The 'Christian Patriot' (Madras/Chennai 1890 – 1929) opens exciting new perspectives on the history of Christianity in India. Differently from the missionary press, this journal was "owned and conducted entirely by the Native Christian community". The weekly understood itself as mouth piece of the South Indian Protestant community “as a whole” and tried to assert their independent voice in the colonial public sphere. “Christian in tone and patriotic in its aims”, it criticized both missionary paternalism and Hindu fundamentalism. The journal commented critically on the religious and social development of the country and focussed on issues such as indigenous leadership, female eduction and the development of a national form of Christianity in India. Circulating widely in India, South Asia and South Africa, the journal sought to connect the Indian Christian communities in these region. At the same time, the ‘Christian Patriot’ established links with local Christians and church leaders in other countries in the Southern hemisphere (such as Japan or West Africa). Thus, it contributed significantly to the formation of an early Christian pan-Asianism and ecumenism "from below."

Klaus Koschorke was Chair of Early and Global History of Christianity at the University of Munich/Germany (LMU) from 1993 to 2013. He has published widely on the history of Christianity in the global South and held multiple guest professorships in Asia (India, Sri Lanka, China, Japan, Korea), Africa and UK. In 2025, he was presented at Princeton Theological Seminary with the Lifetime Achievement Award of Excellence for his contributions to World Christianity Studies.