Modern Christians 5: Pandita Ramabai
The missionary movement of the last two centuries comes in for lots of criticism nowadays, for imposing their cultural assumptions, being lackeys to the colonialists, etc. And they did make mistakes (though they were, as often as not, a pain in the neck to the imperialists). Since they were ready to die for their faith (often from malaria), we should not be too quick in our censure.
But none of this is what is the most interesting. That is the surprise, that the Gospel came to be heard when, where, by whom could not be predicted, that churches of great vitality and courage rose up, that those churches came to express their faith in new ways, and that Global South Christians took the lead in this. The rise of world Christianity is a ‘great new fact’ of modern history (as the great Roman Catholic theologian Karl Rahner called it. This rise was not yet clear in the 19th century, but it picked up speed in the 20th, especially and surprisingly after independence. Mass movements like the East African Revival, the conversions of untouchables in India, and the pentecostal growth in Latin America were key.
I have chosen, from many possible candidates, Ramabai, a convert to Christianity from Hinduism in the late 19th century. She was a teacher and advocate for widows and orphans as well as those of lower castes. Her Mukti Mission underwent an early charismatic revival. She struggled to find an authentically Indian form of the faith. She was revered for her saintliness of life. She was an harbinger of much to come.
