Nature of Dalit Theology: Counter to Indian Christian theology

The first element in the significance of Dalit Theology is that it is counter to Indian Christian
theology. While theology is generally understood as the study of the nature of God and
God’s relationship with human beings, Western theology has sought to give a coherent
account of Christian beliefs based on scripture and tradition. Indian Christian theologians
followed the Western tradition of defining God, Christ and Christian doctrines. There are
certain factors why Dalit theology criticized Indian Christian theology and dissatisfied with it.
Firstly, Indian Christian theologians mostly hailed from upper caste backgrounds and were
influenced by Brahmanical Hindu insights and understandings. These three factors –
westernised thought forms, Vedic views of Hindu philosophers and a Brahmanical
background – influenced their reflections on Indian Christian theology. However, their
reflections neither addressed the issue of caste nor took into consideration the suffering life
experience of Dalits, who form the majority among Christians in India, facing caste
oppression. The reason for this was that the proponents of this theology were mostly non-
Dalits and their interpretations. Secondly, They viewed Christ through their own Vedic
insights and framework (i.e. based upon Hinduism). Thus Indian Christian theology is
formulated within the Hindu religion and philosophical framework. Thirdly, Indian Christian
theologians were familiar with westernised theological insights which revolves around
dogmas and not relating to the human experience and social reality of the present context.
Thus, Dalit theologians have rejected ‘both the European missionary movement and the
traditional Indian Christian theology of the 20th century, as metaphysical speculations,
having nothing to do directly with the history and existence of the marginalized majority
within the Indian church.
Source of Dalit Theology:
The second fundamental characteristic of Dalit Theology is its source. It is based in the life-
experience of Dalits. Contextual and Liberation theologies mostly have their base in the
oppressive life-experience of various groups of people and Dalit Theology,being contextual
and liberational, reflects Christian faith from the perspective of Dalits, the discriminated and
oppressed community.
As Alister E Mc Grath says, “Western Christian theology has its fundamental source mainly
in the Bible, tradition and reason”. But Dalit Theology immerses itself in the life-experience
of Dalits who are under caste oppression and reflects upon theology from their perspective.
Dalits form the majority in the Indian church and suffer from caste discrimination inside and
outside church then Christian theology in India should root itself in the life-experience of
Dalits (C.B.Webster, 2007 p 197-198), in order to inspire them to strengthen their faith and
overcome their life . Dalit Theology, being contextual and liberational, encourages Dalits to
get rid of caste and its oppressions. Therefore, it needs to locate itself primarily in the life-
experience of Dalits and attempts to interpret scripture in relation to their life. As James
Massey argues, Dalit Theology is the “local expression of the experiences of the local people
of their faith. It is a well-known fact that the majority of Christians come from the lower
strata of society. What is missing from Indian Christian theology is the experiences of these
lowliest people”
Dalit Theology is contextual and liberative:
Dalit theologians argue that Dalit Theology is contextual and liberative in its nature.
Gutiérrez argues that theology emanates from the faith of a Christian community pertaining
to the context. He states that, “what we call theology is something that every Christian and
every Christian community does...Theology is a Christian community's awareness of its faith
at a given moment in history.” This applies to Dalit Theology as it delves into the caste-
oppressive situation of Dalit Christians, which is their context and which strengthens their
faith commitment to liberate themselves. The context is defined by the life experience of
Dalits who face all forms of caste oppression. It is liberative as it shapes the faith of Dalit
Christians to have the exodus experience that God is in action with them, to release them
from the captivity of caste system.
Themes of Dalit Theology:
God as the God of the oppressed
Dalit theologians, describe God as the God of the oppressed, mainly by citing parallels with
God’s role in liberating the Israelites from their Egyptian slavery. For them, the Exodus
narrative of the Old Testament has a tremendous relevance for the liberation of Dalits from
caste bondage. Nirmal, a pioneer of Dalit Theology, draws out parallels with the
Deuteronomic creed found in Deuteronomy 26:5-12 wherein it is stated that God listened to
the cry of the Israelites and liberated them from toil, oppression, and the harsh Egyptian
bondage. He uses this text to highlight similarities with the suffering of the Dalits and argues
that, if Dalits cry out, God will liberate them from caste bondage as God did for the
Israelites.
Dalits as ‘Full Human beings’ through the concept of imago dei:
The next theme articulated by Dalit theologians is the ‘imago dei’ concept. It ensures human
status to all human beings and sees all as equal. Dalit theologians argued that Dalits are
created by God in God’s own image and therefore they are equal in status to non-Dalits and
have a responsibility to transform the caste system, to enable both Dalits and non-Dalits to
live in equality and harmony.
Jesus as Dalit & Christ a Liberator
The next theme that most Dalit theologians put forward is that of Jesus as Dalit and Christ as
liberator. They were, by their argument, able to distinguish between the historical Jesus,
and the messianic Christ. They bring in Jesus’s birth, genealogy, identification, suffering
mission and death, to demonstrate their argument. According to Nirmal, Jesus’s genealogy
included Tamar who was seduced by Judah, Rahab, the prostitute who helped the Israelite
spies, and Solomon, the son of David, illegitimately born to Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah.
This genealogy recalls the impure and polluted stigma imposed on the birth of Dalits, the
outcastes, by Brahmanism. As mentioned earlier, Dalits were said to have been born out of
immoral or illegitimate relationships between the three oppressor castes and the Shudras,
the
servant class known as untouchables in the caste system. Comparing this, Nirmal terms
Jesus a Dalit. However, this argument warrants an important discussion. Although
Brahmanism describes that Dalits were born out of an immoral relationships between the
four varnas, as seen earlier, present day Dalits get angry, deny and challenge such theories
which defile their birth and life.
Salvation for Dalits is liberation from caste :
This theme has a close link with Christian eschatology. According to Dalit theologians,
Christian eschatology deals with last or final things that include the future of the world. In
short, it talks about salvation in terms of awarding wholeness or completeness by saving
and restoring those who have fallen, and ensuring for them a life with justice and peace.
Therefore, eschatology for Dalits is to be freed from caste and its all oppressive structures
so that they might live in justice and peace in this world with full humanity. This is salvation
for them and this would entitle them to enjoy the fullness of humankind and live in
harmony with others. For Dalit theologians, salvation is not only to be freed from sin and
assured of eternal life but necessarily to be freed from caste oppression so that they can live
the full and whole life of a human being in this world in equal status with others. Massey
observes that, so far, Dalit Christians are assured of half salvation as they have been given
the promise of the salvation of the soul, but full salvation is yet to reach them by doing away
with the caste system (Massey, 1997a p 94).