In its physical form The Routledge Handbook of Hindu-Christian Relations must be sight to behold. It is a voluminous work containing thirty-nine chapters authored by thirty-seven scholars and expertly curated by Chad Bauman and Michelle Voss Roberts. The editors acknowledge the inherent limitations and privileging that result from the religious studies approach used in the analyses of and reflections on Hindu-Christian relations. They also demonstrate the breadth of the discipline, which includes historical, sociological, anthropological, and philosophical-theological methodologies. Moreover, they should be commended in their selection of scholars, which shows not only an attention to content, but also to diversity, which requires intention.

The Handbook is divided into seven parts: “Theoretical and Methodological Considerations,” “Historical Interactions,” “Contemporary Exchanges: Conversion, Caste, and the Diaspora,” “Sites of Bodily and Material Interactions,” “Significant Figures,” “Comparative Theologies,” and “Responses” (offered by Vasudha Narayanan and Francis X. Clooney, SJ). This range reveals the thick description of “relations” operative in the work. That some of these sections and their subsequent chapters are to be expected does not mean that they are not welcomed. The interconnectedness among the chapters and expertise of the individual authors invites a creativity as they deal with the familiar (to author and perhaps reader alike) that might be absent in similar projects.

The editors note that the handbook format allows for greater chapter variety than other kinds of academic essay collections. Each chapter merits mentioning and praise, but space does not allow for that. Pratap Kumar Penumala's chapter “Hindu-Christian Relations in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific” helps interrupt a limited geography of relation centered on either India or Europe and the United States. Kristin Bloomer's “‘Religion’ and Hindu-Christian Relations after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami” is a powerful account whose immediacy and intimacy reveal dimensions of relation that might otherwise have remained hidden. Sailaja Krishnamurti's “Race, Representation, and Hindu-Christian Encounters in Contemporary North America” highlights the knottiness that accompanies relations shaped by intersecting hegemonies such as race, colonialism, and class. The three noted here showcase the specialness exhibited by the Handbook as a whole.

The handbook format also allows for a greater audience. Each chapter proves capable of helping situate scholars into a particular conversation. Each would also be appropriate for use with undergraduates because they are quick (most are approximately twelve pages) but by no means superficial introductions to their topic. The electronic version of text comes with intra-textual hyperlinks connecting the reader to other chapters in the Handbook. These can be as convenient as they can be distracting in their bright blueness. For someone picking it up/accessing it online for a particular chapter or two, which as a handbook may be the majority of readers, these links serve a great function. For instance, a reader initially choosing a “Choose Your Own Adventure” may find themselves reading and discovering more than they had set out to do.

At both the beginning and end, the editors and a responding author offer respectively a justification for the Handbook's being. Each is helpful and appropriate especially as they are mindful of the often unacknowledged or unnoticed dynamics at play in Hindu-Christian relations and earlier accounts of Hindu-Christian relations. They also address an ambivalence a reader might have regarding the production and cost of the handbook. A physical copy is prohibitively expensive for individual purchase. An electronic copy is a true bargain but would reside on a digital bookshelf password-protected in the cloud. Make no mistake, however, this is a volume to be celebrated. The contributions while capturing a particular moment in scholarship are also a culmination of years of study as well as more than a quarter century of scholarly and friendly relationships formed in academic communities like the Society for Hindu-Christian Studies. These relations make the Handbook on Hindu-Christian Relations much more than the sum of its parts and much more than another handbook in a series of handbooks.