The rapid growth of Pentecostal Christianity in contemporary India is coinciding with rising Hindu nationalism and a surge in violence against both Christians and Muslims. In this lunch lecture, Dr. Chandra Mallampalli will address the questions: Why is Pentecostalism spreading so rapidly? And why are Pentecostals, in particular, being attacked?

The recent escalation in anti-Christian violence in India has a historical basis. Drawing on his just-released book, South Asia’s Christians: Between Hindu and Muslim (Oxford University Press, 2023), Dr. Mallampalli will discuss hostile reactions to missionaries and their conversion strategies across India—strategies which sometimes fomented a climate of “religious competition” and led to the marginalization of Christians in Hindu-, Muslim-, and Buddhist-majority countries. He will also reflect on the significance of Pentecostal Christianity in India’s diverse religious landscape today and the reasons this form of Christianity attracts Indians of different social and economic backgrounds, but especially the poor and marginalized.

Join us for this lunch lecture and time of Q&A with Dr. Mallampalli. Lunch will be provided by Upper House. 

Chandra Mallampalli

Chandra Mallampalli is Fletcher Jones Chair of Social Sciences and Professor of History at Westmont College, where he specializes in the history of South Asia. Professor Mallampalli earned his doctorate in South Asian History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before his graduate studies he worked as a journalist in India. An author of four books and many scholarly articles, he has written extensively on society, law, and religion, particularly Christianity and Islam, in colonial and post-colonial India. His most recent book is South Asia’s Christians: Between Hindu and Muslim (Oxford University Press, 2023), a historical survey of Christianity’s introduction and presence in South Asia.