Book Reviews

Women', describing the challenge of evangelization in a pre-

dominantly oral culture. Other notable writings include the classic
article of Andrew Walls, outlining with vivid historical examples
the 'indigenising principle' and the 'pilgrim principle', the one where
the gospel adapts within cultures, the other where it transforms and
challenges cultures. The small collection of documents includes the
very comprehensive and vivid 38-page Report from the WCC Mission
and Evangelisation Conference held in Brazil in 1996. It highlights
the importance of balance between 'contextuality' and 'catholicity',
and this challenge between the local and the universal in their faith
faces all readers of this book.

Andrew Wingate
Selly Oak, Birmingham

Dalits and Christianity: Subaltern Religion and Liberation

Theology in India, Sathianathan Clarke (Delhi: Oxford
University Press, 1998; Oxford India Paperbacks 1999), 247
pp, £10
Sathianathan Clarke is not a Dalit, but has written one of the most
original works of Dalit theology. Dalits, who number at least 200
million in India, have claimed their own identity by renaming
themselves with this term, meaning 'oppressed' or 'crushed', re-
jecting the traditional 'outcaste', 'untouchable' or 'harijan' labels. A
pastor in Dalit villages before he was an academic, the author earned
the right to write this book by his transparent identity with their
suffering and aspirations.
The book is highly analytical, as it quite intentionally uses a
western theological framework and academic language to delve deep
into the religion of the Paraiyar caste, the largest Dalit community in
Tamilnadu (cf. the English term 'pariah'). This style, derived from
its origin as a doctoral thesis, does not make for easy reading,
and also leads to some repetition of concepts and phraseology.
Nevertheless, this is an important book in two areas. First, it contains
a clear critique of traditional Indian Christian theology, almost
entirely based on a dialogue with Brahminic Hinduism and excluding
of Dalits, the majority in the church. But the judicious way this is
done can enable a future dialogue between Dalit theology, and
Indian Christian theology, often seen as mutually exclusive.
Second, it draws attention to the limitations of a theology based
only on the word and texts, and shows how this has made invisible
Dalit traditions resting largely on story, dance, drama and music. In
the core last three chapters, the author shows how the drum is

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 Book Reviews

central to Paraiyar life. The Paraiyars are drummers in all the

religious functions of the high caste, and also use the instrument
extensively in their own religious life. Most radically, Clarke com-
pares the idea of Christ as logos in Greek theology, with Christ as
drum in this culture. He sees the drum as an integrating sound, that
represents the pain, defiance and hope of Dalit experience.
This is an original work of liberation theology, with a superb
bibliography and extensive, valuable endnotes. I hope the author
can write a more popular version, including examples and stories,
which would give enormous encouragement to Dalit pastors and
villagers.

Andrew Wingate
Selly Oak, Birmingham

Green Liberation: Towards an Integral Ecotheology, George

Mathew Nalunnakkal (ISPCK/NCCI 1999), xxiv + 303 pp,
£7.00 pbk
Nalunnakkal provides an impressive survey of the ecotheological
aspects of some contemporary theologies. Indigenous theologies of
India and South America take centre stage, but there's a critical
discussion of eco-feminist theology and creation spirituality. Na-
lunnakkal works hard at showing the complementarity of different
theologies, demonstrating how, say, Dalit theology need not fear
ecotheology as another Western importation, liable to sacrifice Dalit
(low caste) living standards for the sake of the West's ecological
worries. On the contrary, a concern with ecotheology will support
the economic and spiritual connection of people in relation to their
land.
The tensions between different strands of modern theology are
brought into focus. Nalunnakkal notes the difficulties of relating
Western feminist concerns to the particular issues faced by women
in, for instance, rural India. Liberation theology is often tied to an
ecologically insensitive 'development' model of society. Matthew
Fox's creation spirituality receives the most severe treatment, being
seen as tied to the 'American lifestyle' (p. 272), and failing to
recognize the realities of the North-South divide. This is unfair,
since issues of North and South are a recurrent theme in Fox's
Creation Spirituality (New York: HarperCollins, 1991).
Process theology provides the wider framework, with a stress on
the continuity between humans and the rest of creation (evident, for
instance, in that both are seen as having 'feeling' aspects). Barth's
sharp distinction between God and creation is rejected (p. 232), as

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