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Nidān, Volume 4, No. 2, December 2019, Pp. 1-20 ISSN 2414-8636 1

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Nidān, Volume 4, No. 2, December 2019, Pp. 1-20 ISSN 2414-8636 1 Nidān, Volume 4, No. 2, December 2019, pp. 1-20 ISSN 2414-8636 The Reformative and Indigenous Face of the Indian Pentecostal Movement Allan Varghese Asbury Theological Seminary [email protected] Abstract: The Indian Pentecostal Church of God (IPC) is the most significant indigenous Pentecostal movement in India that has attracted scholarly attention. However, there seems to be a gap in exploring the relationship between IPC and the Syrian Christian tradition in Kerala. Therefore, this article attempts to fill that scholarly gap by arguing that the emergence of IPC was a gradual progression of an ongoing ecclesial reformation of the late 18th century among Syrian Christians in Kerala. While the IPC stands as a renewal and radical movement that was next in line for reforming the Syrian Christian Tradition of Kerala (one of the oldest Christian traditions in the world), it was also partly influenced by a historic Syrian consciousness, as native Pentecostal leaders continually insisted on their autonomy and independence from western, missionary leadership. This resulted in IPC becoming the largest indigenous movement in India. The following article presents these arguments by tracing the historical path from a reformative perspective along with a careful analysis of the life of K. E. Abraham. Even though the formation of IPC was a collective effort of numerous national Pentecostal workers, K. E. Abraham (1899-1974) was its chief exponent, who is often closely associated with the organization. Abraham’s life echoes the various ecclesial reformative teachings that led to his Pentecostal belief, subsequently prompting him to lead the Pentecostal movement, The Indian Pentecostal Church of God (IPC) as a renewal, radical and indigenous movement of the Syrian Christian tradition of Kerala. Key Words: Indian Pentecostal Church of God, Thomas Christianity, Kerala, Indigenous, Reformative, K. E. Abraham, Indian Pentecostalism. The Ecclesial Reformation of Thomas Christians in Kerala and the Formation of the Indian Pentecostal Church of God (IPC) The Indian Pentecostal Church of God (IPC) is considered the largest indigenous Pentecostal movement in India and its indigenous nature has been a matter of study 1 Varghese / The Reformative and Indigenous Face for numerous scholars 1 (Bergunder, 2008; Hedlund, 2005a; Pulikottil, 2009; & Abraham, 2000). The emergence of such a movement before India’s political independence in the early 20th century prompted scholars to name it “an important expression of ‘Christian nationalism’” (Hedlund, 2005a: 217). However, beyond the political standpoint, as one considers the historical consciousness of Kerala 2 Christianity, IPC stands as a culmination of an ongoing ecclesial reformation that took flight among the Thomas Christians of Kerala in the 19th century. This paper examines the historical and theological progressions through a reformative lens3 and focuses on instances that steered the Thomas Christian tradition towards IPC. In the latter part of this paper, I shall pay closer attention to the life of K. E. Abraham, the founder of IPC, to explore various preceding reformative teachings that brought IPC to its existence as a radical, renewal and indigenous movement among the Kerala Thomas Christians. The Brief History of Christianity in Kerala: Through a Reformative Lens Christianity in Kerala claims its origin from the first century (AD 52), when Jesus’ disciple, St. Thomas, arrived and preached the gospel to high-caste Brahmins. Although there have been numerous speculations around the veracity of Thomas’ arrival, 4 as Kerala historian Sreedhara Menon notes, “the Christians in Kerala continue to attribute to their Church an apostolic origin and call themselves St. Thomas Christians” (Menon, 2008: 44). For the first two hundred years, the Thomas Christians held on to their apostolic succession but fell into “a state of disorder” as they lacked ecclesial direction and leadership (Matthew and Thomas, 2005: 20). However, in 345 B. C. E, a merchant named Thomas Cana arrived from the Persian Empire with four hundred Christians and two Syrian bishops, bringing new life to the dying church. This arrival revived preexisting Thomas Christians providing them an association with the Syrian church and offering them the needed ecclesial direction. 1 The term ‘indigenous’ is used to denote what Lamin Sanneh calls the local “indigenous discovery” (2003:10) of Pentecostal Christianity as opposed to the efforts of any western agency's attempt to give the church in India its Indian face (Hedlund, 2000:2). 2 Kerala is the contemporary name for the southern tip of India, which is known in early historical documents as Malabar or Malankara. During the late 18th century, it incorporated the princely states of Travancore and Cochin, as well as British Malabar to the north. Most of the reformative efforts that emerged in the 19th and 20th century began among the Syrian Thomas Christians of Travancore and Cochin. 3, The term ‘reformative' is used in this paper to denote the pursuit of indigenous Christians who took on various ecclesial and theological changes in their attempt to unearth the original, old Christianity that finds its origin in the first century. 4 For more details see, Frykenberg, 2008: 91-114 and Menon, 2008: 42-45. 2 Nidān, Volume 4, No. 2, December 2019, pp. 1-20 ISSN 2414-8636 As the Thomas Christians in Kerala and the Syrian Christians in the Persian Empire held common apostolic patrimony, 5 the Thomas Christians found it easier to integrate with the Syrian church. The local church “harmonized their church discipline with that of the Syrian Church, without looking at it as something foreign” (Perumthottam, 1994: 4). Subsequently, the Kerala Thomas Christians embraced Syrian theology, worship forms, and customs. Syriac became the ecclesiastical language and the local clergy were ordained according to the Syrian Church Tradition, marking the ecclesiastical and liturgical beginning of the Kerala Syrian Christian community. Local Thomas Christians also enjoyed a measure of autonomy in their civil and ecclesiastical aspects as the archdeacon, who was not a foreigner, was essentially in charge of the local community (Mundadan, 2009: 249). This relationship of the Kerala Thomas Christians with the Syrian Church stood unchallenged for centuries, until the arrival of the Portuguese in the sixteenth century. During this period the Kerala Syrian Church had taken shape as, in Francis Thonippara’s words, “truly an Indian Church rooted in Indian soil” (Thonippara, 2010: 111). In December 1502, when the Portuguese merchant Vasco Da Gama arrived at the Kerala coast for his second visit, trade doors opened for the Portuguese establishment making the initial interactions between the Portuguese and local Christians cordial (Perumthottam, 1994: 9; Mathew and Thomas, 2005: 30). However, this cordiality began to disappear as the Portuguese intention to take over the local church became apparent (Menon, 2008: 18). Roman Catholic missionaries in Kerala who came with the Portuguese were given instructions to target Syrian Thomas Christians and propagate the Catholic, or ‘Latin’ way—"To Christianize was to Latinize" (Walls, 2006: 69). As part of their Latinizing campaign, the Catholics used various methods: from establishing a Seminary in 1547 (Mackenzie, 2001: 15) to recruiting Thomas Christians in the Portuguese military service (Menon, 2008: 118). However, Syrian bishops resisted this attempt to replace Syrian ceremonies with Latin, and thus the unrest between the Syrians and the Catholics continued until the death of the Syrian bishop Mar Abraham in 1597. In the same year, the newly arrived Catholic Archbishop of Goa—Alexis de Menezes “saw to it that no new bishop should arrive in Malabar from Mesopotamia” and set his agenda, “to purify all the Churches from heresy and errors…[by] giving them the pure doctrine of the Catholic faith, taking from them all the heretical books that they possess” (Matthew and Thomas 2005: 32). The vital step towards purification further lay in convoking a Synod at Udayamperur (popularly known as the Synod of Diamper) which lasted for seven days, issuing decrees that made sure that Roman Doctrine and the Pope’s supremacy were acknowledged without compromise. Following the Synod, Syrian books were confiscated for correction or total 5 Joseph Perumthottam notes, “according to the Chaldean or Seleusian tradition, their (Syrian) Church was founded by Mari, a disciple of Addai, whom Mar Thoma sent to Edessa” (Perumthottam, 1994: 4, footnote 3). 3 Varghese / The Reformative and Indigenous Face destruction, and all Syrian clergy were instructed in Latin rituals. In summation, Menezes confirmed the process of Latinization by detaching Kerala Thomas Christians from their Syrian heritage that marked the beginning of “the Westernization of the first Indian Christian community” (Fernando and Gispert- Sauch 2004: 78). Nevertheless, not all Thomas Christians were happy to be subjected to the authority of the Roman Catholics. Consequently, Thomas Christians under the leadership of Archdeacon Thomas wrote to the Nestorian, the Coptic and the Jacobite Patriarchs in Syria, “asking for a bishop to be sent to Malabar” (Mathew and Thomas, 2005: 40). In 1652 a foreign bishop named Mar Ahatalia arrived (Fernando and Gispert- Sauch, 2004: 78 & Mathew and Thomas, 2005: 40), though it is unclear which patriarch was responsible for sending him. However, the Portuguese arrested the bishop at the port and
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