The Twain Shall Meet! Fr. V.C. Jose Fr. Dr. V. C. Samuel is an unparalleled cosmic Guru of the twentieth century who broke the barriers of time and space and attained the privileged position of a twentieth century Church Father of the oriental, Eastern, Roman Catholic and protestant Churches across the world. Fr. Dr. V.C. Samuel was born in a family owing allegiance to the Patriarchate of Antioch (Bava Kakshi). In the beginning Achen was an ardent advocate of Antiochene faith and was initially associated with the patriarchal faction as a re-interpreter of Indian Church history and was with Mar Yulios, Metropolitan at Manjinikkara Dayara. Samuel Achen however found that the positions held by Mar Yulios and the Patriarch was against the truth and opposed to historical facts. In his quest for certainly Achen discovered that the theory that the Malankara Orthodox Church was under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Antioch was a riddled with contradictions, contravenes the principles of early Christianity, was against the Christian spirit enshrined in the Bible and against the established norms of Church History. He therefore broke the conventional faith of his family and his allegiance to Antiochene faction. Leaving Manjinikkara he undertook several years of study in theology and Church History to conclude that the Malankara Church (Metran Kakshi - Allegiance to the Catholicos of India) is an independent, autocephalous church on Indian soil upholding and preserving the principles of church autonomy and autocephaly. His research was based on scientific and logical grounds rather than on blind beliefs or oral/baseless traditions, proving that the Indian Church, established by St. Thomas, was the independent and was historically free from foreign dominations. During the fifth century the unity of the church was first disturbed in the year 451 AD at the Council of Chalcedon. The Fathers of the Church could not arrive at a consensus or agree to preserve the unity of the church over the controversy of the divine / human nature of Jesus Christ. The decision of the council explaining the existence two separate natures in Christ led to the parting of ways of the early Christians. Those accepting the council decision were called Chalcedonians whilst those rejecting it were called Non-Chalcedonians. The two sides condemned and excommunicated each other and the church got divided for the first time in history. The Churches which rejected the council decisions were in time called the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the ones that accepted the decision were the Catholic Church and the Byzantine Churches. Later in the year 1054 AD over another controversy the Byzantine (Greek) and other Orthodox Churches presently called the Eastern Orthodox Churches split and left the Roman Catholic Church. Unfortunately from the fifth century onwards till the twentieth century the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Eastern Orthodox Churches continued to view each other with suspicion and enmity, with the Chalcedonians calling the other as monophysites and the non-Chalcedonians calling other as diophysites. Nearly 1500 years after separation, during the twentieth century, Fr. Dr. V. C. Samuel, of the Indian Orthodox church, after extensive research and deep study of the early councils, with special reference to the Council of Chalcedon established that there were not many differences between the positions of the Orthodox Churches. Petty social, cultural, political and other aspects more than theology played a significant part in the failure of the Council of Chalcedon. The book "Council of Chalcedon Re- examined" delves deeply into the ancient councils and the position of the Church Fathers. With this study Dr. V. C. Samuel cleared all doubts and established the fact that essentially there were no differences between Chalcedonians and Noon-Chalcedonians. As an authority on Christology, Achen became acceptable to church scholars in the Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches alike. Fr. Dr. V. C. Samuel is regarded as the greatest Christologian after the fifth century and it is our pride that this Cosmic Guru emerged from the great Indian soil which is one of the homes of Oriental Orthodoxy. Fr. Dr. v. c. Samuel who bridged the separation among Christian Churches after fifteen centuries was a great thinker, researcher and above all an intellect unparalleled. Samuel Achen always urged his students to think scientifically and make key inferences through keen observations and studies rather than simple acceptance of unsubstantiated beliefs. He was unwilling to endorse any school of thought or tradition without sufficient critical analysis. He understood that the first foreign contact of the Indian Church was with the Persian church in the fourth century AD. This was followed by its subjection to Roman Catholic Church in the fifteenth century. The Indian church was never under the Patriarchate till the oath of the Coonan Cross in the year 1653 AD. Studying and scrutinizing all the available documents and historical evidences Achen eliminated all illogical traditions, superficial personal attractions, allegiances to foreign heads. He proved with authenticity that Indian Church was independent and should govern itself with its own head, progress and prosper day by day on the Indian soil and elsewhere spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ by fulfilling the mission of Christ's Incarnation, developing its own unique style of orthodox theology and worship befitting the Indian heritage and culture, like other Orthodox Christian communities around the world. During the first four or five centuries the Church in the Mediterranean/ Latin world developed their own traditions, whilst the Greek Church in the East had their own. Although the common ground of faith binds these churches their practices differed influenced by their unique cultural and linguistic variations. The practices and traditions of the Greek Church were also adopted by many churches in the East. Samuel Achen opined that Christianity in India is mature and therefore, before adopting either Greek or Latin or any other traditions, we should analyse them critically. Simply copying of other churches’ traditions and other practices without scrutiny or study was unacceptable. The Indian Church had to evolve in the Indian context without losing common faith, heritage and beauty of Christianity. Fr. Dr. V. C. Samuel never appreciated the Indian scholars and Church leaders who placed utmost admiration of Greek Orthodoxy. As an oriental Orthodox theologian Dr. V. C. Samuel Achen knew the strength of Oriental Orthodoxy. Whilst he was the greatest defender of Oriental Orthodoxy he also taught us the place of Malankara Orthodox in the Indian sub-continent and in the world Christianity. In the year 1989, I came across some people of the Ahmadiya movement who claimed that the tomb of Jesus was in Kashmir. They believed that Jesus did not die on the cross, but became unconscious on the cross and was laid in the tomb. His disciples, they said his body from the tomb and when Jesus became conscious made him escape to Kashmir in India. In Kashmir they said that Jesus led a normal life for several years and died a natural death and was buried in a tomb that is still in Kashmir. They argued that if this tomb was tested and the story confirmed the very foundations of Christianity would be shaken. I was till then unaware of this sect and teachings therefore I wrote to Fr. Dr. V. C. Samuel for clarification. In his reply Achen explained that any theory should be based on scientific grounds with the scriptures of concerned religions being taken into consideration. He reasoned that the picture of Jesus in the Gospels is different from the picture of a prophet or a Siddha. Understanding the Bible is required for the appreciation of either the person of Christ or his teaching as given in New Testament. Dr. Samuel continued to explain with the story of Jonah taken as a parable with Jonah being swallowed by a whale and being belched out alive on the third day. Jesus rose again after his death on the third day. That Jesus died needs no proof for if he lived on earth, He has definitely died. The New Testament sees that death to be an event where God manifests His love for mankind. "A hanged man is accused by God" (Deuteronomy 21:23) and a hanged man is a criminal and is therefore accursed. Whilst Jesus was crucified he was not a criminal yet for our sins, for our salvation he died on the cross and God demonstrated his love by raising him from the dead. In the year 1981, as a Pre-University student, I had the opportunity to listen to the talks of Rev. Fr. Dr. V. c. Samuel at St. Gregorios Orthodox Cathedral, Bangalore, where I attended the church services. The messages of Samuel Achen were extremely simple, touching and practical. His concern for the younger generation was aptly demonstrated when he used to summarize his Malayalam talk in English to ensure that the children did not miss the essence of the day's sermon. This gesture of concern for the children and those who did not fully comprehend Malayalam touched me. The messages of Achen were always filled with immense love, concern and affection. It had a cooling / soothing effect on me which with the passage of time turned to admiration of the man, his genius and his mastery over History and his insight into events that were almost as old as Christianity itself. After I reached the seminary I was delighted to learn that Samuel Achen was the Dean of the seminary faculty. I was overwhelmed for the greatest teacher of my teens Fr. Dr. V. C. Samuel Achen the master of Christology and Church History was my teacher.