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Title: The Gospel of God to the Sikh
Paperback: 80 pages
Publisher: Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (ISPCK); 1997
Reviewed by G.B. Singh
I wasn’t aware of this small book until very recently when a friend brought it to my attention. Published in 1997, James C. Gamaliel, the author (now deceased) is described as the director of Bethel Theological Institute in India.
The intention of this book is clear in sensing by way of presenting the sanitized version of the Bible as opposed to depicting Sikhism in a language that is bound to confuse any good reader. Here is a example, drawn as conclusion:
We have trodden through many paths, collated the studied opinion of many scholars and researchers. Finally we come to the end of the journey….
Sikhism began as a radical reformation, modifying and challenging Hinduism as a whole. But gradually, it reabsorbed many of the concepts and practices, it once discarded. Sikhism changed the course according to the political and religious exigencies of the times. Still, the fundamental concepts regarding the ways of salvation of Hinduism have been retained in Sikhism in grater or smaller measure. Bhakti, nishkama karma, jivanmukti, are some of these terms, karma, transmigration and vithi have been accepted as such. Directly or indirectly, explicitly or implicitly, the four ways of salvation is found in Sikhism. So, the four ways of salvation and the Biblical responses may be considered. The four ways are Karma, Gnana, Bhakti and Yoga….
Within the Lutheran evangelism Pastor Gamaliel was a renowned leader. To his credit this Pastor acknowledged his “limitations” while relying exclusively on books written by “Sikhs and western scholars” on Sikhism. The question is: What compelled him to write this flawed book? The answer is lodged in the preface section of the book. Apparently during Gamaliel’s passing tenure at the Concordia University (in southern California, USA), in 1994, the Pastor had an encounter with a certain Ramona Kaur Miller at St. John’s Church located in Orange, California. As stated, Ramona Kaur (married to certain Dr. William Miller) wanted her father, a Sikh gentleman, to convert to Christianity and was seeking help from Pastor Gamaliel to accomplish this objective.
This un-named Sikh person, the father of Ramona Kaur, had earlier married an “American lady” and so it seems (though not clearly stated in the book) his wife was instrumental in raising their three daughters (including Ramona Kaur) to her own belief system of Christianity. Apparently, even after the death of his wife, this Sikh person was reluctant to embrace Christianity, and Ramona Kaur--a good Christian that she was--would leave no stone unturned making sure her old-aged father to renounce Sikhism. After all isn’t a good daughter suppose to behave this way? Even when her father, as stated in this book, was 96-years-old, and sensing her father failing to renounce Sikhism, she contacted Pastor Gamaliel again pressing him to write this book solely for the purpose so that she might convince her dying father to make a switch!
The fabrication of this book is a result of the background of religious clash within one mixed family and, in all likelihood, this Sikh father was helpless in facing a new brand of missionaries by way of his own daughter! Because this book is silent in its outcome, my feeling is Ramona Kaur failed in her endeavors to convert her father. Moreover, I believe if Pastor Gamaliel had embraced any sense of modern secular morality, he should have counseled Ramona Kaur against pursuing such adventures against her own father.
This book has many serious problems beyond the scope of discussions here. Not only is the book error-ridden in presenting Sikhism, it is also amazingly deeply flawed in portraying Christianity within the realm of the Bible.
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