A Naganized Christianity from the Perspective of the Ao-Nagas

Abstrak

The Ao-Nagas are one of the 17 major tribes of the Naga nation. Religion occupies a central place in the life of an Ao. In the traditional Ao understanding, religion was not and is not a moral code but a convention. With the coming of the first foreign missionaries to the Aos, 1872 marked the establishment of the Church in the Ao country. However, many foreign missionaries had a discriminatory attitude towards the Nagas. Every messenger of the Gospel has the tendency to convey it in terms of their own cultural worldview and sometimes biases. The foreign missionaries failed to look at the Naga culture without their imperialistic and culturally biased foreign lenses, thus, failing to understand and engage with the Naga culture. As a result, the introduction and spread of Christianity in the Naga country had both positive and negative effects.

Ao culture and religion, in terms of Christianity’s spread, served as a preparatory foundation for the coming of the Gospel. The culturally biased approach of the foreign missionaries blinded them to that fact and stood contrary to the true spirit, heart, and essence of mission – love. The Church is called to live and work on the earth and not apart from it, thus, requiring her to engage with cultures in a way that brings transformation, not termination of cultures.