1.
Scope
of the Research
This
study covers a period from 1891 to 2011 and it is confined to the Mara
Christian community living in Maraland and in particular to the Evangelical
Church of Maraland and Mara Evangelical Church. Since there is no others
Churches that necessary to be mentioned. This study deals with the religion-cultural
context within which the changes took place in Maraland. In order to understand
how the Mara people reacted to these changes, and how they developed a new
cultural synthesis, it is also necessary to study the pre-British history and
culture of the people. This study may also be of help, it is hoped, to other
tribal communities in Northeast India and Chin State, Rakhine state in Myanmar those
who have the same religious and cultural background and experienced the same
Colonial rule and the western Christianity.
2.
Significance
of the Study
Firstly,
this research is significant for theological colleges-students which are the
centres of theological education in Maraland. This study retrieves Mara
religious and cultural elements for theological hermeneutics to interpret and
criticize with the purpose of bringing out a relevant Mara contextual theology.
In addition, this research will be significant for new generation who will
engage in theological studies because it provides a new framework which
proposes a theological paradigm shift from traditional colonial paradigm to “theology
from below” in the Mara
context.
Secondly,
this study is significant for the Mara Evangelical Church, Evangelical Church
of Maraland and the Mara community as a whole. In the Mara context, tension
between the Gospel and Mara traditional culture is still problematic and
debates are going on as to the extent to which the Mara Christian should
abandon or retain their traditions, customs and culture. This research gives
new insights and confidence to the Mara Christians to decide which cultural
aspects to abandon and which will be retained for worship and for theological
construction.
Finally,
this study is significant for theological development because this research is
one of the few studies undertaken which gives a new way to look at Mara
Christianity in the light of interaction between the Gospel and traditional
Mara culture. It gives detailed study about revival movements in Maraland, how
the revival movement saved the Maras from complete British assimilation and
provides the people with a setting for regaining and maintaining their identity
and selfhood by reinterpreting Mara socio-cultural values.
3.
Problems
and Limitations of the Research
A
major problem of this study is the alienation of the gospel. Despite
Christianity in Maraland being more than one century old, the gospel remains
alien to Mara Christians. Theologically this alienation is the result of
uncritical rejection of culture and uncritical contextualization in the past
history of the Mara church. Paul G. Hiebert points out that this kind of
alienation or foreignness of Christianity is a real hindrance to communicating
the gospel.[1]
With
regard to limitation of the research, it should be mentioned that, as the Maras
did not have written language in the pre-Christian era, most of the writings
available are recollections of oral traditions, myths, legends and stories.
Consequently, most of the available documents are written in the Mara language
and translation to English is needed to present their content and relevant
meaning. While the author has sought to produce accurate translations, there
may be alternative translations. This leads to some limitations in
investigation and deeper study in this research.
At
this stage the contextual synthetic model which gives emphasis to the
interaction of gospel and culture is used for theological construction which is
very relevant for the present context. But like other communities, the Mara
community also encounters different ideologies and new cultures emerging from
modern science and technologies. Increasingly they have been dissatisfied with
the present missiological approach adopted by the Evangelical Church which
condemned other religions and eventually disrupted the harmony of the
community. At a later stage, we may need to apply a dialogical model which is
concern with mutual co-existence through tolerance and building new
relationships with neighbours of other faiths for
the construction of Mara theology of mission.
[1] Paul G. Hiebert, ‘Cultural
Differences and the Communication of the Gospel’ in Ralph D. Winter &
Steven C. Hawthorne, eds., Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A
Reader (Pasadena, California: William Carey Library, 2004), 381-382.
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