Paul and the Church
In this exploratory article the author deals with the ecclesiology of Paul and its relevance for India. Today we are witnessing in our country a scenario where basically two kinds o f politics are at play: the politics of division and the politics of unity. The former is by far the more popular even in this age of growing hate and terror campaigns spreading in many parts of the country. The politics of division seeks to form small configu rations o f caste, language and religion, the better to appeal to particularist identities for vested interests. Aggressive claims of dominant castes and disastrous conflicts resulting from cultural and religious differences are fomenting worldviews o f exclusivism and distrust, with transcendent val ues giving way to pragmatic ones. There is also a new social configuration emerging, due to large-scale migration, unprecedented xenophobia, fun damentalism and terrorism. In this context, the author opined that an examination of Paul's under standing of Ekklesia, o f the local ecclesiologies that he developed and his theology of 'communio' will offer significant insights for questions on identity, unity and a relevant way of being church today in pluralistic In dia.