Baba Premananda Bharati’s ‘Privileged View’ of Christianity
Keywords:
Baba Premananda Bharati, Vaishnavism, Christianity, Krishna bhakti, Hindu-Christian dialogue, religious mission, colonial critique, interreligious engagement, early 20th centuryAbstract
The article "Baba Premananda Bharati’s ‘Privileged View’ of Christianity" by Gerald T. Carney explores the missionary strategies and theological critique employed by Baba Premananda Bharati, a Bengali Vaishnava monk who engaged Christianity during his early 20th-century missions in the West. The article highlights Bharati’s fivefold approach to religious engagement—ranging from sharp criticism of Western colonialism and Christianity to his esoteric reinterpretation of Christ through a Vaishnava lens—revealing a nuanced attempt to assert the vitality and universality of Krishna bhakti. Carney positions Bharati’s rhetoric as both confrontational and adaptive, grounded in devotional theology yet responsive to the religio-political climate of colonial modernity.
