The use of the bible in the institutional body language of Christian schools in India: mediating Western, Christian or Western-Christian culture in contemporary India?

This chapter reports on qualitative fieldwork undertaken in Christian foundation schools in India, and contributes to a fuller understanding of context in Indian biblical studies. Moreover, it draws attention to an aspect of the history and contemporary role of the Bible in India that needs to be included in any attempt to grasp the institutional forces that mediate encounters with the Bible, for both Christians and non-Christians. The chapter includes considerable reflexive insight into the research process and into the positionality of the researcher. The chapter also illustrates how the Bible is used in a sample of Christian foundation schools drawing on interviews, focus groups and observations in a range of schools in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Assam. The biblical institutional body language (ethos) of a sample of Christian foundation schools is also discussed, accompanied by visual data.