmly on the Holy Trinity that is to live a meaningful life, synthesized by the Bible. He made an example of the Blessed Virgin Mary, becomes a role model of the “religious,” inferred from both the Old and New Testaments.192

“Religious,” here is used in a confined connotation stands as a synonym of “ministry”.

191 Bishop Anthony Lobo of Rawalpindi- Islamabad was general secretary of the Pakistan Bishop‟s Conference. 192 See: Anthony Lobo, “Religious Life in the Post-modern Culture,” Focus, 20:3 (2000): 221-224.

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3.1 Christian View of Religious Commitment:

A lay person thinks of commitment as his belonging to the kingdom of God irrespective of denominational differences. When he proclaims:

“I am proud to be a part of this church [The Church of Pakistan]. I cannot take things for granted. I have to struggle for my faith and practice. This is what has helped people to grow.”193

It manifests his affiliation, and assertion of religion, as a cleric depicts his rapport in a manner:

“Church growth should not be counted or weighed in terms of conversions from Islam or Hinduism. It is the amount of participation of believers in the life of the society. It is the level of commitment and sacrifice. The sacrificial role of the clergy of the Church in Pakistan is something to be proud of in the development of the Church.”194

Religious commitment is vehemently integrated with faith, which itself implies spirituality as a foundation, encompassing the inner personal religious contemplations as well as the external behavior and social manifestations. God himself has made an absolute commitment to all humanity by crucifying His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him would never be perished. Father Achilles deSouza195 describes religiosity in terms of “wholeness,” “a response of the whole person to God‟s initiative”196, where wholeness is significant to include mind, soul, free choice and action of a faithful believer. He mentioned:

“Faith calls for spirituality in the believer, since spirituality implies the way we recognize God in our lives and welcome and respond to this action upon us. … [It] involves our head, heart and hands.”197

193Pervaiz Sultan, “Historical Development of Ecumenism – History of the Development of the Church of Pakistan” in Dominic Moghal and Jennifer Jivan , The Christian Church in Pakistan: a Vision for the 21st Century, (Rawalpindi: Christian Study Centre, 1997) 25. 194 Moghal and Jivan , The Christian Church, 26 195 He was a professor of Islam and philosophy at Christ the King Seminary, Karachi. 196 Achilles deSouza, “Religiosity,” Focus, 4 (1988): 199. 197 DeSouza, “Religiosity,”199.

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Commitment is to surrender the whole life to God‟s commandments. The old parable of a hen and a hog conjures up the religious commitment, which saw the church sign saying, “Help feed the hungry”. The hen noticed it and said, “That‟s a good idea. Let‟s help. Let‟s give eggs and ham.” The hog replied, “It‟s easy for you to suggest, but for me it is a total commitment.” This is to sacrifice whole life in the cause of God. The women mentioned in the story of Elijah who gave away their last meal and who donated all the coins in the Temple before Jesus and never wailed actually upheld the utmost precedent of pure commitment to God.198 Jesus himself taught the disciples the worth of giving one‟s all belongings to Him is the paramount commitment, grace and generosity. Mark reads,

“And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”199

Eugene Peterson commented on that, “all the others gave what they would never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn‟t afford. She gave her all.”200 And this depicts the core of religious commitment.

“Commitment is dedicating the whole life out of love of God, in the service of the Gospel, and to share the mystery of Christ‟s love through media”, says Sister Thomasine201 asserting her lifelong passion to live for God. “I have left the household and my kindred for the sake of God in a same manner as girls leave the house of their father when get married. Now I have the whole community of sisters and brothers in

198 1 Kings 17:7-24. 199 Mark 12:41-44. 200 The sermon delivered by Canon Patrick P. Augustine published as “The 22nd Sunday after Pentecost” in Pakistan Christian Post, http://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/vieweditorial.php?editorialid=84. Accessed on 3rd July, 2014. 201 An FSP sister (Daughters of Saint Paul), serving in the Bishop‟s House, Lalkurti, Rawalpindi.

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faith. This is all by my own choice and I love the way I opted.” Here commitment is the consecrated life whose objective is to “live Jesus and to give Jesus to the world”.202

Missionaries and evangelists exercise their utmost commitment in the works of proclamation the Word of God and running different organizations of social welfare in health and education sectors. The Presentation Sisters reached Pakistan in 1895, with the ambition of their founder, Nano Nagle:

“[I]f I could be of service in any part of the world, I would willingly do all in my power”203

Sacrifice, bearing hardships and striving endlessly are the certain characteristics of religious commitment. Monica, a Presentation Sister vindicated on the 100th anniversary of Presentation Sisters:

“The past hundred years tells the story of a small band of women who striving to remain faithful to Nano‟s vision were willing to change course as the needs of the day demanded. We salute those who have gone before us and we rejoice in a growing number of local vocations. We thank God for the thousands of lives entwined in the hundred years, lives enriched by the efforts of a small group of women who had taken „the less traveled path‟ and chosen to make a difference.”204

Their personal lives and multiple projects across Pakistan are a vivid example of commitment to their cause. Pascal Robert paid his tribute to them:

“I have learned a lot from the lives of so many missionaries both past and present. Their selfless service and dedication to the people of God, their love for the Word of God, their devotion and reverence for worship and the sacraments and their witness through various ministries of the Church were a concrete inspiration for me.”205

202Interview with Sister Thomasine on 9th July, 2014. 203 Mentioned by Sister Monica PBVM, “A Hundred Year of Presentation Presence in Pakistan,” Focus Supplement, 1 (1996): 61-63. 204 Monica PBVM, “A Hundred Year of Presentation Presence…” 161-163. 205 Pascal Robert OFM, The Way, the Truth and the Life – Christian Commitment in Pakistan Biblical and Theological Reflections ( Karachi: National Catholic Institute of Theology, 2007 ) 6

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It also elucidates the different dimensions of commitment in a devoted religious life including firm faith in the Trinity and the Scripture, the observance of sacraments and the practical outcome of this faith through Church ministry.

The Daughters of Saint Paul are extensively associated with publication and media production (both electronic and print) in Pakistan. They are the consecrated women who have a hard working life solely dedicated to communicate Christ‟s love to all people. Sister Thomasine expounds on her religious life, saying:

“We offer our choices and our freedom in obedience to Christ by putting all our energies together discerning and collaborating in our daily life and mission.” She further added, “It [religious life] leads us to surrender every security and support and to trust wholeheartedly in Jesus- who emptied himself for our sake.”206

The devotion of Fathers, Brothers and Sisters celebrate their rootedness in God, who is love207, in the Gospel, in Jesus‟ call, and in his mission through the Holy Spirit.

3.2 Socio-Religious Factors Shaping the Christian’s Religious Formation:

Religion is a continuing process deeply rooted in a specific social context. Pakistani religion is discerned with certain tribal, agricultural and industrial nuances equally impinge on Christianity and Islam. The three factors caused different religious patterns in both the communities.

Customs and traditions are essentially embodied in a tribal religious ambience emphasizing a holistic orthopraxy (right action). The role of specialized functionary is limited in tribal religion yet it serves as major bedrock of group solidarity. The tribal impact is apparent in the sacrament of marriage in the clan of Parkari Kohlis in interior Sindh.

206 She has mentioned in an open-ended interview conducted on 9th July, 2014. 207 As depicted in 1 John 4:16: “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

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Agricultural development fostered a stratification of society and division of labor, emerging the various social classes such as rulers, peasants, merchants, soldiers. It is characterized by antecedent religious institutions (temple, church, and mosque), ritual performance, restoring pathways to salvation and seeking ways to build strong relationship with the divine. Agricultural religion is symbolized with precocious ritual performance, contemplation, dedication, sacrifice and fervor. Here orthodoxy (emphasizes on uniformity of doctrine with insistence on righteous practice) coincides orthopraxy. Agricultural impact is manifested in the colonial feudal church structures and deep rooted baradari system specifically in the Punjab.

The advancement in technology and rapidly growing electronic communication has shaped the industrial religion. Globalization has increased religio-cultural diversity with a strong multi-national economic factors paved the way to develop pluralism. The need to tolerate the „Other‟ and build a respect for differences sounds high across the globe, thus influencing the classical religious structures. A trend of accepting diversity within the totality of world religions and within the confines of a single religion is cultivated. The modern religion in the Pakistani Christian context began to face and acknowledge this diversity among them. They readily accept the cross cultural pattern of Christianity in local context as well as admit the differences in their sacramental practices. The indigenous flavor is more apparent in diverse liturgies, change in rituals as a variety of hymns, ordinations to priesthood and other professions. DeSouza has signified the local character, writing,

“[T]he newer approach to religions and cultural symbolism has taken away the „universal‟ character of symbolism, and brought a more, individual, local character to the symbol.”208

The local religion is gradually surging up the acceptance of different ways of prayers and prayer-life. The Bible and charismatic prayer groups have learnt to endure the dissenting beliefs and practices acknowledging that all are participating in a larger world community of faithful. Inter faith and inter-denominational groups are increased

208 Achilles deSouza, “Religiosity,” Focus, 4 (1988): 209.

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in number as well as in significance eventually broaden one‟s vision of truth, so as to accommodate all other truths. They recognize individual‟s freedom to approach God through a particular dimension of faith. The socio-cultural and ethnic patterns influence the sacramental structure, the occidental style of liturgies, acts of worship and rituals.

Here, the conversion of Punjabi Christians from the outcastes must not be overlooked. They were the most deprived class, devoid of any respectful status, social prestige, appropriate education and economic liberty. Their religion was also in control of feudal masters and religious clerics, which was not a dynamic, binding force for them (as Weber and Durkheim viewed); rather it served an agent of keeping status quo (Marxist approach). The Christians belonged to poor socio-economic class who are largely brick-kiln and sanitation workers were historically in poor status. Getting less opportunity of education, health and other basic facilities, they seldom urge to improve their condition. They are exploited by the landlords, who provide loans and financial assistance (though sometimes very nominal) as Muslims and Hindus in Punjab and Sindh are suffered of socio-economic injustice. Some Protestant fundamentalist churches (usually based in the United States) and Bah┐is have penetrated in these communities, which are considered alarming by both Catholics and the Church of Pakistan.

PatrasYusaf209 has analyzed their religion and noticed an important social factor of clan-centeredness:

“Hence, rather than religion-centered, they were clan-centered. Not God and his law, but the clan, the biradari, was the touchstone of morality: good or virtuous is whatever promotes its well-being; evil or sinful whatever does harm to it.”210

The primitive religious settings can be traced presently in spite of their entrance to Christianity as a sheer dichotomy of observance in the church and in their own cultural life. They believe in Jesus as a Savior, but not in his uniqueness, thus revered

209 Bishop of Multan diocese 210PatrasYusaf, “Community: The Place where Theology is made,” Focus, 4:1 (1984): 20.

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and prayed to Him as one of their gods. The alienation of church and common folk has led to manifest certain patterns of belief, ritual, religious experience and the theology itself. The difference also occurred in their behavior inside their clan and in their dealings with the outside world. The disputes often ignite the aggression among people of the same clan and the violent outburst in cases. But their submissive and humble attitude towards other is a marked contrast even towards their hated masters and oppressors.

The missionaries‟ methodology to win the converts by offering them the material aids had made them „financial liberators‟, not the consecrated holy men, who proclaim the spiritual hope of salvation. The people in Punjabi Christian villages look at the Church for helping them financially and then revered their homage to those holy and sacred men which held these seats for ages. For many of them a Hindu sage or a Muslim pīr is still holding spiritual reverence.

The social structures maintained in the clan or birādarī were replaced by missionaries, without intensely knowing its strata and importance to villagers. They started to organize new community of the church and its adjacent institutions, which remained a foreign element to the masses. Both of the traditional pattern and the newly introduced church structure are not interrelated and supportive to each other. The dichotomy still exists in the Christian villages. A Christian would go to church and priest for his spiritual satisfaction as a religio-cultural norm and seeks his clan for customary matters like wedding. The marriages are arranged according to the traditional customs; the couple would appear before priest if he insists, oblige him and then celebrate outside the church with his own community.

The leadership and authority in villages is not achieved on the basis of certain competence obtained through learning, rather on practical wisdom gained through experience. Neither the educational system nor the leadership structure, offered by the missionaries, was indigenized in the local culture. The people consider themselves disassociated with the priest-who has replaced the authority, and was selected outside their community, in a diocese who is based on a foreign structure. The education system

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is also established as an external development, breaking down and undermining the traditional culture.

Christians tried to assimilate the modifications as “the Christian way of life is to destroy nothing but to bless all that is noble in the national inheritance of a people by adaptation and by infusing it with the spirit of the Cross. That is what Christian nations have done all the world over in respect of the culture and national traditions of their motherland.”211

Now a significant middle (lower middle and middle-middle) class of Christians is growing in the cities. They are educated migrants from villages, teachers, nurses, mid-level clerical workers, pharmaceutical representatives, and low level personnel in different state and private service entrepreneur as police, armed forces, railway, mass media institutions, etc. Some of the Christians are highly educated doctors, and professors who are not at variance with other fellow citizens of different faiths. The recruitment as Middle East Labor has brought drastic financial change in Punjabi Christian families. 4-5% of the community is estimated to work in the Middle East.212 Majority of the middle class Christians was protestant until the beginning of 1980s except the Goans and Anglo-Indians.

Furthermore, Muslims perceive the fact of association and patronage of Christians, by the colonial rulers was an obnoxious stain in their history. They had adopted certain western customs and western names and were considered the remnants of foreign rulers. It has made them to feel like strangers in their own land.

The Muslim‟s urge to Islamize the constitution, economics and social culture in Pakistan is not welcomed by the Christian community. As the Islamization process got momentum in the decades of 1980s and 1990s, it has augmented their fears of being mistreated. They became more suspicious of their identity and future as they were anxious in 1947. A faith in the distinction between God and Caesar, made it difficult for

211 Joshua Fazl-ud-Din, Future of Christians in Pakistan, First edition, (Lahore: The Punjabi Darbar Publishing House, 1949), 17. 212 Charles Amjad-Ali, Changing Realities in Pakistan, op.cit, 56.

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Christians to build an affinity towards overwhelming Muslim‟s aspiration of legitimizing public role of religion.

Thus the religion for Christians has become a privatized religion, in which they seek solace and consolation by the faith in suffering Jesus.

3.3 The Doctrinal Dimension of Religious Commitment: a Punjabi Christian Model:

The doctrine consists of church teaching in all its many forms, “which is intended not only to communicate orthodox beliefs but also to feed Christian life and worship.”213 It involves strength of religious beliefs and dogmas like views about Trinity, world, man, importance of religion for a person, life after death, faith in miracles and super natural beings.

Trinity and Christology are the core principles of the religious life.

3.3.1 The Holy Trinity: Trinity, the mystery of one God in three distinct persons; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is the prime doctrine focused in Christian dogma. Every Christian is baptized “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”214 Matthew narrated the injunction of Jesus to disciples:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”215

Trinity is also mentioned in the Gospel as:

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.”216

213 Gerald O‟Collins, S.J and Edward G. Farrugia, S.J, A Concise Dictionary of Theology, (New Jersey: Paulist Press, 2000), 66. 214 Daughters of Saint Paul, The Book of Common Prayers, (Lahore: Saint Paul Communication Centre, 2011), 47. 215 Matthew 28: 19, 20

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It has been a fundamental part of Christian theology, commented and elucidated by theologians of every era. Pakistani Christians do relate trinity in their daily conversation, folk lore in addition to its practice in liturgy. Religious hymns among other literature produced by laymen as well as clergy are a well depiction of people‟s commitment to their faith.

Belief is depicted lucidly in A Temple Prayer:

“O holy and blessed trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, have mercy upon us,

O Christ arise and help us,

Lest we forget our brother in chains, Chevalier Pervez Masih, who languishes in prison in Sialkot,

O Christ arise and help us,

O Christ help us endure until the end,

O Lord, your Holy Servant Saint Bernard assured the Templars that to live for Christ was glory, and to die for Him was gain,…. ”

The long poem ends up with the lyrics:

“We beseech you to help us love the Holy Trinity with all our Heart, all our soul, all our mind and with all of our strength.

We beseech you, good Lord!

Help us to serve and sustain your persecuted church, so that the gates of hell may not prevail against it,…”217

The pure and staunch faith in God leads a believer to live a committed life. Another poet F.M. Kaifī mentioned the salvation through Christ, the Son of God who is

216 2 Corinthians 13: 14 217 Mentioned by Rev. Canon Patrick P. Augustine, “The 22nd Sunday after Pentecost” in Pakistan Christian Post, http://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/vieweditorial.php?editorialid=84. Accessed on 3rd July, 2014.

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the Light, the Word of God, gives life to all believers and makes an end to the sufferings of the poor and the diseased. He declared Him the head of all prophets218 who followed Jesus in His ministry.219

There are influences of previously held Hindu doctrine and prevailing dominant Muslim culture in shaping the Punjabi Christians‟ doctrine. The deeply rooted caste division and clan stratification is a strong factor, describing their certain beliefs and behavioral attitudes. Biradari is the center of religious as well as cultural life of most of the population in which virtue is based on exercise of authority and manifestation of power. The religious language, symbols and rituals are adopted as that of those in power and enjoying prestige in the society.

The people embraced Christianity massively in a hope to get liberation which was expressed in their stories, poetry and songs. Missionaries provided them education and basic health facilities, helped them in getting free from the oppression of the feudal and the dominating higher castes. The life and character of the evangelizers, their showing love, care, concern and respect for the most vulnerable; were seldom happened in a class ridden society before the partition of India. The Punjabi Christians acknowledged the role of missionaries who had introduced them to a doctrine of love and equality. But the missionaries coming from pure occidental settings were not able to assimilate their beatitudes in the local religious and cultural worldviews. Even the liturgical language used was foreign, incomprehensible for most of the believers. It eventually brings forth the strong need to inculturation of the doctrine.

The Trinity was the foremost teaching, a person learnt from missionaries, which is still emphasized. The life and suffering of Jesus Christ is particularly interested and become a source of inspiration for them. They can relate his life, miracles, and kindness to outcastes with their own lives and oppressions. But they were unable to incorporate His ministry as the unique mediator between God and man, thus added Him up in their already existing monistic and pantheistic doctrine. PatrasYusaf has elaborated:

218 The Muslim‟s impact of believing Jesus as a prophet is depicted in many Christian writings. 219F.M.Kaifī, “Āmad-e-MasīhIbnullah,” Al-Mushir, 26:3 (Autumn 1982): 45.

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“… [T]he missionaries basically preached a Jesus against religion and culture, whose acceptance demanded that the people reject their own religion, their own worldview , the people themselves were happy to give Jesus a place , though not a unique or exclusive place, within their worldview.”220

The fear of wrath of gods was a cause of this juxtaposition of different origins of religious practices. The pure Christian doctrine was not deeply committed neither the observance of rituals could replace the old customs and traditions. However the situation has changed to the extent that pantheistic worship of Christ among other gods is no longer practiced in Panjabi Christians. They have learnt the monotheistic triad of Christian faith and wiped off their old pagan doctrines. But the practices and festive celebration still has that dichotomist character.

3.3.2 Christology: Christology is at heart of religious life orienting towards the closeness of Jesus to the father, His devotion to the poor and oppressed, and His crucifixion to save the humanity. However, the divinity of Jesus Christ is sometimes not stressed in the Pakistani Churches specially when mentioning in the public sermons, Eucharistic liturgy and while proclaiming the Kingdom of God to evangelize. Usually the allegories, metaphors and similes are used to express the doctrine for reason to make it comprehensible for the faithful or to avoid any possible nuance from Muslim masses. A refrain liturgy proclaimed the following:

“… We have set our eyes on the One who leads the faith of the believers to its fulfillment,

Jesus, the Seal of Holiness.

Your Messenger and your Word, our Master and our Brother.”

It maintained about the Holy Spirit:

220PatrasYusaf, “Community: a Birthplace…” op.cit.

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“By the gift of his life

He has poured out the Spirit into our hearts,

The Spirit which helps all men and women to walk towards your kingdom,…”221

221 George Koovackal, “A Eucharistic Liturgy in the Indo-Islamic Context” in Focus , 4:5 (1984) 345

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3.4 The Devotional Dimension:

The devotional dimension is manifested through worship and rituals- those symbolic actions which present religious meaning. Religious commitment can be measured by frequency of prayer, attendance at mass, reading the bible, receiving the Holy Communion, celebrating Christmas etc.

3.4.1 The Observance of the Sacraments: Sacraments constitute the basic structure of Christian worship, which “is the response of the creature to the eternal”222 . The consciousness which grows from the deepest level of individual and communal awareness of the divine, which is part of life of a faithful and which is shaped in particular rites provides the foundation to observe the sacraments. Action, words, times and places and even emotions depict the relationship of man to God. Underhill maintained that ritual, symbol, Sacraments and sacrifice are essential parts of Christian worship.

Early in 1980s sacraments and sermons were perceived scarcely rooted in the customs, values and life-style of people in the Punjab. The church strongly felt the need to reconcile the whole sacraments and sermons to the local Punjabi culture, without which “religion becomes an activity insecurely rooted in the real world of Christian people”223. The Punjabi language is extensively used in the sermons and hymns, in order to make it apprehensible for the community so they may not feel precluded. Some institutes as Pastoral Institute, Multan and Pastoral Centre, Rawalpindi paved the way forward to explore the Christian potential found in Punjabi culture specifically in the folklore, poetry, story, film, music, literature etc. Its selective and critical usage can help “acculturate” sacraments and the catechesis.

Some particular forms were suggested for the Eucharistic liturgy in the Indo- Islamic context224 which included ablution before prayer, putting off the shoes at

222 Evelyn Underhill, Worship (New York: Harper Row, 1982) 6. 223 Philip Lewis, “Theology in Context,” Focus 4:1 (1984): 73. 224 The liturgy proposed by Father George Koovackal CMI at the Varanasi consultation on “Christian Presence among Muslims in the Countries of Asia” held on 26th November-4th December, 1983.

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entrance, ladies occupying separate rows at back or at the sides with proper head coverings. It uses the words adhān for calling, Allah for God, Muslim‟s way of greeting “peace be with you” while making the sign of cross. They begin the service “in the name of the most Beneficent and Merciful God (Muslims‟ connotation of Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim), our loving brother Jesus Christ and the life giving Holy Spirit.”225 Instead of Lord‟s Prayer in adoration al-Fatiha226is recited while making the sign of cross on the chest. The reading from the Qur‟an227 is proposed with a passage from the Old Testament, Psalms or a song in the liturgy of the word. Unlike the European practice, prostration is common in Pakistani service particularly for adoring the Lord.

Marriage as a sacrament observed by the Catholics and practiced holistically by all Christians is a lifelong bond and promise of spouses to be faithful to each other in sickness or health, poverty or prosperity, sadness or joy. Catholics assumed to base it on Christ‟s love for his bride, the church.228 There is a sheer dichotomy in its practice in Pakistani Christians. People usually perform two kinds of ceremonies inside and out the church and feel a big gap between religious and cultural saying it a completely foreign rite. A local priest observed the ritual:

“When the people go to the bride‟s house, they go there with music, dancing and throwing money, and so on. But when they come to the church, they become very time- conscious. They want the priest to say quickly a few magic words and let them go, because they have a lot of other things to do.”229

Presently the marriage rite begins with the mutual consent of both the boy and girl which actually is the agreement of their parents. The western custom of exchanging the rings is not fully adopted as people sometimes forget to bring the rings. They do not attach the ritual value to this practice hence after the marriage they sell it when they are in need. Instead of holding each other‟s hands, the bride and bridegroom are easier to lay their hands on the Bible, a symbol of their faith in Divine word and a promise to

225 George Koovackal, “A Eucharistic Liturgy in the Indo-Islamic Context,” Focus, 4:5 (1984): 341-348. Emphasis added. 226 The first sūrah of the Qur‟an. 227Sūrah no 112 (al-Ikhlās) 228 According to Eph 4:25 229 Thomas Gulfam, “An Evaluation of the Catholic Marriage Rite,” Focus 4:5 (1984): 309.

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remain faithful to each other. The nuptial blessing is well adopted by the Christian community of the Punjab but the liturgical language is not appropriately grasped by them, so they demanded translation.

The sacrament is being localized among Christians in many ways. The families of spouses come together in the church while bride wearing dupatta and bridegroom clad the pagri overhead, symbolizes honor, respect, readiness to bear the responsibilities of wedding and a cultural depiction as well. Somewhere mothers-in-law exchange garlands and kiss on the forehead of each one, while both of the spouses kiss the cross and circumnutated around the Pascal candle. This later practice is more common. Sweet distribution when the ceremony is over is a specific Pakistani symbol to show the gratitude and happiness. Honey and milk may be distributed as a sign of divine gift for them to anticipate God‟s love, goodness and providence.

Most of the books on sacraments which are published in Pakistan have now adapted the local culture in their layout, graphics and sometimes contents also.

3.4.2 Prayer and Contemplation: The deepest expression of communal and personal relationship with God is maintained through prayer. Prayer is a pure communication with God, sometimes directly by no means and occasionally through a mediator. The worship is not confined to church service and personal devotion; rather it includes the committed worship of Jesus through emotions, intellect, and will. The private contemplation is believed to certainly increase feeling of the presence of Christ.

The Christians of Punjab mostly like and call the first name of God, “the Merciful One”, while addressing to Him during prayers. It includes the meaning of other names which are usually called for God as the Kind One, the Protector, the Helper, Our Refuge, and the Forgiving One. It is customary to pray to God calling His several names.

The true religion emphasizes the prayer and worship has repercussions for everyday life, thus the pure contemplation and devout soul have more value than the formal offerings and lots of rituals without a religious and moral life. The Old

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Testament prophets as well as Jesus condemned malpractices of Israelites and Pharisees:

“I hate, I despise your religious feasts,

And I cannot stand your assemblies.”230

“Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?”231 He further asserted the prophesy of Isaiah:

“These people honor me with their lips,

But their hearts are far from me.

They worship me in vain;

Their teachings are but rules taught by men.”232

In almost all denominations of the Punjab, Psalms (Zabūr) is sung with great fervor. It helps people express their innermost emotions and deepest expectations, touching their hearts, nourishing their spirituality. This reveals their particular God experience in a Punjabi cultural setting. The psalms are considered a very strong means of God‟s presence felt in the various states and conditions of human life. It is a manifestation of God‟s providence in hardships, despair, sickness, anxiety, insecurity, failure of crops, as well as in joy, happiness, good health and abundant harvest. The people usually keep the Psalms with them, love to recite and prefer them to modern songs and hymns.

Many Punjabi Christian laymen, religious, students and others mentioned that they find solace, tranquility, and emotional relief when they recite different Psalms in an hour of trouble or anxiety.233 One has prayed during sickness,

230 Amos 5:21 231 Matthew 15: 3 232 Matthew 15:8-9 233 Mentioned in a survey, conducted by the Conference of Major Superiors, Multan in March 1980. See the complete report : PatrasYusaf and Gondulf Hoeberichts, “The Psalms and the Punjabi God Experience,” Focus 2:2 (1982): 75-86

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“O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath…

Because of your wrath there is no health in my body;

My bones have no soundness because of my sin….”234

Another finds Psalms 20 quite serene when related to his suffering of being accused of spying:

“May the Lord answer you when you are in distress…”

Psalm 22 gives comfort to the person who is all alone:

“My God, my God why have you forsaken me?...”

Worshipping God through prayer is an indicator of obedience and resignation of one‟s self before His will. The other religious hymns are also of very pious character without any reference to the social and political dimension. Apart from Psalm singing , the prayer has various forms in the Punjabi Christians‟ religious life such as Eucharistic celebrations, rosaries, holy hours, conducting prayer meetings, kissing of the alter of Our Lady, a candle procession, blessing of the sick. The prayers of special occasions like funeral, spontaneous thanksgiving and petition are also commonly performed.

The pros and cons of life, a believer‟s socio-economic status and political situation of the country, all determine the content of prayers to God. Formally Christian prayer contains liturgical, non-liturgical, charismatic as well as private, read from a text or extemporaneous prayers. It concerns the hopes and frustration of a person‟s life. The people flock around the stations of cross, tranquil to communicate with the suffering Christ relating their own misery to Him. Visiting shrines and statuary is a very popular means of prayer and contemplation.

The National Marian Shrine235 consisting of a 3.5 meters high grotto of Mary standing on a hill (Pak Maryam ki pahārī) is highly revered, circumambulated and

234 Psalm 38 235 Situated in Mariamabad, a town about 80 km from Lahore, the capital of Punjab. Tasawwur Rashid, “Authority Patterns in a Punjabi Christian Village- A Case Study of Mariamabad,” (Islamabad: Department of Anthropology, Quide Azam University, Islamabad, 1999), 53

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rigorously visited by the Catholic Christians joined by others as well. The structure and the atmosphere of the shrine create a locus for communication between God and man.

Contemplation is acquired using verbal, nonverbal, symbols, offerings, conventions, processions, pilgrimages, etc. The faithful usually prefer a form where they ca n express outwardly the intimate feelings, through a deep relation between religious teacher and disciple.

3.4.3 Religious Conventions:

Conventions (sometimes known with their popular name „ziyarat-i- Muqaddasa Maryam‟), which are traditionally held during the months of September and October, almost everywhere in the Punjab, meant to be an event of tremendous contemplative insights. As the word convenire suggests, conventions are special annual gatherings of the Christians of a particular area. Their fundamental aims are to teach the Christians some fundamental truth of their faith and to provide a chance to pray together. The conventions are significantly equipped to strengthen the bond of fraternity and to cherish togetherness. It was thought of miraculous working of the Spirit of God in distant areas of the world as China, Korea, Wales, Scandinavia, Los Angeles, Australia and India.

Historically the very first conventions in the Punjab were organized by the American Presbyterian Church, the Church of Scotland, and the Anglican Church in Sialkot in 1904 and 1905, which invited all Christian workers throughout from North India. Later it was expanded to all Christians of different denominations and started convening annually at various places of the Punjab.

People arrive in a convention from the suburbs and feel a staunch belonging to their religion, seeing a crowd of the fellow believers together, praying, and making friends. Such occasions let them overcome the complex of being minority, scattered far apart each other in the villages among Muslims. “At such moments the Church appears no longer as the remote reality of alter and clergy: we, the people, are the Church! The

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Church is felt as something very real, very human, pregnant with beauty and hope for the future.”236

The convention usually holds a central religious theme along with the various festivities like sports competitions, debates, film shows and Mīnā Bazār. Previously free meals were offered to the participants but are almost abandoned because of the inconvenience at times of distribution, which sometimes resulted in a pitfall of endangering the mutual fraternity. The attendance is generally low during day time, but big crowds joined in at the evening after getting free from their jobs and daily chores. The guest speakers are invited to lecture on religious aspect of the central theme, which is continued with prayers. The prayer continues the whole day with Eucharistic celebrations, Bible study, Bible quiz, Psalm-singing, prayers for the sick, salām and dupatta offering to our Lady, bringing the lambs, and fruits of the field . Many people consider mere presence in the place of prayer or under the prayer tent itself is prayer.

One certainly feels the simple, practical and enriched religious experience of common people, which is yet not colored by the logical sophistications and theological speculations. They worship as they feel like, generating multiple patterns of indigenous ways of worship and prayer. They visit the grotto, cherished by typical Punjabi rock „bhangra‟ and some domestic or folk hymns, walk on a path decorated with banners in praise of Our Lady, which impart a paraliturgical237 effect on the believers. The convention formally starts up with a Eucharistic celebration.

The grotto is the center of devotion and veneration, an object of love in the catholic conventions, which is believed to be a mysterious but a real and human force attracting people to a touching spiritual experience. The whole night, people keep on the vigil, praising the Lord and his Mother with reciting rosaries and singing Psalms. Many

236 Mariam Francis, “The Meanings of Conventions in the Church of Pakistan,” Focus 2:5 (1982): 228. 237 Form of public worship in which Catholics engage without following the official liturgy or take unauthorized liberties in removing or changing the words or actions required by Church law. See : http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=35397 Accessed on 7th of August, 2014.

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a times, there is not a religious leading or praying with the people, they continue the unique experience of God‟s presence, soliciting His love and cherish by inner peace. Though the internal activities varied since the conventions began in the beginning of the twentieth century, but the spiritual revival was unmatched. A lady penned down her contemplative experience in 1942 and another narrated in 1982 resonate the similar sound:

“… lives were changed; many missionaries who were counted: “good missionaries” before, became missionaries of power. All night long the hall remained full of people praying and praising; and I can testify to the fact that our Mission and Church have been different ever since that night when God so graciously poured out His Spirit upon His people.”238

The experience was similar after about half a century, as mentioned in the following:

“I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again after some time I saw only Mary with outstretched hands, protecting her people… What a scene! Wrapped myself in the blissful and overwhelming silence, my heart was filled with unspeakable joy. Mysteriously the presence of the people around me became a sacrament to me: God was present! And like Peter, I had no desire to ever leave the place. My breathing was saying with the psalmist:

How lovely is your dwelling place.

Happy they who dwell in it;

Continually they praise you.239”240

238 Emma Dean Anderson, In the Shadow of the Himalayas, (1942) in Frederick and Margret Stock, People Movements in the Punjab, (Bombay: Gospel Literary Service, 1978), 133.

239 Psalms 84:1-5 240 Mariam Francis, “The Meanings of Conventions in the Church of Pakistan,” Focus 2:5 (1982): 231.

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3.4.3 Inculturation of the Liturgy: The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy and Vatican II emphasized the Inculturation of liturgy; hence many attempts were made to localize the sacraments and ways of worship. The postures and liturgical setting adapted various local cultural settings, such as removing shoes on entrance of a church or prayer area, praying with open, outstretched hands, bowing instead of genuflections, sitting on the floor and occasionally round a low alter-table, lying on of one or both hands on the head (piyār) as a sign of blessing. A greater use of candles, incense-sticks, flowers and garlands has become customary while the marriage rites, ordination of priests and at funeral are celebrated including many local cultural norms. Traditional superstitious practices (jādu) are rejected in the renunciation rite at the baptism. The people themselves have added their own cultural entices / customs during parish conventions and special annual processions.

The National Liturgical Commission241 has suggested adding more color to the Holy Week ceremonies, with culturally suitable singing, more dramatizations and the incorporation of the very popular devotion of the Stations of the Cross. It has circulated a collection of “blessings” for various occasions in Pakistani life, experimentally.

3.4.4 Reverence and Observation of the Rituals: Fasting is not an obligatory ritual, nonetheless many Christian religious writers equate Muslim‟s fasting with the Christian lent.

Rev. Nazir S. Gill encouraged the faithful to fast, saying:

“Food sustains our physical health while fasting sustains our spiritual health. Food gives us energy and the vitamins [which] our body needed. Fasting opens our spiritual realm to see the splendours of the Kingdom of God.”242

241 A commission formed by the Catholic Bishops Conference and a member of ICEL (International Commission on English in the Liturgy) whose basic aim is to translate the Latin liturgical books in English and other local languages. 242 Nazīr S. Gill, “Fasting,” Pakistan Christian Post, http://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/vieweditorial.php?editorialid=84. Accessed on 3rd July, 2014.

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3.4.5 The Centrality of the Scripture: The Holy Bible consisting of both the Old Testament and the New Testament (and Apocrypha according to the Catholics), is the primary scripture of Christianity, believed to be Divinely inspired , containing the God‟s final communication and complete ministration of the Word of God. The Christian faith is based on the eternal contemplation of the Lord, manifested in the Gospels243 as mentioned in the Old Testament:

“The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of our God stands forever.”244

The Christians of Pakistan, inspired from the Dei Verbum245 consider the Bible a center of their faith, a continuous inspiration of their practice which is quite implementable in every period of history. The real commitment of religion lies in the faith of a Christian in the Bible as a word of God, “ever new, ever young, and full of promise”246. This is not questioned or marred by the modern skepticism in the overall deep religious environment of Pakistan. The approach of common Christian people towards the scriptures is akin to as of the church fathers. They do not dwell merely on the historic significance and classical interpretation of the text, yet it serves as a focus of contemplation which turns out to be strongly related with the life of people today. Without making distinction of methodology or content, Biblical text serves as a symbol of the contemporary events, very much associated to the life of people. Life and bible are intertwined, in the Punjabi context, where each one illuminating the other.

Pervaiz Sultan reinforced the belief in the Bible and its relevance to the practice in following words:

243 The Gospel means “good news” comprises of the early four books of the New Testament containing an account of the teaching, activity, death, and resurrection of Jesus. 244 Isaiah 40:8 245 The “Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation” promulgated during the second Vatican Council by Pope Paul VI discussed the sacred Scripture, directions for its commentary and publication. 246Gondulf Hoeberichts OFM, “Editorial,” Focus 2:2 (1982): 62.

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“Christian scripture, the Bible is taken as the primary source of theological concepts and practices by all Christians.”247

The difficult texts like Mark 6:45-52, which narrates the story of Jesus walking on the water and calming the storm, need not to be addressed with rational or empirical interpretations in public. The religious folks greatly believe and revere the truth of Jesus‟ miracles and sometimes relate such texts and like Acts 12:1-17 where an angel freed Peter from prison, to their experience in the community, without relying much on the pastoral exegesis. The cause is not the illiteracy or irrationality of the people, but their valuing the textual symbolism without undergoing a long process of demythologization. They view the text through a non-reflective process of intuition as they are so close to the Bible as a basic thing of their life. The people however understand the distinction between “the scribed Bible” and “the living Bible”, which is depicted in their own lives as a practice and an embodiment of the Word of God.

Nevertheless it yielded a criticism as well that such freedom to interpret the text is subjective. Liberal theologians affirm the approach, considering: “Every reading is done from the perspective or the mindset of the reader.”248

The Bible is no longer a strange book belonging to “the others”, “the priest,” or “the missionary,” it is the book of people, which they read or listen with the same conviction as Paul‟s:

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”249

The Roman Catholic Church encouraged the availability of authentic translations in the mother languages of the faithful across the globe and emphasized on the translations from the Septuagint and Latin Vulgate as this every prayer is

247 “Using the Bible in Social Concern,” Al-Mushir, 50:1 (2008): 19. 248 Article42, “Final report of the Conference of the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians,” Focus 2:2 (1982). 249 Romans 15:4

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accompanied by a reading from the scripture.250 She has promulgated the foremost rule as: “For ignorance of the Scripture is ignorance of the Christ”.251 All catechism is based on the true and deep understanding of sacred teachings. Hence its reading, careful study and alleged prayers are essential. She advises to provide translations with explaining footnotes to non-Christians. The document states:

“It devolves on sacred bishops “who have the apostolic teaching” to give the faithful entrusted to them suitable instruction in the right use of the divine books, especially the New Testament and above all the Gospels. This can be done through translations of the sacred texts, which are to be provided with necessary and really adequate explanations so that the children of the Church may safely and profitably become conversant with the Sacred Scriptures and be penetrated with their spirit.

Furthermore, editions of the Sacred Scriptures, provided with suitable footnotes, should be prepared also for the use of non-Christians and adapted to their situation. Both pastors of souls and Christians generally should see to the wise distribution of these in one way or another.”252

Both of the lay persons and Religious extensively narrate Biblical references in their speech as well as in writings. “[We] should keep referring to the Bible for guidance in terms of faith and participation,”253 is a principle usually followed by majority.

The core of the Bible is describing the foundation of the God‟s self-revelation, incarnated as His Son Jesus Christ, whose final, glorious revelation as Messiah is awaited. In the words of Louis Mascarenhas:

250. “Sacred Scripture in the Life of the Church” in Dei Verbum(”Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation) chapter VI Article no 22 http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651118_dei- verbum_en.html. Accessed on 13th July, 2014. 251 Ibid no.25 252 Ibid 253Pervaiz Sultan, “Historical Development of Ecumenism- History of the Development of the Church of Pakistan,” Dominic Moghal and Jennifer Jivan (eds.), The Christian Church in Pakistan: A Vision for the 21st Century, (Rawalpindi: Christian Study Centre, 1997), 24.

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“The Messiah is coming, and our history is leading to his coming. … The Gospels and the Letters are written from this perspective. He is alive, he will come again.”254

Catholic Church revered and widely used the exposition of the Church fathers and Biblical scholars to provide such exegesis which nourishes the spiritual love of the “people of God”. The Testaments along with the sacred tradition constitutes the basic foundation of theology.

Apart from the religious clerics and theologians, the lay Christians widely seek reference from the Bible, believing it to be an eternal Word of God. Nahid Bibi255has mentioned multiple references256 in her conversation as, “We don‟t eat pork neither drink, as this is prohibited in “our” Book”.257 Another lady denounced extra marital relations as unlawful because “this practice is a great vice, condemned in the Bible, cursed by the prophets”258

The reading of different passages of the Bible is a routine activity of many people. They find it a compelling means to pray to God specifically in times of joy or sorrow.

The reading of religious scripture is a strong indication of an individual‟s religious commitment. The population survey of 1998 asked a question about ability to read the Holy Qur‟an or relevant sacred scripture. According to it 35% Christians of Pakistan can read the Bible, of whom 54% are males. The division between rural and urban is not much significant where 31% from rural and 37% from urban Christian population who are above five years can read the Bible. 259 This is if compared to the adult literacy rate in the country at that time , 42.7 % 260 and Muslim‟s ratio of reading

254 Louis Mascarenhas, “Historical Development of Ecumenism- History of the Development of the Catholic Church” in Dominic Moghal and Jennifer Jivan (eds.), The Christian Church in Pakistan: A Vision for the 21st Century (Rawalpindi: Christian Study Centre, 1997), 28 255 A catholic / protestant cleaning lady. 256 Which are necessarily not accurate but an indication of her commitment to practice according to the Bible. 257 Interviewed on 25th June, 2014. 258 Ms. Mussarat a lay person mentioned in her talk with me on 9th July, 2014. 259 PL 98- CO9 Government of Pakistan, Statistics Department. For details see appendix 2. 260http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/pakistan/literacy-rate. Accessed on 12th June 2014.

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the Holy Qur‟an which was 55% of their total population , can give a good room of comparison.

The strong commitment to the Scripture, its reverence and frequent referring to the daily conversation is significant influence of the Muslim settings, where the Qur‟an is a chief authority in different matters, narrated and quoted widely by the Muslim population. There have been many attempts to launch the Bible study courses, offered by the Bible Society of Pakistan and many other religious bodies like Christian Study Centre. They started up the theological sessions specially designed for women and lay person to learn the Bible in the context of increasing trend of Qur‟anic group discussions and study circles among Muslim women in Rawalpindi/ Islamabad.

Nevertheless, the early protestant influence for the reverence of the Bible cannot be ignored261. The remarkable indicator is the common practice of Psalms singing in the traditional Protestant manner, even in the Catholic churches.

3.4.6 Church Attendance: A great number of Pakistani Christians attend the Church with varying patterns. The daily morning and evening prayer is usually attended by the church officials, religious and very few laity. However an increasing representation of the lay people is observed on Sundays and on the festivities like Good Friday, Easter and Christmas. The whole family including the old and young do attend the church these days.

261 As many early Catholic conversions were from Protestant denominations. See chapter two of the present work.

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3.5 The Experiential (Behavioral) Dimension:

Religious experience is to sustaining a deeper relationship with God, which is often blessed with receiving a sudden insight, intuition or an experience with God of irresistible love. It is the practical outcome of religion in an individual or in overall community which includes morality, religious affiliation, secularization or fundamentalism, public role of religion: education, social welfare, health, politics, church- state/ law relation etc. Hence the application of religion in daily and public life shows a great deal of commitment.

Discernment is a spiritual art that helps us listen, how God speaks to everyone personally.

The Punjabi Christian‟s religion is reinforced by the local culture. Many Christian writers and analysts maintained that the overwhelming religious consciousness of Pakistanis has increased the religious commitments of the natives irrespective of their religious inclinations. Indigenous culture has affected the religion in many ways particularly the spiritual and religious realization has deepened the contemplative dimension of the faith. To be religious in a Pakistani context means:

“… to give substance, depth and a gospel touch to an already existing understanding of the Divine presence, healing and guidance.” 262

Religious experience is nurtured through the local expressions of religiosity depicted in culture. The hymns, poetry, folklore, proverbs, ideas, inspired stories of holy people, habits of visiting shrines, celebrating religious festivities with strong zeal; all deepen the religious life of Christian minority as well. People usually are unaware of Christian potential of Punjabi culture in its value system, the spirituality of Sufī poetry etc.

262 Pascal Robert OFM, The Way, the Truth and the Life – Christian Commitment in Pakistan Biblical and Theological Reflections, ( Karachi: National Catholic Institute of Theology, 2007), 92.

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3.5.1 Dialogue as a religious strategy: Vatican II had promulgated in its Nostra Aetatea strong emphasis to initiate interfaith dialogue. Pakistani Christians thus onwards, embarked on a significant deal of dialogue which is evident from their various programs at different institutions.

The meaningful dialogue stretches out from the academic intellectual discourse about God, salvation and human fulfillment to the collaborative action to denounce the unjust and oppressive social structures and to reassure the shared vital values. The dialogue was initiated by the Christians in various forms and different names, aimed to achieve a “peaceful coexistence”. They perceived it necessary as a Vatican injunction as well as to presume their religious identity and minimize the tension being a minority among Muslims. Also the religious conflicts which sometimes lead to war have made human beings to search for the ways of peaceful coexistence.

Religious dialogue is based on the human love for universal brotherhood, and harmonious livelihood. It does not mean to give up one‟s faith rather requires more loyalty to his religion. As the one who is not faithful and committed to his own religion cannot have a genuine dialogue. This needs patience to listen each other‟s view point, arguments and stance, which occasionally stimulates a deeper reflection of one‟s own religion, thus leads to begin intra-religious dialogue. In order to make the dialogue process more meaningful Raphael Mahnga stressed on the unity of Christians themselves, “More intra-church dialogue must happen if inter-religious dialogue is to be effective.”263

The dialogue of life has been carried on for the beginning of 1980s. It is meant to communicate in trust and respect with the fellow citizens of a single state:

“We here in Pakistan are living side by side with our Muslim brethren. We share one another‟s lives across the street, in high-rise apartments, over the desk or pushing

263 Raphael Mehnga, “The Church in Pakistan: A Vision for the 21st Century- A Step Towards Practical Ecumenism,” in Dominic Moghal and Jennifer Jivan (eds.), The Christian Church in Pakistan: A Vision for the 21st Century, (Rawalpindi: Christian Study Centre, 1997), xv.

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through the bus lines… In carving out our lives, we begin by communicating… communicating about life.”264

The basis of dialogue is the ever-loving God who has created both Christians and Muslims and made them to live side by side. It is the call “for openness to the activity of the Spirit within us.”265 Both Christians and Muslims are aware of the challenges.

The sharing of a common understanding of god and the religious experience can be highlighted during the process. As it is narrated by the archbishop Jean Jadot266 in his Eid message to the Muslim community:

“Our Holy Books frequently present a similar image which compares the Christian life to the efforts of an athlete who disciplines himself and undergoes a rigorous training of his body and energies so that he can better achieve the prize. This tradition of ascetism which we share is another reason which leads us to offer you our greeting and best wishes on the occasion of your celebration of the Breaking of the Fast.”267

3.5.2 Contemplation and Monastic Experience: Contemplation means the creative ability to perceive God‟s presence and Spirit, to live and act accordingly. Christian contemplation is achieved through prayer, the reading of scripture, and the possession of a deep grasp of history. It is subjected to a constant revision of life and faith.268 The highest expression of which is in praise, thanksgiving, and in Eucharist. The expression can be maintained quietly or through the words, in motionlessness and in rhythm, equally in darkness and in light.

Many churches have guided meditation sessions using both the eastern and western ways and readings from books like Taste and See and The Lord is Good269with Anthony deMello‟s book Sadhna. They valued such experiences as a localized manifestation of

264 Archie deSouza, “Editorial,” Focus 2:3 (1982): 122. 265 Archie deSouza, “In the Pursuit of a Dialogue of Life,” Focus 2:3 (1982): 266 Pro-president of the Secretariat for Non-Christians in 1982. 267Focus, 2:3 (1982): 160. 268 See: Hermann Schalück, OFM, “Religious Life on the Threshold of the Third Millennium,” in Focus, 20:1 (2000): 62. 269Published by the Catechetical Centre, Karachi.

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religious observance, “This exercise helps to get deeper into the spirit of the liturgy in an atmosphere which is in keeping with our age-old traditions.”270

3.5.3 Public Role of Religion: Christianity does not proclaim any publicized manifestation of religion or a particular social fabric. Historically it never had been maintained a dogmatic rule, rather exercised theocratic adjustments with the ruling law of land. First it had criticized and tried to reform the Judaic law based on the Torah, and later had adopted the Roman law as the state law of the whole Christendom. Ideologically it believed in, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar‟s, and to God what is God‟s”271 and presumed this character in its missionary expeditions to Indian sub-continent. Their message remained spiritual and a- political, stressing individual conversions and practice of famous Christian virtues of dedication, love, patience and so on. The western theology and spirituality are intimated in their character. Their image of Jesus is completely private, drawn in the sphere of „my sweet Jesus and I”, which eventually determines the outlook of Punjabi Christians, separating religion entirely from public life. It does not confront the ruling system even after the end of British rule and until the end of Zia regime in 1988.

The early thinkers of the Christians of Punjab maintained that the more realistic way for them to appear up “as “good Samaritans” for the suffering humanity”272. Since, “circumstances for Christians in both the Dominions [India and Pakistan] are akin to those after the Crucifixion when the disciples were enjoined to stay in Jerusalem praying within their doors.”273 Hence “the picture, however, will be complete only when Christian organizations openly declare themselves to be non-political and place themselves at the service of their non-Christians brethren as a religious community

270Evarist Pinto, “Localising the Liturgy,” Focus, 4:5 (1984): 331. 271 Matthew 22:21, Mark12:17, and Luke 20:25. 272 Joshua Fazl-ud-Din, Future of Christians in Pakistan, First edition, (Lahore: The Punjabi Darbar Publishing House), 46. 273 Ibid 45

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concerned primarily with cultural and economic interests and offering the fullest co- operation.”274

Most of their unrest and political involvement rose after 1989.

There have been several attempts to Islamize the laws and economy of Pakistan since its inception. Though, it began with the insertion of the Objective Resolution in 1949, reached to a momentous upsurge during the 1980s and 1990s. In the beginning the Christians responded very cautiously. It seems the church officials did not want to antagonize the Muslim majority, neither disappoints the Christian public. They maintained good relationships with authorities and demanded their needs as a privilege, not a right. The Archbishop of Karachi, Cardinal Joseph Cordeiro was known for his judicious and silent comments without making a faux pas as he purely followed the pastoral directives of the Vatican II.275

Blasphemy Law was revised in 1986 and in 1992 a clause declaring capital punishment to the blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad was made part of the Pakistan Penal Code. It caused a great unrest among non-Muslim Pakistanis, who have been denouncing and demanding to repeal the laws.

The editor of Focus Supplement, Louis Mascarenhas stated in his editorial:

“The utter disregard for human rights, the patronizing attitudes towards minorities, and the use of religion to curb the rights and lives of people is unprecedented. It has created a very negative picture of Pakistan not only in the country, but all over the world.”276

He further asserted that “[t]he Bishops and Major Superiors have made known to the leaders of the country that the law must be changed. The Christian community can no longer stand watching idly.”277

274 Ibid 46 275 See: Anslem Moons, “Joseph Cordeiro and the Franciscans,” Focus Supplement, 1 (1994): 16c. 276 Louis Mascarenhas, OFM, “Editorial,” Focus Supplement , 1 (1994): 3. 277 Ibid

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3.5.4 Human Rights Activism: The church is known to address the marginalized and oppressed of the society. A lot of Christians actively assisted in the areas of human rights particularly of women and minorities. Charles Amjad-Ali278, J.V Malik279, Samuel Alexander, Samuel Azariah, and John Joseph are among those church leaders who worked to formulate many NGOs and human rights organizations in Pakistan. The organizations like SALT, Commission for Justice and Peace, and other who are inspired by the Christian Human Rights activists, zealously worked together to promote awareness among people and to prepare for legislative measures safeguarding the human rights.

3.5.5 Mass Media: Mass media is an efficacious mode of learning, propagating, and reinforcing religious essentials to a vast audience. Both of the church and the lay persons have been launching their own periodicals, running a few television channels used for propagation, catechism, liturgical mass etc. In the beginning imported media was largely used among religious circles, circulated by the Daughters of Saint Paul in Karachi and Lahore. In 1984, the “inculturation” was emphasized at the National Social Communications Consultation280, to increase localization in production, adaptation, presentation etc., media personnel ought to use the local stuff, characteristics, lay out etc., to communicate and reach out effectively to the natives.

There were Christians already publishing weekly, fortnightly or monthly news magazines and thence onward they embarked on the local adaptation of sound tracks and production of visual aids. WAVE produced five cassettes in Urdu and Punjabi, adapted to the Zeffirelli slide series of “Jesus of Nazareth”, which were highly praised by catechists, sisters and all those who have used them.281 It also nurtured the Christian mass media by the production of sound-slides.

278 Former director Christian Study Centre, Rawalpindi. 279 First Bishop of Multan diocese and second moderator of The Church of Pakistan. 280 Held in Lahore on 13-15 December, 1983. 281 See the reports of National Social Communications Consultation and its follow up. Sister Daniela DSP, “Christian Films and Visual Aids in Pakistan,” Focus, 4:3 (1984): 200-201.

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The photo-language sets were prepared by the Pastoral Centre in Rawalpindi, portraying Pakistani people and local situations. The overall advancement in information technology worldwide and particularly in Pakistan has benefitted the Christian producing religious media in forms of CDs, DVDs, and other audio visual and virtual means.

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3.6 The Intellectual Dimension of Religious Commitment:

The intellectual dimension of religious commitment essentially deals with the religious paradigm and outlook of the clergy, religious Superiors, and other involved in church activities. The different aspects related with imparting the knowledge of religion in seminaries, convents and church schools, also manifest the religiosity in terms of intellect. It may include authority structure of church, vocations to the ordained priesthood.

3.6.1 Religious Knowledge: The knowledge of belief and religious commandments is important but not an essential character of a faithful as there are many who „held beliefs in virtual ignorance and practice rituals blindly‟282. Yet a certain amount of religious knowledge is expected from the committed members to assert the doctrine and to observe the principle rituals. The knowledge of history, traditions, and scriptures maintains and enhance the commitment of a person.

The intellectual life amalgamated with spiritual devotion make a committed religious emblem. A theologian and religious minister explained the religious life:

“Religious life is only genuine if it is lived out of remembrance and if its memoria is more than an intellectual process…. [It] must be historically anchored and sacramentally celebrated. … the ultimate goal of Christian life is not simply

282 Rodney Stark and Charles Y. Glock, American Piety : The Nature of Religious Commitment, (Berkley: University of California Press, 1970), 141.

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discipleship but a total permeation and shaping by the Spirit, which is always the Spirit of the Father, i.e. the continuing creator of the world and the cosmos.”283

Hence theology is at heart of the intellectual perception of religion, formed and developed in the church. Punjabi Christian priests, religious and theologians worked and developed certain characteristics.

3.6.2. The development of Contextual Theology: Theology rooted in Greek ; theo-logos means knowledge of God, primarily is the study of God, His person, attributes, nature, and works stemmed from the Bible, developed through centuries in the church.

The Pakistani Christian scholarship has been endeavoring to formulate the contextual theology, particularly meeting out the indigenous religious needs.

Though theology has been considered a field solely confined to religious clerics and ministers, but Punjabi Christians has made it close and significant in the social reformation of their fellow beings.

Haroon Nasir has defined theology as “digging into God‟s Word to discover what He has revealed about Himself” 284 and has made it all collateral to social life viewing it affects and solves the social problems as Black Theology helped mending the racial discrimination in America, Feminist Theology giving courage to fight against injustice and oppression. He further maintained that Minjung Theology in Korea285 and Kami Theology in indo-Pakistan help the poor masses to face all sorts of injustice, like sexism, racism, castes, cultural and religious discrimination. “Therefore, all theologies are there along with the Sacred Text to back victims of all forms of oppression”286 because “the major task of Jesus Christ was to liberate the poor from their miseries and oppression.”287

283 Hermann Schalück OFM, “Religious Life on the Threshold of the Third Millennium,” Focus, 20:1 (2000): 55. 284 Haroon Nasir, “Emergence of Theologies and their Impact,” Al-Mushīr 49:4 (2007): 124. 285Minjung means common people. It was emerged in 1970 based on the struggle of South Korean Christians for social justice. 286 Ibid125 287 Ibid 126

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The fact of most of the Christian‟s belonging to low socio-economic state, embarks recurrently the need to establish an indigenous liberation theology. The local theologians envision to “rediscovery of its own roots and in its commitment to the liberation of the poor and oppressed.”288

Since the Vatican II emphasized on the inculturation289 , and continued insisting churches to follow it in their local communities, Pakistani Christians endeavor to achieve the goal; hence it has turned out to be among primary foci of the church. Pope John Paul II addressed the issue and mentioned “[t]he incarnation of the Gospel in native cultures and also the introduction of these cultures into the life of the Church”290 is a primary need.

Localization is strongly emphasized worldwide as is evident from the proceedings of the Second Asian Theological Conference:

“Only those churches which are rooted in the locality and in the people and live from their faith and hopes and struggles can be a genuine sign of the body of the risen Jesus and a place of freedom.”291

It does not confine to adopt the vernacular language, or artifacts rather includes the social values, genius of local thought patterns, habits of life, affectivity, psychological attitude towards the created world, the problems and sufferings of common people . Inculturation is the integration of what more connected and concerned to people is today and not merely incorporating the traditional values of the past. Hence the areas of liturgical inculturation include language, texts, actions like initiation rites, the Eucharist, the celebration of marriage, rites of sickness and death as well as liturgical ministries.

288PatrasYusaf, “Community: a Birthplace…” op.cit. 289 Inculturation is originally a Roman Catholic term, means to the adaptation of Christian liturgy to a non-Christian cultural background and influence of those cultures on the evolution of these teachings. 290 See: John Pau II encyclical, article no 21, AAS 7 in http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp- ii_enc_19850602_slavorum-apostoli_en.html of 2nd June, 1985. Accessed on 18th July, 2014. And repeatedly on 17th January, 1987 as mentioned in, article no.55 AAS 79 (1987) in http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1996/documents/hf_jp- ii_spe_17011987_address-to-pc-culture_en.html . Accessed on 18th July, 2014.

291 Second Asian Theological Conference Held in Hong Kong, August 1984.

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Inculturation is, “the readiness to die in order to rise again and to grow: for the gospel as embodied in traditions and forms of expression that do not belong to its core, and for the local culture and community, so that they can live better the life of Christ and with him worship the Father.”292

Historically, Christianity had undergone grave encounters of inculturation in her attempts to evangelize during early centuries of its genesis. It reached the Greeks in a Jewish tone, Romans embraced it in a Judeo-Greek setting, and later Franco-Germanic people accepted it in a Romanized expression. The church in Pakistan is still maintained on the colonial structure, considered affiliated with donor churches of the Western countries. Missionaries are thought to reflect the colonial settings and represent the culture of their sending countries which threatens the freedom and self-identity of the natives. Thus to distinguish in the personal culture of missionary and the gospel message is considered essential though hard also. In spite of the proclamation of church that,

“Our faith is faith in Jesus Christ and not in the secondary traditions of one of the civilizations in which it was first expressed. Our fidelity is to the Word of God and not to the culture of the missionary who announced this word”293 , the encounter between the centuries old attire and re-embodiment of beliefs and values takes place.

Pakistani Christians admit that “we are more influenced by ideas and texts prepared in the west than by the living and rich traditions of the east, which form part of our background and of our way of thinking and acting”.294

The Conference of the Third World Theologians has asserted in its proceedings of the fifth conference that:

“Unfortunately the Christian evangelization of our part of the world was brought about by an aggressive Western culture which lessened our own appreciation of our indigenous cultures.”295

292 As maintained by Father Amalorpavadass, mentioned by Camilo J. Marivoet CICM, “Principles of Inculturation in the Liturgy,” Focus 4:5 (1984): 291. 293 Camilo J. Marivoet CICM , “Principles of Inculturation in the Liturgy” op.cit. 294Evarist Pinto, “Localising the liturgy,” 328.

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The fundamental principle of inculturation is the incarnation. The Christ in his paschal mystery and church became incarnate in each time, and place and people to which his Good News and life are preached, as He became incarnate in the Jewish people and raised its history, mentality, traditions and the whole culture. Likewise, the redemption and atonement are those primary doctrines in addition to the creative Spirit who consistently works and creates the believers anew to make them reflect the face of Christ.

Inculturation must seek the lexcredendi as a primordial rule insofar as “nothing indissolubly bound up with superstition and error”296 can be admitted. It may not violate the elements of divine or ecclesiastical institution which are so closely linked to the tradition of the church, like water for baptism, bread and wine for Eucharist. This cannot be achieved unless integrated in the whole Christian arena, beginning from the theological inculturation and developing an indigenous theology, catechesis, spirituality, ministry, the religious life, and particularly inculturation of the ecumenical relations and dialogue. However, an indigenous church needs to preserve and cherish the bonds of association with the universal church. Since the local church is an epiphany of the universal church, exaggerated particularism is avoided while promoting the liturgical pluralism.

The Major Seminary , Karachi laid the examples of localizing the liturgy through various measures as , celebrating the mass while sitting on the floor with shoes off the chapel and dressing up in a decent manner avoiding casual ware like short sleeves and T-shirts to manifest the respect for the Lord. They also trained laity to keep silent and not to push their feet towards the Holy Book or the Holy Sacrament. Certain body postures as deep bows and prostration, the position of hands are usually observed in all Pakistani churches, considering it a symbol of glorifying the Father involving the whole body. Eucharist is celebrated in eastern settings at some places by using many symbols used in Hindu pararthana (worship) as water, incense, light, flowers, fruits, vegetables. In many places particularly in Sindh, singing Bhajanas are appealing to all worshipers.

295 Article57. Final report of the Conference of the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians in Focus 2:2 (1982). 296 Camilo J. Marivoet CICM, “Principles of Inculturation in the Liturgy,” Focus 4:5 (1984): 284.

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A suggestion was repeatedly put into consideration that priests could wear Pakistani costume qamīz shalwār, with an Arabian style jubba (tunic) and a plain chādar( stole) over it, during Mass. The reason is to bring life and liturgy close to each other but it could not agree upon. However it is recommended that the local ornamental materials and decoration be used on vestments. Indigenous symbols may also be carved on traditional alb-chasuble as the five rivers; wheat and rising sun may be engraved / appeared to illustrate Punjabi culture. 297Qawālīs can be sung during festivals for public amusement. Pascal qawālīs can be introduced as well.

The rites and symbols are introduced and experienced by people themselves according to their religion and customs cannot be determined in the expert committees. They sometimes include the wisdom and experience of other faiths of the land. Some Christians urged to get inspiration and stimulation for change from the other religions as all people share “the kingdom of God” in their humanity.298

3.6.3 Forming Theology of the Poor: Pakistan is a developing country with US $236.6 billion GDP299 where poverty, illiteracy, unemployment make 22% people300 living below the poverty line. The church has initiated multiple development schemes in the country particularly in the medical, education, agricultural and relief projects in disasters. Began for the service of British soldiers, and their subservient, the evangelists and missionaries, carried with them the western ideology of segregation of religion and public life. In order to deal with the vice prevailing in the Christian community, she introduced the feast of the Holy Family and proposed the practice of the Holy Family virtues like dedication to work, simplicity of life, patience in adversities, acceptance of sufferings, and obedience to God and those who He has placed in authority. Thence she was the church of elites

297 Report of the National Liturgical Commission, meeting held in March 1982. See : Focus 2:2 (1982): 98-104. 298 As stressed in the Final report of the Conference of the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians, Focus 2:2 (1982). See articles 58-60. 299http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey/chapters_13/executive%20summary.pdf and see also http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/pakistan , accessed on 31st July,2014. 300 As based on CIA world Fact Bok. See: http://www.indexmundi.com/map/?v=69 . Accessed on 31st July, 2014.

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and middle class, neglecting the poor until the emergence of Liberation theology in Latin America.301 After the Cuban revolt, since the beginning of 1960s, Latin American churches began social missions in quite big numbers, which resulted in the development of liberation theology. Prevailing socialism in the decades of sixties and the second Vatican Council‟s encouragement to exercise freedom and creativity to form indigenous theologies has instigated the Latin American churches to proclaim a social theology, focused to address the poor and deprived of the society. It eventually inspired all the churches of the third world, both Catholics and Protestants to initiate Pakistani Christians to focus towards the prosperity of poor and oppressed. The Catholics conducted the first congress devoted to liberal theology in Bogota in 1970-1971, whereas Protestant churches held it in the same year in Buenos Aires. Thus onwards, a significant emphasis on liberation theology in Pakistani context has also been observed.

Traditional theology is highly academic, speculative, and individualistic which lacks any regard for the societal and structural aspects of sin. It is inadequate to provide motivation to oppose the social evils like racism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, sexism or economic injustices in form of socialism and capitalism. Religion for most of the Christians is not an agent to change their fortune no matter how miserable it is. They usually keep contended with their situation unless liberal theologians provoked in them the „prophetic tradition‟ to challenge the prevailing exploiting structures. Previously they were told that the Divine providence has made them “a Christian minority among a Muslim majority” and they should learn that,

“… We will be kept low, democratic constitutions and laws notwithstanding. We must accept this as the concrete situation which the Father has destined for us, and accept it with all the consequences of humility, patience, forgiveness and forbearance which it entails.”302

301 Liberal theology which was initiated in Latin America did not stem from secularization, but from Machiavellian and diabolical aspect of oppression, fostered by nations and persons who are Christian and who “carried on in the name of a civilization calling itself “Western Christianity”. See: Carlos Mester, “How the Bible is Interpreted in Some Basic Christian Communities in Brazil,” Focus 2:2, (1982): 87. 302 N. Geise, Bishop, “On Dialogue of Life in Peaceful Co-Existence,” Focus 2:3, (1982): 144.

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The liberal theologians provided a radical explanation to the previously maintained concepts and scriptural renderings.

“The God of the Exodus, who sees the slavery of his people and sets them free (Ex. 3, 7-10), God the liberator now and not in the hereafter (Lk. 4, 16-21); this God of the Prophets, and of Jesus seems to a large extent absent as a force moving them to action.”303

The Gospel of Matthew is served as the central text in liberation theology, though the Biblical connotations of crucifixion, resurrection, salvation and redemption are reinterpreted:

“In fact, the history of salvation is the history of God‟s struggle against man‟s suffering… which reached its climax in Jesus‟ death and resurrection.”304

The reliance of human being on God and thus turning towards Him in submission is rigorously mentioned in the liturgy. The words, gestures, and liturgical hymns all reinforce the believers as being „sinners‟ and „unworthy‟, alienating from their dignity as created in God‟s image. PatrasYusaf thus asked:

“Does the liturgy challenge us to choose for the poor or do we „attend‟ it mainly to receive certain personal benefits? Does our liturgy belong to the third world or does it, due to its historical origin, possess too many traces of a feudal society [?]”305

Liberation theologians insist on orthopraxis, deny accepting the dichotomy between liturgy and life. The sacraments should no longer be regarded as “places” to look for a God who is absent from the rest of life, not served at the door of the church steps but celebrated at the heart of the Christian community. It is the “Copernican Revolution”306 which has to take place. Isaiah joined with Amos in the Old Testament, voiced against the injustice prevailed in their age, which is a guideline for ever:

303PatrasYusaf and Gondulf Hoeberichts , “The Psalms and the Punjabi God Experience,” Focus 2:2, (1982): 81. 304 Ibid 81-82 305 Ibid 86 306 Borrowing the term used by Karl Rahner, an eminent theologian of the twentieth century.

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“Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,

Only a day for a man to humble himself?

Is it only for bowing one‟s head like a reed

And for lying on sackcloth and ashes?

Is that what you call a fast,

A day acceptable to the Lord?

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

To loose the chains of injustice

And unite the cords of the yoke,

To set the oppressed free

And break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry

And to provide the poor wanderer with shelter---

When you see the naked, to clothe him,

And not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

And your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you,

And the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard,

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and He will say:

Here am I?

If you do away with the yoke of oppression,

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With the pointing finger and malicious talk,

And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

And satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”307

Many Christian thinkers and activists stressed the need to challenge the status quo and rebuild the old structures in society and within the community which cause the oppression. Yusaf has mentioned the ambiguities present in the church and wrote:

“We speak in favor of the poor, yet we are not ready to attack the structures which keep them poor; we profess equality but are still helping create an elite and maintain the class system; we proclaim the building up of people yet we spend little on people; we speak about inculturation but still stick to foreign structures and a largely foreign language, even if translated; we talk about community yet our prayer and theology remain very individualistic.”308

This analysis provides ample bases for liberation theology initiated by Pakistani Christians. In spite of the progress of a segment of the community and inclusion in the mainstream, the majority of people remained at the margin of society. The inequality between social classes is significantly observed among the Christians of Punjab, which helps „theology of the poor‟ to grow. Mainly it is led by those activists belonged to the Protestant denominations, which seeks the assistance of ecumenical social organizations as SALT and National Commission for Justice and Peace. Catholics have joined hands too significantly through the work of Caritas Pakistan.

The church in Pakistan, traditionally serves in a-political fashion stressing the spirituality of the sacraments and elucidating the sufferings of the Christ to show God‟s love to redeem humanity. She does not relate the mystery of Jesus‟ death and resurrection to the actual socio-historical situation of people as a challenge to change it.

307See: Isaiah 58:5-10. Compare also Amos 5:21-24, Jeremiah 7: 2-12, 21-23. 308PatrasYusaf , “Community: The Place where Theology is made,” Focus, 4:1, (1984): 28.

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The liturgical celebration in an individualistic, spiritual manner serves as a solace for people to bear their circumstances as an irreversible destiny according to God‟s will.

Jesus has a certain vision to commit himself to bring Good News to the poor and to set the captives free. His all life reveals proclamation of the kingdom of God to bless the destitute, and oppressed of the society. He was crucified being accused of threatening the Jewish traditional structures so his life and death are a motivation for the deprived ones to strive for change.

The Instruction on certain aspects of the „Theology of Liberation‟ (Libertatisnuntius) issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith309 provoked the need to scrutinize existing theology and reform the historic church structures, in a manner not to devastating the original faith. It was the foremost document stimulating the allies of liberation theology refraining them of indulgence in the Marxist doctrines while pursuing for the poor and oppressed. “Thus a theology of liberation correctly understood invites theologians to deepen certain essential biblical themes with a concern for the grave and urgent questions which the yearning for liberation poses for the church.”310

The Instructions addressed the economic, social, cultural, political, and racial problems, mostly in conjunction with each other, suffered by the deprived people:

“Consequently mankind will no longer passively submit to crushing poverty with its effects of death, disease and decline. He [man] resents this misery as an intolerable violation of his native dignity…. The scandal of the shocking inequality between the rich and poor –whether between rich and poor countries, or between social classes in a single nation- is no longer tolerated.”311

After promulgation of the Instruction from the Holy Sea, Pakistani Christians demand to develop theology in a new fashion and to proclaim a “less spiritualized but more

309 Issued on 6th August, 1984. 310 Chapter VI Article 1. http://www.doctrinafidei.va/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19840806_theology- liberation_en.html . Accessed on 1st August, 2014. 311 Ibid, article 4 and 6.

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historical and political reading of the gospel”312. They seek to revise theology, Biblical exegesis, catechesis and liturgy as to “[deepen] the consciousness of, and [renew] a commitment to, the God of liberation as he revealed himself to us in a very special way in the life and struggle of Jesus of Nazareth”313. Emphasizing on a more political involvement and awareness of socio-structural analysis of Christians, Hoeberichts advised his people, “to be involved in the struggle against the unjust structures which hold people captive, a struggle in which we believe we are not alone because we continue God‟s struggle as realized among us in Jesus and his mission of liberation”.314

The theology envisions of hope and encourages people to challenge the exploiting forces and to work with utmost strength to change their fate, instead of waiting for the Messiah to liberate them. Human beings in the twenty first century consider religion and religious as oppressors, hence it should either be negated completely or to let it be restricted in the personal, private life or to redefine it to give new interpretation of centuries‟ old concepts. Just “like the theologians of liberation in Latin America, who will redefine their religion in terms of the praxis of the community. … rather , in the context of the community‟s praxis , their religious tradition will provide them with certain generative themes, shaping their vision and inspiring their action, like the exodus, liberation, covenant, promise, resurrection, kingdom of God, spirit.”315

The Conference of the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians 316 urges the Christian of the third world to provoke action in service of the people as well as to keep silence contemplation in practice. It maintains:

“To be committed to the people‟s struggle for social justice and to contemplate God within this involvement- both form the essential matrix of theology.”317

312Gondulf Hoeberichts OFM, “The Church in Pakistan and the People‟s Aspiration for Liberation,” Focus 4:6, (1984): 379. 313 Ibid 314 Ibid 380-381. 315Gondulf Hoeberichts OFM, “Workshop on structural Analysis,” Focus 2:1, (1982): 51. 316 In its fifth conference held in New Delhi on 17-29th of August, 1981. 317 Article39. Final report of the Conference of the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians, Focus, 2:2, (1982).

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Religion plays dual role of alienating the masses of their oppression as well as motivating their struggles for independence and self-determination. So Christians must learn the good of other religions. The Christians of Punjab does not alienate themselves of the traditional religious doctrines, rituals and symbols like resurrection, sacraments and the cross but tried to maintain them in a strong relation with life of common people.

3.6.4 Formation of the Priests: The religious life of the church certainly relies on the priests. In the Punjabi scenario formation of the priests is a diversified job as “He acts in the name of the community and exercises leadership and authority not based on power, but oriented to the service of the people.”318 He has to work in a community referring to their socio-economic poverty, politico-religious oppression, widespread corruption and dominant religiosity peppered with sheer ignorance. He is confronted with maintaining the traditional values of church and enunciating desire for change. He has to face the problems of adjustment and growth, experimentation and experience.

The Punjabi seminaries thus emphasize on formation based on experience of life outside the seminary. It is a communication of ideas as well as a dialectic of experience and reflection of lives of common people. There are suggestions to spend some time (or few months) in the diocese in addition to the training inside the seminary.

The priestly ideal is always the radical discipleship of Jesus. It is focused on the primacy of God-experience in contemplation, practiced through the meditation on the Word of God, daily liturgy, personal and group prayer.

The strong family bond in Punjabi society help Christian community to get its religious identity as well as the basic teachings of religion. The communal traits learnt in a family are manifested in the religious life to cultivate a spirit of mutual respect, tolerance, and sacrifice among them. It upholds them to quit greed, selfishness and self- centeredness as long as, “the quality of Religious Life is manifested in the depth of the communion among the members of the religious family”319 and they substantively inculcate a sense of belonging to each other. Pascal Robert advised his faith fellows

318Evarist Pinto, “The Challenge of Priestly Formation Today,” Focus 2:2, (1982): 105. 319 Haroon Nasir, “Emergence of Theologies and their Impact,” Al-Mushīr, 49:4, (2007): 93.

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that, “the family spirit, from which religious come from, need to be reflected and deepened in the religious houses.

He also suggested making use of the “people-oriented” culture of Pakistan that usually Pakistanis are still not mechanized. They value and care for the very human qualities so Christians need to safeguard this attitude. This is the source of healing and helping to create the Kingdom of God.

“We need to listen attentively and with respect what God has to communicate to us through our mutual interacting and through people entrusted to our care, and those who come in contact with us daily.”320

3.6.5 Ecumenism: Ecumenism is among the foremost important goal for Christianity as it is depicted from many of their writings and several seminars conducted. Inspired from the ecumenical movement started in Edinburgh in 1910, the Protestant church leaders sought to unite several churches of Pakistan as well. They worked out the Plan of Church Union in Pakistan and North India, which was successfully coped in 1970 when Lutheran, Anglicans, Methodists and Scottish Presbyterian churches joined to form a union of the Church of Pakistan. The purpose of this union was described as;

“Harmonizing the diversity and plurality to turn the weakness into strength, to encourage a spirit of humility and sacrifice leaving aside the non-essentials, to be an effective instrument for God‟s work proclaiming the Gospel of Christ in a more powerful way and to strengthen the internal and spiritual resources of the United Church.321

320 Ibid 95 321The vision of early founders mentioned in the doctoral dissertation of Pervaiz Sultan (chapter five). Reproduced as: Pervaiz Sultan, “Historical Development of Ecumenism- History of the Development of the Church of Pakistan,” in Dominic Moghal and Jennifer Jivan (eds.), The Christian Church in Pakistan: A Vision for the 21st Century, (Rawalpindi: Christian Study Centre, 1997), 22.

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Samuel Azariah322considers ecumenism “an instrument in making the Gospel of Christ a creative force for the transformation of human beings and society, for if we do not have the spirit of reconciliation within us how can we act as God‟s instrument in establishing unity and peace amongst us ?”323

The model of unity is as maintained between the Father and the Son and assumed to indwell in the clergy that they are sent by the Father, through the Son and in the Spirit. It is well depicted in the commentary of Ignatius on Ephesians 5324 that “I count you blessed who are so united with him[your bishop] as the Church is with Jesus Christ and as Jesus Christ is with the Father , that all things may be harmonious in unison.”

3.6.6 Catechism: Catechism is derived from Latin katechesis, means instructions by word of mouth, especially by questioning and answering. It is essentially used for instruction in the elements of religion, especially preparation for initiation into Christianity. The catechism in its biblical connotation explicitly sounds the instruction of religious doctrines. As Paul instructed his followers to proclaim and teach certain religious doctrines:

Acts 18:25, 1 Corinthians 14:19, Galatians 6:6

The Council of Trent decreed:

322 Bishop of Raiwind Diocese. 323 Samuel Azariah, “The Christian Church in Pakistan: A Vision for the 21st Century,” in Dominic Moghal and Jennifer Lee (eds.), The Christian Church in Pakistan: A Vision for the 21st century, (Rawalpindi: Christian Study Centre, 1997), x. 324 It reads: “He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” (Ephesians 5-6)

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“The bishops shall take care that at least on the Lord‟s Day and other festivals the children in every parish be carefully taught the rudiments of the faith, and obedience to God and their parents”. 325

There are four different words used to identify catechists: babu , monad, master, and mubashir. It had undergone the course of historical development that each diocese had opted a name or title which identifies their mission and identity. Babu was used early in the colonial times, depicted a certain structure and mentality of serving as a mediator or interpreter between people of the land and the foreign rulers. Munad which has a specific religious nuance and missionary meaning of preaching, catechizing and converting has replaced babu. “Master” was introduced in Karachi, later opted by Hyderabad and Rawalpindi dioceses because it is connected with part-time school catechism teaching. However, the connotation of Mubashir-e-Injeel (Heralds of the Gospel) introduced in 1980s in Lahore is widely used among Punjabi churches nowadays. The essential instruction contains teaching of the Lord‟s Prayer, the Hail Mary, the Creed, and the Ten Commandments whereas the Protestants vary and instead of Hail Mary they teach the Sacraments. It is usually given on Sunday using different techniques maintained and updated in the bishop‟s synods from time to time in a chapel inside a church. The Catholic schools usually catechize the basic belief and worship, before or after the secular education.

325 Thomas Scannell, “Christian Doctrine,” in The Catholic Encyclopedia, (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909), V.5 http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05075b.htm. Accessed on 8th July, 2014.

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Chapter 4: THE RELIGIOUS COMMITMENT OF THE CHRISTIANS IN THE PUNJAB: OBSTRUCTION AND CHALLENGES

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A challenge is a sort of examining the performance, to confront a debate, or provocation of a dissension in a certain situation. Usually a challenge or an obstruction is caused by a particular structure of an organizational as well as meaning framework of a society, based on its social, economic, political, cultural, religious and ideological systems. On the other hand, challenge comes out of a certain internal structure of an organization or an institution. There are different strategies to face a challenge, whether internally caused in a group or faced by some external factors; depressing, exhausting, or motivational, vigorous, enthusiastic, which decides worth of it.

Father Younas Shahzad explained a challenge as:

“… a time to reality check; a time of fact finding; a time of self-examination of one‟s competency; a time of investigating; a time of scrutinizing the things, accounts, progress, and performance; a time to strive in search of new opportunities; a time to amend and improve our deficiencies; a time to push for better performance and above all, it is a time of grace.” 326

The challenges and obstructions can also be multifaceted as that of religious life is multidimensional. The religiousness of a person or a group is sometimes confronted by the decline of faith, or increasing skepticism, which really is a challenge for the doctrine. Low attendance in worship places, decreasing interest in the scripture reading or the devotional contemplation, low strength in seminaries, and weakening the religious authority are provocative to the devotional and intellectual life. The Christians of Pakistan denounce public role of religion and develop apprehension towards the Islamization of laws and economy in Pakistan. They perceive it a big challenge to maintain peaceful relationship with Muslim majority. Here in this chapter I shall try to mention some of the major challenges to the religious life of the Christians of Punjab.

326 Fr. Younas Shahzad, “The Challenges to Religious Life Today,” Focus, 25: 2-3 (2005): 178.

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4.1 The Challenges to the Christian’s Doctrine:

4.1.1 Decline of Faith and Growing Materialism: The growing tendency of materialism and strong indulgence in this worldly life has become a great challenge to faith. The religious life all around the world has been influenced by growing materialism as well as challenged the faithful of Christian community. As narrated by Shahzad: “Man‟s faith in God, in Christ and in the Church, is under sharp and continuous attack. The modern world seems spiritually sick.”327

In the postmodern global world all religions find themselves to cope the challenges brought by the philosophies and laws of the marketplace, rampant consumerism and amusement. The religious plausibility such as surrender of oneself, gratuitousness, and vows and proclamations based on faith or trust almost diminish, which posed a big difficulty in maintaining Christian discipleship.

Herman Schalück advises the church and religious communities to be in dialogue but not to confront, neither to assimilate in the standards of “information society”. He suggested that every minister must ask himself these questions:

“Whether we possess „the Spirit of the Lord and His holy activity‟, whether we are „the salt of the earth‟ and a positive model in a context of anonymity, whether there are many forms of exclusivism and economic and ethnic dominance of one over other, whether the living Spirit of the Lord renews us and leads us into the future or whether we trust other power, whether we live out of a Trinitarian God experience.” 328

The postmodern world characterizes in the fading unifying worldview and growing materialism, where reality is fragmented and existence has no roots. Relativism of truth has ruined the certain criterion of good or bad, right or wrong, true or false, once maintained by religion, and has promoted an individualistic approach of “live and let live”. An unstable faith and a flimsy worldview lead to the chaos of meaning in

327YounasShahzad, “The Challenges to Religious Life Today,” 179. 328 Hermann Schalück , OFM, “Religious Life on the Threshold of the Third Millennium,” Focus, 20:1 (2000): 60.

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religious life where commitment and belonging are empty words. Many religious leaders noticed the effects of postmodern global culture and lamented. Bishop Anthony Lobo complained:

“Now we can have endless day, playing cricket in bright light even at midnight. Non- stop travel is common. [But] there is no stop or time for prayer. … [A] day full of (albeit useful) activities is preferred to half an hour of meditation. „My work is a prayer‟ is the postmodern justification.” He further added, “One prefers to take opportunities; (sabbaticals? Pilgrimages?), to visit as many [places] as possible. There is no appreciation of the cloister, much less the cloister of the heart”.329

The faith is not only perplexed by growing materialism, rather it is influenced by the majority‟s religious outlook as well. The celebration of Sh┐m-e-Calvary on Good Friday resembles the Shi‟ah mourning during Islamic month of Muharram. The participating youth clad in black, sing mournful hymns and the whole audience sobs, bursts of grief commotion before the large wooden Cross draped by a white cloth with red stains. They think the crucifixion is more tragic than Hussayn‟s martyrdom in Kerbla, without knowing the Christian tradition of the Calvary is a gateway to salvation, commenced as Good Friday, not a tragic Friday.

329 Anthony Lobbo, “Religious Life in the Post-modern Culture” in Focus , 20:3 (2000) 222

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4.2 The Dilemma of Devotional Life:

The religious life is characterized by the devotion and nurtured by the regular attendance of the church and observing the sacraments. Many writers have sadly mentioned the problems caused by materialism or this-worldly speculations of people which diminish their religious commitment.

4.2.1 Church Attendance: The church attendance is a marked indicator of measuring the religious commitment of people. Punjabi Christians see a gradual decline in the church attendance as another noticeable symptom of modern age. A priest lamented his people: “The chapels are becoming empty, but the recreation rooms are full. The spirit of abstinence is declining; the spirit of contemplation is diminishing; the spiritual readings are not fervently done. Many are not convinced of getting up early in the morning regularly for Eucharistic celebration. During the summer vacation at home, they neither regularly pray nor go to the church.”330

4.2.2 Observance of the Sacraments: The modern age has brought a challenge for devotional life of Christians as less participation in the sacraments. Fr. John O‟Brien mentioned that, “Many of the descendants of the people who became Catholics …, are now Catholics in little more than name. They benefit from the services on offer, but apart from a hazari lagāna at Christmas and Easter do not really participate in the life of the Church.”331 He explicitly wrote that for many participants, the participation in wedding and funeral services is a cultural or family affair rather than a matter of being part of a faith- community.

330 Ibid 180 331 John O‟Brien, “The Turn to Catholicism in Pakistani Christianity,” Al-Mushīr, 47:3 (2005): 95-96.

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4.2.3 Prayers and Contemplation: The prayers which are at the heart of religious life are lacking contemplation and interest of audience, as pointed out: “Our prayers seem dry. They are not very much related to our present circumstances and the situation of our people …one reason of this lack of interest could be the repeated use of the Divine Office. We need to revise the content and style of our prayers by adding into it a spirit of spontaneity.”332 Sometimes in local churches level of prayers remained less as the catechism is not prepared and delivered well. Pastoral engagements in different works are one of the causes.

332YounasShahzad, “The Challenges to Religious Life Today,” 180.

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4.3 The Behavioral Challenges:

The problems faced in experiencing the religion mainly include the relationship of Christians among themselves and with fellow Muslim citizens. The public role of religion is manifested as a strong indicator of Muslim‟s religious commitment but denounced by Christians, assuming it violates their esteem and social status as citizens of the same state.

4.3.1 Factionalism: It is the problem faced at individual, among the community as well as the ecclesia, which causes disunity among the faithful. The Mass Movement during British rule is the genesis of majority of Pakistani Christians. Afterwards, their settlements at the tail of irrigation system provided them an exclusive Christian environment which benefitted them to build a community of the faithful, together facing the arduous moments yet provoke the internal factionalism too. People were arrived there from different areas, having various ethnic background. The total 1193 inhabitants of Mariamābād belong to twenty six ethnic groups, for instance.333 The assertion of superiority of one clan over another and maintaining the authority induce rifts and dissension among the villagers.

Robinson reported, “[A]t Clarkabad and by other missions at other centres , attempts have been made to establish villages to be inhabitated by Christian converts , but on one occasion 200 nominal Christians, who imagined that they had a grievance with missionary, suddenly announced their conversion to Islam.”334

The Christians disposition shows a varied pattern in urban-rural divide than the other religious communities in Pakistan. Unlike the national ratio of 38:62 urban/rural division in 2013 the Christians manifest a marked contrast of 55: 45.335 Most rural migrants maintain their family or emotional attachments with their villages identify themselves with these villages. This division has resulted in a sheer bias of the Church

333Tasawwur Rashid, “Authority Patterns in a Punjabi Christian Village,” MSc thesis , Department of Anthropology, Quaide Azam University, Islamabad, 1993 . p.28 334 Charles Henry Robinson, History of Christian Mission, Edinburg: Morrison and Gibb Limited, 1915. 54. 335 http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.RUR.TOTL.ZS. Accessed on 2nd August, 2014.

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in her institutional organization and also in her educational and developmental processes against the rural society.

Their problems increase because of their particular social, cultural, and economical outlook. They are involved in those jobs considered menial and derogatory in the society. They still suffer the hangovers of the Hindu caste system, for which church is similarly responsible. Amjad-Ali analyzed the situation of rural Christians and mentioned:

“[The hangover from the Hindu caste system] is a very clear sign of the failures of the Church‟s policies after over a hundred years. [Their] rights are disregarded and the presence of only a few elites and elite organizations are recognized…. They are a community suffering from an apartheid both within the larger society but also within the Christian community itself.”336

The church leadership is also confronting the internal strife and animosity. Nazir-Ali mentioned in his book the tension found in the Pakistani ecclesia on appointing expatriate or local ministers in the churches. Things have been changed a bit, yet his observation is elucidating a discriminatory attitude present in the post- colonial churches.

“Many missionaries apparently do not hesitate to use the often meager resources of the national church for their personal maintenance. It is a myth that Western missionaries are always supported by their home church or missionary society… Major churches in large cities in many Muslim lands have been known to spend thousands of pounds, most of it raised locally, on their expatriate members of staff, providing them with a car, good housing, and servants while national staff members lack even basic facilities.” 337

The author admitted that the convert is often not welcomed in the local church, pleaded for open communities but argued against the idea of developing a convert-church. 338

336 Charles Amjad-Ali, et al. Changing Realities in Pakistan and the Church‟s Response, (Rawalpindi: Christian Study Centre, 1991), 50. 337 Michael Nazir-Ali, Islam : A … Christian Perspective ( , ) 152 338 Ibid 156

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The colonial feudal heritage has placed the Punjabi church in a dichotomy, as their intellectual and theological development stresses egalitarianism, their experience in the church has been of feudalism.

4.3.2 Low Conversion to Christianity: Local Christians often hesitate to call somebody towards Christ‟s ministry.

4.3.3 Opportunism: A faction of both Catholics and Protestants has a strong ideological and theological commitment to their Church and are often well informed to its doctrines and devotional life. But the majority has more than single association at the same period. They eagerly become Catholics because of the services and support systems offered by the church, concurrently wish to self-appoint Padrīs to gain a prestige and finance in the community.339 O‟Brien insisted not to overlook the economic realities, which can be an important factor , “remuneration, especially in a situation of growing underemployment, … is also a factor” . 340

4.3.4 Islamization: The Pakistani Christian community felt itself insecure and deprived of rights of free exercise of religion and expression with the whole process of Islamization went on in the country during 1980‟s and 1990s. The Islamic injunctions were promulgated initially by inclusion of the Objective Resolution in 1949, declaring the state an Islamic Republic in 1973, and afterwards the Hudūd Ordinance relating to the offence of Zina (fornication), prohibition of liquor, Blasphemy, Qis┐s, Diyyat and laws were made part of the constitution.

The deteriorated law and order situation in the country and the risen violent attacks have been increased particularly in 2000s. Though all the segments of the

339 A socio-cultural factor plays pivotal impact here. In Islam any adult Muslim can become Imam without any specification of the number of followers (muqtadī) which made Christian families wanting a religious leader for them from their families, possibly to gain prestige and immortality etc. 340 John O‟Brien, “The Turn to Catholicism in Pakistani Christianity” in Al-Mushīr 47:3 (2005) 94

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Pakistani society are suffered in terrorrist‟s atrocities, Christians consider them a deliberate discriminatory reaction against them in the wake of United States‟ war on terror.

Christian‟s attitude towards Muslim majority is simultaneously ambivalent due to economic and psychological factors and defensive or polemical towards Islam besides friendship, cooperation and an urge to win trust and to get respect.

4.3.5 Regarding Press and Publications: Though Christian press and media have developed itself since its inception but it lacks in determining a specific vision as preeminent in the “Black Press” of South Africa, hence fallen short of playing its due role in the national press. Like other religious media productions it also lack of professionalism, journalistic skills, marketing, advertising, over all maintaining standard in publications, editorial policy, investigation, reporting, lay out, set up , designing, easy to access format of websites etc. They have a limited readership, which is growing in some areas. Before twenty years they were significantly lacking the trained and skilful professionals but now a good no of skilled journalists have joined their team so in certain areas they are improving.

Initially the content of religious publications is strictly theology oriented, including the instruction and elucidations of the doctrine, Trinity and the Gospel in particular. But now they have introduced literary and national political news and views in the popular journals.

4.3.6 Maintaining Identity: A number of Christian intellectuals as well as theologians addressed the intricacy of maintaining their identity particularly religious in a state with Muslim majority. The Christianity seemed unsuccessful to root itself in the local culture. Its dependence on imported theologies and forms let them contemplate on their

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contribution to the universal Church particularly in areas of their response to other religions like Hinduism and Islam.

The question of their origin, belonging, customs and culture are seemed irritating. A Christian writer inquired about his identity and asked:

“Who am I? Where do I belong? Why am I given protection and safeguarded? Why am I defined separate from others around? Do I really have a different culture and customs?”341

The stress of Muslim majority and their sensitivity towards religion comes up with a difficulty for Christians to keep their faith and exclusive identity as a distinct faith group. Some Christians report to be called on by their Muslim counterparts to join their circles of faith.

They restrict themselves to specific jobs of teaching and nursing and very few are able to compete on open merit at national level.

Nevertheless, the identity problem cannot only be caused by the Muslim majority influence, rather it is rooted far back when forefathers of the present Christian community embraced the faith, a century ago. The dichotomies emerged in the religious and social life of the Christians during the Mass Movement and the zealous missionary endeavors to evangelize was a primary cause of the identity crises.342 In the beginning it did not go deep into the previously held religious structures rather remained at surface, beyond the Punjabi soul. A bishop himself affirms the reason:

“[T]here arose a real dichotomy between church and life…. A foreign element [Christianity], however, had been introduced which would slowly alienate them from their own cultural and religious roots”343 .

341Pervaiz Sultan, “Historical Development of Ecumenism- History of the Development of the Church of Pakistan,” in Dominic Moghal and Jennifer Jivan (eds.), The Christian Church in Pakistan: A Vision for the 21st Century, (Rawalpindi: Christian Study Centre, 1997) 18

342 See chapter 3 p. 343PatrasYusaf, “Community: The Place where Theology is made,” Focus 4:1 (1984).

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Emanuel Khokhar considered it a weakness of early missionaries that because of their genesis of colonial nations, they didn‟t embrace the local culture and thus new converts have found them “separated from their own people and created a spirit of dependence on the mission. The converts, mostly young single men expelled by their families , face many social and economic disadvantages as a despised minority group, were housed in or around the mission centre where they were given food and work or land.”344

Indigenization of the Church in Pakistan remained a big challenge from after the British left in 1947 till present. It had to eliminate the colonial structures in order to find its roots in the Punjabi culture.

4.3.7 Christian-Muslim Relations: Christian-Muslim relation is a sensitive issue, which sometimes invokes at the national and international level. The state claims to grant every sort of religious freedom and equally justified opportunities to develop the Christian community, yet they feel themselves being marginalized and deprived of appropriate recourses. The people usually live in harmony with their Muslim neighbors and counterparts except the few untoward cases which are highlighted extravagantly in the media. Pascal Robert has mentioned that,

“[M]ost of the Pakistani Muslim are moderate in their thinking and are responsible citizens. They live and work along with their non-Muslim brothers and sisters with mutual respect and appreciate their vital contribution in society and for the prosperity of the country.”345

However, the Christians feel that prejudice is practiced against them occasionally in education, employment, business, or in public dealings etc. they are treated differently in schools and work places. No calculated data. They suffer with an inferiority complex in a Muslim majority mainly caused by their socio-economic level. They also fear of conversion to Islam, sometimes forcibly and many times to get some

344 Emanual Khokhar, “A Study of Mission As Christian Social Concern for Evangelisation and Discipleship in Pakistan,” 54. 345 Pascal Robert, The Way, the Truth and The Life, 44.

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social or financial benefits like marriages to other faith or getting a particular job in a Muslim institution. The willful conversions do occur and are highlighted by the national press. The case of Yusuf Yohanna is worth noting, a player of national Cricket team, who embraced Islam in 2006 and announced it publically. It was welcomed by Muslims and saddened for the Christians.346

The prejudice sometimes exists in Christians while dealing with Muslims, as mentioned by a youth activist, who suggests different measures to overcome the mutual aversion:

“Many Christians feel that that the Muslim should not be given any help. All aid should be for Christians only…. [They] should work hard and try to move into every field of life and build up good relationships there by showing our true Christian character.”347

The socio-economic status cannot be overlooked whilst analyzing the antipathy, which is not always on religious basis. The experience of sisters educating in the convent or mission schools or providing nursing and medical facilities in public and missionary schools is quite different. Majority of Muslims respect and have friendly relationships with them.

Dialogue has been developed as a strategy to build a peaceful co-existence and strengthen Christian-Muslim relations. Though the whole process faces critique from both the faith circles as unrealistic. They are doubtful of its success, in a historic context of mutual tension. Christians have initiated the dialogue, believing “it is for us, as the simple consequence of being Christians, to take the initiative”348, yet they develop a diverse opinion whether the peaceful co-existence is achievable.

4.3.8 Moral Decay: The community in the Punjab faces in itself the growing crisis of moral deterioration, caused by multiple factors. In the villages, they are divided on petty

346 See for Christian response: Pascal Robert, The Way, the Truth and the Life, 7-8. 347 Peter Shahzad, “My Commitment to the Youth,” Focus 2: 1 (1982): 21-22. 348 N. Geise, Bishop, “On Dialogue of Life in Peaceful Co-Existence,” Focus 2:3 (1982): 143.

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issues, as their other counterparts yet unlike most of the Muslim neighbors they are addicted to drug and alcohol use and in a lot of slums gambling is also common. Usually women of urban Christian slums engage themselves in different jobs at nearby places, while their men are caught in by drugs and gambling. However, educated middle class Christians behave remarkably different.

“The number of slum dwellers has increased; the crime rate has gone up; the number of drug addicts is rapidly growing.”349

In addition to lack of education, and financial a structural disparity causes many problems to poor Christians.

349 Pervez Taj Bhatti, “The Challenge,” in Focus 2:1 (1982) 29

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4.4 The Intellectual Challenges- Church Life, Education and Ministries:

4.4.1 Catechesis: The high standards of knowledge and moral attainments were not required in prior by the most of missions. Usually many of them believed that inquirers would learn more before their baptism but the experience manifested that baptism became a starting step towards learning and teaching catechesis. Frederick and Margret Stock analyzed after reviewing the diaries and registers of evangelists:

“Once he has made a complete break with the past and committed himself fully by baptism to be a follower of Christ, he is free from such doubts and eager to learn more of what his commitment involves. Baptism must never be allowed to become an end in itself, but just the first step. Baptized believers must be given follow-up teaching immediately and prepared for the next goal of full communicant membership.” 350

Traditionally the missionary schools were considered responsible for catechizing Christian children, until October 1972, when all the church-run schools except the English-medium, were nationalized by the federal government. Subsequently the drastic changes in the school‟s administration and teaching staff had deprived the Christian students of getting the religious education. However, afterwards they started up the Sunday schools and emphasized the catechesis within the families rather than schools. Because all of the Christian children do not attend the religious schools. The breakthrough of conversion towards Islam has made the Christians to reflect that the catechesis being provided to children and youngsters is insufficient. They realize to make serious efforts in providing the teachings of faith formation and the sacred Scriptures.

350 Frederick and Margret Stock, People Movements in the Punjab( Bombay: Gospel Literature Service, 1978): 98.

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4.4.2 Corrupt Clergy: There have been many reports and complaints against Pakistani clergy being corrupted financially. Nazir S. Bhatti,351 denounced the clergy‟s indulgence in sales of church properties and living like a feudal lord on the donations collected in the name of Christian uplift and development projects.352 A former editor of Al-Mush┘r has penned down his unrest on the situation that the church has been endangered by her own clerics who only pay heed to their selfish interests and oppose the divine injunctions. They are corrupt and do not follow the way of their only Redeemer. They are cursed by Jude:

“Woe upon them! For they follow the example of Cain who killed his brother; and like Balaam, they will do anything for money; and, like Korah, they have disobeyed God in the hope of gain and will die under his curse”.353

The burning and attack of two Christian villages in South Punjab354 was a drear event condemned widely in Pakistan and abroad. The government of Pakistan and many religious and other agencies outside Pakistan donated generously to help rehabilitation which provoked a battle to get more among the churches of the area. Mehnga355 complained on this corruption saying, “It is disturbing to think that the love and charity of the poor donors are being abused.”356

Archbishop Joseph Cordeiro357 has explicitly showed his unrest on the evil elements of power, prestige, violence, show off and sexual aberrations corrupting the life in the church. 358

Church reforms are demanded by many religious ministers like Pervaiz Sultan, saying:

351 Editor, Pakistan Christian Post. 352 See: http://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/vieweditorial.php?editorialid=84. Accessed on 2nd July, 2014. 353 Jude1:11. See: M.A.Qayyum Daskawi, “Editorial” in Al-Mushīr, 22:4(1980) 177 354 The Christian villages in Khānewāl district, Tibba and Shāntinagar (South Punjab) were attacked by a violent mob on 5th and 6th February, 1997. 355 Raphael Mehnga is a Dominican priest, served as the director of Pastoral Institute, Multan. 356 Raphael Mehnga, “The Church in Pakistan: A Vision for the 21st Century- A Step Towards Practical Ecumenism” in Dominic Moghal and Jennifer Jivan (eds.), The Christian Church in Pakistan: A Vision for the 21st Century ,(Rawalpindi: Christian Study Centre, 1997) xiii 357 The first Pakistani Cardinal, Joseph Cordeiro (1918-1994), of Goan Catholic stock, served as the Archbishop of Karachi from 1958 to 1994, had an honor to attend the second Vatican Council. 358 As reported by : Louis Mascarenhas, OFM, “Editorial” in Focus Supplement , 1 (1994) 3

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“It is not only the feudal, landlords and politicians who are afraid of any social change, but it is also the church authorities who need to change their structures, way of administration and style of communication”359

The internal differences among the clergy and laity, between the words and actions of churches, are also problematic. There are ambiguities, need to be resolved. The former Bishop of Multan noticed a few facts, need improvement:

“We speak in favour of the poor, yet we are not ready to attack the structures which keep them poor; we profess equality but are still helping create an elite and maintain the class system; we proclaim the building up of people yet we spend little on people; we speak about inculturation but still stick to foreign structures and a largely foreign language, even if translated; we talk about community yet our prayer and theology remain very individualistic.”360

4.4.3 Disunity of Churches: There are priests and religious who form the official family of the church, serve the local church in worship, education, health, development etc.

Christian masses, laity and the common faithful people are usually observed to live an ecumenical life. They develop friendly relationships in spite of the denominational differences with their fellow believers, have inter-marriages, perform the social rites and live a religious life, they think is most religious. However a numerous incidences reveal the problem of disunity exists largely among the leadership, who indulges in dispensation and expulsion, and sometimes of blocking charity of the church other than their own. There are difference of opinions, diverse charismas, contrasting visions, divergent approaches and sometimes complaints within a parish.

359Pervaiz Sultan, “Historical Development of Ecumenism- History of the Development of the Church of Pakistan” in Dominic Moghal and Jennifer Jivan (eds.), The Christian Church in Pakistan: A Vision for the 21st Century (Rawalpindi: Christian Study Centre, 1997), 20.

360PatrasYusaf, “Community: The Place where Theology is made,” Focus 4:1 (1984)

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Raphael Mehnga361, pointed out the sad fact: “The disunity in the leadership of various church denominations is getting wider and wider, and it is no secret anymore, whether we face it or close our eyes to it.”362

Unity and dissension actually coexist in the Christian churches as is manifested in other religious groups in the country. They act quite harmoniously in crises, but appear to be disunited other ways. The fundamental causes of this disunity are lust of power, position, getting monetary benefits and discrimination among the laity within a same church or different churches in vicinity. People are sometimes treated differently during service as some are given Eucharist while others do not get it, at wedding and funeral services or at the times of admission to school.

However the causes of disunity are various including stingy Church officials who join another denomination or incept a new group owing to such trivial issues as their transfer from one perishes to another or to get a better place and better office. The urge to seek a profitable rank, prestigious position, higher salary, and facilities often cause disunity among churches. The desire of holding an office at the parish, diocese or presbyter and the synod level indulges the religious people in this bad practice.

“Unfortunately, we do not practice what we have been taught that is why we face the problem of disunity in the Church”, says Esther Inayat while disclosing the causes of disunity among churches. He called his fellow beings to observe the injunctions laid down by Christ as, “I strongly believe that God has chosen us to serve Him and His people, but when we do something for self-projection and self-exaltation, it brings disappointment…” 363

361 A Dominican priest , served as the director of Pastoral Institute Multan. 362 Raphael Mehnga, “The Church in Pakistan: A Vision for the 21st Century- A Step Towards Practical Ecumenism” in Dominic Moghal and Jennifer Jivan (eds.), The Christian Church in Pakistan: A Vision for the 21st Century (Rawalpindi: Christian Study Centre, 1997) xiii 363 Esther Inayat, “Causes of Disunity in the Pakistani Church,” in Dominic Moghal and Jennifer Jivan (eds.), The Christian Church in Pakistan: A Vision for the 21st Century (Rawalpindi: Christian Study Centre, 1997), 7.

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Sometimes intolerance increases when people render their favors to support a certain political party or a particular candidate, considering opponents as their rivals. The enmity is evidenced in dissenting each other‟s denomination.

The differences can be coped with sincerity, understanding each other, respect for dissension and mutual love as Jesus tackled the hard-heartedness of his disciples with love. God continuously extends His blessings in spite of the grumblings of Jews of the Old Testament.

4.4.4 Indigenization: Pakistani Christianity has a strong religio-cultural European heritage which turned out to alienation of the church and people. The multiple factors like advanced technology, social communications, immigrations, tourism and globalization etc. as well as the promulgation of VaticanII made the church to inculturize the religion. Many Christian scholars penned down the need to indigenize the Pakistani church. They feel that the colonial background and infrastructure of the Church being rooted in the class discrimination do not reflect aspirations of the common people.

The Working Document for the 1994 Synod on Consecrated Life identified inculturation of charismas as one of the seeds of hope for the future, but it involves a continuous dialogue between charismas and culture.

Some writers inclined to radical religious affinity, hence criticized the classical pattern of the church, narrating:

“Rather than challenge the existing situation, they are inclined to uphold the status quo and safely stick to centuries old theological thoughts which have little or no relevance to our rapidly changing world.”364

The activists like Hamid Henry blamed the liturgy on its adherence to keep using a sacred language during the mass without considering the real purpose to

364

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provoke and to strengthen the faith in Jesus, as it overlooks Christian commitment to the mission of Jesus for the poor.365

Nevertheless, the last three decades reveal the foregoing endeavors of church to indigenize her structure, liturgy and the colonial customs, which is a challenging task. Primarily there is difficult to disseminate between the unchanging core, handed down from the apostles and the variable elements added lately in different places and ages. Secondly, the over-worked liturgy seldom study and prepare the liturgy, or evaluate the current Latin rites and the existing possibilities for pastoral adaptation. A few priests are competent in liturgical matters to discuss and plan something culturally meaningful.

Another problem arises with the translation of religious texts and liturgical books to find suitable terms in Urdu and other local dialects to express the succinctness and nuances of the original Latin words or phrases. A high illiteracy rate of the common people makes it hard for them to comprehend the theological content of Roman prayers, translated even in Urdu. The translated language and style of the liturgical prayers are somewhat foreign to the poorly-educated people. This is coped with the translation of liturgy in the regional languages (Punjabi in Punjab, Kohli dialect in Sindh and Pushto in Khyber Pakhtunkhaw) and used with the approval of the local ordinaries in Lahore, Hyderabad and Rawalpindi dioceses.

There has always been a debate on the integration of culture in the Christian sacraments and liturgy. It does not merely to incorporate the vernacular language of donor culture with its particular style, syntax and forms of expression, nor confined to the external depiction, as postures of body, fine arts etc., but also to include its social values, the genius thought, habits of life, perception of life and the world, values as well as the social problems, frustrations and the people‟s history. “What is more important is to incorporate into the liturgy what is alive in people today, their creativity today, the needs, hopes and realities of today.”366

365 See: Hamid Henry, “People Oriented Literature and Liturgy” in Focus 4:5 (1984) 326 366 Camilo J. Marivoet CICM , “Principles of Inculturation in the Liturgy” Focus 4:5 (1984): 286.

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The church in Pakistan is a minority in a predominant Muslim‟s culture and is still looking for her identity. Many Christians are more inclined to the Hindu customs and practices and consider any assimilation of Muslims culturally apt, as an undesirable concession to the majority.

4.4.5 Missionary and Convent Schools- Expanding the class difference: The mission and convent schools were established primarily to provide education facility to the British colonialists, which later were opened to the Indian elite juvenile. The schools were class-based sine their foundation, discrete for British and Indian, provided English and vernacular education separately. The structures were not very much modified except increasing enrolment of the privileged Muslims, after Pakistan came into being. The part of mission and convent schools cannot be denied in promoting education in the subcontinent as their primal role in increasing the already existing class differentiation among native people, cannot be overlooked. Many Christians themselves admit the fact that their schools aggravated the status quo though unconsciously. Bhatti has analyzed the educational situation of the Christian community, praised the devoted missionary endeavors to establish the educational institutions and discussed the confronting challenges. He viewed that these institutions have not served the local Christian community because they catered largely to the upper class of Muslims as saying:

“The people which our institutions have turned out, have used their talents to maintain or to enhance their own position, often at the cost of the unprivileged, to which also the great majority of the Christians belong…. Might we even say that, even though unconsciously, our schools have contributed to making the rich richer and have helped to increase the number of exploiters in the country?”367

The alumni of the convent schools have made a lot of foreign cultural adaption which alienated them from their own tradition and lead them in a problem to maintain their identity as loyal sons of the soil.

367 Pervez Taj Bhatti, “The Challenge,” Focus, 2:1 (1982), 28.[27-30]

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“As a result [of being culturally alienated ] , the love for their country and its culture had no roots in their hearts, and they started migrating from the country in great numbers or rather escaping from the difficulties instead of remaining and fighting to build up a better society here.368

Migration of educated youth from villages to cities, also diasporas of the community to the western countries, and Gulf states is a big challenge.

368 Pervez Taj Bhatti, “The Challenge” in Focus 2:1 (1982) 29

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CONCLUSION

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I have commenced in this study, a western sociological approach towards religious commitment, posited on the bifurcated recognition of functional and substantive religious phenomena in a society. The case of Christians of the Punjab when analyzed on such parameters brings about a distinct and unique model of religiosity of a minority, striving in pursuit of its identity to vindicate its dignity as an indigenous religious group. Their approach to religion is peculiar, though neither contrasted utterly nor confirmed to the prevalent western understanding of religion.

One cannot certainly overlook the variety of definitions of religion, envisaged the nature of religion, its value for individuals, and role in the society, approached from historical to phenomenological, from psychological to anthropological and social, yet they are not universal. Simultaneously, scope and thrust of a particular case of a religious group is deposited on how the religion is defined. The definitions lie in the categories of functional and substantive or do not fall in either of them, manifest a specific aptitude and are utilized in a definitive mode relied on the nature of the situation being studied. A big number of sociologists today prefer a working definition pursuant to their research area. Lack of consensus on a single description of religion does not adduce its ambiguity rather substantiates the diversity of human social behavior which is illustrated as a variety of responses. Multiple connotations of religion are in fact, latent reflections of versatile human nature.

The early seminal Durkheimian utterance of religion to maintain the social strata through beliefs and rituals reflects itself in many societies as the Weberian principle of religion providing meaning is manifested in almost all the civilizations. Religious rituals and values significantly provide the cultural foundations in a society. Many cultural patterns of Western Europe are expressions of its venerable Christian and modern values of materialism, for instance. It personifies human ideals, integrates the culture and legitimizes the social system. It tranquilizes the individuals in distress and consoles people to face the catastrophe of life courageously and patiently. The functional definitions are usually inclusive, ignoring the internal structure and mutual rifts, which made them difficult to be applied in socio-scientific studies in societies religiously engrossed.

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The substantial definitions are centered on the concept of deity whether personified as ultimate reality or not and mostly specified to a historic and cultural span of time and place. They are good to be applied in the measurement of religiosity as containing a well determined essential of a religion.

The religious ambience of the twentieth century has witnessed the contrasting currents of atheism, agnosticism and complete denial of religion, as many people claim „not to believe in any religion‟; viz-a-viz prevailed secularism , which is admittance of religion in private life while negating its public role. It has turned out to be a global disposition, which influenced the society world over. Furthermore religious resurgence in form of rising NRMs, fundamental, and religious active movements, and power breakthrough in name of religious ideological revolution in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, has let sociologists to revise their earlier stance and to set forth the “revised secularization thesis”.

In the sociological study of religion, the belonging of people to a particular worldview or religion is worth studying in order to learn the dichotomy of belief and practice. I have applied the similar jargon of religiosity, religiousness, and religious commitment in this research, to indicate the utmost affiliation of a faithful to his religion. The religious commitment is manifested in personal faith, individual‟s behavior, his indulgence in religious rituals and applying religious norms in a cumulative character.

Contemporary models of religious commitment prefer the multidimensional approaches to determine the affinity of a person to religion in a diverse way. One of the earliest speculations was maintained by Charles Y. Glock and Rodney Stark, proposing five dimensions of religious commitment which they later reduced to four. They are: ideological, practical, experience, knowledge and consequential. Later Stark and Roger Finke categorized the commitment comprise of objective (behavior) and subjective (beliefs and emotions) dimensions. I have adapted their rendering pursuant to my research population and understanding of religion in their particular context.

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The contemporary sociological approaches certainly have given up instigating the genesis and source of religion and have completely abandoned the issue of its transcendent origin. They merely engross in the non-normative character of religious influence in the societies, with their entire secular, occidental aura. The sociologists deal equally with the divine and secular ideologies as of Christianity or Islam and Nationalism or Scientism. This trend has its own peculiar methodologies and parameters which are useful but cannot be applied completely in societies like Pakistani society having altogether different worldview, history, and civilization with divergent norms and customs being practiced by the masses. Hence I have taken the plunge to get sense of contemporary debates and comprehensions of religious commitment, though did not apply their methodology to my research.

In my study, religion of Christians of Punjab is appeared to be both functional and substantive, which is formulated by a belief system, developed by rituals and religious devotion, and affirmed by knowledge, experience and publicizing its role. Religions revealed as performing some imperative functions in individual as well as in public life of the citizens of Pakistan. It provides meaning and dignity to their life. Religion is an instrument to cope with the adversities of life, as proclaimed to the laity and practiced by the people.

I prefer a multidimensional connotation of religion hinged on doctrines and devotion, comprised of practicing rituals and morals, experiencing a normative social manifestation, proclaiming a public role of religion, and which is fostered by both the sacred scripture and the knowledge of the religious. The commitment has been examined subsequently. The particular case of Christians of the Punjab, when studied keeping in this understanding of religion, affirmed their religiousness being speculated deeply by their historic outset and socio-economic status in the area.

The present Christian community has its history associated with the intruding merchandise of the Portuguese, Dutch and English traders, accompanied by soldiery and clergy for their service. The evangelization of the people of the subcontinent rapidly started after the fall of Mughal Empire in 1857, under the royal patronage of the colonialist regime. It is also significant that missionaries were remarkably successful in

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winning the converts from the oppressed, untouchable class of the Hindu dominant society. They worked quite zealously until the weakening of British colonial rule in 1930s and strong Muslim opposition to the mission.

The church in Pakistan was founded to serve the cantonments and the ruling British, which was based on a sheer difference of rank and class, maintained in the chaplains and cathedrals. The local Christians were kept outside the church administration until the partition of British India, till 1984 when all the churches in Pakistan had local bishops.

Punjabi Christians embraced Christianity during the mass movements occurred from 1890 to 1930, mainly to get themselves free from the oppression of landlords, or in a hope to get financial aid, personal dignity and social respect in the society. The majority of Christian converts were settled in the colonies founded by early missionaries to educate the people and provide them a chance to live a life free of the previous bondages. This way they were able to quit the previous pagan faith and enter the Trinitarian doctrine of Christianity which had tried to elevate their socio-religious status.

The contemporary Christians inherited a specific semblance which shapes, develops, and reinforces its religious fabric and a tangible cause of the many problems directing their religious life. The Christians have tried to develop themselves socio- economically in Pakistan, have setup many institutions and indigenized their religious culture yet their majority is still involved in doing menial and less paid jobs. On the other side, there is a dignified status which urban and educated Christians avail, and do not share the upward mobility with their fellow believers.

The religious life of Punjabi Christians has certain palpable features:

 The religion is a substantive narration, where God is the focus of individual existence. Being religious means to adhere to the Biblical worldview implanted firmly on the Holy Trinity.  Religious commitment, integrated with faith and doctrine, implies spirituality as a foundation, encompasses the intimate contemplations as well as the external behavior

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and social manifestations. It simply implies to surrender one‟s whole life to God‟s commandments and to be in image of Jesus Christ through the grace of the Holy Trinity. The incredible archetype is the personal life and endeavors of a missionary, trying to train and educate his people and disseminating the good news through his indulgence in various projects of social welfare. The religious epitome as maintained by a missionary elucidates the different dimensions of commitment founded on the Trinity, nurtured by the scripture, retained through the observance of sacraments and reinforced by the practical outcome as in church ministry.

 The socio-economic variations existing in the Punjabi Christian community impinge on their religious life likewise. The people with less education and low paid occupations usually exhibit more inclination to the ancient customs, believing in the amalgam of folk mythologies and Christology. Sacred stories of saints are of great interest and inspiration. The role of specialized functionary is limited and authority and reverence are resumed by the clan leader and popular religious dignitary irrespective of his faith declaration as a Hindu ascetic or a Muslim pīr. Birādarī (clan) is the locus of religion as well as of social life. The majority belonged to this group is very religious in devotion, contemplation, and celebrating the feasts in their own style. Annual conventions are a good depiction of this form. They believe, practice, and contemplate in their own way. The dichotomy between the tribal cultural religion and that of religion of missionaries, have shaken the old structure which has led them to an acute problem of maintaining identity. The middle class people manifest a different attitude of religiosity. They usually are well versed of their faith, practice the rituals, and observe the sacraments, knowing their significance in the religion. The theology has its local expression manifested by these people. The upper class is more liberal and prone to respect the variety of faiths in the society as well as the dissenting views within their community. They are more westernized and still organize a big number of the institutions, once operated by the British. Muslim‟s denunciation of the intruding British considers Christians as heirs of the colonial rule.

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 Customs and local traditions sometimes are more valued than religious observances, as has been discussed in the sacrament of marriage. People do revere a priest, seek official registration with him and celebrate according to their own practices. Church service and the observance of the sacraments also show the local cultural impact.  The religious patterns are not uniform in Punjabi Christians. There is found a variety in the doctrinal understanding of the Trinity and its persons. The traces of previous Hindu beliefs and prevalent Muslim‟s influence are noticeable, which has given Punjabi Christianity a unique indigenous emblem. The dichotomy is more significant in some places where different denominations work in a small area or where the population is living amid Muslim majority.  The ecumenical emphasis by the Edinburgh Conference influenced the Pakistani Christians, who joined in 1970 to form The Church of Pakistan. The catholic churches also marched towards the ecumenical unions after the Vatican II. At present, the Protestant seminary at Gujranwala and Catholic institutes at Multan and Rawalpindi opened up for all the denominations. The institute like Christian Study Centre is also achieving success in its ecumenical efforts.  The evangelists, who had introduced the Punjabi Christians to the faith of love and equality, were not able to assimilate their occidental religious structure with the local worldviews and the cultural ethos. The church organization and liturgical language were foreign, which eventually bring forth the urge to inculturation of religion. Hence it is stoutly believed today to reconcile the sacraments, sermons, exegesis, and liturgy to the local Punjabi culture.  A prevailing emphasis is to use the deep rooted religious and cultural values of Pakistani people to make the lifelong commitment with religion. The church in the Punjab today is conscious of her identity rooted in the soil. She recognizes herself an heir of British colonial structure, which has served people differently on the basis of socio-economic status and on racial variances. A strong move has been enunciated to reform and to indigenize the theology, liturgy as well as the church structures.  Thus inculturation of the doctrine, rituals, devotional practices, and religious attitude of people has become a dominant demand, which is persuaded by catechists, liturgy, and theologians alike. However people themselves include the wisdom of other faiths of the

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land as they heed to practice rites and symbols according to their customs. They adapt not only the vernacular language and artifacts but also the social values, genius of local thought patterns, habits of life, approach towards the created world, the problems and sufferings of common people. The church has to indigenize her colonial structures to reinforce the commitment of people.  The Pakistani Christian scholarship paves the way to formulate the contextual theology to meet out the indigenous religious needs. Though theology is considered a confined pursuit of religious clerics and ministers, Punjabi theologians have made it close and significant in the social reformation of their people. Inspired from the Liberation Theology in Latin America and Minjung Theology in South Korea, they proposed Kammi Theology can help the poor Christian masses to overcome all sort of injustice and oppression. In the beginning, urge to develop a theology of the poor, was influenced by the socialist Marxist doctrine, until the issuance of Libertatisnuntius (the Instruction on certain aspects of the Theology of Liberation) by the Holy See in 1984. It provided ample bedrock to develop a revised theology addressing the social, political, economic and cultural problems of the deprived people, based on the reinterpretation of the Gospels, Matthew in particular.  The church which traditionally serves in a-political manner, stressing the spirituality of the sacraments and the sufferings of Jesus meant to proclaim love of God to redeem humanity. The emphasis on formation of the theology of poor has led her to relate the mystery of Jesus‟ death and resurrection to the socio-cultural situation of people as a challenge to cope with.  A rise in the socio-political activity is observed during the period of the research. In the beginning of 1980 the church was highly academic, speculative and individualistic, which largely had the foreign origin ministry, did not involve in local politics and social problems of the community. However, by the end of 1989, there were many social organizations developed and civil rights activism grew overwhelmingly. Very few work for the welfare of their community, and more are engaged in denunciation the Muslim‟s growing religious fervor and the Islamization of the laws, particularly Hūdūd, Qisās, Diyyat and the Blasphemy laws criticized being discriminatory to minorities. There are bishops who patronize the human rights organizations, and worked with the social

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welfare institutes with political agenda, a fact peculiar to Punjabi clergy unlike practice of other churches the world over.  The religious commitment of an individual as well as a community is confronted by multifaceted problems as that of their religious life are multidimensional. It is sometimes challenged by the decline of faith inasmuch as increasing skepticism and growing materialism. Low attendance in worship places, decreasing interest in the scripture reading or the devotional contemplation, low enrolment in seminaries and weakening the religious authority are provocative to the devotional and intellectual life. Factionalism on the basis of ethnic and economic diversity brings forth the internal animosity which eventually defiles the religious fame. People usually are not committed to a single denomination; they easily change the affiliation to gain more prestige and finance, where available.  The dichotomy cropped up at the genesis of present Christians, a century ago, had raised an identity crisis for the people, Christianity was embraced as an alienated religion of their cultural and social roots. A well number of Christians are embarrassed of their origin as Chūrā, so avoid to proclaim their ethnic identity. This in turn comes up as hazardous for a minority community, to maintain its exclusive religious identity.  Moral decay among the masses, financial and ethical malfunction of the clergy are sad facts that hinders the religiosity of the Christians. The reports of priest‟s involved in sales of church properties, misusing the donations and aids collected in the name of community development projects, is obnoxious for Punjabi Christians. Sometimes the petty street conflicts call for the international consequences, just to earn sympathy and aid from donor countries. Occasionally the church officials urge to seek a profitable rank, higher salary and more facilities, causing their break from a denomination to join another or to incept a new group. The political affiliations of different people to opponent parties increase the enmity and dissent among the denominations. Thus in short, religion for many Christians is a lifelong commitment, based on the doctrinal affirmation, kept through the sacraments and rituals, enhanced via prayers, nourished by the scriptures. Religion is vital to them both individually and as a community to maintain their faith and keep their identity in a Muslim majority country. Initially, the Christians were very inward looking community, engrossed in its own

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problems. They did not seek a spirit to change their circumstances from religion rather felt themselves destined to bear injustice and sufferings. Their religion did not make them conscious to stand and strive for their social, economic and political development. However a gross development is observed in religious consciousness and how it is being related with public life of the faithful. The major factors can be traced as repercussion of Islamization and emerging the liberal theology among them. However, a great deal is needed to raise the socio-economic status and to cope the internal problems like factionalism, disunity, corruption, illiteracy and poverty. The religious of both Christians and Muslims can join hands to learn, teach and propagate the goodness of each other‟s faith. Religion thus can be a means of generating solidarity, harmony and prosperity of the nation, instead of perpetrating the injustice, discrimination and status quo.

Wa„l hamdu li Allah ialladhi bi ni„matih tatimm alsalihāt

(And all the praise is for Allah, with whose grace, the upright deeds are accomplished.)

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160

Appendix 1

TABLE - 1 POPULATION OF PAKISTAN BY RELIGION, SEX AND RURAL/URBAN DIVISION IN 1998

QADIAN SCHEDU MUSLI CHRISTI HINDU I OTHE SEX TOTAL LED M AN (JATI) ( RS CASTES AHMAD I ) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

PAKISTA N BOTH SEXE 132,352, 127,433, 2,092,90 S 279 409 2 2,111,271 286,212 332,343 96,142 68,873,6 66,313,3 1,089,06 MALE 86 55 0 1,101,597 145,612 174,675 49,387 FEMA 63,478,5 61,120,0 1,003,84 LE 93 54 2 1,009,674 140,600 157,668 46,755 PAKISTA N - RURAL BOTH SEXE 89,315,8 86,185,1 S 75 79 980,256 1,610,803 162,466 307,509 69,662 46,121,7 44,486,4 MALE 60 61 510,044 844,286 83,081 162,025 35,863 FEMA 43,194,1 41,698,7 LE 15 18 470,212 766,517 79,385 145,484 33,799 PAKISTA N - URBAN BOTH SEXE 43,036,4 41,248,2 1,112,64 S 04 30 6 500,468 123,746 24,834 26,480 22,751,9 21,826,8 MALE 26 94 579,016 257,311 62,531 12,650 13,524 FEMA 20,284,4 19,421,3 LE 78 36 533,630 243,157 61,215 12,184 12,956 N.W.F .P. BOTH 17,743,6 17,644,9 SEXE 45 99 36,668 4,498 42,162 592 14,726

161

S 9,088,93 9,038,92 MALE 6 4 19,126 2,250 20,894 286 7,456 FEMA 8,654,70 8,606,07 LE 9 5 17,542 2,248 21,268 306 7,270 N.W.F.P. - RURAL BOTH SEXE 14,749,5 14,698,1 S 61 64 4,901 1,143 32,993 255 12,105 7,499,51 7,473,82 MALE 2 6 2,562 537 16,326 126 6,135 FEMA 7,250,04 7,224,33 LE 9 8 2,339 606 16,667 129 5,970 N.W.F.P. - URBAN BOTH SEXE 2,994,08 2,946,83 S 4 5 31,767 3,355 9,169 337 2,621 1,589,42 1,565,09 MALE 4 8 16,564 1,713 4,568 160 1,321 FEMA 1,404,66 1,381,73 LE 0 7 15,203 1,642 4,601 177 1,300 FAT A BOTH SEXE 3,176,33 3,163,48 S 1 1 2,306 1,046 6,541 875 2,082 1,652,04 1,645,73 MALE 7 8 1,209 515 3,192 385 1,008 FEMA 1,524,28 1,517,74 LE 4 3 1,097 531 3,349 490 1,074 FATA - RURAL BOTH SEXE 3,090,85 3,079,56 S 8 5 1,308 774 6,457 869 1,885 1,605,56 1,600,04 MALE 5 7 696 378 3,145 380 919 FEMA 1,485,29 1,479,51 LE 3 8 612 396 3,312 489 966 FATA - URBAN BOTH SEXE S 85,473 83,916 998 272 84 6 197 MALE 46,482 45,691 513 137 47 5 89

162

FEMA LE 38,991 38,225 485 135 37 1 108 PUNJAB BOTH SEXE 73,621,2 71,574,8 1,699,84 S 90 30 3 92,628 181,428 23,782 48,779 38,094,3 37,033,5 MALE 67 09 883,637 47,791 92,024 12,313 25,093 FEMA 35,526,9 34,541,3 LE 23 21 816,206 44,837 89,404 11,469 23,686

PUNJAB - RURAL BOTH SEXE 50,602,2 49,418,6 S 65 41 946,711 77,890 96,312 21,258 41,453 26,022,9 25,408,5 MALE 90 69 492,521 40,280 49,242 11,019 21,359 FEMA 24,579,2 24,010,0 LE 75 72 454,190 37,610 47,070 10,239 20,094 PUNJAB - URBAN BOTH SEXE 23,019,0 22,156,1 S 25 89 753,132 14,738 85,116 2,524 7,326 12,071,3 11,624,9 MALE 77 40 391,116 7,511 42,782 1,294 3,734 FEMA 10,947,6 10,531,2 LE 48 49 362,016 7,227 42,334 1,230 3,592 SINDH BOTH SEXE 30,439,8 27,796,8 S 93 14 294,885 1,980,534 43,524 300,308 23,828 16,097,5 14,715,0 MALE 91 96 154,204 1,034,680 23,143 158,150 12,318 FEMA 14,342,3 13,081,7 LE 02 18 140,681 945,854 20,381 142,158 11,510 SINDH - RURAL BOTH SEXE 15,600,0 13,747,6 S 31 38 21,672 1,523,399 18,811 279,223 9,288 8,193,12 7,220,06 MALE 8 8 11,249 799,223 10,359 147,421 4,808 FEMA 7,406,90 6,527,57 LE 3 0 10,423 724,176 8,452 131,802 4,480

163

SINDH - URBAN BOTH SEXE 14,839,8 14,049,1 S 62 76 273,213 457,135 24,713 21,085 14,540 7,904,46 7,495,02 MALE 3 8 142,955 235,457 12,784 10,729 7,510 FEMA 6,935,39 6,554,14 LE 9 8 130,258 221,678 11,929 10,356 7,030 BALOCHI STAN BOTH SEXE 6,565,88 6,484,00 S 5 6 26,462 32,387 9,800 6,759 6,471 3,506,50 3,464,54 MALE 6 8 13,856 16,258 4,938 3,529 3,377 FEMA 3,059,37 3,019,45 LE 9 8 12,606 16,129 4,862 3,230 3,094 BALOCHI STAN - RURAL BOTH SEXE 4,997,10 4,968,42 S 5 0 3,072 7,592 7,269 5,897 4,855 2,657,04 2,642,14 MALE 3 4 1,660 3,865 3,700 3,076 2,598 FEMA 2,340,06 2,326,27 LE 2 6 1,412 3,727 3,569 2,821 2,257 BALOCHI STAN - URBAN BOTH SEXE 1,568,78 1,515,58 S 0 6 23,390 24,795 2,531 862 1,616 MALE 849,463 822,404 12,196 12,393 1,238 453 779 FEMA LE 719,317 693,182 11,194 12,402 1,293 409 837 FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITO RY BOTH SEXE S 805,235 769,279 32,738 178 2,757 27 256 MALE 434,239 415,540 17,028 103 1,421 12 135 FEMA 370,996 353,739 15,710 75 1,336 15 121

164

LE FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITO RY - RURAL BOTH SEXE S 276,055 272,751 2,592 5 624 7 76 MALE 143,522 141,807 1,356 3 309 3 44 FEMA LE 132,533 130,944 1,236 2 315 4 32 FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITO RY - URBAN BOTH SEXE S 529,180 496,528 30,146 173 2,133 20 180 MALE 290,717 273,733 15,672 100 1,112 9 91 FEMA LE 238,463 222,795 14,474 73 1,021 11 89

Source: www.stat.gov.pk

165

Appendix 2

TABLE 2 - POPULATION (5 YEARS AND ABOVE) BY RELIGION, ABILITY TO READ THE HOLY QURAN

OR RESPECTIVE HOLY BOOK AND RURAL /URBANDIVISION IN 1998

TOTAL CAN READ CANNOT READ RELIGIO N BOTH FEMA BOTH FEMA BOTH FEM SEXES MALE LE SEXES MALE LE SEXES MALE ALE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

PAKIST AN ALL RELIGIO 110,057 57,460, 52,597, 59,762,3 30,101, 29,661, 50,295, 27,359, 22,93 NS ,816 364 452 62 233 129 454 131 6,323 105,839 55,241, 50,597, 58,637,0 29,497, 29,139, 47,202, 25,744, 21,45 MUSLIM ,630 659 971 19 632 387 611 027 8,584 CHRISTI 1,862,7 971,54 891,19 351,42 297,83 1,213,4 620,11 593,3 AN 37 1 6 649,256 3 3 81 8 63 HINDU 1,538,0 806,90 731,15 144,36 117,64 1,276,0 662,54 613,5 (JATI) 56 3 3 262,003 2 1 53 1 12 QADIANI (AHMADI 210,77 175,51 222,33 131,05 91,28 ) 386,292 7 5 163,959 79,724 84,235 3 3 0 SCHEDU LED 188,45 170,49 324,58 168,99 155,5 CASTES 358,957 8 9 34,375 19,459 14,916 2 9 83 24,00 OTHERS 72,144 41,026 31,118 15,750 8,633 7,117 56,394 32,393 1 PAKIST AN - RURAL ALL RELIGIO 72,691, 37,608, 35,082, 34,798,3 17,454, 17,343, 37,892, 20,153, 17,73 NS 040 762 278 01 945 356 739 817 8,922 70,149, 36,256, 33,893, 34,285,3 17,174, 17,111, 35,864, 19,082, 16,78 MUSLIM 940 336 604 34 069 265 606 267 2,339 CHRISTI 425,07 385,74 140,98 112,41 557,41 284,08 273,3 AN 810,820 5 5 253,406 8 8 4 7 27 HINDU 1,080,4 570,22 510,23 931,72 487,50 444,2 (JATI) 62 8 4 148,741 82,719 66,022 1 9 12 QADIANI (AHMADI 148,71 110,78 184,62 111,94 72,68 ) 259,500 8 2 74,875 36,776 38,099 5 2 3 SCHEDU 175,75 158,68 308,42 160,98 147,4 LED 334,432 2 0 26,006 14,768 11,238 6 4 42

166

CASTES 18,91 OTHERS 55,886 32,653 23,233 9,939 5,625 4,314 45,947 27,028 9 PAKIST AN - URBAN ALL RELIGIO 37,366, 19,851, 17,515, 24,964,0 12,646, 12,317, 12,402, 7,205,3 5,197, NS 776 602 174 61 288 773 715 14 401 35,689, 18,985, 16,704, 24,351,6 12,323, 12,028, 11,338, 6,661,7 4,676, MUSLIM 690 323 367 85 563 122 005 60 245 CHRISTI 1,051,9 546,46 505,45 210,43 185,41 656,06 336,03 320,0 AN 17 6 1 395,850 5 5 7 1 36 HINDU 236,67 220,91 344,33 175,03 169,3 (JATI) 457,594 5 9 113,262 61,643 51,619 2 2 00 QADIANI (AHMADI 18,59 ) 126,792 62,059 64,733 89,084 42,948 46,136 37,708 19,111 7 SCHEDU LED CASTES 24,525 12,706 11,819 8,369 4,691 3,678 16,156 8,015 8,141 OTHERS 16,258 8,373 7,885 5,811 3,008 2,803 10,447 5,365 5,082

Source: www.stat.gov.pk

167

Appendix 3

Catholic Dioceses of Pakistan:

 Faisalabad (Diocese)  Hyderabad in Pakistan (Diocese)  Islamabad-Rawalpindi (Diocese)  Kafiristan, Kashmir (Prefecture Apostolic)  Karachi (Archdiocese)  Lahore (Archdiocese)  Multan (Diocese)  Quetta (Vicariate Apostolic)  Rawalpindi (Diocese)

Source: http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/country/dpk.html. Accessed on 12th June, 2014.

Protestant Dioceses of Pakistan (The United Church of Pakistan) in 2014:

 Faisalabad  Hyderabad  Karachi  Lahore  Multan  Peshawar  Raiwind  Sialkot

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