FOUCUS January 2017

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FOCUS January 2017 Vol. 5 No: 1

The Boy Who Met God, Expericne of an Annonyumous Person, by Dr. Zac Varghese - Page 12 Cover Photo: Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, Astana, Kazakhstan

A Publication of Diaspora FOCUS

Colonel John Monro, Evangelical Christian, Revd Philip Tovey, Oxford, London - Page 14

Editorial, Reconciliation – The love of Christ Compels Us - Page 3

Forgiveness and Reconciliation – A Path Towards Transformation Prof. Fr. Dr. Mathew Chandrankunnel, CMI, Bangalore - Page 19

Peace, Justice and Reconciliation, Rev. Dr. M. J. Joseph, Kottayam - Page 5

Obituary Tribute – Prof. Dr. P. Jagadish Gandhi, Rev. Dr. M. J. Joseph – Page 20 Building Bridges Instead of Fences in our Faith Journey, Lal Varghese, Esq., Dallas – Page 8

, The Disciple and Situational Ethics, Immanuel Christian, Dallas - Page 10

The Day the Revolution Began – Book Review by Dr. Zac Varghese, Page 22

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Editorial Reconciliation Bishop Desmond Tutu gave significant leadership for establishing the ‘Truth and Reconciliation Council (RAC) in South Africa from 1994-2000 to facilitate peace between the perpetrators and victim of atrocities and violence under the apartheid regime. This avoided much feared bloodshed and violence after the fall of the apartheid government.

There was nation-wide forgiveness, amnesty and healing through the work of the RAC. This model was again used to some extend to resolve the conflicts in Northern Ireland, Sudan and other places with measured success.

Reconciliation in the above context required an admittance of atrocities, which became essential for forgiveness and the establishment peace between warring factions. Therefore, confession and forgiveness are important requirements for reconciliation and peace.

This is just not a political issue far removed from us. We are regularly reminded that our life is blighted with brokenness of all size and shape–family breakdown, parish fragmentation, and relational failure in everyday interactions. Yet, there is a Christian hope of reconciliation in Christ and in His unconditional love.

Forgiveness of the sin is an important aspect of the reconciliation that humanity received through the death and resurrection of Jesus. The gospel message is a message of reconciliation, and at the heart of this reconciliation we notice the unconditional love of God. “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5: 18-19). The healing and liberating effect of reconciliation will become clear to us when we consider the theology and practice of the sacrament of reconciliation and explore its meaning for us today.

It is usual for those who have burdened with a strained relationship with God to level this situation back to normality by way of reconciliation or confession.

St. John says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all our unrighteousness” (1 John: 1. 8-9).

Therefore, Confession is an important sacrament attached to Eucharist. In confession, we try to restore our relationship to God and to other people. If we wish to draw closer to God and maintain a constant relationship with Him, we must not boast like the Pharisee, but act humbly like the tax-collector and say, “God, have mercy on me a sinner” (Luke 18: 13). This readiness to repent

forms the part of every act of worship and our conversations with God in prayer. This process of reconciliation restored humanity’s relationship with God; reconciliation is centred in the ministry of Jesus, Karl Barth describes it as a sacrament of a living God. It is at the centre of the ‘triad’ of creation, reconciliation and redemption. At the heart of the theology of Barth is the dynamic relationship of God with humanity in Jesus Christ, and it is an on going relationship by the mediation and power of the Holy Spirit.

When humans commit sin and incur guilt, which they cannot forgive themselves, they need the grace of being accepted by God and accepted to human community.

One of the consequences of the guilt feeling is an alienation from human fellowship. Therefore, they need reconciliation to feel they are restored to membership of the community and to be reconciled with themselves and to God. Instead, some people suppress their involvement and guilt feelings by transferring or projecting it to others.

Human beings are always trying to avoid the truth about themselves; some just avoid their part by minimising it.

There is no point in evading the conflict by pretending it is not there or trying to solve it by oneself. Sincere evaluation could point to a helpful resolution. In conflict resolution, it is important to make it clear that the incident never the responsibility of one party; indeed both groups are involved.

There are three levels of reconciliation: reconciling to oneself, reconciling to God and reconciling to the community. The most important task of being a Christian is to find this personal reconciliation. Many people get angry with themselves when they are confronted with the darks side of their personality, the ghost lurking in the depths of their subconscious mind. Reconciliation is for integrating people fully into the body of the Church.

People get isolated when they fail to contribute to the emotional health of the faith community out of inertia, indifference, and intellectual indolence.

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problem in conflict resolution is pretending that there is no conflict. Reconciliation through the grace of God and utter humility removes the devise power of insoluble conflicts. Simply going through a process and ticking boxes must not be used as a way of repressing antagonism. Resolution of a conflict is costly and painful and both parties should be prepared to make that investment or walking the extra mile in solving the problem with the people we have harmed and who have done us harm.

Reconciliation is only possible by sacrificing our ego and turning to God for finding a ‘selfless self.’ J. Krishnamurti wrote: “Beauty can exist only when self is not. When the mind, the brain is not chattering, caught in a net of words, when it is utterly quiet, when there is total absence of ‘me’, the self, the ego, the persona, and then you really see the extraordinary sense of beauty of the world.” It is only by turning to God we will be able to respect the uniqueness concealed in other people and appreciate their worth for fulfilling God’s purpose for His creation.

Therefore, the sacrament of reconciliation offers us a pragmatic way of ensuring that we are reconciled with ourselves and with each other. Let us constantly repent and experience God’s loving kindness as the one who loves us unconditionally. Jesus paid a heavy price on the cross for reconciling us to Him. Reconciliation is a way to begin again with a clean slate and live more thoughtfully and responsibly. May the love of God help us to resolve our conflicts now and forever.

If someone disturbs the peace of a community, one of the members has to approach the offender and talk and pray with him or her. Of course, he or she has to be prepared to listen. There is no point is hiding behind constitutional clauses to face the painful realities of what had happened. A conflict can be resolved and reconciliation can occur if we listen to each other and talk things over with mutual respect and love. In Mathew 18: 15-17, we find a clear method for conflict resolution. The community must always be ready to forgive and not contempt people without knowing the truth. Individuals have to be prepared to listen and no one should prevent others from listening because of an ordinance from a higher authority or a constitutional clause. If people listen to each other, they will find a way to resolve the conflict or at least to deal with each other fairly with civility. The biggest

The April 2017 issue of this journal will be dedicated to The Most Revd Dr. Philipose Mar Chrysostom Valiaya Metropolitan of the Mar Thoma Church. As we are looking forward to celebrate Thirumeni’s birth centenary on 27th April, 2017, please send your reminiscences and reflections on Thirumeni’s life and ministry by first week in March. Thirumeni has been a great blessing for our church and our country; he is a most recognisable and acceptable religious personality and an ambassador of Christ. Let us continue to pray for his health and wellbeing.

The Editorial Board

http://www.issuu.com/diasporafocus http://www.scribd.com/diasporafocus Disclaimer: Diaspora FOCUS is a non-profit organization registered in United States, originally formed in late Nineties in London for the Diaspora Marthomites. Now it is an independent lay-movement of the Diaspora laity of the Syrian Christians; and as such Focus is not an official publication of any denominations. It is an ecumenical journal to focus attention more sharply on issues to help churches and other faith communities to examine their own commitment to loving their neighbors and God, justice, and peace Opinions expressed in any article or statements are of the individuals and are not to be deemed as an endorsement of the view expressed therein by Diaspora FOCUS. Thanks. www.facebook.com/groups/mtfocus

E-Mail: mtfocusgroup@gmail.com

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Peace, Justice and Reconciliation Biblical & Theological Perspectives Rev. Dr. M. J. Joseph, Kottayam Introduction The languages of violence and acts of violence have come to stay with us! More than 15 million people were killed since the World War II. In its midst, we also seek a culture of peace and reconciliation. Mission is to be understood as the opening of the Church with its message of reconciliation to the world with the liberating gospel of shalom. But the age-old words of Thomas A 'Kempis does mirror our own situation glaringly: "All men long for peace, but little desire the things that made for peace." Paul also exhorts us in the same wave length when he writes in Rom. 14: 19; "Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual up-building."

To seek peace and justice in the world is indeed the text of Christian message. The Kingdom of God is not food and drink, but justice, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 15: 17). The Psalmist has affirmed the goal of Christian mission long ago when he said in a spirit of devotion as the meeting of "steadfast love and faithfulness and the kissing of righteousness and peace" (Ps; 85: 10). The Church is called upon to translate the vision of New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:16) into all structures of existence.

Meaning of Peace and Justice —their relationship The words "peace and justice" are relational terms in Christian faith as we find them in the Bible. They are two sides of the same coin. The word "peace" has rich Biblical connotations. In Hebrew thought it means "shalom" which means "divine plenitude" in relationship - the human and other living beings. The prophets are particular that the basic ingredients of peace should be established when we say, "They have treated the wound of my people carelessly," saying," Peace, peace when there is no peace" (Jer. 6:14). The prophetic words of Jeremiah as recorded in Jer. 6:13 and 15 reverberate in all the historical events of today, whether in Sri Lanka or Kashmir. To quote: "For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; from prophet to priest everyone deals falsely ... They acted shamefully, they committed abomination, yet they are not ashamed shamefully ..." Money power and muscle power have cut the very root of peace in the world: The unwillingness of the disciples of Jesus to keep awake with Jesus had led Peter to use the sword and made a mockery of his allegiance to his master!

The term 'righteousness' (Latin: Justitia; Greek: dikaiosune; Hebrew: sedaqah) is primarily an ethical quality or disposition in Greek thought. According to the Greek thinker, Theogenis, "all virtues are subsumed in justice". The cosmic prayer of the Indian Seers, "Lokha Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu" (Let the whole world be happy, prosperous) too belong to the universal cluster of ideas on justice. Sedaqah in Hebrew can also mean "truthfulness" "justification" "salvation" "mercy" etc. In the biblical sense dikaiosune is distinctively a relational quality by which a relationship is established according to the divine plan. The saving act of God as expounded in the prophet Isaiah 46: 13 is meant to create a community which is expected to grow into doxasma (LXX reads eis doxasma).

As the biblical, religion is structured around the concept of the righteousness of God; the concept of justice is integral to peace. There are a string of verses in the Bible, which speak of the intimate relationship between the two. In Pauline thought, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption have a Christological flavour (I Cor. 1: 30) as Christ is called "our peace" who has broken down the dividing wall of hostility (Eph. 2: 14). According to Paul, the righteousness of God confronts the world through Christ as he is the means through which "the justice of God" —Kingdom of God takes root in human community. For Paul every response to the saving act of God leads us to dikaiosune (Rom. 4: 5, 6; Gal. 3: 6). The goal of the preaching of reconciliation is qualified as to become "the righteousness of God" (2 Cor. 5: 21). Hence life under righteousness can only be defined in terms of eternal life and the kingdom of God (Rom. 5: 17; 14:17).

Missionary goal of righteousness Righteousness - life under the governance of God - is a present reality. The ecumenical prayer - the Lord's Prayer - speaks of the reality of the Kingdom in relationships. Food and forgiveness are the component elements for the manifestation of divine plenitude in our midst. As Kasemann puts it, "the, divine gift of righteousness does not bring us to the goal, but only sets our feet upon the road". In Christ, God's gift of righteousness challenges and uplifts the world through the logos of reconciliation and the diakonia of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5: 18 -21). The goal of divine plan, of Salvation is to enable every man and woman to become the righteousness of God. This is quite clear

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when we look at Paul's understanding of 'Economics in Social relations' particularly the ethical response to God's act of grace in Jesus Christ.

The Eucharistic vision is indeed a quest for justice and peace in the world. The social inequality existed in the Corinthian Christian Community is severely criticized when he writes: "What, do you not have, homes to eat and drink in? Or do you show contempt for the Church of God and humiliate those who have nothing"? (1 Cor. 11: 22). For Paul, any division between the rich and the poor is contrary to the will of God. The Lima document of the F & O reinforces what Paul had said long ago.

"The Eucharistic celebration demands reconciliation and sharing among all those who are regarded as brothers and sisters in the one family of God and is a constant challenge in the search for appropriate relationships in social, economic and political life" (cf. 1. Cor. 11: 2022; Gal. 3: 28). The Lima document on Eucharist goes on to say that, "we are placed under continual judgement by the persistence of unjust relationships of all kinds in our society, the manifold division on account of human pride, and material interest within the body of Christ".

A holistic understanding of Christian mission takes seriously into account the redemption of the whole universe. In Romans 8:19-21, Paul speaks of the cries of a wounded and diseased creation. It cries because justice is denied to it. The groaning of creation is due to its subjection (cf. Gen. 3: 16-18). In a state of subjection, flora and fauna are in birth-pangs. They are groaning because of chemical weapons, atomic power plants, deforestation, climate change, industrial pollution etc. The sole aim of groaning is to share the "liberty of the children of God which aims at the evolution of just relationship in the created order of God. The Spirit makes a plea to return to God who is the source of shalom. The Spirit is spoken as initiating and supporting that search of creation and humanity worldwide for the realization of harmony, freedom and love. This is meant to create a family of God on earth.

Mount puts it, we need to strive for the Kingdom of God and its righteousness" (Matt. 6: 33). To seek God's righteousness means several things. It is a call to live by the maxim of the Seers in the Rig Veda. "Let noble thoughts come to me from all quarters." There is also an intense search for abundant life. The teaching of Jesus on the Kingdom of God as "the divine reality within us" for a corporate future makes the concept of justice and peace dynamic.

The Vedic seers of India have affirmed the unity of humankind in a poem as follows: "We are the birds of the same nest.

We may wear different skins We may speak in different languages Yet we share the same home-Our Earth.

Born on the same planet Covered by the same skies Gazing at the same stars Breathing the same air We must learn to happily progress together or miserably perish together For man can only live individually But can only survive collectively".

2 Cor. 5: 17- 20 God’s arm of reconciliation

Kingdom of God - affirmation of peace and justice How do we relate human justice to the justice of God? If the Kingdom of God is understood as a new sense of consciousness, a new set of values and a new sense of relationship, the call to justice is really a call to build a just society. The religious resources of God given in different traditions and cultures are complementary to each other. What matters is to evaluate whether human justice given in other traditions is an attempt to grasp the justice of God. As the fruit of justice is peace (Is. 32:17), justice is to be understood as the criterion of law and order. Justice and peace ought to manifest themselves in freedom and equality. In this respect one ought to be aggressive for peace. As the Sermon on the

The following points are to be noted: 1) Reconciliation is the work of God. 2) God's reconciling work begins with the victim, 3) The Plan of Salvation , is to be placed inside the story of suffering of Christ and his death on the cross (cf. Phil. 3: 10). The act of God in the resurrection of Christ is the firm foundation for renewal and change. 5) For any act of reconciliation, humans have to collaborate with God.

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How does this ministry of reconciliation work for the healing of communities?

should be the Christian imperatives for justice, peace and reconciliation?

It speaks of the healing of the trauma of the past and then it contributes towards the moral reconstruction of the community.

Christian imperatives for a culture of peace, justice and reconciliation

In this respects the following steps have to be followed: 1)

Truth telling - speak aloud of those things kept secret or hidden during the conflict.

2) The pursuit of justice - a way of healing the past, There are three forms of justice to be followed, a) Punitive justice-to establish publicly that such a behaviour is wrong and will not be tolerated. b) Restorative justice – a step for humanizing the situation c) Structural justice levelling process for the rebuilding of the society.

3) Healing of memories and forgiveness Healing of memories does not mean forgetting.

It simply means that memories are no longer toxic. It is remembering in a different way. By the grace of God, one is able to see the perpetrator from a different angle. "In forgiving one establishes a different relationship to the perpetrator" (Robert Schreiter). The perpetrator is seen as a deeply wounded man/ woman who also needs a healing, touch and redemption.

Search for inter-faith relations through peace, justice and reconciliation.

The concept of one God, one human kind and one world is at the root of an inter-faith approach to justice and peace. As Christian faith is the translation of the love of God, the people of God are called upon to relate themselves to the peoples of God for the renewal of whole creation. The vision of the Kingdom speaks of the accountability of the humans before God. In this respect, the human justice as the WCC document affirms is a constant grasping forward to the justice of God. The cross then becomes the cost of sharing the stances. The people of God-Church-should be on the move to discern the hand of God in history. In God's renewal of creation, there is always a reversal motif. The three component elements of the holistic ministrycommunion with God, compassion with people and passion for justice - make sure that the Kingdom of God manifests itself for a preferential option for the least, the last and the lost. In its solidarity with "those are outside the gate", the vision of the cross ought to be on the lips of the faithful: "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream" (Amos 5: 24).

In the light of the above concerns expressed what

1.

Spiritual resources given in all religions and cultures are to be tapped for the making of a just society, as God is the creator of all.

2.

Threats to life should be identified and subdued as life is the gift of God. 3.

Stewardship of God's created order is to be maintained and a caring attitude to all forms of life be affirmed.

4.

A voice of dissent is to be expressed as "critical participation" in the process of the renewal of God's creation.

5.

Affirm human rights arid strengthen the instruments of justice and peace.

6.

An ethics of solidarity with nature is to be supported and promoted as integral to the celebration of eco-justice.

7 A shift from an anthropocentric to ecocentric attitude to life has to be welcomed as eco- spirituality is required for peace initiatives.

Conclusion: A quest for reconciliation is an on-going struggle. It is indeed a spiritual struggle for the manifestation of New Jerusalem in human relationships. As the prophet Isaiah puts it in 19: 23, there should be a quest for openness and solidarity in God's one world for justice and peace: "In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria and the Assyrian will come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians".

Editor’s Notre: Rev. Dr. M. J. Joseph, M.Th., D. Th, is the former Director of the Ecumenical Christian Centre, Bangalore. He has also served as Professor and Principal, Mar Thoma Theological Seminary, Kottayam, India. As a former member, Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches, he is widely known for his ecumenical and ecological contributions. He has served as Secretary Board of Theological Education, Senate of Serampore College (University). He currently serves as Convener, Ecological Commission, of the Mar Thoma Church. Dr. Joseph has also authored several articles, poems and books available both in English and Malayalam languages. E-Mail: drmjjoseph_65@yahoo.co.in

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Building Bridges Instead of Fences in Our Faith Journey Lal Varghese, Esq., Dallas Let us examine ourselves and ask whether we are building bridges or making fences around us during our faith journey.

God wanted company for Himself, so He created man and He walked with them. But man, instead of walking with God, built a fence around him and kept God away by sinning. But God, in order to save man from his sins, left His heavenly glory and became a man so that he could identify with man. In this way, Christ became a bridge between man and God. But again man did not listen to His words and rejected Him by crucifying Christ.

Man built fences around him, separated God from his life and continues to do the same. But Christ still continues His effort to be a bridge maker between man and God and promised that He will come again to gather all believers so that we may have an eternal life in heaven with God. There were two brothers, who lived on adjoining farms for about 40 years, who fell into conflict. One morning there was a knock on the older brother’s door. He opened to find a carpenter. "I'm looking for a few days’ work" he said. "I do have a job for you.

Look across the creek in between my farm and my neighbor’s.

That's my younger brother. Last week there was a meadow between us and he took his bulldozer to the river levee, and now there is a creek between us. Well, he may have done this to spite me, but I'll do him one better,” said the older brother. “I want you to build me a large fence so I won't need to see his place or his face anymore," said the older brother. “Show me the nails and the post-hole digger and I'll be able to do a job that pleases you," replied the carpenter. The older brother had to go to town. The carpenter worked hard all that day measuring, sawing, and nailing. When the older brother returned at sunset, the carpenter had just finished his job.

We need Christians in the making to live for others, sharing and caring. We should be bridge makers and not fence makers. Max Lucado in his book ‘God Came Near’ says: “Christianity in its purest form is nothing more than seeing Jesus. Christian service, in its purest form, is nothing more than imitating Him who we see. To see His majesty and to imitate Him, that is the sum of Christianity.” Are we imitating Christ in our faith journey?

Or are we creating more and more obstacles for others to follow Christ? If our religion and our faith life are not for building bridges with people around us, we are not following Christ in the true sense.

Genesis 1: 27–28 says, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’” He made a beautiful garden for them to live. Instead of creating a fence and letting them live alone, He set certain rules for them and asked them to obey those rules. He walked with them thereby creating a bridge between Him and man. But man disobeyed God and hid from God. God grieved since He made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.

There was no fence at all. It was a bridge, stretching from one side of the creek to the other! A fine piece of work with handrails and all, and his younger brother was coming across, his hand outstretched. "You are quite a fellow to build this bridge after all I've said and done." The two brothers stood at each end of the bridge. They met in the middle, took each other's hand and hugged each other. They turned to see the carpenter hoist his toolbox on his shoulder. "No, wait! Stay a few more days. I've a lot of other projects for you," said the older brother. "I'd love to stay on," the carpenter said, "but I have many more bridges to build."

Are we like these brothers quarreling and creating obstacles for each other? Are we building fences or bridges in our parish and family life? If we are, then we need the carpenter, the one who came down to build the bridge between heaven and earth. Do we see our neighbors as our own brothers or as enemies sitting behind the fence built around us? Jesus taught to love your neighbor as yourself. If we cannot love our neighbor, then we are building fences around us. As Marthomites, we need to examine the past forty plus years of our existence in this Diocese and see whether we have built the fences or bridges.

Our faith journey should be able to carry others to the cross, the place from where we can look up, to our sides and see others as our brothers and sisters.

God led the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt, and provided with everything they needed in their forty years of journey through desert. In Exodus 13: 21 it is written “By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.”

Instead of letting them to live own their own He asked them to follow His commandments and to worship Him. But instead of obeying God, they deviated from His commandments and disobeyed him.

The Bible is full of examples of people who have built relationships with God. Enoch walked with God and then he was no more because God took him away. In Genesis 6: 8–9 it

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says, “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.” God never built any fences around Enoch or Noah but used them as bridges for the generations to come.

under Joseph's care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

As we look at other Biblical figures like David and Joseph, they never built any fences around them but always kept their relationship with God, obeyed Him and listened to Him. God sent His only Son to save mankind from their sins. God used Jesus to bridge the gap between Him and mankind. God offered Himself to us so that we may become children of God. He did not build a fence around those who came to Him, but asked them to love their neighbor so that they can also become children of God. The eternal became temporal to be a bridge between us and Him. The disciples did not build a fence around them, but they went out everywhere to spread the Good News. Every Marthomite is a missionary and we are not to build our own fences around us, our parishes, our families and ourselves. We need to reach out to the community around us, to those who need us. As Christians, we need to follow Christ and show others that Christ lives within us. The cross reminds us of two things – look upward and look around us. Christ should live within us so that the love of Christ may flow from us to those around us. Those who see us should see Christ through our lives.

God kept Abraham and was with him to keep his faith. He made him the father of nations and asked his generations to worship Him. In Genesis 28: 15, “God said to Abraham “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Job was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.

God had put a hedge around him and his household and everything he had. Even though God allowed Satan to put Job’s faith to the test, Job never rejected God because he always kept a strong faith in God. Job always has a bridge to connect him with God in his trials.

God was with Daniel when he decided not to defile himself with the royal food and wine. He never built a fence around Daniel but He kept a constant relationship with him by giving knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds. When King Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and ordered that they be tied up and thrown into the blazing furnace, God was with them.

In 1 Samuel 3: 19-21 we read, “The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.” Samuel obeyed the Lord and kept His words in his heart.

This helped him to be a bridge between the people and the Lord.

The Lord was with Joseph, he prospered, and he lived in the house of Potiphar. When Potiphar’s wife tempted Joseph into bed with her, he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house. When his master put Joseph in prison, the Lord was with him; He showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. The warden paid no attention to anything

Max Lucado says, “Instead of looking upward at him, we look inward at ourselves and outward at each other. The result – cabin fever, quarreling families, restless leaders, fence building, staked off territory, no trespassing and beware of dog signs are hung on hearts and home.” In our faith journey we need to look up to the cross, the place from where boundless love has flown so that others may also feel welcome in our faith journey.

Let us rededicate ourselves as bridge makers so that people may see the love of God within us. Instead of isolating ourselves as a community in this Diocese, let us make bridges within our own community, in our parishes, and families and with other communities so that we can spread the Good News. Let us look upward at him, instead of looking inward, fighting each other, and fence building around us. Let us invite the carpenter who came down from heaven to build bridges between us and those aroundus. Let us throw away the ‘no trespassing’ signs, ‘beware of dog’ signs hung on our hearts and home. The fire on the altar of faith must be kept burning; it must not go out by building fences around us. The Lord is holy and He has made us apart from the nations to be His own as bridge makers. He broke the bars of our yoke and enabled us to walk with heads held high so that we need not hide behind fences. Bridges are paths of reconciliation.

Editor’s Note: Lal Varghese, Esq., is mainly practicing in U. S Immigration law for more than 25 years in Dallas.

He is the legal counsel and member of the Legal Affairs Committee of the Diocese of North America & Europe of the Mar Thoma Church. He can be reached at E-Mail: attylal@aol.com, Telephone: (972) 788-0777 (O), (972) 788-1555 (Direct)

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The Disciple and Situational Ethics Imanuel G. Christian, Dallas Today we live in a culture where there are no moral absolutes; everything goes and everyone doing what is right in his own eyes (Sound familiar? Judges 17: 6; 21: 25). The motto is the end justifies the means. This is known as situational ethics. As indicated by the name itself, situational ethics adjusts thoughts, words and deeds based on a situation, rather than determining those acts according to an absolute moral standard. The context of the situation of an act determines whether it is right or wrong.

The Bible clearly does not condone situational ethics; it provides us the absolutes, an absolute moral standard for life, as laid down in the Ten Commandments and rest of the Scripture. As Jesus said, “Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’, and ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one” (Matt. 5: 37). This was repeated by James (James 5: 12). Paul also said, “But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not ‘Yes’ and ‘No’…. But in him (Christ) it has always been ‘Yes’” (2 Cor. 1: 18-19).

There is no ambiguity or give-and-take in the moral and ethical standard laid down in the Word of God; it leads us in the clear path of truth.

It may seem that the Bible endorses situational ethics.

Take, for example the harlot Rehab. She lied in order to save the Israelite spies and yet she is commended in the New Testament records (Hebrews 11: 31; James 2: 25).

However, Rehab’s lie is never condoned in the Scripture; what is commended is her faith in God about whom she had heard the report. God honored her obedient faith, overlooking her character flaw (cf. Acts 14: 16; 17: 30; Rom. 3: 25).

There are clear and obvious dangers in following situational ethics. In situational ethics man becomes the standard of morality. Everyone is left to decide what is the best and most moral action in a particular situation. Just like in the times of the Judges, as noted in the beginning, everything goes and everyone does what is right in his own eyes.

There is also an incident in the New Testament that seems to indicate that Jesus condoned David’s action of eating the temple showbread (1 Samuel 21: 6), which “was not lawful for him to eat” (Matt. 12: 4). However, in this instance Jesus was not condoning David’s action, He branded it as unlawful, but only pointing out the Pharisaic hypocrisy and inconsistency. Jesus was telling them that David clearly broke the law and yet he is your hero and you do not condemn him. On the other hand, my disciples only violated your human tradition and you charge them with sin.

Also, situational ethics is a slippery slope that certainly leads to rampant immorality or even to anarchy. Anyone can rationalize anything in any given situation.

Homosexuality (as we hear, “If two people love each other, nothing is wrong.”), consensual adultery, abortion, mercy killing (euthanasia) and such things are the direct result of situational ethics. The Holocaust is an extreme example of what situational ethics can lead us to.

Now this raises a question: What happens when telling the truth will bring serious harm to someone and telling a lie can help? This is one of the basic reasoning behind situational ethics. Here the common sense principle is that telling the truth always helps in the long run, because the truth always has a way of showing up sooner or later.

And when the truth shows up and the lie is exposed, it harms more to the parties involved than if we had told the truth in the first place. Again, “Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’, and ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one”.

Another question is, what about a life and death situation? Can we act unethically, for example telling a lie or giving a bribe, etc., to save our or someone else’s life?

Here we have to note that in our normal life we rarely encounter life and death situations. And in most of the difficult situations, if we are careful and patient, there is a way of escape. As Paul said, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Cor. 10: 13).

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In extremely difficult situations God not only provides a way of escape, he has also promised to show us what to do and what to say. As Isaiah noted God saying, “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go” (Isa. 48: 17). Jesus also told His disciples, “Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.” (Mk. 13: 11; Matt. 10: 19). Corrie ten Boom’s father told her, “When time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need--just in time”. And when there is no way out, it is better to stand on the truth than giving in. As Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10: 28).

Many times we revert to situational ethics when things do not work the way we want or in the time period we expect. It is sometimes difficult for us humans to wait patiently on God; we take the matter in our own hands and try to work out the situation in our own way, as Abraham and Sarah did with Hagar to obtain an heir that was promised by God. Or, sometimes we are tempted to revert to situational ethics to save our own skin (or job, or face) as both Abraham (Gen. 12: 20) and Isaac (Gen. 26: 7-11) did.

Situational ethics is basically we humans’ way to take control of things rather than patiently waiting upon the Lord. At the root of it is lack of trust in God’s sovereignty, knowing that anything and everything God can and does work out is for our long term good, as Paul says in Romans 8: 28. The basic problem with situational ethics is that it is diametrically opposed to the absolute truth that the Word of God presents. The Bible provides absolute truth, which demands recognition that right and wrong are predetermined by God and laid down in His Word and cannot be changed according to the situation or redefined at the whim of a person.

However, let me note two things. One, there is a fine line between deception and discretion. As Jesus told His disciples, "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (Matt. 10: 16).

Discretion is needed for missionaries working in closed countries/cultures, the same as government officials, such as ambassadors and consulates or spies stationed in hostile countries, have to be very discreet.

Second, I, even most of us, have never faced a life and death situation because of our faith and so I do not know how I will react in such a situation. So if someone in that situation is forced to lie or to employ some unethical means, I am not to judge that person. Like in Rehab’s case, God overlooked her lie; Jesus forgave Peter’s denial. But for most of us, situational ethics comes into play in our day-to-day life situations. We are people of the Book and live by the standard that is laid down there and our ‘Yes’ is ‘Yes’ and “No” is “No”. We keep our word even when it hurts (Ps.15: 4) and have courage to stand by our convictions. If we claim to know the truth, we better live by it.

So, help me, God.

“WALK ALONE, WALK ALONE” (A Poetic Reflection on Reformation and Transformation) Revd Dr. M. J. Joseph, Kottayam The Great reformer and defender of New Humanity said: “I have come not to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfil them” (Jesus).

John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus, the reformer par excellence, uttered:” “Every valley shall be filled; the crooked shall be made straight All flesh shall see the salvation of God” Jesus and John the Baptist are the prototypes for reformation and transformation.

They carry the noble tag of Religion, Economics and Politics in their hands.

God’s rule in human affairs is their message They enlighten and beckon us to move ahead of our times.

For them reformation and transformation make the Salvation History relevant.

In God’s wisdom, there came a man of God 500 years ago in Europe His name was Martin Luther, a monk who later defrocked himself And he shouted at the roof of his tongue: “I will not retract what I said unless proved by the Word of God.” He carried the legacy of Moses, the liberator Like Galileo choosing to share ill treatment with the people of God. Martin Luther, the reformer in the West and Abraham Malpan, the Luther of the East have been fired by the divine urge The like- minded colleagues like Calvin in the west and Sri Narayana Guru in the East uttered: ”Preserve the Timeless while adapting to the Times”.

For them the Wittenberg effect transforms the whole humankind.

William Carry in West Bengal, and Benjamin Baillie in Travancore are torch bearers T heir boundary is beyond the borders of the Church as they “expected great things from God” They had the divine urge to stand alone for orthopraxis For them orthodoxy sets limits to the power of Truth The 95 thesis of Luther at the Wittenberg has left a legacy for us today.

Remembering the past is pedagogy of encounter It is a call to illumine the present Illumining the present is a call to create the ripples of change and transformation It is nothing but the Lament of Mary in the Magnificent It is like the vision of the Seer Simeon who sang for the divine intervention in human affairs: “To give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death And guide their feet into the way of peace”.

The 5ooth year of Luther’s Reformation sets the trend for us Not to be conformed to the values of the globalized world.

Permit the Wittenberg effect to set the tone for the voice of dissent Carry the baton of life while remembering “Every man is a cause, a country and an age; Posterity seems to follow his steps.”

Wittenberg effect is felt in Tagore: “If they answer not your call, walk alone; walk alone”.

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The Boy Who Met God [The boy who had the following amazing experience of an encounter with God wrote the following in 2001 is now a fine English gentleman of 80 years of age. He was born in Hong Kong and his father was a colonial officers; he spent his childhood in Hong Kong. He had a mystical experience of God in 1952. We became friends in 2016 and continue to talk confidentially about our life and experiences. I publish this with his permission, but keeping his identity anonymous. I hope this living testimony is of help to you. This was the beginning of many other miraculous incidents in his life when God protected him, which still continues through the grace of God. Should you have any questions, please direct them through me. Dr. Zac Varghese] I had reached the tender age of sixteen and was in the depths of total despair, GCE O Level Exams were only weeks away and my school reports were not pretty reading, quite simply my teachers had given up all hope of my passing.

downwards then a small voice said “Do something before it is too late” and I didn’t know what to do. Finally in desperation I cried, “Dear God, please help me”. For a fraction of an agonising second nothing happened and then everything changed and I seemed to be coming round in a vertical position with a Presence on my left and my right, they were being mildly rebuked for the situation I was in. I then heard my left Presence say that I was difficult. The voices seemed to be aware I was coming to and stopped. Eventually my vision cleared and I appeared to be in a large dim hall facing a very bright light enclosing a tall human shape. Even though I was aware of the two Presences on my left and right, my entire attention was focused on this light; it was not a blinding piercing light that you would get from looking into a spotlight, but at the same time, no matter how hard I tried I could not look directly at it.

A wonderful soft voice came out of this light and it said in a loving fatherly tone “You must live your life”, then a pause followed by “It will be a good life”. The scene before me disappeared and then every worry I ever had seemed to be lifted off my shoulders and at the same time I was enveloped in a kind of love that was so intense that there is no word in any language that could adequately described how I felt. The best description would be absolute joy, elation, a huge weight off my shoulders, a feeling of renewal, massive confidence and that my very existence had real meaning and purpose. I felt as if I could fly and do anything I wanted to do. I then felt myself dropping slowly and going through what I could best describe as layers of negativity which seemed to dull the vivid intensity of love and joy I had experienced, however the memory of it was retained. I finally came to in my body.

For a brief moment I could not move a muscle, my body felt like it had not been used for some time; there was no pain or pins and needles, just a huge inertia as if I was made of lead. Gradually I could move my arms, legs, lift my head, then suddenly everything functioned and I literally jumped for joy.

In abject misery I threw myself on the settee, buried my face in the cushion and said out loud with complete conviction, “I wish I was dead”. Immediately everything went black and I seemed to be falling and rotating like water down a plughole. At the same time there was the most hideous and triumphant laughter that you could possibly imagine. I was terrified and as I spiraled

After the euphoria died down I began thinking about what I should do and the first thought was about becoming a priest, but then I realised that I had not been asked to do anything except live my life, there were no conditions. I had been given second chance of life and was to experience it with an infinitely more positive attitude than previously. Also I received the feeling that life is to be enjoyed, as well as being a learning process, but the most important thing of all I now knew that there was a loving heavenly father exactly as Jesus described him and that he had intervened for somebody as insignificant as me. Up to now I have mainly kept this to myself in case I was put away in an institution as some

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kind of neurotic. But as I have become older the need to inform others has overcome the fear of criticism, also the world has moved on from my youth and has more empathy.

New Year Challenges: St. Paul is reaching out to us in 2017 (A short Reflection)

I am living proof of the existence of a loving God. That does not make me feel special but it does allow me to look at all of you and know that you also are living proof of that same God, in fact your belief is based on pure faith which demands far more and in my eyes makes you all special. I am living proof of the existence of Evil and if you follow its path there may be a point of no return; however before that point is reached good can overcome evil.

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ” (1Thess. 5: 16).

I am living proof and if you are in serious trouble ask for divine help and it will be granted; do not think you will not be helped for any reason. By my plea I acknowledged the existence, his existence and his power to help me. I am living proof that something truly wonderful awaits us when our time is up and that this life has purpose and meaning and that we cannot imagine what it all means from our limited physical perspective of the world.

Most important of all I hope I have given you a practical insight of what to expect and what to do if you have a similar experience. Please do not repeat my experience knowingly and recall Jesus’ statement to Satan in the wilderness – “Do not put the Lord thy God to the Test.”

I find it ironic that we are bombarded with vast amounts of paper and advice on how we should live our lives but very little on how to die and yet as human beings that is our inevitable destiny. For me, I hope that I may return and face my maker with gratitude, love and appreciation at the fact that I am actually allowed to exist at all.

Finally, it is impossible to make judgements on matters spiritual from our limited perspective but to any doubters, the first person who saw me after my experience was my mother who said to me “I do not know what it is about you but somehow you have changed”. For the record I left school with nine O Levels and left behind a collection of extremely embarrassed and confused teachers. I obtained two more O levels after a two week cramming course in the RAF and ended up as a professionally qualified electronics engineer with letters after my name. I was not gifted with a bucketful of extra brains just motivated to apply what I had.

St. Paul challenges the Thessalonians to test their faith in his first letter to them, in chapter 5. Below are some questions arising from the passage, they give us a means to measure our commitments. It is indeed the right time at the beginning of a New Year to ask these questions: 1. How often do we pray for real fellowship in our community? Praise God for all the things that are great about our parishes and churches, and ask God in prayer to transform all the flaws and challenges we face together as a faith community.

2. Are we respecting our ordained Christian leaders?

3. Are we living in unity with our fellow Christians? Are we welcoming and embracing them?

4. Are we caring for other Christians – with patience, admonishing, encouraging or helping then?

5. Are we responding well to those who harm us? Or are we reacting with aggression? Are we seeking to share our experiences to all we meet?

6. Have we got a good attitude to worship, joyfulness, constancy in prayer and an attitude of gratitude?

7. Are we living a holy life, abstaining from evil?

8. Are involved in studying Scripture regularly?

We hope that the above questions and reflections would be helpful to have a new beginning in our fellowship in our communities for reaching reconciliation for resolving conflicts.

I hope the knowledge of my experience will help you live your lives not only with faith and prayer but also with the absolute confidence that a future existence wonderful and vivid beyond all human conception awaits each and every one of us.

May God Bless You All.

From Dr. Zac Varghese, Dr. Titus Mathews, Rev. Dr. M. J. Joseph, Lal Varghese, Esq. FOCUS EDITORIAL BOARD

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Colonel John Munro, Evangelical Christian Revd Phillip Tovey, Oxford, London [Colonel Munro came as the British Resident replacing the very first British Resident, Colonel Macaulay. It was Colonel Macaulay who gave three thousand Guineas (Rs10, 500) to Mar Thoma VIII to be held in Trust for the benefit of the Malankara Syrian Church. This Trust Fund, known as the Vattipanam, became a bone of contention in later church history and as the source of prolonged court cases. Colonel Munro, an evangelical Christian, was also Dewan of Travancore under the rule of Rani Lakshmi Bhai, as we read from the following article; he was a great friend of the Syrian Christians and helped them enormously.]

He was the son of James Munro and Margaret Mackenzie who married in 1768. His father was Laird of Teaninich, the hereditary lord of the manor, who had also been in the navy. They had seven children, two of whom died young, and John was the fourth.iv His eldest brother inherited the estate; his next eldest brother inherited his mother’s estate, which left him and his third brother to join the army. At that time many young men, particularly from respectable families in Scotland and Ireland joined the army of the East India Company to make fame and fortune overseas. Many were ‘one monsooners’, those that died in less than two years of their arrival.

One of the most significant influences on the state of Travancore and on the history of the Syrian church in the early eighteenth century is Colonel John Munro. The history books concentrate on his reorganisation of the state i and the church histories look at his support of the Syrian community.ii The latter however discuss him in manner of Melchizedek, someone who comes onto the stage of history for the purposes of the Syrian community and is labelled an evangelical Christian, but for whom no other information is given, either before or after his time in Travancore. In the absence of a definitive biography this article aims to fill in some of the details about John Munro, some of which make his story even the more remarkable.

In Scotland the Munros are a large clan. This leads to complication in unravelling John Munro’s history, as there were other Munro’s in India at the same time, including his brother Hector Munro. The most famous was Sir Thomas Munro, who became Governor and Commander in Chief in Madras, having come from Glasgow, but is no relative. But to add to complications, there were other John Munros in India at the same time, one of which was his son.

Early years John Munro was born 1778 in Teaninich, county Ross, on the eastern side of the highlands of Scotland north of Inverness. He was baptised the same year in the local church, where his family were ‘proprietors’ of the parish of Alness,iii local leaders who had traditional rites on the appointment of the minister of the Kirk (the local church).

He was baptised in the Church of Scotland, the established church of the land which is a Presbyterian church, and thus was not an Anglican or Church of England. There was and is a small episcopal church in Scotland, which is a part of the Anglican Communion, and while there were Munros who once were part of this church, they had become members of the Presbyterian church. This does not make him a natural supporter of the Church Mission Society and avowedly episcopal missionary organisation.

Little is not known about his early education, but Scotland had developed a strong schools system after the reformation, each parish having a school, something that had not been achieved in England. He also attended Fortrose Academy, where in the schooling of the time he would have learnt classics.v He may have been a Gaelic speaker, as the language was more common in the Highlands at that time. What is clear that he joined the East India Company at a young age, in those days that could mean 16 or 17. He was sent to Madras.vi According to Aiyer he arrived in 1791, he would have been 13, which is very young.vii It is more likely he arrived 1794/5. It is clear that he had an aptitude for languages. His journal for the voyage to India is full of practicing the grammar of Sanskrit. He became fluent in a number of Indian languages.

Munro in India before Travancore His early career in India has been succinctly summarised

by MacKenzie: He took part in the battle of Seringapatam, and was shortly afterwards appointed Adjutant of his regiment, in which office he displayed a thorough acquaintance with military duties. He also very soon became an accomplished linguist, being able to speak and write fluently in French, German, Italian, Arabic, Persian, and several of the Indian dialects. He held various appointments on the Staff, and was private secretary and interpreter to successive Commanders-inChief in India. He was personally acquainted and in

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constant correspondence with Colonel Arthur Wellesley, afterwards the famous Duke of Wellington, during the Mahratta war. He assisted in quelling the Nellore Mutiny, and was soon afterwards appointed QuartermasterGeneral of the Madras army, at the early age of twentyseven years.viii The Asiatic Annual Register gives some indication of dates for John Munro; 1802 Captain and secretary to the Commander in Chief; ix 1804 Major and deputy Quartermaster-General;x 1805 Major and Persian translator at Head Quarters, xi Lieutenant Colonel and Quartermaster-General 1807.xii This summary glosses a very controversial part of his life.

As Quartermaster-General of the Madras army he got into serious controversy over tent contracts. January 20th 1809 he was arrested and charged with conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.xiii He was finally exonerated but just prior to coming to Travancore he had been the focus of much debate and it looked like his career was finished.

Nothing in the history gives any indication of his development of evangelical convictions. There are however some important indications of spiritual influence.

In 1808 he becomes one the directors of a charitable fund to provide for destitute families of officers of the East India Company, and to support sick officers to return to England.xiv One of the directors of the fund was Rev. Dr. Kerr, the chaplain in Madras. That he was a part of this fund might be an indication of his evangelical convictions.

Church of England in1789. He went to Bombay in 1790 teaching school and only arrived in Madras in1792 being left there as too ill to continue the journey to England. He co started a school in Black Town and was appointed a chaplain in 1793. He not only started this school, he built the Black Town chapel, set up a press and established the Charitable Committee. He wrote reports for the Government on the Chaplains recommending an increase in numbers, which was acted upon. xv He was also asked to write a report on the Syrian Christians, the East India Company writing reports on all aspects of life in India, but realised at the time that Dr. Buchanan was also being asked to conduct such a survey.

In 1802 he returned to England to be ordained priest.

Controversially it had been discovered that he was only in deacon’s orders but was acting as a priest. Kerr had a paper from the Bishop of Soder and Man dated 18th Nov 1793 granting him license to execute the office of a priest.

He was not the only chaplain who had fulfilled the duties of a priest on this basis. An investigation in 1802 led to his irregular situation becoming public and while not being censured, for the paper clearly came from the bishop, he was required to return to England for priestly ordination.xvi Kerr was a man of evangelical sympathies. He introduced the London Missionary Society in Madras. He employed a Baptist missionary to teach boys in St Mary’s to sing. In 1805 he left for Mysore to recover good health and then went on to visit the Syrians in Travancore and Cochin. He wrote his report in 1806,xvii and encouraged by Buchanan remained in India. He died exhausted in 1808, aged 39.

The godly Chaplains Chaplains of the East India Company were employed to minister to the British in India and not as missionaries.

Many in the company opposed missionary work to Indians as they viewed it as potentially disruptive of trade.

The renewal of the charter in 1793 was accompanied by an attempt to get clauses to open up India to missionaries, but it failed. It was not until 1813 that the ‘pious clauses’ were included in the charter, which allowed missionary work in India, although this was not against opposition. The campaigning of William Wilberforce, supported by information from another chaplain Claudius Buchanan, and pressure by the Church Missionary Society resulted in the inclusion of these clauses in the charter. This group also successfully petitioned at the same time for the setting up of the Church of England episcopate in India.

Dr. Kerr is perhaps one of the less famous of the visitors to Travancore and Cochin to look into the Syrian church, and this he accomplished towards the end of his life.

Richard Hall Kerr was born in 1769 in Ireland. He was ordained deacon by the bishop of Sodor and Man in the

Munro living in Madras would have known Dr. Kerr. There would have been services in St Mary’s, which while he was technically a Presbyterian, it would have been politic to attend. It would seem a reasonable speculation that at some point Munro came under the influence of a godly chaplain, possibly Richard Kerr, and a developed evangelical faith. Certainly by 1808 he was a director of the Charitable fund with Dr. Kerr and would work with him in the complexities of its administration.

There is another factor that might suggest a move to serious religion, and that is his marriage on 8th Dec 1808 to Charlotte Blacker.xviii She was the daughter of Rev St John Blacker a distinguished Church of Ireland priest, Rector of Moira, county Donegal.xix She was the ninth child of a family that saw the first son be ordained and other sons go to the army overseas. Two of the sons were in India, St John and Valentine Blacker, the former serving in Cochin and the latter who had a notable army career and who was to write military books.xx Valentine Blacker took up the Quartermaster-General job after Munro departed. This suggests that Munro and the Blacker brothers had become friends in India, as perhaps

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the only plausible explanation as to how a Scot suddenly went to Ireland to marry the daughter of a Church of Ireland priest. This marital connection gives another illumination as to Munro’s support of CMS, an Anglican missionary society, that is, he was married to an Anglican, the daughter of a priest, and with a brother in law who was a priest.

Munro in Travancore This is perhaps the well-known section of Munro’s life.xxi He initiated reforms in society that transformed the finances of the country.xxiixxiii He supported the Syrian Christians and invited CMS to come and work at the Kottayam College for the improvement of the Syrian community. He was in an extremely powerful position and used it to benefit Christians in a way that has never quite happened again. It may well be that his success in reform of finances and state apparatus gave him the platform on which to advantage the Christians. Each of these points needs some elaboration.

Munro was unusual as British Resident in that he also became the Dewan of the country, which gave him enormous political power. This appointment was made to rectify the finances of the country, not least to make sure the East India Company was paid. Aiyer gives a detailed explanation of the reforms to the royal revenue.xxiv By removing various officials and modernising the taxation system he was able to raise sufficient tax with some reduction of the tax base of the people, and raise the income to the Royal family. This was not without resistance and in 1812 he faced a rebellion with the aim of removing foreign influence and returning a local person as Dewan. It failed miserably and the local leaders were executed. Increased revenue could lead to the government supporting local projects.

Ramban Joseph Pulikottil had the idea of building a seminary for the training of clergy. This does not seem to have been unanimously supported by Mar Thoma VIII. However, Ramban Joseph had conversations with Munro and this became one of Munro’s lasting legacies. Munro persuaded the Rani of Travancore to donate the land in Kottayam, and further land to provide it income. The foundation stone was laid in 1813. Joseph Ramban was consecrated bishop in 1813 and the government recognised him as Malankara Metropolitan, effectively deposing Mar Thoma VIII.xxv The college exists to this day.

Munro then wrote to the Church Missionary Society asking for help in teaching at the college. While this is an Anglican missionary society, Munro was in fact a Scottish Presbyterian; it was his wife who was Anglican. This was another powerful intervention and the Society diverted a missionary who was supposed to be going to Ceylon for

the work. The vision of the missionaries went beyond teaching at the college, with the intention of setting up a school in every parish, something that was true in Scotland but not in England at the time. In all 52 parish schools were opened. There was to be a harmonious relationship between CMS and the Syrian community for two decades. This was in part because of Munro’s careful eye on the project, making at times quite critical comments of the missionaries to CMS. On Norton he wrote to Pratt in London: I am afraid that Mr. Norton is not qualified for the charge of such an establishment (the mission at Alleppey). He has knowledge and zeal, but perhaps not exactly of the kind suited to insure his success as a missionary…I believe he has not acquired a single Protestant convert since his arrival.xxvi He was also involved in the appointment of the next bishop with the death of Mar Dionysios II. He was of course in the position to recognise, or not, any bishop and made sure that bishops would be appointed who were sympathetic to his project.

Munro was also a keen supporter of the project for the Bible in Malayalam. Again this project was already in hand but slow in execution. Munro paid the salaries of the priests who were translating in order that the project progress as quickly as possible.xxvii He took an interest in the printing press being set up in order to print the Bible and other literature.

There were other more social policies that Munro introduced which benefited Syrian Christians. In 1812 he issued a proclamation that women converts to Christianity could cover their breasts.xxviii In 1815 a proclamation was issued that exempted all Christians from taxes to support Hindu temples and shrines. In 1816 he engaged in reforming the judiciary. Part of his policy was to select officers from Brahmans, Nairs, and Syrian Christians. This put the latter in an important place in society, one that was a development of their position.

Munro, however, found it hard to find sufficient men of the caliber in the Syrian community of the time, leaving some places vacant.

Munro brought the temples in Travancore under state control and by improving the management of the temples fostered the practice of Hinduism. In 1812 he influenced a proclamation that prohibited the purchase and sale of slaves other than those connected to agriculture. He taxed the sale of Arrack, not only to raise revenue, but also to discourage drunkenness.xxix Thus there was a wider social reform in his policies.

While in Travancore John and Charlotte began their family with James St John in 1811. They had six children. James St John Munro was to enter the army and then leave to become the Consul-General at Monte Video in South America. His second son John Munro was to take up an

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army career in India. His third son Stuart Craddock eventually became Laird. His daughter Charlotte married Hon. George Augustus Spencer, Lieutenant-Colonel Coldstream Guards, second son of the first Lord Churchill in 1834.

The Cochin Royal Family Historical Society website reports that on leaving post the Rajah of Cochin wrote to the Governor General saying: Since Col. John Munro was appointed resident in my country in the year 1811, that gentleman, has by his indefatigable exertions and vigilance, rescued me from an ocean of debt in which I was unfortunately involved by the corrupt and treacherous conduct of my ministers, enabled myself, my family and my subjects now to live happy and unconcerned, with favourable circumstance I cannot in justice avoid bringing to the notice of your Lordship in council.xxx He returned to Britain in 1820.

John Munro are not clear, however it may be that books of genealogy in England have not researched the Indian connections fully. It might be that before his more evangelical days he had a Bibi with whom he had children, which was common at that time. It was also the time when bringing wives from Britain was being encouraged, one of the key people supporting this being Arthur Wellesley. It is possible that John Munro his first son who died in India was married but as he died in India this was unknown in Britain. The most reliable source for the Indian connection is Hunt who reports that UV Munro son of the Resident married the daughter of Kohlhoff, one of the German Missionaries.xxxvii It is also reported that John Daniel Munro married a granddaughter Benjamin Bailey.xxxviii Thus in this union the Resident and missionary were united in holy matrimony and continued to live in India.

Conclusion

Munro and family after 1820 On return Munro returned to his ancestral home. He was given a life directorship of CMS, an honorary post, but does not seem to have been very active in the society, possibly because of his living in Scotland. He became a local magistrate and Deputy Lieutenant of Rosshire. He was asked at times to report to parliamentary committees about his actions in India and that of the Company. The history becomes difficult to follow for the rest of his life. In 1817 his eldest brother had founded a whiskey distillery, which is now the basis of the family fortune.xxxi It was not unknown for leading evangelical families to be owners of breweries and distilleries, the other famous example being the Guinness family in Ireland. He had a reputation for caring for the poor in the area. It would appear that he had a short return to India in 1830 but had to retire from ill health. In 1845 it appears that he took over the family business, but gave this up in 1850. He was a part of ‘the great disruption’ in 1843, which was a division of the Church of Scotland over state interference in the church.

He is included on the famous painting of the First Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland.xxxii He became an elder in the Free Church of Scotland. In earlier life he had appointed bishops in India, in later life he rejected state interference in the church. He may have returned to India later, perhaps to visit relatives, but finally went back to Teaninich, where he died in 1857.

Particularly confusing is the continuing Travancore connection. Some of his descendants became involved in developing plantations in the highlands. An Urban Verres Munro, who is said to be John Munro’s son, was the first conservator of the forests of the Cardomom Hills.xxxiii John Daniel Munro his grandson set up plantations in Peerumede in the 1860s.xxxiv He wrote a book on the high ranges.xxxv He entered into a lease with the Rajah for the land in 1877.xxxvi The connections of these people with

Although by no means a full account of the life of John Munro there is a lot more to his life than the few years as resident in Travancore and Cochin. It is because of his political position that he had such influence, and he set in train a number of events. Many of his desires for revival of the church have happened but at the terrible cost of division. The development of his evangelical convictions is still a matter of conjecture and deserves a fuller treatment than his standard simple introduction in the church histories as an evangelical believer, as if this is an explanation for this religious policy. It is ironic that a Scottish Presbyterian called on an Anglican mission society to work in Travancore and thus accidentally helped to found a part of the Anglican Communion, as only one part of his legacy. It is also ironic that as Resident and Dewan he virtually appointed bishops for the Syrian church, while later in life leaving the Church of Scotland over state interference in the church. He introduced reforms to Travancore society in slavery and in the reorganisation of the temples helped foster Hindu worship. John Munro still remains an enigmatic figure in the history of the church in India and a fascinating example of the pious influences in the East India Company.

References: 1

R. N. Yesudas, Colonel John Munro in Travancore, Kerala Historical Society, Trivandrum, 1977.

2 E.g., J. Fenwick, The Forgotten Bishops, Gorgias Press, Piscataway, 2009.

3 The New Statistical Account of Scotland. Vol 14, Inverness-Ross and Cromarty, Edinburgh; London, 1845, p. 342.

4

A. Mackenzie, History of the Mackenzies, with Genealogies of the Principal Families of the Name, Inverness, 1894. Online version http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/26824?c=read&page=6 17

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5

A. Mackenzie, History of the Munros of Fowlis with Genealogies of the Principal Families of the Name: To Which Are Added Those of Lexington and New England, Inverness, 1898, p. 428.

6

The Munro Island web page says he enlisted in 1791, but this would have made him 13. It is likely that he is being confused with Sir Thomas Munro, c.f. Munro Island, http://munroisland.blog.co.uk/, (accessed 2009).

7

S. Aiyer, (1931). Colonel Munro. Kerala Society Papers 2, pp.4170. Aiyer gives no reference for this assertion.

8

A. MacKenzie op. cit., p. 428.

9

E. Samuel, The Asiatic Annual Register; or, a View of the History of Hindustan, and of the Politics, Commerce, and Literature of Asia, for the Year 1802, London, 1803, p. 110.

10

L. D. Campbell, The Asiatic Annual Register; or, a View of the History of Hindustan, and of the Politics Commerce and Literature of Asia, for the Year 1804, London, 1806, p. 165.

21

P. Cheriyan, The Malabar Syrians and the Church Missionary Society, 1816-1840, Kottayam, 1935, pp. 77-104. Rao Sahib Ullor S. Parameswara Aiyer, Colonel Munro, Kerala Society Papers, 1931, Vol. 2, pp. 41-70.

22

See, W. Hamilton, A Geographical, Statistical and Historical Description of Hindostand, and the Adjacent Countries, London, 1820, and R. N. Yesudas, Colonel John Munro in Travancore, Trivandrum, 1977.

23

Aiyer (1931), op. cit.

24

See, Fenwick (2009), op cit.

25

Letter Colonel Munro to Rev’d Josiah Pratt, 22 September 1817, CMS Archive CI 2 / E2 19 26

See, E.L. Ten Brink, Mission of Help to the Syrian Church in Malabar 1816-1840, Hartford Seminary PhD (1960).

27

R. N. Yesudas op. cit., p. 54.

Ibid., p. 47.

28

11

L. D. Campbell, The Asiatic Annual Register; or, a View of the History of Hindustan, and of the Politics, Commerce and Literature of Asia, for the Year 1805 London, 1807, p. 128.

29

12

Anon, The Asiatic Annual Register; or, a View of the History of Hindustan, and of the Politics, Commerce, and Literature of Asia, Vol. Ix for the Year 1807, London, 1809, p. 193.

The Cochin Royal Family Historical Society, http://www.crfhs.org/familytree/familyhistory1.php?caption_id=80 &flg=0 (accessed, 2009).

30 Teaninich Distillery, http://www.gordonandmacphail.com/wg_TeanninichDistillery. html (accessed, 2009).

13

31

E. Samuel, The Asiatic Annual Register; or, a View of the History of Hindustan, and of the Politics, Commerce, and Literature of Asia, Vol. XI - for the Year 1809, London, 1809, pp. 245-269, 357382.

14

E. Samuel, The Asiatic Annual Register; or, a View of the History of Hindustan, and of the Politics, Commerce, and Literature of Asia, Vol. X - for the Year 1808, London, 1811, p. 146.

15

See, F. Penny, The Church in Madras: Being the History of the Ecclesiastical and Missionary Action of the East India Company in the Presidency of Madras in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, London, 1904, pp. 681-685.

16

Ibid., pp. 431-438.

17

C. Buchanan and R. H. Kerr, The Star in the East a Sermon Preached in the Parish-Church of St. James, Bristol, on Sunday, February 26, 1809, Boston, 1811.

18

E. Samuel, The Asiatic Annual Register; or, a View of the History of Hindustan, and of the Politics, Commerce, and Literature of Asia, Vol. X - for the Year 1808, London, 1811, p.300.

19

J. Burke A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland Enjoying Territorial Possessions Or High Official Rank: But Uninvested with Heritable Honours, London, 1836, p.50.

20

V. Blacker, Maps and Plans Illustrating the Memoir of the Operations of the British Army in India, During the Mahratta War of 1817, 1818, & 1819, London, 1821.

Disruption Picture, http://www.newble.co.uk/chalmers/disrbook.html (accessed, 2009).

32

Arrival of the British, http://peermade.info/peermade/index.php?page=55&title=Arrival% 20of%20british (accessed, 2009).

33

Ashley Bungalow, Travancore, Kerala. http://www.homestayz.com/ashley-bungalow.html (accessed, 2009) 34

J. D. Munro, The High Ranges of Travancore, Peermaad, 1880

35

Poonjar Lease, http://www.munnarlandlords.com/poonjarlease.html (accessed, 2009).

36

W. S. Hunt, The Anglican Church in Travancore & Cochin, 1816-1916, Vol. 2, Kottayam, 1968, p. 128.

Editor’s Note: Revd Dr. Phillip Tovey is an Anglican Priest of the Diocese of Oxford. His ministry spans 40 years as a lay evangelist, missionary in Uganda, parish priest and theological educator. He has written a number of books mostly on liturgy and has visited Kerala more than 10 times. He is also a Franciscan tertiary and a friend of the Mar Thoma Church for 30 years. Revd Dr Phillip Tovey works for the Diocese of Oxford (Church of England) and Liturgy Tutor at Ripon College, Cuddesdon.

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Forgiveness and Reconciliation: A Path towards Transformation!

Prof. Fr. Dr. Mathew Chandrankunnel CMI* Christmas is the time of coming together and exchanging gifts as a token of expressing joy and happiness. It symbolizes the gratuitous gift of God sending His own son to give love, peace and joy to the entire world! It is a gift which flowed out from the outpouring generosity of the loving God and not because in any way we deserve it. God decided to reconcile with humanity and the entire creation by personally sending His own only son and hence Christmas is the time of reconciliation, peace and happiness. I wish you all, the joy and happiness of Christmas.

A few days ago I had the opportunity to be with His Holiness Dalai Lama. In his lecture he spoke to us about the necessity of forgiveness and reconciliation for one’s own peace and happiness. I have met him several times and had occasions to have closer contacts with him. In those times, His Holiness was personally sharing his feeling of fragility and vulnerability in practicing compassion at times. When he thinks of the aggression of the Chinese and how they are persecuting the simple Tibetans, emotions of anger and dread might evolve in him and as soon as he notices them, he will meditate and eliminate them as he feels that they are against the wisdom of Lord Buddha! By this attitude, His Holiness was pinpointing that such negative mindfulness is against compassion and one should never judge the Chinese in a harsh way! So to me, it is the height of forgiveness, reconciliation and compassion because the Chinese have usurped the land, wealth, freedom of the Tibetans who were the rightful owners of them and were chased out from their own country and still forcefully occupying the land in one pretext or other! Even to think against them who inflict pain and suffering, not only never to take up arms against them, but even considering arising emotions of anger against them as sinful, is indeed heroic practice of compassion and forgiveness! Only from the spiritual depth can a person practice such a life!

Another example of such a life is Nelson Mandela. He is indeed made a remarkable life through his heroic forgiveness and reconciliation. He was confined to a small prison cell in the Robben Island for twenty seven years. He could have been burning himself with vengeance in the small sell because of the injustice inflicted upon him and his people. He took up arms against these people and they caught him and punished him. He was in a very small space, and this physically and mentally broke him. However, in the prison, he learned to widen his heart and horizon and turned towards non-violence preached by Mahatma Gandhi which was time- tested in India! Mandela had forgiven the wrongdoers and with a beautiful smile Mandela came out – with the smile of transformation! He could very well embrace W. Botha and the others who ran the apartheid Government and Mandela did not turn his Government machinery to take vengeance upon the apartheid Regime. He taught his fellow brethren to forgive and forget and make the next step towards meaningful life – transformation. Under the leadership of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established and the wrongdoer and the wronged came together in tears to extract the truth of suffering and rose towards the siren heights of transformation. It is indeed a restorative justice where the perpetrators of violence and the victims of gross human rights

violations shared public hearings! The victims were forgiving the perpetrators and thus the perpetrators in turn achieve compassionate civil and criminal persecution. This is the way to salvation and Mandela and his people have shown us that this path could be taken by every culture and society! These types of heroic practice of forgiveness and reconciliation are being practiced all over the world, definitely as beacon light for us! In Ruanda after the genocide such a commission was established in turning hatred and anger towards love and reconciliation!

Samandhar Singh of India, who stabbed Sister Rani Maria – a social revolutionary – 35 times, says that the family of the sister have given him total forgiveness and that transformed him towards a new life!

In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition there is the life example of Milerepa. His uncle had done enormous wrongs against his family and out of vengeance Milarepa took to black Magic and killed the children of his uncle and many of the villagers who supported his uncle. He understood the amount of wrongs he had done and managed to move away from vengeance towards compassion and became a saint by practicing Dharma.

Therefore, his paintings are being adorned in every Tibetan house and thus he is placed on the pedestal of sainthood. I am sure his example definitely influenced his Holiness Dalai Lama in fighting against the aggression of China.

Christmas is the time of God’s reach out to humanity! Going beyond the reconciliation, God send His love as in the form of His own son and he taught us forgiveness on the cross by praying to the Father “Forgive them”. St Paul in his letter to the Corinthians write “In Christ God reconciled the world to himself” (2 Cor. 5:19). The Greek word for reconciliation, καταλλάσσω., literally means “towards a transformation”. Thus Christ Jesus taught us what is love, forgiveness and reconciliation. The great theologian Hans Urs Von Balthasar narrates the depth of reconciliation, forgiveness, Cross and Eros vividly in the following lines.

“It is almost (or entirely impossible) to avoid the illusion that man knows from himself what love is, and how it is to be practiced.

In truth, however, a sense for divine love first arises in man when he stands before God, in full readiness to allow himself to be led by Jesus Christ – in love – on the path of perfect renunciation and ultimately the Cross. A path of renunciation of, not love … but all hidden egotism in Eros and in the whole community of the family.”

“To forgive is to assume a larger identity than the person who was first hurt,” philosopher David Whyte thus bridged forgiveness with maturity! Martha Nussbaum, another illustrious philosopher of our times, integrating all the emotions centred around violence and victimhood charters a moral choreography through her book ‘Anger and Forgiveness: Resentment, Generosity, and Justice’. She advocates to us to make a quantum leap to generosity and wider horizon of the transformative self through forgiveness and reconciliation, which can only give us peace and harmony, both for the individual and the society. I think this is the greatest message Christmas can send to us! * Director, Ecumenical Christian Centre, Whitefield, Bangalore, E-Mail: chandrankunnel@gmail.com

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Obituary Tributes

Professor Dr. P. Jegadish Gandhi: Author, Visionary and Friend Revd Dr. M. J. Joseph, Kottayam Professor Dr. P. Jegadish Gandhi of Vellore (75) has been called to his eternal rest on October7, 2016 at CMC hospital Vellore. As the Abel of old, he continues to speak to us from behind the curtain. In his book, Gandhi Truth, Eric Ericson, wrote of Mahatma Gandhi that he was a religious activist who made an alliance between the inner voice and the outer mankind. The same is true of Dr. Jegadish Gandhi who continued to do something beautiful for God till his last breath.

The attempt to remember the good deeds done by others for the community is indeed a gesture of illuminating the present. Illuminating the present is a great milestone in illuminating the future. The divine call is to translate every thread of legacy into a saga of living tradition. I am indeed happy to note that Dr. Gandhi who served as a professor of economics with reputation at the Voorhees College for about 3 decades. He was always keen to share his experience and expertise to enrich the institution with a great sense of stewardship and passion. This is in tune with the Spartan Citizenship Manual, “Every citizen is to be at the beck and call of the state”. As a true gentleman” he put more on the plate than he has taken out of it”, The recent initiative of the college to establish a study unit there at the P. G. level in honour of Dr. Gandhi is a clear testimony of the umbilical cord relationship between the century old Voorhees College and Dr. Gandhi.

The college has thus demonstrated an educational legacy in the country. As the founder Director of Vellore Institute of Development Studies (VIDS) and the Executive Secretary of ACISCA (Association of Christian Institutes for Social Action in Asia, Dr. Gandhi has demonstrated his passion for creativity

and knowledge with a view to bringing about transformation in the socio- economic and political scenario of Asia. He is blessed with amazing penmanship as a prolific writer. All his creative works whether authored or edited (numbering about 50); reveal his spiritual strength and social vision for humanity.

Dr. Jegadish Gandhi- A Karma Yogi For JG each minute is meant to be creative.

Procrastination is a word that is not found in the dictionary of JG as he always remembers the value of a microsecond, which might cause the missing of a gold medal in an Olympic race. It was Thomas Alva Edison who said, “Genius is 1%inspiration and 99% perspiration”. JG always followed the poetic vision of Longfellow: “Heights by great men reached and kept; Were not attained by sudden flight; They while their companions slept had been toiling all the night “.JG has always remembered the words of wisdom uttered by Robert Browning, “Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be. The last of life for which the first was made; our times are in His Hand . . . .” What matters in life is not what we accumulate, but what we do and share.

As a friend, I have seen in him the glory of giving his best for a cause whether at his native soil or elsewhere.

His involvement in the abolition of child labour through VIDS (Vellore Institute of Development Studies) has created ripples in the state. The spirit of hard work as a karma yogi moved by the spirit of nishkama karma always creates ripples in the vast ocean of life. In the sea of life, ripples create waves.

Dr. Jegadish Gandhi- An Accomplished Scholar, Writer and Editor I am indebted to his leadership in the editorial help for two of my books. Dr. Gandhi and Prof. Dr. K. C. John of Bangalore had found time to edit a Festschrift volume in honor of me published by the Ecumenical Christian Centre, Bangalore and the ISPCK in the year 2006 when I retired from ECC as its Director. The title of the book was Upon the Wings of Wider Ecumenism. The second one is another Festschrift volume under the title, The

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Golden Beams, edited by him and Very Rev. Dr. Cherian Thomas (Director, ECC, Bangalore) to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of my ministerial ordination in 2015.It is indeed very kind of Dr. Gandhi as he always finds time to enrich the literary skill of others and to honor them. His compilation of the book, Light to the Nations (Vol.1) published by ECC, Bangalore on its Golden Jubilee Celebrations in 2013, is indeed a creditable anthology of events.

It is a clear testimony of his research skill. I too had the privilege to join him in editing two books: Peace and Reconciliation-Asian Africa Interfaith Partnership Perspectives (2002) published by ACISCA and Public-Private Partnership in Nation Building published by Deep and Deep Publications Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi (2005). In both the volumes, several vital concerns for common good have been highlighted. It is indeed worth recalling that there was a releasing function of his 25th book in Vellore as a mark of his contribution to the social cause locally and globally. I had the privilege to offer a few words of felicitation to Dr. Gandhi at that time. My association and friendship with Dr. Gandhi began in the year 2000 in a meeting of the ACISCA at Bangkok. Since then our friendship began to grow and flourish. I am reminded of the words of Dr. A. P. J. Abdulkalam whom Dr. Gandhi adored: “One best book is equal to hundred friends, but one good friend equals to a library. “For me and others, Dr. Gandhi is a library in the literal and spiritual sense!

Dr. Jegadish Gandhi: An Economist of Repute He held several official positions in the economic organizations of the Country particularly in Tamil Nadu. I don’t venture to list them out as they are numerous. I am really fascinated by the coinage of a word, ‘Faithnomics’, by Dr. Gandhi. One may find several nuances for the word. But I must say that as far as Dr. Gandhi is concerned, economics is a matter of faith .So also ecology. In his creative thinking, he has very often accentuated the need to formulate just laws relating to economics and environmental concerns. He believed that the realization of the 17 sustainable development goals of the UN should find a place in the ACISCA vision beyond for a better tomorrow. For him, interfaith concerns do play a significant place in the transformation of the Asian Countries for him, peace building in the pluralistic context of Asia is vital to economic progress. Dr. A. P. J. Abdulkalam, the former president of India, had found a worthy

academic follower in Gandhi for the reinterpretation of his Pura-model of development concerns. In the obituary notes written by Dr. Gandhi on Dr. Kalam in the widely read the People’s Reporter and in the NCC Review, the economic legacy of A.P. J. Abdulkalam has been highlighted. The hospitality extended to him and to his wife, Sugirtham, at Raj Bhavan, New Delhi is a clear testimony of Dr. Kalam’s large heartedness and the approval of his understanding of the practical application of economics Dr. Jegadish Gandhi-Upholder of Family Values I must say a word about Dr. Gandhi’s love and care of his family. His wife, Sugirtham, was always a shadow of her husband. She is friendly and hospitable. As a well qualified nurse with reputed track records, her care for others is indeed praiseworthy. Gandhi tribe has been also trained well with his genetic codes. JG’s first grandson of 14 years has also shown the trait of his penmanship .His two daughters are living with their families in Ireland and one in Singapore. There is an unfulfilled desire of Dr. Gandhi to bring out a Festschrift volume under the title; a better Asia for the 21st century on his 75th birth birthday .The work is almost complete. I had the privilege to serve as the chief editor along with his associates and friends, Prof. S. Thiagukumar, Dr. Arulappan and Dr. P. Anbalagan.

Let me conclude with the words of Bernard Shaw: “Life levels all men; death reveals the eminent.”

“Remembrance of the righteous is a blessing.”

Editor’s Note: Dr. Jegadish Gandhi, who has died aged 75 at Vellore, was a well-known professor of economics and activist on human right issues. He was an ardent advocate against child labour in India. He was an ecumenist and worked for interfaith dialogue and religious tolerance. He believed that religious tolerance and respect for all religious traditions have a significant role to play in the transformation the Asian countries and its economic regeneration. He was very much interested in building bridges across religious divide and conflicts for establishing peace and co-existence.

He was the founder chairman of Vellore Institute of Development Studies (VIDS) and also the secretary of the Association of Christian Institutes for Social Concern in Asia (ACISCA). He was a prolific writer and speaker especially on biblical subjects and Human Rights issues. He was a good friend of the FOCUS fraternity. The editorial board of the FOCUS offers our condolence to the bereaved family and friends of Professor Jegadish Gandhi. May his soul rest in peace and resurrect in glory.

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Book Review: ‘The Day the Revolution Began’ Dr. Zac Varghese, London The day the Revolution Began’

by Tom Wright is published in Great Britain by SPCK and by Harper One in the USA in 2016, SPCK.ISBN 978-0-281-06145-7.

that this world is not our home and Jesus through his death and resurrection taking us to a better place. The cross is not a sign of death, but a sign of the end of death. The cross of Jesus means that we can be forgiven and have a new start, a new life as a new creation.

Tom Wright, the former Bishop of Durham, is a most distinguished Pauline scholar and a prolific writer of our times. This book is a treasure-trove of theological insights to be explored. Like some other books by this author, this book also includes the lectures given by the author at various venues; therefore, one may come across many repetitions, but these are like listening to music that one likes. It is a refreshingly interesting book with many fresh insights about Christian faith, theology of the cross and resurrection. The book has 440 pages and is in four parts.

Some have portrayed God not as a generous creator, the loving Father, but as an angry despot. The powerful love of God is central to every aspect of Christian faith. The cross was the moment when something happened and as a result the world became a different place for loving and caring, inaugurating God’s future plan. Jesus died in our place and by doing so God in Christ won a great victory.

In the common understanding, what stops us from going to heaven is sin and the sin is dealt with on the Cross once and for all. In the biblical model, what stop us from being genuine humans (bearing the divine image, acting as the royal priesthood) is not only sin, but also idolatry that underlines it. This idolatry is everything that is selfcentred and not God-centred. Jesus stands in for Israel to fulfil the divine plan to restore creation itself. This is the short version of the thesis in this book.

The first part is about a new way of looking at the theology of the cross. It challenges the commonly held belief that the sacrificial death of Jesus was about saving mankind from their sins so that they could go to heaven.

This book provides new insights into our understanding of the theology of the cross and resurrection. Early Christians believed that Jesus’ death launched a revolution on Good Friday and it had changed the world.

This study is an attempt to explain why the crucifixion of Jesus seems to have generated a wide range of interpretation over the last two thousand years. The book is written to make sense of these. He says, ‘Theology, after all, was made for the church and not church for theology.’ He gives a reason for this fresh interpretation: “It is perilously easy for individuals and communities to drift away from the life-giving meaning of the Gospel, unless someone in each generation is working on foundational Christian truth.” He reminds us that we need to press beyond one-line summaries and popular slogans. In this book, he is making an effort to make us understand what Jesus’ first followers meant when they said, ‘The Messiah died for our sins in accordance with the Bible.’

The Author is asking us to replace the common vision of the Christian hope of ‘going to heaven’ with the biblical vision of a ‘new heaven and new earth.’ He argues that Jesus’ death on the cross is for restoring human beings with a vocation to play an important role in God’s redeeming purposes for the world. It is about replacing a ‘work contract’ of doing seemingly good things as an investment to go to heaven with a ‘covenant of vocation’ to establish kingdom values on the earth, which is indeed the essence of radical Christianity. He questions the idea

In Part 2 of the book, he talks about sin being bad behaviour deserving punishment and heaven being in fellowship with God. The human problem is not so much sin seen as breaking moral codes, but idolatry and the distortion of humanness sin produces. The common view has been that heaven is a place where ‘good people’ end up so that human life is gauged in relation to moral achievement or lack thereof. This is the work contract.

The real goal is not heaven in a distant place, but a renewed human vocation within God’s renewed creation.

Much preaching about the Cross has produced the idea of a ‘Work contract’. The work contract is about keeping the moral code that God has given to humanity. Failure would incur punishment and death. Jesus obeyed the moral code and in his death, paid the penalty on behalf of the rest of the human race. Those who avail themselves in Jesus’ achievement by believing in him will go to heaven where they will enjoy eternal fellowship with God (Romans 1-3). Righteousness is now considered as a gift because of the cross. What the Bible offers is not a ‘works contract’, but a ‘covenant of vocation’. Vocation is that of being a genuine human being with genuinely human tasks to perform as part of the Creator’s purpose for his world. The main task of this vocation is image bearing, reflecting the Creator’s wise stewardship of the world and reflecting the praises of all creation back to its maker. We humans are called to stand at the intersection of heaven and earth, holding together in our hearts, our praises.

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Sin then is the human failure of vocation; when we sin, we abuse our calling, our privileges, and our possibilities.

Through the death of Jesus the original human vocation has been reestablished, so that redeemed humans are now seen as the royal priesthood. Heaven and earth belong together. Humans were made for a purpose, Israel was made for a purpose and that humans and Israel alike have turned from that purpose, distorted the vision, and abused their vocation. Some critics have suggested the whole point of talking about sin is really a way of controlling people. The purpose of the cross is to take us back, from where we presently are, to God’s intended goal.

Western culture has been so wedded to the platonic idea that God’s purpose for humans is to leave the world and go to heaven to be with him–as opposed to the biblical ideal that God’s purpose for humans is to reflect the praises of creation back to him and reflect his image in the world, as ambassadors, so that ultimately heaven and earth will be one. It is not a rescue from the present world, but a rescue and renewal within the present world.

We are here for being part of the healing ministry for healing the fractured world through prayer and complete surrender to God’s will. If the exile was to be undone, sin would have to be forgiven. There is beautiful analogy about sin in this book: ‘when God looks at sin, what he sees is what a violin maker would see if the player were to use his lovely creation as a tennis racquet.’ The biblical promises of redemption have to do with God himself acting because of his unchanging, unshakable love for his people. Non-Jewish sources spoke of a noble death on behalf of others, but in the Bible the rescue has been achieved by Israel’s God himself. It was his initiative, his accomplishment, and his love.

Part 3 is about God’s rescue operation of the world in Jesus Christ. The Christian world has so far clung to and taught a meaning of redemption that involves ‘saved souls going to heaven.’ The NT message is really about the kingdom of God coming to earth as in heaven.” It is new heaven and new earth in which justice will be at home” (2 peter 3: 13). Heaven means God’s space.

Heaven is where God is, If God is love, and then we meet God where love is. The kingdom of God is accomplished through Jesus’ death and then implemented through the suffering of his followers. “With your blood you purchased a people for God” (Rev 5). In this book an effort has been made to explain what “dying for sin “or even “in accordance with the Bible” might actually mean. “For even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10: 4). Jesus did indeed go to Jerusalem and die at the Passover time, but why? With the resurrection we find the beginning of the interpretation of the crucifixion. The resurrection convinced Jesus’ disciples that he really was Israel’s Messiah, despite his shameful death.

Why did Jesus choose Passover to die? Many scholars found it difficult to connect what Jesus meant by God’s kingdom with the ancient Jewish expectation. To announce God’s kingdom is to announce that God is at last overthrowing the dark powers that enslave his people. To announce God’s kingdom is to say this is the time for God to reconstitute his people, rescuing them and regrouping them for a new life with new tasks. To announce God’s kingdom is to say, as in Isaiah 52: 7-12, God himself is coming back to display his Glory in person and in power. In any case, what matters for our purposes is that Jesus chose Passover to do what had to be done and indeed to suffer what had to be suffered. Jesus was announcing and event on that day through which freedom and kingdom would become realities in a whole new way.

He was launching a new revolution. The kingdom of God is already, but not yet a reality; When we put Jesus’ Temple action (Mark 11: 12-18) into a Passover context, however, it suddenly carries the memory of Moses’s confrontation with Pharaoh. Jesus believed that through his death not just Israel but also the whole world would be liberated: ransomed, healed, restored and forgiven. The victory over the powers would be won by Jesus dealing with the people’s sins. A new way of looking at the atonement theology is given here: At the centre of the whole picture we do not find a wrathful God bent on killing someone, demanding blood. Instead, we find the image–of the covenant keeping God who takes the full force of sin on to himself. The mention of blood indicates a sacrificial interpretation of Jesus’ death.

This would, of course, be scandalous, since no good Jew would dream of drinking blood. Jesus chose Passover for his kingdom moment, because Passover always was a kingdom moment, and this was the ultimate one, real victory over the powers of evil. Wherever Jesus went, he celebrated the arrival of the kingdom and offered forgiveness of sin.

God was reconciling the whole world to himself in the Messiah (Cor. 5: 19). Jesus will die for the nation, but will thereby do for the world what Israel was called to do but could not do, setting the nations free from their ancient bondage so that they can join the single people of God. Kingdom is not a place called heaven detached from earth. Jesus’ death is seen, right across the New Testament, not as rescuing people from the world so that they can avoid hell and go to heaven but as a powerful revolution-that is, a revolution full of new sort of power– within the world itself. A new sort of power let loose upon the world, it will be the power of self-giving love. This is the heart of the revolution that was launched on Good Friday. Humans were to be saved not for ‘Heaven,’ but for the new creation. They were to share in the royal priestly human work within the present world and the world that was to be.

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The call of Abraham, had always envisaged a glorious future not just for Israel, but for the whole world. One can leave behind the old work contract and as new Passoverpeople, embrace the biblical covenant vocation. The Cross establishes the kingdom of God through the agency of Jesus. In whatever way the NT tells the story of the cross, it is always the story of self-giving love. When Jesus was crucified, the ‘powers’ lost their power, because sin itself had been defeated and sinners forgiven. Jesus’ achievement is a new creation, a new heaven-and-earth world in which humans can resume their genuinely human vocation as the ‘kingdom priests,’ the royal priesthood.

The old covenant is not just with Abraham, but is the promise that through Abraham and his family God would bless all the nations. The early Christian view of Jesus’ death was focussed on the Passover and hence on the Exodus story, now to be experienced as the new liberating event that was also the great one-off ‘sinforgiving event. Roman Road (Romans 1-4) is the works contract: God requires perfect obedience; all fail, and sin; all must die; Jesus dies in our place; we are forgiven and assured going to heaven. Jesus takes our sins and we take his righteousness. God’s action in Christ gives us the credit, the righteousness we need. We are there for justified.

The world is indeed in a mess; but the Jewish people, armed with the Torah are God’s chosen solution to this problem. Jews have been given the divine vocation of sorting out the mess, of putting the world right.

Sometimes, Israel is left out of the salvation story through Jesus and it becomes an anti-Jewish story. We sometime forget that the incarnate Son is also Israel’s Messiah.

Romans 4 are all about the covenant that God made with Abraham. Jesus is the Ark of the Covenant, the place of mercy. The restoration of true worship is the goal. When God called Abraham, he had the Messiah’s Cross in mind all along.

The real revolution took place on the Cross, and the resurrection is the first sign that it took place. God purifies his people in and through the shed blood of Jesus, so that the covenant may be renewed, and not just renewed for Israel, but for the whole world. If exile is the punishment for Israel’s sin, the punishment now falls on the Servant alone. Jesus in himself, and in his death, is the place where the one God meets with his world, bringing heaven and earth together at last, removing by his sacrificial blood the pollution of sin and death that would have made such a meeting impossible.

In Part 4, Tom Wright writes about the ongoing revolution, which started on the Cross. In recent years several thinkers have made a distinction between mission (church’s task in the world) and evangelism (telling people

about Jesus’ death and resurrection and what it means for them). Jesus message is not well summarised by saying that Jesus died so that we can go to heaven. It ignores Jesus’ claim to be launching God’s kingdom on earth as in heaven. It ignores the NT emphasis on the true human vocation, to be the image bearers reflecting God’s Glory to the world and the praises of creation back to God. He argues the case that ‘victory’ was achieved because Jesus gives himself for our sins rescuing and forgiving humans and so breaking the deadly grip of the power they worshipped is very important. Victory and triumphalism without forgiveness of sin at its heart will be seriously wrong. On the other hand, a mission based on forgiveness of sin where we see things only in terms of saving souls for heaven will go wrong in another direction.

The NT insists on both and in their proper relations. When we get this right, the church’s true vocation emerges once more. Christian movement is not a religion in the modern sense, but it is a complete new way of being human in the world and for the world.

The biblical view of what it means to be human, the royal priesthood vocation is more multidimensional than either of the alternatives. “You are in the world and not of the world.” The revolution of the cross set us free to be inbetween people, caught up in the rhythm of worship and mission. Very often, when Christian people set out to make the world a better place, they have sadly left the world a worse place instead. What we have to do is to respond to the love poured out on the cross with love of our own. “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church.”

Image-bearing humans, obedient to the Creator, are meant to exercise delegated authority in the world in order that life can flourish. Forgiveness is utter gracious love and it is not weakness. Because of the cross, the world as a whole is free to give allegiance to the creator God. Gospel will not allow us to retreat into private Christian space imagined by those for whom the death of Jesus does little except forgive our sins so that we can go to heaven. Tom Wrights concludes: ‘When NT tells the meaning of the cross, it gives us not a system, not a theory, but a meal and an act of humble service (of foot washing) not a celestial mechanism for punishing sin and taking people to heaven, but an earthly story of a human Messiah who embodies and incarnates Israel’s God and who unveils his glory in bringing his kingdom to earth as in heaven.’ I hope this book will encourage people to think afresh about the importance of the Cross in our life and a new outlook on the covenant of vocation to build a world as it should be so that God’s kingdom will flourish on earth. I found the reflections and the analysis of the author inspiring and enriching.

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Prof. Fr. Dr. Mathew Chandrankunnel CMI Installed as the New Director of ECC, Bangalore Revd Dr. M. J. Joseph, Kottayam Having ministered to the Ecumenical Christian Centre, Bangalore, with distinction for a period of 5 years, Very Rev. Dr. Cherian Thomas bid farewell to the Centre in a grand function organized on November 20, 2016; Dr. Isaac Mar Philoxenos, Chairperson of ECC presided over the meeting in the presence of a galaxy of distinguished speakers. Dr. Mathews Mar Makarios delivered the farewell message. Metropolitan Dr Pathros Mor 0sthathios, Very Rev. P. C. Philip, Rev. Dr. M. J. Joseph, Former Director of ECC, Dr. Vincent Rajkumar, Dr. Moses P. Manohar, Dr. Santanu Pathro, Dr. Sarasu Esther Thomas, Dr. Thomas Aykara CMI, Dr. J. Alexander IAS(Rtd), Rev. Sudhakar Joshua and Mr. C. Narayana offered felicitation speeches. The outgoing Director, Very Rev. Dr. Cherian Thomas and the incoming Director Fr. Dr. Mathew Chandrankunnel responded to the speeches.

Dr. Cherian Thomas Achen came to the Center with a wide range of knowledge and experience primarily as a theological educator and a church administrator. As the Jabez of old prayed, God in his wisdom granted his prayer and “expanded his territory”. ECC owes a debt of gratitude to Cherian Thomas Achen for his administrative leadership in ECC and in the Church at large.

Achen has left ECC with an enlarged theological outlook on life, which he practiced there. He has now become the champion of wider Ecumenism and his theological perspective is deeply rooted in the teaching of Jesus on the kingdom of God. The Festschrift Volume under the title, Even Now and Not Yet published by ECC in his honour in 2013 speaks highly of his theological perspectives and social vision.

Dr. Cherian Thomas Achen had the great honour and opportunity to organize the Golden Jubilee Celebration of ECC as well as the birth Centenary of Rev. Dr. M. A. Thomas, the founder director of ECC, in a fitting manner.

The Golden Jubilee Souvenir of ECC bears testimony to it.

As the Director of ECC, Achen could gracefully endorse the retirement and settlement of the services of about two dozen people from the staff of ECC. As a resource mobilizer and scholar, Dr. Cherian Thomas Achen could make good contact with the community at national and international levels through the programme dynamics of ECC. The eco-concerns of the Centre particularly granting a privileged status to the fauna species have been kept alive under his stewardship.

His wife, Mrs. Elis Cherian, has been his constant companion in Achen’s ministry at ECC. She has been a good host to everyone. As the Vicar General of the

Madras-Bangalore Diocese of the Mar Thoma Church, Dr. Cherian Thomas Achen cheerfully shared his time and talents to build up his mother Church at large. He had thus “enlarged the place of his tent and lengthened its chords and strengthened its stakes,” as envisioned by the prophet Isaiah.

As the senior vicar general of the Mar Thoma Church Achen, we hope, he will continue to sharpen and shape anew his obedience to Jesus Christ.

The Director Designate, Fr. Dr. Mathew Chandrankunnel CMI, was installed as the new Director for a period of three years. Fr. Chandrankunnel is a long-time associate and friend of ECC. He served in the Executive Committee of the centre for a term. He has been a professor of philosophy at the Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Bangalore. He has wide range of teaching experience in different universities around the world. The ECC council is happy that Fr. Chanrdankunnel, CMI, a well-known Technophilos, philosopher, and interfaith man, had accepted the invitation of ECC to shoulder its responsibility as its 8th director. May God help him to add new chapters to the global ministry of ECC.re a Editor’s Note: Prof. Fr. Dr. Mathew Chandrankunnel is at present professor of philosophy of science at Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram and Christ University, Bangalore. After completing studies in physics and philosophy in various Indian Universities, Prof.

Chandrankunnel received a doctorate from the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Leuven, Belgium for successfully defending the thesis “In Search of a Casual Quantrum Mechanics” comparing two interpretations in Quantum Mechanics.

For this thesis, he researched, at Niels Bohr Institute of Copenhagen, Max Planck Institute, Munich and interacted with Nobel Prize winners like Aage Bohr, Friedrich Von Wezaeckar, Prof. IlyaPrigogene etc. Prof.

Chandrankunnel did his postdoctoral research studies at Smithsonian Centre for Astrophycis, Harvard, University of Cambridge, Boston, under the well-known astronomer Prof. Owen Gingerich. Philosophy of Physics, Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics, The Condemnation and Rehabilitation of Galileo Galilei are some of his published works. In Service of the Truth, the Physics, Philosophy and Religion of Galileo is the forthcoming publication. Received the CTNS Templeton award and organized Local, National and International conferences on Science and Religion like "Merging Boundaries: Mysticism, Science and Religion" which was inaugurated by Sri Sri Ravi Sankar. Founder Chairman of the Bangalore Forum for Science and Religion and Bangalore Chapter of Sigma-Xi Foundation. Prof. Chandrankunnel is also a trained journalist, worked as the science editor of Deepika Daily Newspaper, its Chennai and Bangalore correspondent and published more than 500 articles in refereed journals, newspapers and magazines. He belongs to the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate Congregation, Province of Kottayam. He is also visiting Professor at the University of Leuven, faculty of Philosophy in the year 2010, April-May, and lecturing on ' the Physics, Philosophy and Religion of Galileo.'

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