Ecclesial Identities in a Multi-Faith Context

"On the fringes of the churches in India there are signs of fresh questioning about the meaning of the gospel among deeply Hindu and Sikh peoples. That is the focus of this important study. It doesn't provide any simple answers; that is one of its strengths. It does provide helpful insight into some of the questions and struggles that increasing numbers of people are recognizing and grappling with."

--H. L. Richard, author of Following Jesus in the Hindu Context



"Duerksen makes an essential contribution to the ongoing debate about so-called insider movements. Any doubters must read this scholarly study--carefully researched, field-based, and tested among Hindu and Sikh communities in Punjab, India. Duerksen interacts with leaders and literature in the debate, e.g., Herb Hoefer, H. L. Richard, Dason Jeyaraj, and others. Then, moving beyond the present theological impasse, Duerksen utilizes a sociological framework and an 'emergentist theory of identity formation' which moves the discussion forward. . . . Highly recommended."

--Roger E. Hedlund, Chief Editor of The Oxford Encyclopaedia of South Asian Christianity



"This study provides a significant step forward by using sociological tools to understand and analyze the insider movement phenomena in India. Duerksen conveys a sound grasp of the cultural, biblical, and theological issues involved in this peculiarly indigenous development within the dynamic cultural and religious diversity of India. Duerksen breaks new ground in focusing on the satsangs, thus recognizing the centrality of worship, rather than doctrine, in Indian spirituality. . . . The Holy Spirit is at work in India, and we struggle to keep up as 'it blows where it wills.'"

--Herbert Hoefer, author of Churchless Christianity



"Duerksen has taken the risk of listening carefully to believers who most evangelicals would dismiss as heretical, of seeking to understand theologically the ways in which these believers have negotiated the tensions between their cultural heritage and the gospel, and then of embracing their ecclesial solutions to this tension as part of the historical process of God's building His church. Each of the narratives analyzed by Duerksen illustrates how crises in the lives and beliefs of both Hindus and Sikhs led to the adoption of a new course of faith and practice, a commitment to Christ."

--Sherwood Lingenfelter, author of Leading Cross-culturally