By HH Mohrmen
The most interesting and lively debates in The Shillong Times are on the topic of the Khasi Christian’s inculturation or contextual theology and reaction of the people who still believe in traditional Niam Tynrai religion with regard to this inculturation attempt. It is worth mentioning that the way the debate proceeds is both mature and enlightened.
The debate goes back to the old topic of religion and culture in the context of Khasi-Pnar Christians. The question is how much of the culture they can adopt as their own and what are the elements in the culture that they can acquire. The Khasi-Pnar who believes in the Niam Tynrai or Tynre seem to be of the opinion that there are elements in the culture which the Khasi-Pnar Christians can espouse as their own, but there are aspects which are related with theology that the Khasi-Pnar Christians cannot incorporate into the Christian religion.
Throughout its history Christianity is being enriched and continues to grow by incorporating elements from pagans, gentiles and other non Christian traditions which later become part(s) or the essence of the Church like festivals and liturgies. Perhaps the current stalemate with regards to Lum Sohpetbneng pilgrimage is also in the direction where Christian churches in the area are trying to adopt (as their own) what is an act of religious devotion of the Niamtre/ Niam Tynrai people.
It all started in the early Christian period (thought then it was not called inculturation) when the Christian text gradually evolved into what we now know as the Bible by incorporating the Sacred Scripture of the Hebrews in the first part of the book which is also known as ‘the Old Testament.’ The first section of the Christian Bible was based primarily upon the Hebrew Bible (Latin: Biblia Hebraica) which is a collection of ancient Israelites writings also known as ‘Tanakh’ and the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible is believed by both the Christians and Jews as Sacred text.
Although the Old Testament canon accepted by different Christian denominations varies from one denomination to another like for instance the Protestant Churches have a version with 39 books and that of the Catholic’s have a 46 books while the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox’s version of Old Testament has 49 books, the fact remains that the first part of the Bible was written in Hebrew (except for few books in Aramaic) during the period of 1200 to 100 BCE before Jesus was born and it is also known as Hebrew Bible.
The first time the Christians adopted the non-Christian element was when the Tanakh was made part of the Holy scriptures which was followed by Christian writings (which developed in the early Christian period) as New Testament to make the Bible complete. The book was arranged in such a way that the Hebrew Bible which is considered to be ‘Old’ proclaims the advent of the New Testament.
Christians in early part of the church history also celebrate Easter which always coincides with the Jewish festival of Pesah. To avoid this overlapping the timing of the celebration was decided in 325 CE. The first Council of Nicaea established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon (Paschal full moon) following the March 21 Equinox. The fact that the festival has Pagan origin is no longer a debate, Bede mentioned that ‘Easter’ was named after the English month of ‘EOSTRE’ corresponding with the month of April which was also named after the goddess Eostre in whose honour the festival was celebrated.
The custom of using the symbol of the rabbit also known as Easter bunny and Easter egg also has pagan connection because rabbit was associated with Eostre and egg represents spring, fertility and renewal. Now the Easter traditions eventually came to be absorbed within Christianity as the symbol of the resurrection of Jesus.
The other important Christian festival which has pagan origin is celebration of Christmas day on the December 25. It was a custom of the pagans to celebrate the December 25 as the birthday of the Sun, and on such occasion they kindled lights as token of festivity and the feast is believed to be established by Aurelian in 274. In 1743, German Protestant Paul Ernst Jablonski argued that Christmas was placed on December 25 to correspond with the Roman holiday ‘Dies Natalis Solis Invicti’. But it was the 12th Century Syrian bishop Jacob Barr-Salibi who wrote, ‘it was a custom of the pagans to celebrate the same December 25 as the birthday of the Sun and in these solemnities and revelries the Christians also took part.’
The Unitarians too adopted some of the Niam Tynrai/Tynre customs and tradition. For instance the ceremony for naming a child was not called baptism but ‘child dedication and naming ceremony’ and earlier symbols like a machete (wait), cone (khoh), bows and arrows were also used during this ceremony. But what can be considered as a master stroke was when the founder of the Church U H.K. Singh Lyngdoh Nongbri defined ‘church’ not from the Christian context but called church ‘Ka Kur mynsiem’(the spiritual clan). Niam Tynrai is a religion within the clan of and for the clan ‘Niam Kur’, but H.K. Singh called his new church as the new clan but that which is in the spirit.
Pilgrimage to u Lum Sohpetbneng is of a very recent origin even amongst the Niam Tynrai/Tre but this is one part of Niam Tynrai evolution from ka Niam Kur into an organised religion. This evolution under their respective umbrella organisation – ka Seng Khasi and Sein Raij is to be appreciated. The local Seng Khasi and Sein Raij even have regular meets like the Dorbar Niamtre and religious education (Skur hikai niam) for the children and youths which was not heard of in the past. This entire effort is to keep their folks (who are constantly being lured for conversion by Christians of all hue and colours) together. They have annual meets like ka Lympung and other meets and the pilgrimage to Lum Sohpetbneng is one of the most popular activities which was part of what one can call the Seng Khasi/ Sein Raij renaissance.
Throughout the debate the followers of Niamtre/ Tynrai do not see it a problem if their fellow Khasi-Pnar join in the Shad Suk Mynsiem, Rongkusi or even join in dancing in the Behdienkhlam, but the question is with the pilgrimage. Can Khasi-Pnar Christians organise a pilgrimage to u Lum Sohpetbneng? U lum Sohpetbneng is an important part of the creation story of ‘Ki Khun u Hynniewtrep Hynniewskum’ (the children of the seven huts) and the Christians have their own creation story which is found in the Genesis of the Hebrew Bible, which is totally different from the creation story of the Khasi-Pnar.
The question is when Khasi-Pnar Christians go on a pilgrimage to Lum Sohpetbneng, does it not contradict with the theology of the church which believes that the Earth was created in six days and also the doctrine of original sin which has its foundation in the story. Can the Khasi-Pnar Christians do away with the Biblical story of the creation of the earth, which also means having to do away with original sin? The Niam Tynrai followers ought to feel happy at the change of church attitudes’ towards their faith. What use to be considered superstition is now being incorporated, this is significant change.
The pilgrimage to u Lum Sohpetbneng is significant because it has to do with the foundation of both faith traditions. The foundation of Christianity is on Judeo Christian tradition which is different from the tribal traditions. If pilgrimage to the Lum Sohpetbneng is taken simply because of the church’s attempt at inculturation without trying to justify its relevance to the contemporary Christianity then it is not only a futile attempt but it is also an insult to the Niam Tynrai/Tynre and our ancestors.
When the church adopts the above mentioned pagans and non Christian traditions, it appropriates the festivals or the liturgies as its own. The Hebrew Bible was made to proclaim the coming of the gospel, the birthday of the invincible Sun was converted to the birthday of the invincible Son; the light of the world and the pagan festival celebrating the rebirth of the earth was changed into the rebirth of Jesus. Similarly, the church needs to come up with similar argument(s) to justify the pilgrimage or to give the same a Christian meaning.