“Spiritualizing the Political”: Christ and Christianity in Gandhi's Satyagraha

Gandhi's intense study of Christ and Christianity, especially in South Africa, had a major impact on his satyagraha campaigns in both South Africa and India. Although satyagraha is often considered only in its political aspect, and although several studies of his religious beliefs have been done without reference to their political implications, Gandhi himself emphasized throughout his life that he sought to spiritualize the political, to establish a spiritual basis for all his social and political work. Gandhi was especially moved by the similar themes he found in the Sermon on the Mount and the Bhagavad Gita . Christ's ethic of Love, expressed especially in the admonitions to “resist not evil” and to “make this world the Kingdom of God,“ deepened Gandhi's inclusive Hindu faith and contributed to his theory of nonviolent direct action.