Christianity in Nagaland SASHILA JAMIR
Word & World Volume 37, Number 4 Fall 2017 Christianity in Nagaland SASHILA JAMIR hile the North Americans are “still holding on to at least the language of WGod and a sense of spirituality,” the Naga people and their culture are im- bued with a deep sense of the reality of God.1 Where American Christianity has ex- perienced a decline in church membership fueled in part by cultural rejection of “labels, doctrines, and organizational forms of Christianity,” the Nagas are deeply spiritual and religious with strong support of organized ecclesiastical institutions.2 They gather together in their churches long before Sunday worship begins to make sure that they secure a seat in the inner space of the church (many sit outside the church). Almost all the local congregations are expanding and modifying the ar- chitecture of the church buildings. Many churches have recreated new spacious buildings with sophisticated technology and modern, trendy interiors. However, despite this quantitative growth in church membership and material prosperity, the Naga Church is not free from cultural and religious challenges. Naga Christianity exists in a complicated reality of challenging sociopolitical, cultural, and economic conditions. The church struggles to maintain her Christian identity in the midst of one of Asia’s oldest unresolved political conflicts. And yet it 1Josh de Keijzer, “Is there Christian faith after religion? The Interview: Diana Butler Bass About the Reli- gious Changes in America,” Hello Christian October 19, 2016, https://hellochristian.com/4838-is-there-christian -faith-after-religion (accessed September 6, 2017). 2Ibid. Cf. Diana Butler Bass, Christianity after Religion: The end of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2013).
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