REALIZING GOD IS NOBLER THAN THE

SERVICE OF GOD
Understanding the Ivanian Vision of the Dynamics Between Theosis
and Diakonia in the Light of Luke 10:38-42 and its Application in the
Context of Mission in India


U
GEORGE SEJIN JOHN OIC
ROLL NO. 11623
IV B.TH.


hwx {x Z|wtvx y
Rev. Dr. Thomas Kattathara SJ


Vx{x|x Wxyxvx ctx fu|xw g{x Ytv y g{xz
\ ct|t Yy|x y {x ex|xx y {x Wxzxx y
Utv{x y g{xz

September2014
BethanyVedavijnanaPeeth
(ExtensionCentreofJnanaDeepaVidyapeeth)
Pune411014

My Child, day and night remember him who preaches
Gods word to you and honour him as the Lord, for
where His lordship is spoken of, there is the Lord. Seek
daily contact with the saints to be refreshed by their
discouses...
(Didache, 4: 1,2)
ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge with gratitude all those who
had lent me a helping hand in one way or another towards the fulfillment of this task.
First of all I join my hands with utmost humility and profound gratitude before the
Almighty for inspiring and guiding me all through the work.
My deep debt of gratitude is to Rev. Dr Thomas Kattathara SJ , my guide who, to
use his own words, adopted me as his spiritual son and ensured that I receive the best
nourishment in the guise of scholarly guidance, suggestions, constant encouragement,
fraternal concern and prompt corrections. My deep and sincere thanks to Rev. Dr. Philip
Vysanethu OIC, the Director of BVP, for his encouragement and support without which
this work would not have materialized.
I also owe my gratitude to Rev. Dr. S. Selva Rathinam SJ , the President of J DV,
Rev. Dr George Pattery SJ , the former Acting President of J DV, Rev. Dr Thomas
Kuriacose SJ , the Dean of Theology and all the professors of the Faculty of Theology
both of J DV and BVP for all their endeavours that have helped me in my theological,
priestly and human formation.
My heartfelt thanks to Rev. Dr. Isaac Parackal OIC, my Superior and Rector and
to all the Rev. Fathers and brothers in Bethany Ashram, Pune who not only supported
and encouraged me but also provided me with all the facilities needed to carry out this
work.
My deepest appreciation to Dn. George Thomas OIC and Dn. Siju Mathew OIC,
and all my batchmates for their valuable feedback and corrections. Heartfelt gratitude to
Bros. Mathew Praful OIC and Melwin Mathew OIC and Ms. Meenal Patole for
meticulously going over the work and proofreading it to quite a perfection. I extend my
heartfelt thanks to the staff of J DV and BVP library for making available all resources
for my paper.
Once again a big thanks to all those who played a part in the completion of this
work.
George Sejin J ohn OIC
September 2014.
iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgement ............................................................................................... iii
Table of Contents ................................................................................................ iv
General Introduction ........................................................................................... 1
0.1 Mar Ivanios Contribution to the Field of Theology ................................ 1
0.2 Context of the Study ................................................................................. 2
0.3 Task of This Paper .................................................................................... 2
0.4 The Thesis ................................................................................................. 3
0.5 Development of the Thesis ....................................................................... 3
0.6 Scope of the study ..................................................................................... 3
0.7 Methodology ............................................................................................. 4
0.8 Procedure .................................................................................................. 4
Chapter I
The Spirituality and Vision of Mar Ivanios ....................................................... 6
1.0 Introduction .............................................................................................. 6
1.1 Life and Character Sketch ........................................................................ 6
1.1.1 Early Days .......................................................................................... 6
1.1.2 A Heart That Loved the Church ........................................................ 7
1.1.3 Days at Serampore: A Period of Transition ....................................... 9
1.1.4 Bethany Ashram: Prayer, Meditation and God-Realization .............. 9
1.1.5 Towards Communion with Rome .................................................... 10
1.1.6 The Malankara Catholic Church ...................................................... 11
1.1.7 Last Days ......................................................................................... 11
1.2 Background and Influences .................................................................... 12
1.2.1 St. Thomas Tradition ....................................................................... 12
1.2.2 A History of Schisms and Divisions ................................................ 13
1.2.2.1 The Universal Church through the Ages ...................................... 13
1.2.2.1.1 First Centuries ......................................................................... 13
1.2.2.1.2 Ecumenical Councils and Related Splits in the Church .......... 14
1.2.2.1.3 Reformation and the Modern Scenario ................................... 15
iv

1.2.2.2 The Indian Church of the St. Thomas Christians: A Story of

Divisions .................................................................................................... 15
1.2.3 Indian Culture, Tradition and Spirituality ....................................... 16
1.2.4 Oriental Theology and Liturgy ........................................................ 17
1.2.5 Eastern Christian Spirituality and Monasticism .............................. 18
1.2.5.1 Characteristics of Eastern Christian Spirituality .......................... 18
1.2.5.2 Prayer and Contemplation: The Ultimate Source of Spiritual Life ..
...................................................................................................... 18
1.2.5.3 Monasticism ................................................................................. 19
1.3 The J ourney unto the Maxim: Realization of God Is Nobler Than the
Service of God .................................................................................................. 19
1.3.1 The Problem: A Church in Turmoil ................................................. 20
1.3.2 Insights of a Mind Seeking Solutions .............................................. 21
1.3.2.1 The First Thought ......................................................................... 21
1.3.2.2 The Second Thought .................................................................... 21
1.3.2.3 The Third Thought ....................................................................... 23
1.4 Relevance of Mar Ivanios ....................................................................... 24
1.4.1 Mar Ivanios as a Prophet ................................................................. 24
1.4.1.1 The Hebrew Prophet: Seer, Ecstatic, Enthusiast and Called. ....... 25
1.4.1.2 Mar Ivanios as Seer, Ecstatic, Enthusiast and Called .................. 26
1.4.2 Mar Ivanios as Father of the Church ............................................... 27
1.4.2.1 Definition of the term Church Father ........................................ 27
1.4.2.2 Application of the Criteria to Mar Ivanios ................................... 28
1.4.3 Mar Ivanios as Saint ........................................................................ 28
1.5 Conclusion .............................................................................................. 28
Chapter II
Ways And Means to Realize God ..................................................................... 29
2.1. Introduction ............................................................................................ 29
2.2. Universal Human Thirst for the Divine .................................................. 29
2.3. The God to be Realized is a God who Reveals ...................................... 30
2.4. Realization of God in the Trinity of Divine Persons .............................. 31
2.4.1. God as Father and Creator ............................................................... 32
v

2.4.2. God as Incarnated Son ..................................................................... 33

2.4.3. God as Indwelling Holy Spirit ......................................................... 33
2.5. Human Being as the Recipient and Respondent of Revelation .............. 34
2.5.1. Human Being as the Recipient of Revelation .................................. 34
2.5.2. Human Response in Obedience of Faith ......................................... 35
2.6. The Word of God as Agent of Deification ............................................. 36
2.7. Realizing God in the Community of Believers, the Church ................... 37
2.8. The Divine Liturgy as Means for Communicating God Experience ..... 38
2.9. Sacraments as a means of God-Realization ............................................ 40
2.9.1. Baptism ............................................................................................ 41
2.9.2. Chrismation ...................................................................................... 41
2.9.3. Eucharist .......................................................................................... 42
2.9.4. Sacrament of Reconciliation ............................................................ 42
2.9.5. Anointing of the Sick ....................................................................... 43
2.9.6. Holy Orders ...................................................................................... 43
2.9.7. Matrimony ....................................................................................... 44
2.10. Consecrated Life, way par excellence towards God-Realization ....... 44
2.11. Mary as Model of Deified Humanity .................................................. 46
2.12. Conclusion ........................................................................................... 48
Chapter III
Realizing God V/S Serving God: Understanding the Dynamism in the Light
of Luke 10:38-42 ................................................................................................. 49
3.1. Introduction ............................................................................................ 49
3.2. An Exegetical Study of the Mary-Martha Story ..................................... 49
3.2.1 The Passage: Luke 10:32-48 ............................................................ 49
3.2.2 Some Significant Points for Consideration ...................................... 49
3.2.2.1 Location of Passage in the Gospel ............................................... 49
3.2.2.2 To Whom is it Addressed? ........................................................... 50
3.2.3 Exegesis Proper ................................................................................ 50
3.2.3.1 On Their Way ............................................................................... 50
3.2.3.2 A Certain Village .......................................................................... 51
3.2.3.3 The Woman Named Martha and Her Sister Named Mary ........... 51
vi

3.2.3.4 Sat at the Lords Feet .................................................................... 52

3.2.3.5 Distracted By Her Many Tasks .................................................... 54
3.2.3.6 Need of Only One Thing .............................................................. 54
3.2.3.7 The Better Part that shall not be Taken Away ............................. 56
3.3. The Ivanian Precept in the Light of the Mary-Martha Story .................. 57
3.3.1 Towards a Right Interpretation of the Ivanian Maxim .................... 57
3.3.1.1 Realization of God is nobler than the Service of Humans (?) ...... 57
3.3.1.2 Contemplation is nobler than liturgical service (?) ...................... 58
3.3.1.3 Theosis as True Relationship with God Rather Than Diakonia ... 58
3.3.2 God-Realization, Union with God and Deification (Theosis) ......... 59
3.3.3 Deification as Ultimate Goal of Created Beings ............................. 61
3.3.3.1 Deification as the Ultimate End of Human Beings: An Ivanian
Vision ......................... ............................................................................. 61
3.2.6.1.1 Human Being Came from God ................................................ 62
3.2.6.1.2 Human Being Belongs to God ................................................ 62
3.2.6.1.3 Human being is Created for God ............................................. 63
3.3.3.2 Deification of Cosmos through Humans ...................................... 63
3.3.4 Deification as Transfiguration of Human Nature ............................ 64
3.3.4.1 Serving God: A Master-Servant Relationship .............................. 64
3.3.4.2 Realizing God: Father-Son Relationship and a Merging of
Identities ..................................................................................................... 64
3.4. Conclusion .............................................................................................. 65
Chapter IV
A Diakonia That Leads To Theosis: The Christian Mission In India ........... 67
4.0. Introduction: Mission as Diakonia ......................................................... 67
4.1. The Church as Missionary ...................................................................... 67
4.2. Motive for Mission: ................................................................................ 68
4.2.1. Christian Vision of Human Beings .................................................. 68
4.2.2. Christian Eschatology ...................................................................... 68
4.3. The Indian Context ................................................................................. 69
4.3.1. Plurality and a Richness of Diversity .............................................. 70
4.3.2. Socio-Economic and Political Dynamics ........................................ 71
vii

4.3.3. Hunger, Violence and Poverty ......................................................... 72

4.3.4. Religiosity, Religious Plurality and Fundamentalism ..................... 72
4.3.5. Moral Decline .................................................................................. 73
4.4. Some Theological Issues in Mission in India Today.............................. 74
4.4.1. New Understanding of Religions, Channels of Revelation and Ways
of Salvation? .................................................................................................. 74
4.4.2. J esus Christ as the Unique Savior .................................................... 74
4.4.3. Faith and Culture: Inculturation and Evangelization of Cultures .... 75
4.5. The Ivanian Vision of Mission ............................................................... 76
4.5.1. Ultimate End of Christian Mission .................................................. 76
4.5.2. Missionary as God-Realized Person ................................................ 77
4.5.3. A Kingdom-Centric and Humane Vision of Mission ...................... 77
4.5.4. Mission in Dialogue with Culture .................................................... 77
4.6. Mission as Deification: Lessons from Oriental Theology ...................... 78
4.7. Different Approaches to Mission ........................................................... 78
4.7.1. Approaches in the Past: Conquest Mode and Fulfillment Mode ..... 78
4.7.2. The Present Approach: Dialogue as Mission and Diakonia: A
Partnership Mode .......................................................................................... 79
4.7.3. A Kingdom-Centric Diakonia of Mission ....................................... 80
4.7.3.1. Humanization through Social Emancipation: Building the
Kingdom ................................................................................................... 81
4.7.3.2. Humanization through Deification: A Complementary Approach
................................................................................................... 82
4.7.3.2.1. The Reality of Spiritual Poverty .............................................. 83
4.7.3.2.2. Examples of a Hindu Saints .................................................... 83
4.7.3.2.3. An Alternative Understanding of the Kingdom of God .......... 84
4.7.3.2.4. Christ as relationally unique .................................................... 85
4.8. Conclusion .............................................................................................. 85
General Conclusion ............................................................................................ 86
5.1. A Synopsis of the Ideas .......................................................................... 86
5.1.1. The dynamics of Theosis and Diakonia as Reconciled in Mar
Ivanios .......................................................................................................... 86
viii

ix

5.1.2. The dynamics of Theosis and Diakonia as Reconciled in Biblical

Bethany .......................................................................................................... 87
5.1.3. The Church and the World: Arenas Where the Dynamics Unfold .. 87
5.1.4. The Dynamics Revisited and Concluded ......................................... 88
5.2. Oriental Theology: An Appraisal, Apology and Self-Critique .............. 88
5.2.1. Appraisal .......................................................................................... 88
5.2.2. Apology ........................................................................................... 90
5.2.2.1. Critique 1: It is Rigid and Resists Adaptation .......................... 90
5.2.2.2. Critique 2: It is too Spiritual, Other-worldly and Ignores the
Human Condition ....................................................................................... 90
5.2.3. Self-Critique: Lack of Contextualizing ........................................... 91
5.3. Contribution of this Study to Oriental and Indian Christian Theology .. 91
Appendix..............................................................................................................91
Bibliography ....................................................................................................... 93


GENERAL INTRODUCTION

The history of the world is but the biography of great men, says Thomas Carlyle.
1

Greatness could be understood primarily as remarkable achievement in a particular field
of human endeavour. Yet truly great is the one who has sacrificed oneself for the
betterment of humanity and has contributed extensively to its growth at the cost of his
own. The Servant of God Mar Ivanios, the prophet of ecclesial communion who lived
in the first half of the twentieth century and known in the annals of the Church for the
Reunion Movement of 1930 and the consequent formation of the Malankara Catholic
Church, is great in as much as he read the signs of the times, and responded to it with
prophetic wisdom and courage even as he suffered for witnessing to the truth. His
prophetic wisdom and courage is rooted in his spirituality that now shines as a beacon
unto all humanity. From this great beacon of light comes, as a ray of truth, the words of
wisdom as if from a sage, Realization of God is nobler than the Service of God, the
very words on which we shall focus our reflections in a while.
0.1 Mar Ivanios Contribution to the Field of Theology
Mar Ivanios was not a systematic theologian, but he was nonetheless a theologian, since
it was his theological visions that went into his teaching and praxis. He may be regarded
as a pastoral theologian and a practical theologian. This means that we cannot read Mar
Ivanios writings as we read Rahner or Meyendorff. However, we can certainly develop
a systematic theology based on not only his writings but also his teachings, ministerial
activities, pastoral letters and his very life. This is certainly the task of any theologian
studying the theology of Mar Ivanios. Such an endeavour to unearth his theological
visions from his teachings, praxis and life, would certainly bring in much freshness into
the theological milieu of the Universal Church in general and the Church in India
(Catholic, Orthodox and other traditional apostolic Churches included) in particular,
since Mar Ivanios theology is rooted in the needs of the times and in the deep mystical
Indian and Oriental traditions. Mar Ivanios contribution to Indian Christian Theology is
unique, but as mentioned before, owing to the fact that he was not a strictly systematic

1
Polished version of the actual phrase For as I take it Universal History, the history of what man has
accomplished in this world, is at the bottom the History of the Great Men who have worked here.
Thomas Carlyle, On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and The Heroic in History, London: J ames Fraser, 1841, 1.
1

theologian, his teachings lie largely unexplored. This study is only a humble endeavour
in such a direction.
0.2 Context of the Study
Even as this paper is being written, bombs are pounding Palestine and scores of
civilians are being killed even as the world stares on unresponsively. Islamic militants
have taken on Iraq and people of other faith are cruelly hunted, tortured and butchered.
At this very moment, lakhs of children are dying of malnourishment and treatable
diseases, forced into labour, sold into slavery etc. while women are brutally raped,
molested and heavily discriminated against. Hunger, violence, suicides, drugs etc
continue to paint an ugly picture of human existence in the world. It is in the midst of all
this that we reflect on God Realization as the true essence of Christian discipleship,
something which, according to Mar Ivanios, is to be preferred to serving God. As
Christian disciples we have often responded to the problems of the world through our
service, but often have lost perspective of our vision of truth and our service in the
world have often lost enthusiasm or have become profit-oriented, sometimes even
dehumanizing. It is in this context, that the teaching of Mar Ivanios would give us a
sense of direction and place Christian service in the right perspective.
On the ecclesiastical level, the Catholic Church has discovered that it is not a monolith,
but a communion of Churches,
2
and that true richness of the Church lies in her
diversity. Thus, the Malankara Catholic Church, which is rooted in the St. Thomas
tradition, has now begun to express her unique identity in the Catholic fold through her
distinct theology, spirituality, liturgy etc. and to proclaim that she has something unique
to give to the world. In this context a study of the teaching of Mar Ivanios, the founder
and visionary of the Malankara Catholic Church would be very relevant.
0.3 Task of This Paper
The task of this paper is to make sense of the Ivanian maxim, Realizing God is Nobler
Than Serving God, by understanding the dynamics between God Realization

2
The Communion Ecclessiology put forward by the Second Vatican Council is open to a variety of
interpretations. Sr. Evelyn Monteiro SCC summaries the Communion Eccessiology of the Council and
discusses about the door of possibilities of understanding opened by the Council when it talks of
communion of churches. Cf. Evelyn Monteiro SCC, Primacy and Conciliarity Revisited with Reference
to the Indian Church, In That They All May be One, ed. by Philip Vysanethu OIC and George Thomas
Kallunkal OIC, 130-145. Pune: BVP Publications, 2013, 135.
2

understood as deification or theosis

3
in Oriental Theology and Service of God
understood as Diakonia
4
in Christian tradition, in the light of the story of Mary and
Martha in Luke 10:38-42 and to apply our findings to critically evaluate and give
perspective to the mission (diakonia) of the Church in the context of Asia.
0.4 The Thesis
The thesis of this study is: the dynamics between theosis (Realizing God) and diakonia
(Service of God) is that theosis as the primary end of Christian discipleship gives sense
of direction, perspective and energy to diakonia and that rightly oriented diakonia is the
test of authentic theosis.
0.5 Development of the Thesis
We begin by tracing the legacy of Mar Ivanios and the context in which the maxim was
developed, followed by which we study the various aspects of his vision wherein the
maxim is actualized. This is followed by a study of the biblical foundation, viz. Lk
10:38-42, from which the maxim could have found its origin. Though he directly does
not mention any source of inspiration for this maxim, it is clear that he was very much
inspired by the Biblical Bethany and the interplay of the personalities of Martha, Mary
and Lazarus and the welcoming hospitality accorded to J esus. In the aforementioned
passage, Martha stands as the symbol of diakonia and Mary as that of theosis. J esus
verdict on the conflict between them plays an important role in our understanding of the
dynamics between theosis and diakonia. Finally we try to apply this understand in a
meaningful way to the context of our situation.
0.6 Scope of the study
This study does not make an attempt at a direct study of either the person or the
theological visions of Mar Ivanios nor does it analyze any of his writings. Rather it tries
to make sense of his maxim (or his discovery) that Realization of God is nobler than
the Service of God in the light of an exegetical study on Lk 10:38-42, and connecting it
to the insights derived from Oriental Theology after having analyzed his life and praxis

3
Greek word indicating the process of divinization, i.e. becoming God. In Eastern Orthodoxy deification
(THEOSIS) is both a transformative process as well as the goal of that process. The goal is the attainment
of likeness to or union with God. Cf. Theosis (Eastern Orthodox theology), Wikipedia, the Free
Encyclopedia, J uly 23, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosis_(Eastern_Orthodox_theology)
(accessed August 20, 2014); also see APOTHEOSIS in Apotheosis. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.
August 13, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Apotheosis (accessed August 20, 2014).
4
Greek word meaning service.
3

to understand how he himself made sense of it. Finally, we try to understand the
implications of this maxim for doing mission in India.
Secondly, this attempt at making sense is done from the perspective of Oriental
Theology which is, simply put, an eastern way of looking at reality in the light of the
Revelation. Oriental Theology as we know is biblical and patristic in its foundations.
Hence, it is to these sources that we have often turned in this study. Much of the
theological insights exposed in this paper are derived from Oriental Theology even in
places not explicitly mentioned so.
0.7 Methodology
Our primary method would be to try to understand the relevance of the person of Mar
Ivanios and his contribution to the Church, since only if the person and his vision is
relevant, can his thoughts and words be relevant. This is done through a historical
analysis of a) his life, b) the history of the St. Thomas Christians and c) the history of
the Malankara Churches. In the second step we investigate into the possibility of living
out the maxim in the life of the church. In the third step we go back to the biblical
foundation of the maxim and through an exegetical study of the passage, try to interpret
the Lords words to understand the dynamics of the two elements of the maxim, namely,
theosis (God Realization) and diakonia (Service). In the final stage, we apply our
findings to place forward a perspective for missionary action in the context of India.
0.8 Procedure
According to the above method of study, the whole paper is divided into four chapters.
Chapter 1 entitled The Spirituality and Vision of Mar Ivanios tries to trace the life of
Mar Ivanios, his background of influences, his relevance for our times and the context
which led to the discovery of his maxim. The second chapter titled, Ways and Means
for Realizing God tries to understand how the first part of the maxim can be put into
practice. It examines the ways and means available to human beings through which they
can seek, encounter and realize God. In the third chapter, Realizing God v/s Serving
God: Understanding the Dynamism in the Light of Luke 10:38-42 we go into the
exegetical study of the aforementioned pericope and try to understand J esus response to
the conflict between the personalities and attitudes of the two women disciples, Mary
and Martha who stand as symbols of the two elements of the Ivanian Maxim, God
Realization and Service to God, respectively. In our attempt at interpreting the pericope,
4

we discover the relation and the dynamics between the two elements of Christian
discipleship. In the final chapter, A Diakonia that Leads to Theosis: The Christian
Mission in India we try to understand the Indian context and give a perspective to the
Christian missionary endeavours in the light of our study of the Ivanian maxim. The
four chapters are sandwiched by a General Introduction and a General Conclusion. The
paper concludes with a detailed bibliography followed by an Appendix titled, The
Inadequacy of the Translation which explains why, of the several translations of the
maxim, the one used here is preferred.
Since some of the sources used were in Malayalam, they had to be translated into
English to be cited here, a task undertaken personally. The English translation of Mar
Ivanios autobiography first published in 2005, is neither adequate to bring out the
theology of the original nor does it do justice to the English language.
5
Hence, a
personal translation of the latest edition of the Malayalam text is used in this study. Of
the biographies of Mar Ivanios I have depended mainly on the one by Margaret
Gibbons. There are two editions of this book, the original published by the Dublin based
publishers, Clonmore and Reynolds Ltd in 1962 and the latest by Bethany Publications
in 2002. Since a few inconsistencies were spotted between the two, the original was
taken for reference by the author who thought it to be right from the historical point of
view.
I do hope and pray that this humble endeavour does justice to the thought and vision of
the great personality of Mar Ivanios, the architect of the epoch-making Reunion
Movement, the one who practically asserted that the Catholic Church is the communion
of Churches by establishing the Malankara Catholic Church, whose missionary
endeavours rooted in God Realization brought about a spiritual wave in the Kerala
church and society leading to the transformation of many lives.

5
See the Apendix on the difficulty of translating Mar Ivanios writings.
5

CHAPTER I
THE SPIRITUALITY AND VISION OF
MAR IVANIOS

1.0 Introduction
One of the greatest luminaries of Christendom who lived in the past century, Servant of
God Archbishop Mar Ivanios is better known as the Apostle of Church Union. It was
he, who single-handedly with conviction and great determination brought forth a great
exodus of the people of God from the J acobite Church into the Catholic Church, he
being the first among them. Proselytism, one might accuse him of, having gone through
the above line, but one must bear in mind the great turmoil and tribulations the J acobite
Church in India had to undergo in the past century to the very extent that it was on the
verge of extinction. Determined to restore the spirituality of the apostolic Church, Mar
Ivanios went into an intense search for truth. It led him from insight to insight until he
stumbled upon the truth that spirituality and holiness can be restored to the J acobite
Church in India only through restoring communion with the true Church of Christ with
Peter as the Rock, i.e. the Catholic Church. In this chapter we journey with this
luminous personality through his ups and downs, tracking his spiritual growth, his
theological visions and fervent action all teeming with the conviction that Realizing
God is Nobler than Serving God.
6

1.1 Life and Character Sketch
1.1.1 Early Days
Mar Ivanios was born on September 21, 1882 in the famous Mallitta-Paniker family of
Kerala, a family known for generations of Christian warriors. Mar Ivanios father,
Thomas Paniker, ran his own military academy
7
while his mother Anna Paniker, a
traditional homemaker, was as an omnivorous reader and an authority in traditional
chant.
8
Born in such a family, it was hardly surprising that the then Metropolitan of

6
Archbishop Mar Ivanios, Girideepam: Archbishop Mar Ivaniosinte Athmakatha (Lamp on the Hill: An
Autobiography of Archbishop Mar Ivanios, Malayalam), Fifth Edition, Kottayam: Bethany Publications,
2007.
7
Such academies were known as kalari.
8
Cf. Margaret Gibbons, Mar Ivanios (1882-1953): Archbishop of Trivandrum: The Story of a Great
Conversion, Dublin: Clonmore & Reynolds Ltd., 1961, 3.
6

Malankara, Pulikkottil
9
Mar Dionysius, during the course of an official visit to the
parish church, chanced upon the young lad and noticing a potential leader in the daring
and courageous fellow, insisted upon his admission into the Seminary (for priestly
studies). Thus, he was plucked out of the CMS
10
School run by Anglican Missionaries
and was planted in the M. D. Seminary
11
High School at Kottayam since 1897.
12

Having completed his theological studies Mar Ivanios was ordained a Deacon on
J anuary 9, 1900. Thereafter he was sent to the CMS College, Kottayam where he
completed intermediate education followed by a baccalaureate in Economics and Indian
History from the Madras Christian College. In 1907, he became the first holder of a
Masters degree in the J acobite Church of India, having passed it with distinction from
the same college. His love for the Church compelled him to equip himself with the best
possible means. It was this same love and passion for the Church that inspired him to
take up the topic, Were Syrian Christians Nestorians?
13
as his thesis for the Post
Graduate degree. He established in his thesis that the Syrian Christians in Malankara
were not Nestorians. On his return from Madras, he was appointed the principal of his
Alma Mater, M. D. Seminary High School.
14

1.1.2 A Heart That Loved the Church
The condition of the Malankara Church was extremely pitiable. The Church we speak of
now into which Mar Ivanios was born is in fact an offshoot of the Puthenkoor
Community
15
of the St. Thomas Christians which split into two after the Coonan Cross
Oath in 1653. Struggle for power, wealth and sometimes-exclusive claim towards the
truth of doctrines led the Church from one schism to another. Pubic litigations and law-
suits ensued and the focus of religious leaders turned from spiritual warfare towards one

9
M. Gibbons spells it as Pullicote, but most other sources spell it as above.
10
Church Missionary Society of the Anglican Church.
11
Mar Dionysius Seminary at Kottayam.
12
Cf. Major Archiepiscopal Curia, Biography of The Servant of God Archbishop Mar Ivanios, in
Malankara Catholic Church, http://catholicate.net/cu_canonisation_biography%20of%20marivanios
.html, (accessed June 24, 2014).
13
This is in response to the accusations laid down by the Portuguese prelates at the Synod of Diamper
where the Syrian Christians were accused of Nestorianism, a charge they disputed. Regarding the
Orthodoxy of the St. Thomas Christians, see George Cathanar, The Orthodoxy of the St. Thomas
Christians, Vol. I: The Nazranies, in Indian Church History Classics, ed. by George Menachery,
Thrissur: The South Asia Research Assistance Services, 1998, 149-186.
14
Cf.

Major Archiepiscopal Curia, Biography of The Servant of God Archbishop Mar Ivanios,
Malankara Catholic Church, [Online Source], (accessed 24 J une 2014).
15
The St. Thomas Christians got divided into two after the Coonan Cross Oath of 1653 into the
Puthenkoor and Pazhayakoor communities. The former embraced the West Syrian Rite and became
Antiochean whereas the latter remained East Syrian or Chaldean. Cf. Section 1.2.2.2. The Thomas
Christians: A Story of Divisions in this paper.
7

of purely material and physical nature. Mar Ivanios felt that the clergy were
inadequately trained to fulfil the peoples thirst for spiritual knowledge and experience.
Amidst all these Mar Ivanios felt deep within himself a call to redeem and renew this
ancient apostolic Church which was now in ruins. Hence, with single-minded
concentration he trained all his energies towards the achievement of his goal. In the
words of Gibbons:
On fire with longing to raise the educational standards of the clergy, he begins
with himself. He applied himself to a variety of subjects and found time for extra-
curricular studies by cutting down on sleep. His device for keeping awake gives us
a glimpse of the severity he imposed upon himself. As the night light, an oil lamp
was hung up close to the ceiling, Gevarghese used to draw a high stool under it,
and standing on that rather precariously would study by the hour. Did sleep
surprise him the threatened loss of balance would jerk him instantly awake. His
powers of concentration were too remarkable...
16

It was during this time that he took initiative in various schemes for the renewal of the
Malankara Church. He organized basic church communities, Bible conventions and
instilled in the minds of the People of God fervour for sacramental life.

Because of this
he was popularly entitled Koodasa Shemmasan (Deacon of Sacraments).
17
On
September 15, 1908, Dn. Geevarghese was ordained priest by Vattasseril Mar
Dionysius.
18

A decade and half later, another great crisis rocked the Malankara Church. The
Malankara Syrian Church was split into two: the Patriarchal Faction (Bava Kakshy) who
supported Patriarch Abdullas claim over temporal and administrative matters and the
Episcopal Faction (Metran Kakshy) led by Vattasseril Mar Dionysius who opposed this
claim.
19
Convinced that the truth was with the Episcopal Faction, Mar Ivanios played
right hand to Mar Dionysius and finally managed to empower the Malankara Church
with hierarchical autonomy through the establishment of a Catholicate
20
(on September

16
M. Gibbons, Mar Ivanios (1882-1953), 1961, 12.
17
Cf. Curia, Biography of The Servant of God Archbishop Mar Ivanios, Online Source, (accessed on
24 J une 2014).
18
Malpan Vattasseril, Mar Ivanios mentor at M.D. Seminary, succeeded Pulikkottil Mar Dionysius as
the Metropolitan of Malankara Church.
19
See also Section 1.2.2.2 The Thomas Christians: A Story of Divisions in this paper.
20
A Catholicate is a system of ecclesiastical administration in all means similar to a Patriarchate, where
the Synod of Bishops is the highest authority and the Catholicose is the head of the Synod (just as a
Patriarch is the head of a Patriarchal Synod). Historically the ecclesiastical heads in the principal cities of
the Roman Empire Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria and Antioch came to be called Patriarchs (PATER
+ARCHON =PATRIARCH: Chief Father; Catholic =universal, therefore, CATHOLICOSE =Universal Head),
their counterpart in the Persian Empire (chief bishop of the Capital City of Seleucia-Ctesiphon) was
8

5, 1912) in Malankara through the medium of the unjustly dethroned Patriarch Abded
Mseeho.
1.1.3 Days at Serampore: A Period of Transition
Even as he was busily engaged in lawsuits, he got an invitation from Dr. Howels, the
principal of Serampore College, Calcutta to take up the post of professorship in the
prestigious institute. After much thought and anguished deliberation at remaining away
from his Mother, the Holy Church, Mar Ivanios resigned from the M.D. Seminary High
School and joined Serampore College. It was here that his life and mission received a
sense of direction. Miles away from his home church, Mar Ivanios continued to work
for its upliftment in numerous ways.
1. He selected young men and women from Malankara and took them to Serampore
where he enrolled them for graduation in various subjects, paying their fees from his
own salary. He did this to improve the educational standards of his community.
2. He started learning more about religious life and inspired several young men and
women towards this life. His research ranged from the rules of St. Basil, St.
Anthony of the Desert and St. Francis of Assisi to the Indian version of this
consecrated life as lived out in Tagores Santiniketan and Gandhis Sabarmati
Ashram.
21
The men under his leadership started living out as religious on an
experimental basis whereas the women were sent to the Sisters of the Oxford
Mission to be trained by them.
1.1.4 Bethany Ashram: Prayer, Meditation and God-Realization
Mar Ivanios resigned from Serampore to set up his new monastic ashram at
Mundanmala in Perunad, a picturesque and forested area in Pathanamthitta, thick with
thorny bushes and herbs. With much labour, the monks aided by the locals, built a small
thatched hut made out of the branches of trees and bamboo. Thus, the first Bethany
Ashram came into being on August 15, 1919. The name Bethany was the result of his

called the Catholicose. Later the Catholicose came to be confused with a Maphrian (Maphrian means a
Great Metropolitan; Syriac word MAPHRIAN =one who bears fruit i.e. begets) who also headed a synod of
bishops but was subject to the J acobite Patriarch of Antioch (since it was of J acobite origin). (Courtesy:
G. Chediath, The Malankara Catholic Church, transl. by A. J . J oy Angemadathil, Kottayam: Bethany
Sisters' Publication, 2003, 82-88.) In the Eastern Catholic Church, the jurisdiction enjoyed by a
Catholicose or a Patriarch is exercised by the office of Major Archbishop. In all matters, the CCEO gives
equal powers to Patriarchs and Major Archbishops, but the latter comes below in ranking to the former.
21
Cf. M. Gibbons, Mar Ivanios (1882-1953), 1961, 21, 27.
9

prayerful meditation while still at Serampore.

22
It was the apt name for his monastic
foundation since he intended to blend harmoniously the contemplative prayer life
symbolized by Mary into the active service of Martha.
23
Mar Ivanios and his band of
monks, through prayer, contemplation, loving service towards the marginalized and a
life of extreme poverty and simplicity slowly brought about a steady transformation in
the spiritual life of the Malankara Church. Gradually people started coming in hundreds
and thousands to drink from this spiritual fount and quench the thirst of their souls. The
monks also engaged in social activities. Mar Ivanios envisioned the ashram as a shelter,
also for the poor and the marginalized. Thus, he started an orphanage adjacent to the
ashram. Later in 1925, he founded the Bethany Madhom (convent) for the women
religious. Mar Ivanios was elevated to the episcopate in 1925 as the Bishop of
Bethany
24
and later in 1929 raised as the Metropolitan of Bethany.
25

1.1.5 Towards Communion with Rome
Mar Ivanios intense desire to reunite the Malankara Church with the Catholic Church
was no secret. Love for the Catholic Church was deeply imprinted in his heart by his
mother right from his childhood days. The deplorable situation of the Malankara Church
only intensified his desire. Years of meditation and penance in the bosom of Bethany
led him to the conclusion that lasting peace in Malankara can be brought about only
through communion with the Catholic Church. Thus after several years of thought and
deliberation followed by severe persecution and mental agony from the part of his
J acobite brethren, Mar Ivanios and four of his hand-picked followers entered into
communion with the Catholic Church on 20
th
September 1930 aided by Bishop
Benziger of Quilon. Immediately after, Mar Ivanios received all the others who wished
to join the Catholic fold with him.

22
Cf. Mar Ivanios, Girideepam, 2007, 77.
23
The whole of chapter 3 has been devoted to the Biblical Bethany.
24
Cf. G. Chediath, The Malankara Catholic Church, 2003, 117; It is to be noted that he refused to
anathematize, as was required of J acobite Bishop-candidates, the conveners of the Council of Chalcedon,
especially Pope St. Leo, cf. M. Gibbons, Mar Ivanios (1882-1953), 1961,, 46; and Thomas Inchakkalody,
Archbishop Mar Ivanios: Jeevacharithram (I & II Volumes, Malayalam), Third Edition, Kottayam:
Bethany Publications, 2012, 281.
25
Cf. Mar Ivanios, Girideepam, 2007, 145; What Mar Ivanios did establish was more than a religious
congregation. What he established was a movement the Bethany Movement. Under it came the Bethany
Ashram, Bethany Madhom and the Bethany churches. Bethany Churches were a set of churches
(parishes) which came directly under the Bishop of Bethany and not under any of the warring factions:
Patriarchal or Episcopal. In his mind, Bethany was a separate ecclesiastical province and his elevation as
Metropolitan of Bethany was for that purpose, but the Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church refused to
give autonomy to Bethany in spite of the elevation of its head as Metropolitan.
10

1.1.6 The Malankara Catholic Church

Welcome! A big welcome! were the words of Pope Pius XII when he was told of the
developments.
26
Henceforth all the energies of Mar Ivanios and his band of followers
were focused on the growth of the Reunion Movement. Meanwhile, the faithful, guided
by the Holy Spirit poured in thousands and ten thousands and the Malankara Catholic
Church grew by leaps and bounds. Cardinal Tisserant refers to solid organization of the
Archdiocese in a letter to which his biographer provides the supporting facts:
In that year (1950) as in every succeeding year since then, the Noviceships of both
the (Bethany) fathers and Sisters were taxed to full capacity, with a long waiting
list besides. And similarly with the Seminaries for the secular priesthood. From the
banks of the Pampa River southwards to Cape Comorin the land is dotted like to
the midnight firmament with mission stations, Bethany Asrams, Bethany
Madhoms, with convents, seminaries, high-schools, middle schools, small
presbyteries, some dainty little churches, innumerable shed chapels, scores of
primary schools and a few orphanages all founded and completed before the
death of Mar Ivanios, that is to say, between 1931 and 1953.
27

1.1.7 Last Days
By 1950, a life-time of severe hardships began to take its toll and he having fallen
seriously ill were taken to numerous doctors and finally brought to Bethany Ashram
Nalanchira where he was given the Canteela.
28
What followed was the final spiritual
preparation for death. From his deathbed, he wrote one last pastoral letter to his dear
children.
29
He exhorts them to lead a life of purity and to be a good example and a
guiding light to the non-Catholics. He exhorts that each family be an abode of virtue and
peace, like the Holy Family of Nazareth. He then quotes St. Pauls final words:

I have
fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there
is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will
give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his
appearing (2 Tim 4:7,8). The letter is completed with him begging forgiveness while
reciprocating the same and blessing them all. He shortly after breathed his last on J uly

26
Cf. T. Inchakkalody, Archbishop Mar Ivanios, 2012, 286; M. Gibbons, Mar Ivanios (1882-1953), 1961,
125.
27
M. Gibbons, Mar Ivanios (1882-1953), 1961, 122.
28
A ceremony of Anointing of the Sick administered to priests and bishops according to the Antiochean
Liturgy.
29
Manner in which the recipients (lay people) of the letter were addressed.
11

15, 1953, the eve of the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
30
Benedict Mar Gregorios,
whom he had consecrated with his own hands as his successor, took over the reins from
him. In 2007, he was declared as Servant of God. The process of his canonization is in
progress at this time.
1.2 Background and Influences
1.2.1 St. Thomas Tradition
Mar Ivanios belonged to the Christian community that traces its origin to St. Thomas
the Apostle who arrived at the Indian shores back in AD 52.
31
Those who received the
Gospel from the mouth of the apostle were called Marthoma Nazranikal or St.
Thomas Christians.
In their culture and social customs, the St. Thomas Christians were similar to their
Hindu brethren. In fact, they enjoyed the social status of the Namboodiri Brahmins and
adapted the Christianized form of several of their customs.
32
They had also been
granted several privileges by the local kings. They used the local adaptation of the East
Syrian Rite and had regular contact with the Persian Church, from which they received
their primates. Even then, they had their own ecclesiastical identity. History teaches us
that there was an office of the Archdeacon as their administrative head. The Portuguese
accused them of Nestorianism, a charge vehemently opposed by them till today. Some
scholars point out that there was a possibility of error, but never of heresy.
As a community, they were quite resourceful, intelligent and hardworking.
33
Commerce
and military occupations were their primary occupations.
34
Their relation with

30
The funeral was a grant affair with condolences pouring over from all around the world. According to
the New Leader, Ministers of State, officers and prominent citizens of all castes and creed called at the
Archbishops palace to pay their last respects.
31
For a detailed study on the debate between scholars on the historicity of St. Thomas ministry in India,
cf. C.M. Agur, Church History of Travancore, New Delhi: Asian Educational Services, 1990 (first
published Madras, 1903), 4-18. According to M. Gibbons, any dispute over the matter has been laid down
by the authority of His Eminence Cardinal Tisserant under Historical Appreciations of the origin of the
Syrian Church, cf., Cardinal Eugne Tisserant, Eastern Christianity in India: A History of the Syro-
Malabar Church from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, Authorised adaptation from the French by
E. R. Hambye, S.J . in The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Volume 9, Issue 02, October 1958,
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp 233-234 cited from M. Gibbons, Mar Ivanios (1882-1953),
1961, xi.
32
Cf. Placid Podipara, Hindu in Culture, Christian in Religion, Oriental in Worship, Vol. II, in The St.
Thomas Christians Encyclopaedia of India, ed. by George Menachery, 107-111, Thrissur: The St.
Thomas Christians Encyclopaedia of India, 1973,107-111.
33
Cf. Sadhu Ittyavirah, Community Traits of St. Thomas Christians, Vol. II, in The St. Thomas
Christians Encyclopaedia of India, ed. by George Menachery, 133, Thrissur: The St. Thomas Christians
Encyclopaedia of India, 1973.133.
12

neighbours of other caste and creed had been amicable and harmonious and even before
ecumenism and dialogue began to be conceptualized in the West, it had been practiced
in India.
35

Mar Ivanios, as a member of this apostolic community, had imbibed all its traditions
and qualities. He wanted to uplift this community spiritually from all the muck it had
fallen into.
36
He had great love for his community, was critical of its drawbacks, and
sought to correct them through strenuous efforts. The Reunion Movement of 1930 is an
ample evidence of this.
1.2.2 A History of Schisms and Divisions
Church history is not a collection of ancient documents; it is an interpretation of the
mystery of the Church in accordance with time and space.
37
The mystery of the Church
is that it has two dimensions: human and divine. The history of the Church is in fact a
dynamism, an interplay between these two elements. Receiving the mandate from Christ
to preach the gospel to the world, (Cf. Mt 28:19) and being filled with the Holy Spirit,
the members of the Church went around preaching and teaching and effecting salvation
of souls. Yet time and again, when charism dies out and institutionalism crops up, the
human element in the Church, despite her divine origin, crops up causing severe
damages in the guise of schisms, heresies, divisions etc.
1.2.2.1 The Universal Church through the Ages
1.2.2.1.1 First Centuries
Post the Christ-event, the Apostles and the first disciples went to different parts
preaching the Gospel. After the apostles, the leadership of the Church passed into the
hands of the apostolic fathers who succeeded the apostles to their respective sees.
During this period, numerous heresies raised their ugly heads against which the
apologists defended the faith. The two schools of theology, the Alexandrian School and
the Antiochean Schools were in the forefront of fighting heresies. Yet they themselves

34
Cf. Alexander Cherukarakunnel, Characteristics and Lifestyle of St. Thomas Christians, Vol. II, in
The St. Thomas Christians Encyclopaedia of India, ed. by George Menachery, 131-132, Thrissur: The St.
Thomas Christians Encyclopaedia of India, 1973, 132.
35
Cf. Sadhu Ittyavirah, Community Traits of St. Thomas Christians, 133.
36
We have already seen how the community was struggling from the divisions inflicted on it, not to
mention the power-struggles, ideological clashes etc. which affected the spiritual growth of the
community. Cf. sections 1.1.1 Early Days and 1.3.1 The Problem: A Church in Turmoil of this paper.
37
Cf. Sylvester Kanjiramukalil OIC, Indian Church History (Class Notes), Pune: Bethany Vedavijnana
Peeth, 2014.
13

often went into heresy when they toed the extreme line. These schools churned out
great and eminent theologians on the one hand and on the other hand great heretics who
caused many splits and divisions in the Christendom.
1.2.2.1.2 Ecumenical Councils and Related Splits in the Church
The development of heresies gave rise to the need for ecumenical councils. The first
ecumenical council convened in 325 CE at Nicaea condemned Arianism a heresy that
taught that the Son was created by the Father as an agent of creation.
38
The second
council (Constantinople I, 381) condemned Arianism once again and along with it
Macedonios and Apollinarianism
39
whereas the third council (Ephesus, 431) opposed
the Nestorians
40
The fourth council at Chalcedon of 451 condemned Monophysitism
41

perpetrated by Eutyches which consequently saw the first major split in the Church with
a majority of the Syrians leaving communion.
42
In the fifth (Constantinople II, 553), the
writings of Origen, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyrus and Ibas of Edessa
who were all long dead and gone were condemned. By this time, another major heresy
43

led to the second major split in Christendom with the creation of new and independent
churches as Armenian and Abyssinian
44
after being was condemned by the sixth council
at Constantinople (Constantinople III, 680). The seventh council (Nicaea II) condemned
Iconoclasm which caused great turmoil and disturbed the peace of the Church in the
ninth eighth and ninth centuries and paved way for the great schism between Rome and
Constantinople. The later councils of the Church were held in the West after the split
between the East and the West in which the Eastern countries did not participate. The
East-West divide was worsened by the addition of the filioque clause to the symbol of
Constantinople (381) by the West.

38
Cf. K.M.George, Development of Christianity Throughout the Centuries: Tradition and Discovery,
Thiruvalla: Christava Sahitya Samithy, 2005, 76.
39
They taught that J esus spirit was divine whereas body and soul were human.
40
Nestorians taught that there were two persons in J esus, human and divine and that Mary was the mother
of the human J esus and therefore should be called Christotokos rather than Theotokos.
41
Eutyches taught that the human nature of Christ had been completely absorbed by his divine nature and
thus there was only one nature in Christ.
42
They were later organized by J acob Burdaya and were called the J acobites. The Puthenkoor community
of the Malabar church would later embrace this section of the Church and it was into this J acobite Church
of Kerala that Mar Ivanios was born.
43
Monothelitism, which taught that in Christ there was only one operation (ENERGIA), proceeding from a
unique will.
44
Cf. K. M. George, Development of Christianity throughout the Centuries, 2005, 84.
14

1.2.2.1.3 Reformation and the Modern Scenario

The fifteenth century onwards, we see more turmoil with the Reformation movement,
which led to the rise of Protestant doctrines and the rise of numerous Protestant
Churches. Later charismatic movements developed and today we have thousands and
thousands of churches, denominations, sects etc. that claim allegiance to Christ who
prayed, Father, may they all be one. (J n 20:8)
1.2.2.2 The Indian Church of the St. Thomas Christians: A Story of Divisions
We have already seen the distinct identity of the St. Thomas Christians. But this was
short-lived since they were forcefully Latinized by the Portuguese in the Synod of
Diamper held in 1599. Consequently, in 1653, they vowed disobedience to the
archbishop of Goa and the first split in the Indian Church came to be. The community
that thus split away from the Latin Church again got split into the Puthenkoor and
Pazhayakoor when some came back to the Latin Church, this time through the
Carmelite missionaries. The Puthenkoor community, until then orthodox in faith,
adopted the J acobite (Monophysite) Patriarch as their spiritual head for the want of
bishops. They further committed the grave error of allowing Protestant missionaries a
free hand in the church and this led to a group of Reformists moving away from the
church later forming the Mar Thoma Church. In 1912, dispute with the Patriarch of
Antioch over exercise of the temporal powers of the Church again split the community
into the Episcopal Faction and the Patriarchal Faction. The Episcopal Faction led by
Vattasseril Mar Dionysius and backed by Mar Ivanios
45
later became an autocephalous
church called The Orthodox Syrian Church through the establishment of the Catholicate
in 1912 by rival Patriarch Abded Mseeho who was unjustly dethroned by the Islamist
government of Turkey.
46
This church is now rechristened as the Indian Orthodox
Church. The Patriarchal party is now an autonomous church known as The Syrian
Orthodox Church but jurisdictionally under the J acobite Patriarch of Antioch. A good
number of people from the Orthodox Syrian Church joined Mar Ivanios in 1930, when
he re-united with the Catholic Church to form the Malankara Catholic Church, a new
Church sui iuris in the Catholic communion.

45
Fr. P.T. Geevarghese, as he was then known.
46
This incident was part of Mar Ivanios life as a young priest, as we have already seen in Section 1.1.1
Early Days (pg. 9) of this paper.
15

Mar Ivanios was deeply aware of all these divisions, which were constantly afflicting
the body of Christ. All his life was therefore aimed towards the healing of disunity in
the Church.
1.2.3 Indian Culture, Tradition and Spirituality
Being born and brought up in India, Mar Ivanios, as any Indian would, encountered the
multi-religious atmosphere prevalent in this country. Having grown up among people of
different castes and creeds, he would not only have learnt religious tolerance since
childhood, but also might have noticed all that is good and true in other religions.
47

That is why he wanted to shun everything in Christianity that makes it look alien to this
land and culture. Even as a deacon he wrote to the Metropolitan (his bishop) requesting
for a special dress that would be suitable to Indian culture. He writes:
We request your Grace to assign to Deacon Mattackal
48
and me a religious habit
that is suited to our special mission of the preaching of the gospel to the gentiles
this habit should be the least expensive; and it should be such that by wearing this
habit, we should be able to preach the gospel in every part of India It should be
such that Hindus as well as Buddhists and Muslems should easily accept this
dress, without prejudice, as a dress suited to men who are engaged in the work of
God; ... This habit should be such that it should make non-Christians feel at home
with us, so that they may be easily prompted to come and listen to us.
49

Later in life, as he was about to found the religious order of men, he set out in search of
Indian symbols that would best echo the Christian life of perfection. His search led him
to visit many Hindu Ashrams such as Ramakrishna Mission, Gandhijis Sabarmati
Ashram and Tagores Shantiniketan. He was convinced that Christian religious life is
identical to Indian Sanyasa. Hence, he took upon saffron robes to adorn himself and his
band of monks at Bethany Ashram. Apart from saffron robes he also adopted and
adapted the ring of beads worn by the monks into a wooden cross attached to a saffron
thread. Growing beard was encouraged. Externally, Mar Ivanios monks looked like the
sadhus of India and were often addressed as swamis. Looks apart, their very lifestyle
was adapted to Indian culture and tradition. Simplicity of life, modesty, vegetarianism,
avoiding alcohol and other addictive substances, hard labour etc. were some of the traits

47
Cf. Vatican II, Nostra Aetate (hereafter NA), Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-
Christian Religions, October 28 1965, in Vatican Council II (Vol. I): The Conciliar and Post Conciliar
Documents, ed. by A. Flannery, Mumbai: St. Pauls, 2010, no. 2.
48
Companion and coworker of Mar Ivanios in founding Bethany Ashram.
49
Cf. Mar Ivanios letter from Serampore, on Nov. 25, 1917; cited from Louis Moolaveetil, The Spiritual
Life of Mar Ivanios, Kottayam: Bethany Publications, 1987, 142.
16

of Bethanian monks. Even in their prayer life, their postures, gestures, attitude etc.
resembled that of Indian monks.
One may critique the fact that Mar Ivanios missed out on the reality of pluralism in
India. As a response we may remember that he has done his bit to remove the
foreigner tag of Christianity in India and has succeeded in doing so. Through Bethany
Ashram, Mar Ivanios has tried to deforeignize Christianity. Now it is our turn to take
it further.
1.2.4 Oriental Theology and Liturgy
The Malankara Church into which Mar Ivanios was born followed the West Syrian
Antiochean Liturgy with significant adaptations. As in the case of every liturgical
tradition in the East, the Antiochean Liturgy too is noted for its exquisite symbols and
rituals, soul elevating music, theologically and poetically rich hymns, beautiful and
artistic architecture and vestments and a dramatic presentation of Salvation History. In
the oriental churches liturgy, theology and spirituality are closely interwoven and one
cannot be separated from the other. This is made manifest through the ancient dictum
lex orandi, lex credendi to which modern theologians add lex vivendi. It means that
the law of prayer is the law of belief and both these make up the law of life. In other
words, liturgy is locus theologicus. Eastern approach to theology and liturgy has always
steered clear of rational, academic, abstract and philosophical tendencies as in the West.
Rather the approach had always been more Biblical, Patristic and Liturgical. For the
Easterners, God can be sought not by rational discourses but through contemplation, and
intuitive knowledge. Hence Eastern theology is more mystical, contemplative,
meditative, poetic and experiential. In brief, theology is, for the East, an art and a
wisdom.
50
As Vatican II rightly notes:
With regard to the authentic theological traditions of the Orientals, we must
recognize that they are admirably rooted in Holy Scripture, fostered and given
expression in liturgical life, and nourished by the living tradition of the Apostles
and by the writings of the Fathers and spiritual authors of the East.
51

50
Kuncheria Pathil, and Dominic Veliath, An Introduction to Theology, Bangalore: Theological
Publications in India, 2007, 13.
51
Vatican II, Unitatis Redintegratio (hereafter UR), Decree on Ecumenism, October 28 1965, in Vatican
Council II (Vol. I): The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, ed. by A. Flannery, Mumbai: St. Pauls,
2010, no. 17
17

It was from this fount of wisdom that Mar Ivanios drew immensely in his search for
truth. For any Easterner, particularly so the Orthodox, the liturgy comes next to food,
drink and clothing. Mar Ivanios attached so much importance to liturgical celebrations
that the faithful would often throng to celebrate with him.
52
Moreover, he also strived to
instruct the faithful on the importance of liturgical worship with a view to bring about
the much need spiritual revival in the Church. A quick look at his writings including
many of the pastoral letters he has written as bishop, would betray the fact that he has
drawn immensely from the liturgy, especially the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine
Office).
53

1.2.5 Eastern Christian Spirituality and Monasticism
As already mentioned above, Spiritual Life for the Orientals is closely linked with
liturgy and theology and that all these have a Biblical and Patristic foundation. To be
more precise, the Sacred Scriptures, Sacred Tradition and Cultural traditions are three
basic sources from which Spirituality is derived.
1.2.5.1 Characteristics of Eastern Christian Spirituality
Spiritual Life is understood as a life in God. The basis of spiritual life is the
understanding of humans that they are created in the image and likeness of God. This
understanding is derived from the Sacred Scriptures (Gen 1: 26-27) as well as Greek
philosophy
54
. Spirituality is progressive, in the sense that there is a necessity of growth
in spiritual life. Spirituality is externally manifested by negative praxis (which removes
obstacles) like renunciation, purification from sin, repentance, compunction, flight from
the world, temperance of self-control (chastity, bodily mortification, fasting etc. are part
of this), purification of the passions; as also by positive praxis (cultivating virtues) such
as obeying the will of God, accumulating virtues, charity etc.
55

1.2.5.2 Prayer and Contemplation: The Ultimate Source of Spiritual Life
Prayer is the breath of the Spirit. It is the barometer of spiritual life.
56
Christian
spirituality is generally seen as a journey to the Father, through the Son lead by the

52
Cf. Mar Ivanios, Girideepam, 2007, 127.
53
Cf. L. Moolaveetil, The Spiritual Life of Mar Ivanios, 1987, 131.
54
For details on the Greek philosophical understanding of man as the image of God, see L. Moolaveetil,
The Spiritual Life of Mar Ivanios, 1987, 60.
55
George T. Kallunkal, Eastern Christian Spirituality (Class Notes), Pune: Bethany Vedavijnana Peeth,
2011, 32-50.
56
Ibid., 50.
18

Spirit. Such an approach presupposes dialogue since each of the Holy Trinity is a
person. This dialogue is prayer. In Eastern Spirituality, there are different degrees fo
prayer ranging from oral prayer, mental prayer, prayer of the heart, and higher
contemplation. Liturgical prayer is given much importance due to its ecclesial and
communitarian dimension. Contemplation (THEORIA) on the other hand is to see God
in all things
57
. There are two types of contemplations: Natural and Superior. Natural
contemplation arrives at the knowledge of God through creation, whereas Superior
contemplation (THEOLOGIA) is of the mystical realm, an indirect vision of God in the
soul. Superior Contemplation is the highest degree of prayer. Eastern writers understand
THEORIA as vision, apparition and above all the contemplation of the object of
consideration.
58

1.2.5.3 Monasticism
Monasticism is the highest expression of Christian Spirituality. It was considered as a
substitute for martyrdom and was often referred to as white martyrdom. Monasticism
took roots in Egypt under the form of anchoretic
59
life (ANAXOREIN, to retire,
withdraw) by St. Antony, progressing to semianchoretic form
60
and finally reaching the
coenobitic
61
form under Pachomius. All this progress took place between the second
half of the third century and first half of the fourth.
62
Flight from the world (FUGA
MUNDI), total renunciation, rigorous asceticism, fraternal love, unceasing prayer, spirit
of hard work, close affinity to the Church and its Traditions, etc. were characteristics of
this way of life. Mar Ivanios closely followed them and tried to incorporate them into
his own monastic congregation Bethany Ashram. It is to be noted that before the
Constitution of Bethany was formed, Mar Ivanios and his band of monks followed the
Rule of St. Basil the Great.
1.3 The Journey unto the Maxim: Realization of God Is Nobler Than the
Service of God
To understand the Ivanian Maxim that Realization of God is nobler than the service of
God, one needs to get into his mind and understand his network of ideas and his

57
THEORIA =THEA (Greek word meaning A View) +HORAN (Greek word meaning To See)
58
Cf. G. Kallunkal, Eastern Christian Spirituality, 2011, 56.
59
It was later known as hermitic (HERMOS =desert)
60
A group of anchorites living in a colony.
61
Monastic life proper.
62
Cf. Udhanashram ed., The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Udhanamala: Udhanashram Editions, 2002,
xiv, xv.
19

thought-process. Fortunately, he has allowed us a peek into his mind through his
autobiography where he narrates the step-by-step process through which the realization
got into him. However, before that we need to have a glimpse of the situation of the
J acobite Church of that time.
1.3.1 The Problem: A Church in Turmoil
Though we have several sources at our disposal, we would here consider the book of
Dr. Louis Moolaveetil OIC, The Spiritual Life of Mar Ivanios since he has carefully and
authoritatively synthesized all the available sources and come up with a brief
description. He describes how the J acobite Church of Malankara passed through many
crises after its separation from the mother Church.
63
After the separation, the
Puthenkoor community did not have an authentic leader for quite some time, due to
which its members went wandering in a spiritual desert, while the church itself became
a fertile ground for periodical quarrels and divisions. Due to conflict of opinions and
undue desire for independence, many independent communities came into existence.
64

He continues to quote several bishops and learned men prophesying the doom of the
church if the church were to continue in this manner.
65
The latest division came in 1910,
a situation in which Mar Ivanios was deeply involved in spite of his dislike, when the
Antiochean Patriarch claimed jurisdiction over the temporalities of the church. One half
of the faithful under the leadership of the Metropolitan protested and they were
excommunicated. Lawsuits, litigations and fistfights ensued and in the end the
spirituality of the Church went for a toss. Mar Ivanios writes painfully,
When we observed the overall state of affairs of the Malankara Syrian Church
after 1050, what passed over us was a severe and unbearable mental anguish. We
saw that it has become a playground of feuds, litigations, rivalries, and clashes
entering upon it one after the other like the waves of the ocean. We realised that
even the true Canons of the Church were being overlooked. As we pondered on
these events we began to doubt if it would be easy to fulfill Gods primary
objective in establishing Christianity in Kerala since ancient times or to adhere to
the core ideals of the Malankara Community or even to lead it from prosperity to
prosperity. We grasped, further, that the present condition of the Malankara
Church has sunk to such a nadir that if a couple of selfish people so willed, they
could easily manipulate it to any amount of distortion they sought with ease. We

63
Cf. section 1.2.2.2 of this paper.
64
L. Moolaveetil, The Spiritual Life of Mar Ivanios, 1987, 15. Some of them are the Thozhiyur Church,
CSI (Syrian Anglicans), Marthoma Church, and the latest Syrian Orthodox (J acobite Chruch of the
Patriarchal faction) and Orthodox Syrian Church
64
(Episcopal faction).
65
For details see L. Moolaveetil, The Spiritual Life of Mar Ivanios, 1987, 15.
20

felt that just as a sea is not without waves even for a moment, so also a Malankara
Church without feuds and lawsuits and prevailed over by serene tranquillity even
for a moment seemed impossible. If the members of the Community quarrel
against each other, it is the Church that suffers evil and the rotten state of the
Church affects the Community adversely. Would not those be obstacles to achieve
true devotion of God and holiness proper to Christian life?
66

Nearly a century later, that is, to this day the situation continues.
1.3.2 Insights of a Mind Seeking Solutions
1.3.2.1 The First Thought
As he started his ministry as a priest, he realized that many priests among the clergy
lacked the necessary knowledge and as a result, a loose life existed among them.
Therefore, his first aim was to form a group of clergy who would be educated in the
truths of the Church. He then began to dream of a Theological College for the education
of the clergy. Besides, as we had seen earlier, he used to take students, girls and boys
from Kerala to Serampore and educate them from his own purse.
67
His endeavour was
later seen to have yielded rich benefits for the church. Yet Mar Ivanios was not
satisfied. He began to question himself about the efficacy of his endeavour. He felt that
something more could be and should be done. This led him into the second thought.
1.3.2.2 The Second Thought
Then the second idea came to him that of the establishment of a missionary society
through which he could bring about the spiritual improvement of his community. He
writes,
The most important task of the Christian Church is the propagation of the Gospel.
Its motto should be to manifest J esus Christ the Saviour to each and everyone. It
ought to pay attention to the welfare of the society. Lack of schools is not a great
obstacle to evangelization. Whether we have the M.D. Seminary or any other
college for the clergy, the propagation of the Gospel is inevitable for the glory of
the name of God. Let us believe that the institutions needed by the community for
its social welfare and timely progress would unfold through other means. There

66
Mar Ivanios, Girideepam, 2007, 78. The year 1050 is the Malayalam year corresponding to AD 1872
which witnessed the Mulanthuruthy Synod by which the Reformed Syrians split from the Malankara
Church and formed the independent Mar Thoma Church. Through this synod, the Patriarch of Antioch,
strengthened his hold over Malankara and this led to further feuds and schisms.
67
Besides his salary which was an Englishmans salary (in the pre-Independence era when Indians were
not considered on par with the English), he used to get a good amount from evaluating papers and from
generous contributors, mostly foreign scholars who worked with him. Mar Ivanios puts the amount to be
somewhat around Rs. 10,000/- per month, in those times a handsome amount which the Metropolitan
quipped was equal to the monthly income of the Vattipanam Interest.
21

cannot be two opinions that such a missionary society could lead the Malankara
Syrian Church to greater glory in the future
68

He was deeply saddened by the fact that the Malankara Christian community founded
by the apostle St. Thomas had failed miserably in passing on the gospel of Christ
entrusted to it in spite of the edifying examples of many foreign missionaries who
sacrificed a lot for the spiritual advancement of our country a country very alien to
them. Hence the need of the hour was the establishment of a Missionary Society in
which the deacons and others he had been educating would become a part, if they were
willing. He was confident that if a Missionary Society is formed bringing together
those bestowed with divine knowledge, who desire no reward, while keeping away
those who change colours to fill their stomach, it would pave way to a future of graceful
prosperity for the Malankara Syrian Church.
69

Mar Ivanios testifies in his autobiography that while he was earnestly seeking the will of
God regarding the foundation of the Missionary Society, he subjected himself to
rigorous discipline. He says that he felt an unseen divine force guiding his mind through
the path of the thought about the Missionary Society. Slowly it dawned on him that
though the project is viable from a spiritual point of view, practically there is a
possibility that the Society may lose its vitality in the course of time. He envisaged that
the decline of the Missionary Society is guaranteed if selfishness and craving for
recognition seize the hearts of its members.
70
He understood that it would be difficult
to expect that the members of the society would always remain faithful to their call and
do service to God and that they might be led astray by worldly attractions. He foresees
other dangers as well, in a Society that would be effective only if all worked together
as organs of the same body, misunderstanding, unhealthy competition and egoism might
creep in and thwart its intended results. If the members of the Society were to marry,
their zeal for evangelization would eventually wane.
71
He concludes his flow of
thought with an emphatic statement, it is to be doubted whether the formation of a
Missionary Society with such free individuals would be fruitful.
72

68
Mar Ivanios, Girideepam, 2007, 58.

69
Ibid., 59.
70
Ibid., 61.
71
Ibid., 61.
72
Ibid., 61.
22

Here it may be mentioned in passing that almost a century later Pope Francis in his
Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium speaks of the Temptations of the Pastoral
Workers.
73
Some of the temptations that stand hindrance to evangelization as he
mentions are: inordinate emphasis on personal freedom (EG 78), deteriorated spiritual
life (78), inferiority complex (79), practical relativism (80), selfishness (81), spiritual
sloth (82, 83), sterile permission (84,85) etc. Here we see the visionary genius in Mar
Ivanios who were able to foresee things in advance and plan the course of action
accordingly.
1.3.2.3 The Third Thought
If not the Missionary Society, then what could be the next option? Our mind was still
churning, he writes in his autobiography about his mental state at that time. He
continues:
a few months passed by and we were still in the same frame of mind. We began
to feel as if our heart placed like clay before the sacred presence of God, began to
acquire steadily the form of ideals and the beauty of new ideas. We firmly
believed that He would not leave it unfashioned. Surrendering our heart, wholly
free until that time, before Him we moved back and waited patiently. We had to
triumph over several trials in this regard. Concerning the physical and the mental
strains one faces with the renunciation of the self, would it not be that only the
experienced would understand?
74

At this juncture, his mind was enlightened with the idea, Is not the realization of God
more sublime and noble than the service of God?
75
He continues that in this world,
human beings constantly pursue one goal after another.
Many strive to enjoy happiness, others for good health. Quite a few toil for
vainglory. Then there are those who try to hoard money. A good many work hard,
to earn their livelihood. There is none in this world who do not strive for some or
the other purpose. Even for those who lead a Christian life, though they cannot
entirely forfeit all worldly ties, if they earnestly desire to serve God, ought to give
themselves entirely to unto God-realization. There is nothing nobler than to realize
God in this world which is but an abode of termites.
76

73
Francis, Apostolic Exhortation on the Proclamation of the Gospel in Todays World Evangelii
Gaudium (24 Nov 2013), http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-
francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_ evangelii-gaudium.html, (accessed August 24, 2014)
74
Mar Ivanios, Girideepam, 2007, 70.
75
Ibid., 63.
76
Ibid., 63.
23

Abode of termites refers to the temporary and perishing nature of the world. Here we
remember the words of our Lord: Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where
thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also (Mt 6:19-20).
How does one find the means to achieve this realization of God? An entire second
chapter of this work is dedicated to answer this question. But here we may just as well
grasp the mind of the one whose insight it is. Mar Ivanios says, The extraordinary
experience of Divine Presence cannot be attained except through renunciation.
77
The
example of renunciation he gives is that of the supreme self-renunciation at Calvary. In
other words, he says that imitation of Christ is the only means to God-realization. And
the first step towards the imitation of Christ is total renunciation. In his own words,
One who desires to be extremely close to God should necessarily imitate J esus
Christ verily in all things. The clear and visible model of self-renunciation seen on
the Golgotha should reflect deep within him. He is to renounce not only his
family, his own country, but this world itself. Above all else, he has to renounce
himself. To die for the world and to renounce oneself both mean the same. mWe
have left everything and followed you.
78

1.4 Relevance of Mar Ivanios
1.4.1 Mar Ivanios as a Prophet
Etymological and historical analysis of the word would reveal that a prophet was one
who was called by God to speak for God. In other words, a prophet is a divine
spokesperson.
79
As a divine spokesperson he communicates divine revelation.
80
Mar
Ivanios is a prophet in as much as he discerned the voice of God calling for the union of
all who believe and worship Him. Time and again the faithful in the Malankara Church
call him the prophet of ecclesial communion and the New Moses. J ust as Moses led
the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan, Mar Ivanios led his people from
spiritual darkness caused by division and disunity into the Canaan of peace and spiritual

77
Mar Ivanios, Girideepam, 2007, 63.
78
Ibid., 63.
79
Cf. Selva Rathinam, An Introduction to the Hebrew Prophets (Class Notes), Pune: J nana Deepa
Vidyapeeth, 9.
80
Rui de Menezes, Voices from Beyond: Theology of the Prophetic Books, Mumbai: St. Pauls, 2003, 20.
24

prosperity. However, sentiments apart, let us examine the various ways in which Mar
Ivanios is entitled to be called a prophet.
1.4.1.1 The Hebrew Prophet: Seer, Ecstatic, Enthusiast and Called.
A careful analysis of the root meaning would reveal four kinds of closely connected
understandings associated with the word prophet. First of all a prophet is a Seer. The
Hebrew prophet as a seer was someone who could apprehend that which was not
normally accessible and who was able to speak it forth boldly. He is one who has got a
deeper insight into the present reality than his contemporaries. This is derived from
adequate information about the reality. This insight then paves way for a vision for the
future.
Secondly a prophet is Ecstatic
81
i.e. one who stands out of himself
82
. Its implication for
today is that a prophet should be one who is out of oneself in the sense that one should
forget oneself for the sake of ones mission. Once a prophet possesses a deep insight
into reality, he forgets himself, goes out of himself to the other in order to translate his
vision into action.
A third understanding of prophets is that they are Enthusiasts, i.e. in God.
83
Enthusiasts
are those who were possessed by God. In modern times, we may understand an
enthusiastic prophet as one who is possessed by the love of God who reaches out to his
fellow beings in compassion. A fourth understanding is that of one who is Called. He is
the one who is called especially to fulfil a purpose unconditionally.
84
They were
charismatic figures who received their charism at the time of their call. The
Deuteronomic history would contrast them with kings who failed in their offices and
called them the true leaders of the people.

81
An idea that corresponds to the Arabic meaning of nb of the Hebrew nabi which is to bubble.
Ecstatic prophets were they who got into frenzy to the accompaniment of drums and other musical
instruments, and once they were out of themselves would divine the future. (People in Kerala might be
familiar with the Velichappadu who foretells the mind of the deity.) Among them are two kinds:
absorption type and concentration type. Absorption types were ones who were absorbed by the frenzy
that once the divination was over, they would forget it and have nothing to do with what was prophesied.
But the concentration types were they who were convinced of what they said and really meant it. They
were affected by the result of their prophecies. The Hebrew prophets were of the latter type.
82
EK =out, STASIS =to stand.
83
EN =in, THEOS =God
84
Cf. S. Rathinam, The Israelite Prophet: Identification and Relevance, in Vidyajyoti Journal of
Theologial Reflection, 63 (October 1999), 749-756.
25

1.4.1.2 Mar Ivanios as Seer, Ecstatic, Enthusiast and Called

Mar Ivanios was a seer in as much as he could observe and smell the stink of filth that
lay accumulated at the very bottom of the Malankara Church, which we proudly claim
to be founded by St. Thomas the Apostle and to be teaching the apostolic and catholic
true faith.
85
He rues the lack of missionary ardour in the Malankara Church,
That the Malankara Syrian community, which prides itself on being founded by
the apostle, St. Thomas of Blessed Memory and claiming the antiquity of about
twenty centuries, has hitherto done nothing significant with regard to its duty i.e.
the very purpose of its establishment, should be considered as a henious offence. It
is to be admitted that the great lamp lit at the command of Christ the Lord in AD
52, stands as it is to this very day without shining its light upon the unillumined
surroundings. a fact to be realized as extremely shameful and culpable
86

Thus, he continues for the next few pages. He not only had an insight of the situation
but also envisioned ways and means to revive the ancient apostolic church. He was an
ecstatic to the extent that he was out of himself to achieve the goals he had set for the
sake of the spiritual revival of his church. He was out of himself when he transported
students in dozens from Kerala to Calcutta to study in the Serampore University
meeting the expense with his own salary. He was out of mind when he embraced
religious life after giving up the job of a Professor in the same prestigious university.
Again he was out of mind when he simply wrote off five hundred acres of virgin land in
order to reunite with the Catholic Church so that, at least one ravaged limb shall be
restored to the tree that Christ has planted.
87

As an enthusiastic prophet, Mar Ivanios was constantly led by God. In his letter to the
Patriarch of Antioch
88
after his reunion Mar Ivanios vouches that it was the Holy Spirit
who inspired him to take such a step. It may be remembered that in the Acts of the
Apostles, Gamaliel vouches for the fact, after citing several examples, that any
endeavour that is of human origin is bound to failure, whereas that which comes from
God will endure forever (Acts 5:34-39).
89
She then goes on to provide mind boggling

85
Mar Ivanios, Girideepam, 2007, 7.
86
Ibid., 57.
87
M. Gibbons, Mar Ivanios (1882-1953), 1961, 63.
88
His Beatitude Ignatius Elias III
89
There have been many reunion movements in the past, yet none has been as successful as the one
initiated in Malankara by Mar Ivanios. Thus writes Gibbons: Nevertheless 1931 brought him literally
thousands of followers. The Spirit breathed upon the right of heart, dispelled their ignorance and
triumphed over their prejudices. Thirty-six priest with from 50% to 80% of their congregations were re-
united during that year: M. Gibbons, Mar Ivanios (1882-1953), 1961, 69.
26

statistics. Again in an account of the Malankara Catholic Church few years after the
death of Mar Ivanios, about 28 years after the Reunion, she writes, it must not be
thought that the diocesan expansion slowed down after the death of Mar Ivanios. Not at
all. The total of the re-united to date (1958) is 120,000 souls the rate of re-union from
dissidence keeping steadily to a figure between 5,000 to 6,000 annually during the past
five years.
90

According to the Pontifical yearbook Annuario Pontificio for 2012, the Syro-Malankara
Church had approximately 436,870 members. There are now 8 dioceses among which
two are archdioceses and one among these a major archdiocese.
91
The Malankara
Catholic Church today is an autonomous church within the Catholic communion with
the third successor of Mar Ivanios being raised to the rank of Major Archbishop-
Catholicose in 2005 and the fourth erected as cardinal. If Gamaliels words are to be
taken as divine inspiration, we need no more evidence of Mar Ivanios being led by God.
1.4.2 Mar Ivanios as Father of the Church
1.4.2.1 Definition of the term Church Father
In Christian thought since the eighth century, a Church Father is a teacher who lived in
the first seven centuries whose teaching the Church has recognized as orthodox.
92
It is a
technical title applied to certain ecclesiastical writers of Christian antiquity. According
to the distinctive Catholic conception, Fathers of the Church are those ecclesiastical
writers of Christian antiquity who are distinguished for orthodoxy of doctrine and
holiness of life and have, therefore, been approved by the Church as witnesses to her
faith.
93
In other words, there should be four basic characteristics for a Church Father:
antiquity, orthodoxy, holiness of life and ecclesiastical approval.

90
M. Gibbons, Mar Ivanios (1882-1953), 1961, 137.
91
The Major Archdiocese of Trivandrum has under it the dioceses of Pathanamthitta, Marthandam and
Mavelikara and the Archdiocese of Thiruvalla has under it the dioceses of Bathery, Muvatupuzha and
Puttur. In addition there is the Exarchate of the United States and the Extra Territorial Regions of India
(ETRI). The Holy Synod of the Church consists of fifteen bishops (one Archbishop) headed by the Major
Archbishop-Catholicose.
92
Geoffrey W. Bromiley (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Christianity (Vol. 1), Michigan: William B.
Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999, 521.
93
New Catholic Encyclopedia (Vol. 5), Washington: Catholic University of America, 1979, 853.
27

1.4.2.2 Application of the Criteria to Mar Ivanios

Among the four distinct characteristics of a Church Father, it is obvious that Mar
Ivanios does not fit into the category of antiquity.
94
In terms of the approval of the
Church, he has not yet been canonized; but the process is going on a fast pace.
However, no one can challenge his orthodoxy of faith and holiness of life. Thus, Mar
Ivanios, who lived in the 20th century, cannot be called in a strict sense as a Church
Father. But it is an undeniable fact that Mar Ivanios was instrumental, by his life and
various apostolic activities, for the renewal and resurgence of an ecclesial community of
apostolic origin the Malankara Church which was in a very decadent state and hence
could be, in a true but secondary and adapted sense, called a Father of the Syro-
Malankara Catholic Church.
1.4.3 Mar Ivanios as Saint
Mar Ivanios was a saint and promoted and inspired holiness in persons of all walks of
life. This fact is corroborated by the thousands who throng at Pattom, the place where
he was laid for his final rest. By declaring Mar Ivanios as a Servant of God, the Church
has officially acknowledged that he heroically practised the theological virtues of faith,
hope and charity and the moral virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance.
1.5 Conclusion
To all those who desire earnestly to love God and serve Him with all their heart, Servant
of God Mar Ivanios maxim Realization of God is nobler than the Service of God
provides a sense of direction. In his opinion the imitation of Christ through total self-
surrender and renunciation actualized in Religious Life is the best possible means
towards the achievement of this goal. But not everyone can aspire to Religious Life.
Hence we need to look for ways and means to decode the various dimensions of the idea
Imitation of Christ through Religious Life, which is very abstract and wide, and try to
apply these dimensions to the daily life and spirituality of every Christian, every
Catholic, so that they too may be filled with zeal to serve God and His people. This
shall be our main occupation in the next chapter.

94
The Fathers of the Church were those who worked tirelessly to protect and nurture the Church in her
infancy. Applying this role to Mar Ivanios, we could see that he was the force behind the formation of a
new individual church in the Universal Catholic Church the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. In the
initial periods of turbulence, trials and frustrations, his spiritual strength, moral uprightness and
charismatic leadership sustained the Malankara Catholic Church in her infancy. Hence, in a broader
sense, we can indeed call Mar Ivanios as the Father of the Malankara Catholic Church.
28

CHAPTER II
WAYS AND MEANS TO REALIZE GOD

2.1. Introduction
Having seen the spirituality and vision of Mar Ivanios and the influences that moulded
his teachings, we would now try to fix our focus on his maxim, Realization of God is
nobler than the Service of God. Mar Ivanios through his life and teachings puts forward
a number of ways through which human beings could realize God. Apart from this, the
Holy Mother, the Church also puts forward several ways and means through which her
children could accomplish their goal of life viz. deification. We also know that the
different religions of the world too, put forward such ways and means to realize God
For example, in Hinduism there are three margas to attain God: jnana marga, bhakti
marga and karma marga apart from the holistic and all embracing concept and system
of Yoga. In Buddhism it is through mediation that one attains nirvana. However in this
paper we would stick mostly to the Christian thought, since it is from this point of view
that Mar Ivanios teaches about the ways and means of God Realization.
2.2. Universal Human Thirst for the Divine
You awake us to delight in your praise; for you made us for yourself, and our hearts
are restless until they rest in you.
95
These words of St. Augustine speak for humanitys
quest for realizing God. In all religions in the past and even today, there is an awareness
of a certain hidden power, which lies behind the course of nature and events of human
life. In most of these there is recognition of a supreme being, in some, even that of a
Father. This awareness and recognition result in a way of life that is imbued with a
deeper religious sense.
96

There is a spark of the Divine in every human being because humans are created in the
image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26, 27). This Divine dimension is also seen in every
created element (Rom 1:20). The divine dynamism present in the world can be
experienced through the faculty of intellect and will of human being. That is to say, with
the help of the faculty of intellect, humans can make logical conclusions on what he/she
perceives through his/her senses. From the creation he/she comes to know about the

95
Augustine. The Confessions of St. Augustine. Bandra: St. Pauls, 2012, 13.
96
Cf. NA 2.
29

Creator. He/she is capable of making a commitment to his/her perception of the Creator

by the help of the faculty of will. That is, the experience of supreme reality in natural
revelation implies a dynamic relation between the one who experiences and that which
is experienced. This encounter with the divine is what we call religious experience.
Though no one has ever seen God,
97
in their search for meaning and fulfilment of life,
human beings generally base themselves on this encounter of the divine that leads them
to the path of religion. Nostra Aetate says that humans tend to look to their different
religions for an answer to all the unsolved riddles of human existence. The questions to
which they seek the answer range from that of the world of concerns to that of more
existential questions.
98
The Catholic Church acknowledges the fact that all religions of
the world attempt in their own ways to calm the hearts of men by outlining a
programme of life covering doctrine, moral precepts, and sacred rituals.
99
Here it may
be noted that though religious experience is universal, the way it is articulated,
expressed, and communicated differs from religion to religion, person to person. In
other words, the universe of faith that encompasses all human beings is expressed by
each according to ones culture and creed in a pluriverse of beliefs.
100

2.3. The God to be Realized is a God who Reveals
Even as human beings, through their inner urge, seek the Transcendental Force, in the
Semitic religions, we come across this Divine force, considered as generally as a
person and addressed as God, taking the initiative and coming in search of humanity
in order to reveal Himself to human beings. Revelation means to remove the veil,
disclose that which is hidden. God reveals to human beings in and through ways that
can be comprehended and accepted by them. Such a revelation seeks a response of faith
and obedience a mutuality that takes on the form of a relationship between persons. In
other words, faith is the starting point of God Realization. Through faith one makes the
fundamental choice in favour of God and finds oneself oriented on the path of
deification.

97
Cf. 1 Tim 6:16.
98
Nostra Aetate enumerates a series of such existential questions, What is man? What is the meaning
and purpose of life? What is upright behaviour, and what is sinful? Where does suffering originate, and
what end does it serve? How can genuine happiness be found? What happens at death? What is
judgment? What reward follows death? And finally, what is the ultimate mystery, beyond human
explanation, which embraces our entire existence? cf. NA 1.
99
Cf. NA 2.
100
Cf. Rosario Rocha, Lectures on the course Theology of Religions, Pune: J nana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, 6
J an - 27 J an, 2014.
30

Even as God reveals Himself to us, He remains a mystery and even as He remains a
mystery, He can be known and tangibly experienced. This is the specialty of Gods
nature. Moreover, there are a number of ways in which God reveals Himself. It could be
through natural revelation (Rom 1:19-20), through historical events (like the Exodus),
through the medium of the prophets, through ones experience during worship, through
religious literature (Scripture and non-scripture), etc. But the most significant of these
revelations is through the person of J esus Christ who completed and perfected
Revelation and confirmed it with divine guarantees.
101
In modern times, we have
recognized yet another channel of Gods revelation i.e. the signs of the times. Pope J ohn
XXIII convoked the Vatican II with the words, signs of the times. Since then this too
is considered as a vehicle of divine revelation. In the context of human situations, there
are signs which when interpreted become sources of revelation.
102

2.4. Realization of God in the Trinity of Divine Persons
The Christian belief is that God, though One, is a community of persons. The One God
with one divine nature/being/substance, consists of three divine persons: Father, Son
and Holy Spirit. Dei Verbum, The Dogmatic Constitution On Divine Revelation of the
Second Vatican Council puts it in the following words:
It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal himself and to make known
the mystery of his will (cf. Eph 1:9). His will was that men should have access to
the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy Spirit, and thus
become sharers in the divine nature (cf. Eph 2:18; 2 Pet. 1:4).
103

The Concept of Trinity was introduced in the Early Christian period and perhaps was in
its rudimentary form during the Biblical times. Hence we have very few explicit
references on the Trinity in the New Testament, leave alone the Old Testament. In the
Gospels, the Trinity appears together during the baptism at J ordan (Mt 3:16-17; Mk
1:10-11; Lk 3:21-22; J n 1:32), followed by the mission commandment of J esus (Mt
28:19), and in the J ohannine discourse at the Last Supper where the Holy Spirit, as the
Spirit of Truth and the Paraclete, is intimately related to the Father and the Son (J n
14-16). Other explicit references in the New Testament are: Gal 4:4-7; Rom 8:14-17; 2
Cor 13:14; Eph 2: 18; 1 Pet 1:2-3a; 2 Pet. 1:4; 1 J n 5:5-6 etc.

101
Vatican II, Dei Verbum (hereafter DV), Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, November 18
1965, in Vatican Council II (Vol. I): The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, ed. by A. Flannery,
Mumbai: St. Pauls, 2010, 4.
102
Cf. R. Rocha, Lectures on the course Theology of Religions, J DV, 2014.
103
DV 2.
31

In the Old Testament, there are some implicit passages, for example, Gen 1:1-3, where
God the Creator is seen with the Spirit moving over the waters and uttering the word
that caused things to be. Later this word would be associated with J esus, the Word of
God, without which nothing was that came to be (J n 1:3). Secondly, in Gen 18:1-22,
God appeared to Abraham as three persons.
104
To add to this we have many passages
where God alludes to himself in the plural form, though Biblical scholars today
challenge that these passages alludes to the Trinity. Besides these, the allusions to
personified Wisdom are taken to mean the Son of God, and the terms such as Ruah
YHWH
105
meaning Spirit of YHWH are taken to allude to the Holy Spirit.
Realizing God as Trinity of persons who is One yet distinct has serious implications.
In the Church, it underlines the need for catholicity where differences are accepted and
yet there is unity in basics. In the human community, it points out to the need for
respecting people who are distinct in physical features, religious beliefs, ethnicity,
ideologies etc. It has implications for the institution of family or any other human
community which needs to remain united even in the face of differences.
2.4.1. God as Father and Creator
The God of the Old Testament is seen as the Creator of the world. He is also the
liberator, who led his people Israel out of slavery of Egypt to make them a nation. This
same God is presented as Abba, the loving Father by J esus Christ in the New Testament.
The very concept of God as Father comes from J esus experience of the first person in
the Trinity as Abba: And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen
his glory, the glory as of a fathers only son, full of grace and truth (J n 1:14). No one
has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Fathers heart, who has
made him known (J n 1:18). The relationship between the Father and the Son is such
that: No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the
Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him (Mt 11: 27). When human
beings speak of God Realization, it means that we are called to share in the same
intimate relationship as the Son himself which is why he taught us to pray, Our Father
in heaven.

104
Cf. Felix J ust, S.J ., The Trinity in the New Testament. http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Trinity.htm
(accessed July 25, 2014).
105
YHWH stand for the name of God as revealed to the Hebrews. They do not pronounce this name,
rather, say it aloud as Adonai, meaning Lord. Hence Ruah YHWH is actually pronounced Ruah Adonai).
32

2.4.2. God as Incarnated Son

The intimate relationship with God as Abba is made possible through the incarnate Son
of God, second person of the Trinity, pre-existent and eternal with the father who in the
fullness of time took flesh of the glorious Virgin Mary, and became human, suffered
and died for us, who on the third day rose again in great glory.
106
All this was
undertaken by him for us and for our salvation.
107
God entered history, became man
and dwelt among us (Jn 1:14) in the person of Jesus Christ around twenty centuries ago,
so that humans, being enfleshed beings, may know God through their senses: hear his
words, see his deeds, feel his presence, touch him with their hands, smell him (the
fragrance of Christ) and even taste him. J esus truly manifests God through his whole
person: Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, Show us the Father? (J n
14:9). I and the Father are one (Jn 10:30, 17:11, 21-23). Through such a manifestation,
Jesus invites his disciples to follow him and share in this intimate relationship.
2.4.3. God as Indwelling Holy Spirit
The Spirit of the Lord (Ruah YHWH)
108
was understood as power (Is 31:3), agent of
creation (Gen 1:2,3), breath of life (Gen 2:7), spirit of life (Gen 6:17; J ob 33:4), source
of wisdom and prophetic charism (Micah 3:8; Num 11:17-25; J ud 6:34; 1 Sam 16:13
etc. in the Old Testament.
109
In the New Testament, this Spirit takes on a distinct
identity together with the Father and the Son (Baptism at J ordan, baptismal formula of
the mission mandate in Matthew). The personhood of the Holy Spirit is evident in the
fourth Gospel where J esus addresses the Spirit as the Paraclete (J n 14:15-17, J n 14:26,
J n. 15:26, J n 16:7-5). In the rest of the New Testament, the Holy Spirit is the direct
agent of the birth of J esus as well as the Church at Pentecost, as the author of the
Scriptures, principle of faith, principle of new life, one who guarantees unity among
Christians, and one who is associated with eschatology.
110

106
Christological hymn attributed to Severios of Antioch, cf. Malankara Catholic Church, Vishudha
Kurbanakramam (Order of the Holy Qurbono), (hereafter Kurbanakramam), Thiruvananthapuram:
Synodal Commission for Liturgy, 2007, 160.
107
The Nicene-Constantinople Creed. Cf. Kurbanakramam, 170.
108
See footnote 105.
109
Cf. Philip Chempakassery, Unity and Trinity: The God of Christianity, Thiruvananthapuram:
M.S.Publications, 2006, 30-36.
110
Cf. P. Chempakassery, Unity and Trinity, 2006, 56-77.
33

The Spirit of J esus is active in the Church as the perfecter and fulfiller of Christs
salvific mission. Through His gifts, the Spirit of J esus builds up the church into an
eschatological community (1Cor 12). The active presence of the Holy Spirit in the
Church is celebrated in the liturgy, especially in the celebration of the Eucharist and in
other sacraments, in the Trinitarian doxologies, in various anticipatory and consecratory
epiclesis and in the descent of the Spirit on the community in baptism, blessing of the
Myron, priesthood, consecration of churches, etc. as the one who perfects and fulfils
all that has been and that will be.
111
The different functions of the Holy Spirit in the
Church are highlighted by the Eastern Fathers.
112
Through the indwelling presence of
the Holy Spirit every Christian becomes a PNEUMATIKOS (filled with the gifts of the
Spirit) and the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 3:16). He bestows his gifts especially
that of love (1 Cor 12-13) to each Christian calling him/her for freedom from the flesh
(Gal 5:19-21) to the freedom to bear the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23) and thus
becomes the agent of transformation of the human person. The nature of the procession
of the Holy Spirit (filioque) remains a major issue of ecumenical dialogue between the
East and West.
2.5. Human Being as the Recipient and Respondent of Revelation
2.5.1. Human Being as the Recipient of Revelation
What is the uniqueness of human beings that makes them recipients of Divine
Revelation and the ability to respond in faith and be oriented towards God Realization?
Karl Rahner in his two books, Spirit in the World and Hearers of the Word points out
that human beings are primarily a hearer of Gods word. i.e. open to the word through
the sense of hearing
113
and that in humans, there is a universal capacity to respond to
Gods transcendental revelation and also be initiated step by step into mystery
(mystagogy). His contemporaries Bernard Lonergan in Insight, the Study of Human

111
Malankara Catholic Church, Takso dKurbono: Malankara Suriyani Katholika Sabhayude Vishudha
Kurbana Taksa (Malayalam, The Order of the Holy Qurbono according to the Malankara Syrian Catholic
Church), (hereafter Takso) Thiruvananthapuram: The Major Archiepiscopal Curia, 2007, 67.
112
Liturgy of Pentecost, cf. Malankara Catholic Church, Perunalukal (Malayalam, Order of the Feasts),
(hereafter Perunalukal), Thiruvananthapuram: The Liturgical Committee of The Syro-Malankara
Catholic Church, 2003, 274-276.
113
One is reminded of the concept of sabda in Indian Philosophy and the idea of Divine Revelation as
logos in J ohn. For a general overview on the aspect of sabda and its relation with Divine Revelation in
major religions of the world, cf. Shabda, Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, March 28 2014.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabda (accessed J uly 30, 2014).
34

Understanding and Methods of Theology and Hans Urs Von Balthasar too toe similar
lines.
114

From a holistic point of view, the ability to be the recipient of Gods self-disclosure is a
gift. For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not
receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift? (1 Cor 4:7)
The Christian Faith asserts that humans are able to be open to Gods revelation because
they were created in His image and likeness.
On its first page, Scripture relates that God created human beings in his own
image, according to his own likeness. Thus, every person can in fact be addressed
by God and become a dialogue partner with him. God draws near to us, for
personal encounter, and calls all men and women to enter communion of life with
himself.
115

Dei Verbum reminds us of the necessity of grace for accepting revelation and to respond
to it in faith. We read:
Before this faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and
assist him; he must have the interior helps of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart
and converts it to God, who opens the eyes of the mind and makes it easy for all
to accept and believe truth.
116
The same Holy Spirit constantly perfects faith by
his gifts, so that Revelation may be more and more profoundly understood.
117

2.5.2. Human Response in Obedience of Faith
The response to Divine Revelation as we have seen is the obedience of faith (Rom
16:26; cf. Rom. 1:5; 2 Cor 10:5-6) given to God as He reveals himself.
118
Dei Verbum,
along with asserting the definition of faith given in Dei Filius of the First Vatican
Council, gives a more personalized definition of faith. From that of a full submission
of intellect and will to God who reveals,
119
faith has now become a free commitment
of ones entire self
120
to God. Besides, revelation is also understood as God speaking
to humans as to his friends, whom He invites to communion of life with himself,
through Christ, in the Holy Spirit.
121
Faith is a personal act and attitude, deeply

114
Cf. R. Rocha, Lectures on the course Theology of Religions, J DV, 2014.
115
ND 33.
116
Second Council of Orange, can. 7: Denz. 180 (377) First Vatican Council, loc. Cit.: Denz. 1791
(3010); cited from DV 5.
117
DV 5.
118
DV 5.
119
Vatican I, Dei Filius, On the Catholic Faith, Chapter 3; cited from ND 118.
120
DV 5.
121
Cf. ND 43.
35

engaging our freedom. But it is also, at the same time, a sharing with others who have
responded to the same invitation. Communion with the God who reveals himself is as
well communion with other believers. A community of faith, the Church, supports our
faith and imparts the language of its expression and of our celebration of the good news
revealed.
2.6. The Word of God as Agent of Deification
The Word of God has been a continuous guidance to all those who have sought to
realize Him from time immemorial. In the History of Israel, we see the Word of God
(Dabar Elohim) speaking to spiritual leaders like the Patriarchs, J udges, Prophets,
Kings etc. and through them to the people of Israel. In the New Testament this Word of
God takes flesh (J n 1:14) and is born as a tangible, corporeal human person, J esus
Christ. The disciples and apostles who heard and experienced him, were given the
mandate to carry this Word of God further to the ends of the world till his second
coming so that all may be called unto deificaiton. They went around founding Christian
communities and passing the experience of Christ to them. In course of time, inspired
writings appeared and were compiled as Scriptures, while the Tradition of the Apostles
continued down the centuries. Hence, today we have the Word of God in two forms:
Scripture and Tradition. The ambiguity that surrounded this two-fold revelation was
settled by the Second Vatican Council.
Hence there exist a close connection and commonality between Sacred Tradition
and Sacred Scripture. For both of them, flowing from the same divine well-spring,
in a certain way merge into unity, and tend toward the same end. For Sacred
Scripture is the word of God in as much as it is consigned to writing under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, while Sacred Tradition takes the word of God
entrusted by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit to the apostles, and hand it on to
their successors in its integrity, so that, led by the light of the Spirit of truth, they
may, in their preaching of this word, preserve it faithfully, explain it and cause it
to spread. Consequently, it is not from Sacred Scripture alone that the Church
derives her certainty about the whole content of revelation. And so, both Sacred
Scripture and Sacred Tradition are to be accepted and venerated with the same
sense of loyalty and reverence.
122

In other words, when we speak of the Word of God as an agent of Human Deification,
we mean both the Sacred Scriptures and Sacred Tradition. The Word in Scripture is
truly inspired by God and when grasped by faith, one recognizes the voice of God

122
DV 9.
36

speaking out, leading one to repentance and a conversion of heart. In this way, the
Kingdom of God is inaugurated in the heart of the reader and leads the person on the
path of God-Realization. In our reading of the Scriptures we are also aided by the
guidance of the Holy Spirit who carries us beyond the letter, until the letter written
with pen and ink, becomes body for the spiritual presence of the Word.
123
Since the
scriptures have been written long ago, modern readers, guided by their intellect and
their own experiences and also aided by modern techniques of criticisms may come up
with a number of interpretations, some even contradictory to each other. The readers
then need to remind themselves of the fact that it is the Church to whom the Word of
God has been handed over and that any interpretation that contradicts the teaching of the
Church is to be discarded.
2.7. Realizing God in the Community of Believers, the Church
The Lord of Heaven and Earth/ Built the Holy Church/
And dwelling within it made her his abode/
And those that wish to speak to the Lord/ May now enter the
Church/
For He dwells within her/ .
Behold, the Holy Church/ The Bride of Christ is she/
A bounty of treasures/ Resembling Paradise/
In her is Baptism/ The bones of the martyrs/ The altar of worship/
And the priests who dispense the medicine of life.
124

The above hymn from the ancient West Syrian Liturgy seems to have tinges of shades
of the theology no salvation outside the Church, in vogue until some time ago. Though
we may consider this position as outdated now, the arguments favouring the position of
salvation through the church placed by the hymn is worth considering. Here the
Church is an agent of deification, neither because of her very nature, nor because of the
Petrine Primacy of the Hierarchy, but because of the fact that she is a deposit of a
bounty of treasures (a more literal translation would amount to: Blessings, Blessed
things, Holy Things, etc.). The bounty of treasures alluded to here are the agents of
deification i.e. the liturgy, the sacraments especially the Eucharist which is the the
medicine of life, good example and wise teachings of the saints who are honoured
through their bones. The offices of the successors of Peter and of the Apostles, handed

123
George H. Tavard, Mediation on the Word: Perspectives for a Renewed Theology, New York: Paulist
Press Paperback, 1968, 27.
124
Night Prayers according to the West Syrian Liturgy, cf. Kurbanakramam, 47.
37

down from generation to generation, are guardians of this bounty of treasures handed to
them by Christ.
Apart from being the bounty of treasures, the Church is also the bride of Christ. The
marital union between Christ and the Church calls for unbroken fidelity on both sides
and this amounts to sure salvation to the children begotten from this union. Thus,
though there may or may not be salvation outside the Church, the salvation within the
Church is a sure factor due to her fidelity to her bridegroom.
125
Both these
descriptions imply great responsibility on the part of the Church. She, as the one who
holds the treasures, needs to open up these treasures to the vast ocean of humanity who
are spiritually impoverished. She needs to be the light of the world and the salt of the
earth especially in an era torn by war, poverty, injustice etc. so that all human beings
may discover the path to God-Realization. The Second Vatican Council, through two of
its documents Lumen Gentium (Light of the Nations, Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church) and Gaudium et Spes (Joy and Hope, Pastoral Constitution on Church in the
Modern World), provides a blueprint on the various tasks and responsibilities at hand
which the church needs to address in the modern times.
2.8. The Divine Liturgy as Means for Communicating God Experience
The Divine Liturgy is a medium of communicating the God-experience. Great mystics
and saints who have experienced God have expressed their experiences through the
medium of poetry (in a broader sense to include poetic prose as well) because the
mystery of God can only be wondered at.
126
These later became the official liturgical
texts of the Church through which their God-experience could become the experience of
the worshipping community. Such a communication of theology and of divine
experience has not only remained timeless, but also been made available to the common

125
The dynamics of the marital relationship between Christ and the Church is brought out in a very
romantic hymn now incorporated in the Marriage Liturgy of the Malankara Churches. In the hymn, the
church is portrayed as a lover looking for her beloved. In her pursuit, she wanders from Bethlehem to
Egypt, to Nazareth, to the desert, then to Galilee, etc. On the way there would be many instances where
robbers, wicked men etc. try to seduce her and lead her away, but the groom intervenes and rescues
her and sets a feast (Eucharist) for her to ward off her weariness. Finally, she finds him at Golgotha,
crucified. Here on the Cross, the lover is finally wedded to her beloved. The hymn ends when the groom
rises from the dead and embraces his bride and promises to send the Holy Spirit. cf. Malankara Catholic
Church, Koodhashakal (Malayalam, Order of the Celebration of Sacraments), Thiruvananthapuram: The
Major Archiepiscopal Curia of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, 2008, 55.
126
These mystics while communicating their experience of God chose not to use concepts or definitions
which place limits around God who is limitless, rather they used images, symbols and the language of
paradox. Cf. Sebastian Brock, Studies in Syriac Spirituality, Bangalore: Centre for Eastern and Indian
Christian Studies (CEICS), Dharmaram Publications, 2008, 15.
38

faithful through the liturgy. Through the liturgy of the hours, the crown of the year etc.,
the faithful are initiated step by step into the mystery of God. In other words, liturgy
serves as a vehicle of mystagogical catechesis.
The very concept of liturgy itself eludes definition due to difference in emphasis given
by scholars. Hence, in this paper too, we refrain from defining liturgy. But we could still
inspect the various characteristics of liturgy pointed out by the various definitions. To
begin with, it has been said that liturgy makes present the mystery of salvation
completed by J esus Christ in the paschal mystery. The Paschal mystery is the
culmination of the salvific acts of God from the creation to the second coming. Hence
the mystery of salvation is not only the death and resurrection of Christ, but the whole
of the salvific acts of God from creation to the second coming. By saying that it makes
present, we mean that it is not a mere remembrance of a past event, but the past event is
re-unfolded at the moment of the celebration for the celebrants. This idea is put forward
by the word anamnesis. Through anamnesis, we make present the eternal mysteries in
the realm of space and time; which means, that which belongs to the divine space-time,
now enters into human space-time. The making present of divine, heavenly and
timeless mysteries is made possible through elaborate symbols, gestures, praises,
invocations, rites and bodily languages. It is due to all these that it is said that liturgy
gives the worshippers a foretaste of heaven.
127

Liturgy effects the progressive transfiguration into the likeness of God.
128
Along with
the transubstantiation of the offerings on the altar, the transfiguration of the people also
takes place in the liturgy. Not only human beings, but also the whole of creation is
sanctified through the liturgy. The term used technically is deification. Human beings
are not redeemed from the pit as in scholastic theology, rather, humans, fallen or not,
are taken up to the level of God.
129
In the words of Fr. Louis Moolaveetil, The
disciples of Christ get a living image of Christ in the liturgy. This image gradually
penetrates into the depth of their beings and makes them more and more like their

127
Cf. Vatican II, Sacrosanctum Concilium (hereafter SC), The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy,
December 4 1963, in Vatican Council II (Vol. I): The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, ed. by A.
Flannery, Mumbai: St. Pauls, 2010, no. 8; Cf. History of Christianity: 3of6: Orthodoxy: From Empire to
Empire, documentary, narrated by Diarmaid MacCulloch, produced by BBC, 2011.
128
Cf. Pauly Maniyattu, Oriental Liturgies and Theology, Classnotes, Pune: Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth,
2013, 13.
129
From my lecture notes of the course Oriental Liturgies and Theology by Pauly Maniyattu at J nana-
Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune from 21 Nov - 13 Dec, 2013.
39

Master.
130
All liturgical activities are fundamentally directed to this ultimate goal. In
short, liturgy has the two-fold purpose: perfect worship of God and the sanctification of
humans.
131

2.9. Sacraments as a means of God-Realization
In the same breath as we talk of the liturgy, we need to also talk about the sacraments of
the Church since all sacraments are part of Christian worship in that they celebrate the
saving mystery of God in Christ.
132
Liturgy, as the public worship of the Church, is
primarily expressed through the sacraments. Sacraments are the streams through which
divine grace is poured into human beings. As we have seen, the ultimate purpose of
human being is to attain union with God. For this, we have to receive God spiritually as
well as physically, in appearance and in mystery.
133
Christ unites human beings with the
Church through her sacraments. Sacraments are the practical and existential ways of
living in Christ.
134
The Sacraments are the agents of grace imparted to the believers
through the medium of outward signs through which this mystery of salvation becomes
a living and tangible reality.
135
The apostolic fathers translated the words and deeds of
Christ into visible signs and symbols that convey invisible grace and christened them as
sacraments.
136
The original word in Greek was mysterion meaning mysteries. It was
later that Tertullian adopted the word sacramentum which was a Roman military
pledge of allegiance to denote what was meant by the mysteries. It was only later with
Augustine, Isidore of Pelusium and Theodore of Mopsuestia that sacramental theology
developed. Combining the doctrines of Augustine and Isidore, Theodore of Mopsuestia
pointed out that every sacrament is the indication, by means of signs and symbols, of
invisible and ineffable realities.
137
Hence, they are beyond the comprehension of the
senses and can be grasped only through faith. One of the basic assertions of all
theologians is that Christ has instituted all the sacraments and he himself is the

130
L. Moolaveetil, The Spiritual Life of Mar Ivanios, 1987, 134.
131
Cf. SC 7, ND 530.
132
Cf. ND 557.
133
Cf. T. Inchakkalody, Archbishop Mar Ivanios, 2012, 77.
134
Kurian Valuparampil, Mar Ivanios: Prophet of Cosmic Communion, in Archbishop Mar Ivanios in
his Thoughts, ed. by G Chediath, K. Valuparambil, and P. Chempakassery, Trivandrum: MS Publications,
2004, 108.
135
ND 557.
136
O.M. Mathew Oruvattithara, Church and Sacraments, Kottayam: St. Ephrem Ecumenical Research
Institute (SEERI), 2001, 98.
137
O.M. Mathew Oruvattithara, Church and Sacraments, 2001,101.
40

primordial sacrament.
138
Let us now look at each of these sacrament-mysteries and
analyse how each of them helps humans in their quest for realizing God.
2.9.1. Baptism
In Gal 3:27 and Rom 13:14, St. Paul refers to baptism as putting on Christ. In other
words, ones individuality is moulded in Christ and one is grafted to the Corpus of
Christ. For St. Paul, immersion in the baptismal water and arising from it are the
symbols of dying and resurrecting with Christ. Another imagery is that of putting on
the garment of grace and the spirit of Christ, a theme recurring in the writings of the
Syrian Fathers. St. Ephrem develops an idea of the baptismal font as the womb of the
Mother Church which brings forth spiritual children. As the womb of our mother Eve
gave birth to mortal children subject to corruption, let this Baptism become a womb
which will give birth to spiritual and immortal children.
139
Again, according to the
Greek tradition, Didymus the Blind speaks of the baptismal font as the perpetual virgin
mother of the baptized.
140
According to Cyril of J erusalem, Baptism is essential to
salvation. It purges us of sins and grants us the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Cyril also
considers baptism as a holy indelible seal.
141

2.9.2. Chrismation
Chrismation with Holy Myron fortifies the baptized with the Holy Spirit. The basis for
this sacrament is the coming down of the Holy Spirit upon the baptized in the Acts of
the Apostles. J esus too, had experienced the coming of the Spirit upon him during the
baptism at J ordan. The anointment with the Holy Myron is the external sign which
symbolizes the coming of the Holy Spirit. It is commonly performed by the minister
tracing crosses on the different parts of the body, from head to toe, a sign that is referred
to as the stamp or seal.
142
This is in reference to Ephesians 1:13 where Paul writes,
In Christ, you also when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and
had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit. Through

138
Cf John Macquarrie, A Guide to Sacraments, London: SCM Press Ltd., 1997, 34.
139
Original ref. unknown. Cited from Oruvattithara, Church and Sacraments, 2001, 113.
140
Sebastian Brock, Mysteries Hidden in the Side of Christ, Other details unknown. Cited from
Oruvattithara, Church and Sacraments, 2001, 114.
141
Cyril of J erusalem, Lectures on the Christian Sacraments: The Procatechesis and the Five
Mystagogical Catechesis, ed. by F.L. Cross. New York: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1995, xxx.
142
Dennis C. Smolarski S.J ., Sacred Mysteries: Sacramental Principles and Liturgical Practice, New
York: Paulist Press, 1994, 53.
41

Chrismation, the baptized receives the power to fight temptations and becomes endowed
with the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
2.9.3. Eucharist
Baptism, Chrismation and Eucharist together constitute the Sacraments of Initiation. On
the relation between the three Mysteries, Orthodox theologian Nicholas Cabasilas says
that the Eucharist completes Baptism and Chrismation since, the efficacy of this mystic
rite consists in this, that those who are consecrated thereby should lack none of its
fruits.
143
The Holy Eucharist is the most effective means of union with God. It is the
perfection of perfections because in it is deposited all the graces that a faithful needs
to grow up as a perfect human being.
144
Holy Eucharist is a sacrament in which visible
and invisible elements are united to unite us with Christ. Hence, in our reception of the
Eucharist we are visibly and invisibly united with Christ.
145
The Holy Eucharist enables
the faithful for a mystical union with our Lord and through him, with the Father. The
Holy Eucharist is also called holy communion because through the reception of the
Holy Eucharist we maintain the unity and fellowship with God, which we began at
baptism.
146

2.9.4. Sacrament of Reconciliation
The establishment of the Kingdom of God is directly connected to conversion of hearts
through repentance (METANOIA). J esus began his ministry with this call to repent.
Throughout his ministry, we see J esus moving around forgiving the sins of sinners and
embracing them into new life. Thus, the call to conversion is linked with the promise of
forgiveness. Towards the end of his ministry, we see J esus entrusting his mission of the
Kingdom to the disciples along with which he transfers the right to forgive sins (cf. J n
20:23).
Sin ruptures ones relationship with God, the Church,
147
and fellow human beings and,
taking into consideration modern understanding, the whole cosmos. In the eastern

143
Nicholas Cabasilas, The Life in Christ, transl. by Carmino J . deCatanzaro, France: St. Vladimir's
Seminary Press, 1974, 115.
144
Mar Ivanios, The Holy Qurbono: An Appraisal and Meditation. The Complete Works of Archbishop
Mar Ivanios 5. Translated by Antony Valiyavilayil. Trivandrum: Cause of Canonization of Mar Ivanios,
2006, 37.
145
Cf. Kurian Valuparampil, Mar Ivanios: Prophet of Cosmic Communion, in Archbishop Mar Ivanios
in his Thoughts, 2004, 109.
146
Cf. Mar Ivanios, The Holy Qurbono, 2006, 24.
147
Cf. ND 653
42

perspective, sin is seen as a disease and Christ the physician. The Sacrament of
Reconciliation is the treatment and sacramental penance, the medicine. Christ, the true
physician,
148
heals the faithful through the medium of his ministers. Through
confession, one wins back ones wholeness of personality (exemplified in the examples
Mary Magdalene, Zacchaeus, the prodigal son in the parable etc.) and is put back on the
path to holiness and deification.
2.9.5. Anointing of the Sick
Healing of disease was a major part of the ministry of J esus. In fact, healing of disease
and forgiveness of sins often went together. Hence, the anointing of the sick is closely
related to penance. This power of healing was given to the apostles before he send them
to the ends of the world with the mandate of evangelization (Lk 9:1-2; Mt 10:1; Mk
6:7). Classical theology saw it as the final preparation and purification for heavenly
glory, even though the biblical text, J ames 5:14ff on which it is based testifies to the fact
that it is ordained to the healing of both soul and body. Hence, it came to be perceived
more as extreme unction in the Middle Ages but was restored to its original
understanding through the Second Vatican Council.
149

2.9.6. Holy Orders
Through the sacrament of Holy Orders a person shares in the priesthood of Christ
fulfilled on the cross. Through the Orders, a person is called to be a mediator between
God and humankind (1 Tim 2:5) and the steward of the mysteries of God, as St. Paul
calls it (1 Cor 4:1-2). J ust as a steward manages the goods of his owner justly and
responsibly, the priest is also called to receive from Christ the treasures of salvation,
those agents of deification which we have seen above, in order to distribute them among
the people to whom he is sent. That is why the order of the liturgy of priesthood
constantly reminds the candidate, Be diligent, O Simeon, who has the keys of heaven
and earth.
150
Through this role as the mediator, and as the steward of the mysteries he
becomes an agent of deification for the people entrusted to him, as he prays:
Standing at this fiery place before thy flaming throne, I beg forgiveness of sins of
your people and the salvation of all creation. My Lord, throw open the doors of

148
Cf. Hymns on Nativity, 3: 20, available from Ephrem the Syrian: Hymns. The Classics of Western
Spirituality. Translated by Kathleen E. McVey. New J ersey: Paulist Press, 1989, 87.
149
Cf. ND 654
150
A dominant theme in the Order of Liturgy of Priesthood, cf. Malankara Liturgy, different pages.
43

your treasury before the needy and shower your blessings on the sheep that belong
to your fold.
151

And through the exercise of his office, deifies himself too, for he also prays:
At this hour when your power infuses into this bread and when the wine
transforms into blood, may my life be mixed with yours.
152

In short, the sacrament of Holy Orders endows one with the office of teaching,
sanctifying and healing by which one leads not only the people of God but also oneself
into communion with God.
2.9.7. Matrimony
The institution of marriage was a revered one from the very dawn of religion. In fact it
was considered so sublime as to be used as a symbol to describe the relationship
between God and His people. The Old Testament Prophets like Isaiah, Hosea and
Ezekiel used the marriage imagery as a means of revealing Yahwehs inexhaustible
love to Israel, His chosen people. The Fathers of the Church would symbolize this as the
union between Christ and the Church. The West Syrian liturgy takes the cue from the
Pauline epistles to reverse the symbol and the symbolized asking the couples to build
their relationship on the lines of that between Christ and the Church. Viewed in this
way, marriage becomes a sacrament and by its very nature is indissoluble. Hence there
could be no possibility of divorce. The Church views the Christian family as the
domestic church. As a divinely ordered institution, (Cf. Mt 19:6, Gen 2:22, 2:18) it
becomes a place where one could achieve spiritual growth and consequently God-
realization. Today in an era where the very institution of marriage and family are
questioned, the Church as a whole needs to assert the role played by the family as an
agent of deification.
2.10. Consecrated Life, way par excellence towards God-Realization
According to Mar Ivanios, the Consecrated Life was the ultimate solution and pathway
for humanity seeking God experience. That was why he chose to establish a monastic
ashram, through which he sought to bring about the much needed spiritual renewal in
the Malankara Church. It must be noted here that whenever the Holy Church was in
crisis, it was always Consecrated Life that prevented her from falling apart. The
twentieth century Malankara Church was now in deep crisis and Mar Ivanios finds the

151
Takso, 290.
152
Takso, 286.
44

solution in Consecrated Life, to be precise, Sannyasa, according to Indian terminology.

He compares sannyasa to the holocaust of the Old Testament.
Sannyasi is indeed a sacrificial cow. The cow for sacrifice has to go through four
stages. First of all, it is isolated from the rest. Secondly, it is tied outside the
temple. Thirdly, on the day of the sacrifice, the worshipper comes and chops its
head, strips off its skin, cuts it into pieces, removes its unholy parts, collects the
blood in a vessel and entrusts the same to the priest and then carries its flesh and
blood to the altar of the temple. Fourthly, the priest offers the flesh as a burnt-
offering and pours the blood on the altar. Of all the sacrifices the J ews had, the
most solemn among them was the holocaust. The worshippers had some share in
the other sacrifices. Only one part was burnt on the altar. But the holocaust was
not like that. Every part is offered for God. That is sannyasa.
Similarly, the sannyasi isolates himself from the community like the sacrificial
cow. He presents himself to the Ashram, which stands next to the church. There he
stays waiting his day for sacrifice, all the while purifying himself through washing
his sins daily with his tears. On the day of the sacrifice, the sannyasi has to be
beheaded at the entrance of the church. He chops away his head himself with the
three vows. Then, he offers himself to the priest, his Religious Superior and the
Superior then offers him to God and in His name receives him (back). The skin of
the sannyasi is to be stripped off. His body is to be cut into pieces. The unholy
parts are to be removed. By the profession of the vows alone, one doesnt become
a perfect sannyasi. He has to be laid on the altar and burnt. He lies on the altar of
sacrifice together with J esus Christ. This sacrifice is continued throughout his
life.
153

According to him, the very basis of such a sacrificial life embodied in sannyasa lie in
being God-dependent, Man needs to relate to God in faith. He should rely himself only
on divine trust. He should not have any other life force other than the love of God.
154

This total dependency on God could be achieved only through renunciation, we cannot
attain the extraordinary experience of the presence of God except through
renunciation
155
and there cannot be a renunciation greater than that offered by J esus
Christ. Hence, One who desires to be extremely close to God should necessarily
imitate J esus Christ verily in all things. The clear and visible model of self-renunciation
seen on the Golgotha should reflect deep within him.
156
This sacrifice is practised first
through renunciation not only of his family, country, the world itself but also his own
self. According to him, only a true sannyasi could fulfil self-renunciation in its literal,

153
Mar Ivanios, Girideepam, 2007, 133.
154
Ibid., 71.
155
Ibid., 63.
156
Ibid., 63.
45

internal and external senses.

157
Only through such a renunciation can the sannyasi
attain the state of nanda or bliss. In the words of Mar Ivanios, For a sannyasi, wealth,
respect and public acceptance are synonyms of dishonour, poverty and disgrace. A
Sannyasi experiences extreme bliss only when he is considered a fool and a lunatic by
the world.
158

The natural question then is, if one can achieve God-realization only through the
monastic ideals of self-renunciation and sacrifice, can not the common Christian
achieve the same through ordinary means? This question is best answered by Pope J ohn
Paul II who reminded us that religious life is not as a life removed from or contrary to
Christian life, but a life that is a model for all Christians. Hence he rightly calls
Consecrated Life as a reference point for all the baptized:
Moreover, in the East, monasticism was not seen merely as a separate condition,
proper to a precise category of Christians, but rather as a reference point for all the
baptized, according to the gifts offered to each by the Lord; it was presented as a
symbolic synthesis of Christianity.
159

In other words, the true purpose of religious life is served only when it becomes a guide
and agent of God-realization in the lives of all who seek God.
2.11. Mary as Model of Deified Humanity
By it, that none ever has been so elevated as Mary,
Clear is it, that none ever has humbled oneself so lowly.
160

Orthodox theologian Alexander Schmemann rightly calls Mary the locus theologicus of
Christian Anthropology.
161
Though being one among us, she as a perfect disciple of
Christ, has reached the zenith of what humanity could achieve in the spiritual life. She is
the perfect one who has achieved God-Realization and now calls out to us to follow her
footsteps. The very fact that Mary was as human as each one of us dispels all arguments
that deification is beyond the ability of humanity to achieve. The gospels, the fathers of
the Church and the Magisterium have painted a beautiful picture of Mary depicting the
different dimensions of her unique relationship with God that the faithful of all ages

157
Mar Ivanios, Girideepam, 2007, 63
158
Ibid., 63.
159
Pope John Paul II, Orientale Lumen (hereafter OL), Apostolic Letter, (Vatican: Libreria Editrice
Vaticana, 1995), [online source: accessed on J uly 15, 2013] available at
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-
ii_apl_02051995_orientale-lumen_en.html; 9, #3.
160
Intercession to the Holy Mother of God, Malankara Liturgy, Kurbanakramam, 248.
161
Alexander Schmemann, The Virgin Mary, New York: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2001, 53
46

could ponder over, marvel and emulate. Thus, in Mathew we see her role in the history
of salvation (genealogy) and identity as the mother of J esus (infancy narrative). In
Mark, we come across J esus who is identified as son of Mary. Here, we also find that
Marys motherhood did not consist only in bearing J esus, but in that she has done the
will of God (cf. Mk 3:31-35). In Luke, she is the highly favoured one with whom is the
Lord (cf. Lk 1:26-38). Again, she is the blessed among woman, (cf. Lk 1:42) but her
blessedness is not due to the fact that she bore and nurtured J esus, (cf. Lk 11:27) but
that she has heard the word of God and obeyed it (Cf. Lk 11:28).
162
In J ohn, she is the
woman (cf. J n 2:4; 19:26) who confidently intercedes in favour of the hosts at Cana and
brings about the pre-mature inauguration of J esus ministry
163
and who courageously
witnesses the crucifixion of her son remaining at the foot of the cross (J n 19:25).
164
In
the Acts she is together with the community of believers in the upper room awaiting
the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:14). In revelation, she is woman with the child in Chapter 12,
though many dispute it.
165

Descriptions of Mary do not end with the Scriptures. Poets, theologians, artists, all have
pondered over the mystery of Mary. The Syrian fathers have often compared her with
the mysteries of the Old Testament calling her the field that was never ploughed, the
ladder of J acob that reached heavens, vessel that held the manna, she who removed
the curse from Adam, staff of Aaron which budded, ark of the covenant,
166
etc.
while the Western Church dogmatized her identity as Theotokos, her entry into the
world as Immaculate Conception, and her death as Assumption into heaven body and
soul, and that all through her life she was a perpetual virgin.
The faithful in the West honour her through the multiple devotions and those in the East
venerate her memory (orma) through the liturgy. The Church also has a number of

162
Cf. Shabu Thottumkal S.D.B., Mary in the Synoptics, In Mary Today: Fundamental Issues and New
Directions in Mariology, Bangalore: Kristu J yoti Publications, 2010, 3-14.
163
My time has not yet come (cf. J n 2:4).
164
J ose Varickasseril S.D.B., Behold the Man! (Jn. 19:5) and O Woman! (J n. 2:4; 19:26): Johannine
Parallels on the Greatness of J esus and Mary. In Mary Today: Fundamental Issues and New Directions
in Mariology, ed. by J oy Kaipan S.D.B., Bangalore, 2010, 44-56.
165
Cf. Raymond E. Brown, Karl P. Donfried and others (ed.), Mary in the New Testament, Bangalore:
Theological Publications in India, 2004, 223-239.
166
Cf. Intercession to the Holy Mother of God, Malankara Liturgy. Kurbanakramam, 250.
47

fasts and feasts in her honour. The Malankara Catholic Church has seven feasts
167

dedicated to her of which two are preceded by days of fast.
2.12. Conclusion
Human beings share a deep relationship with God through their innate desire for Him
and Gods loving self revelation. This intimate relationship of which every human being
is born with a potential needs to be realized and fulfilled unto a complete Union with
God through our lives on earth. For this every religion devises ways and means to
realize this end. The means of realizing God in the life of every Christian is through the
Word of God transmitted through Scripture and Tradition which gives us the identity of
God as a Trinity of Persons who out of their immense love for humanity wished to pitch
their tent among them (J n 1:14).
168
The mystery of salvation thus unfolded is realized
by every Christian through their life in the Church which is the community of believers,
and in the liturgy and sacraments. The consecrated life which is a way of life totally
devoted unto God Realization and Service serves as a model and reference point for all
who wish to realize God. Above all the best example of deified humanity is found in
Mary the Mother of God who continues to inspire every human being unto deification
both through her life which we encounter in the gospels and through her intercession. In
the next chapter, we begin our study on the dynamics between God Realization and the
Service of God beginning with an exegesis of the Mary-Martha story of Luke 10: 38-42.

167
Assumption into heaven (sunoyo August 15), Birth (September 8), Mother of Seeds (J anuary 15),
Mary of Harvest (May 15), Exaltation of the Mother of Lord (nusrotho December 26) and Dedication of
the First Church in the Name of the Mother of God (J une 15). Cf. The Code of Particular Canons of the
Syro-Malankara Catholic Chruch, Trivandrum: Major Archiepiscopal Curia, 2012, 567.
168
The Greek word SKENOO used in J ohn 1:14 literally means to pitch a tent. English versions
generally use the translation dwelt among us.
48

CHAPTER III
REALIZING GOD V/S SERVING GOD: UNDERSTANDING THE
DYNAMISM IN THE LIGHT OF LUKE 10:38-42
3.1. Introduction
The contemplative life and active life has always been at loggerheads in the history of
religious life and, to an extent, of discipleship itself. Most often, the biblical reference
quoted in favour of preference towards the contemplative life is Luke 10:38-42, the
Mary-Martha story where Mary is taken as the model of contemplative discipleship and
Martha that of active discipleship. It goes without saying that a spirituality or theology
built upon wrong understanding of the scriptures could be disastrous to the soul. Hence
as we mull over the dynamism between the service of God and the realization of God,
we may derive certain insights through an exegetical study of the Mary-Martha story, a
story that unfolds at Bethany, a name and concept very dear to Mar Ivanios. Secondly, in
this chapter we would also pause to reflect on the Ivanian insights that support his
maxim and which are based on the Eastern concept of deification.
3.2. An Exegetical Study of the Mary-Martha Story
3.2.1 The Passage: Luke 10:32-48
Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman
named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary,
who sat at the Lords feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha
was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, Lord, do
you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her
then to help me. But the Lord answered her, Martha, Martha, you are
worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.
3.2.2 Some Significant Points for Consideration
3.2.2.1 Location of Passage in the Gospel
This story of Martha and Mary is found only in Luke. On the particular position of this
passage, there are many contentions. Some argue that it could be to complement the
answer of the lawyer in 10:27 regarding the complementariness of the love of God and
love of neighbour as the path to eternal life. The latter has been emphasized in the
49

parable of the Good Samaritan that immediately preceded this pericope and hence the
presence of this pericope would be to prove the importance of the former.
169
This view
is supported by the fact that this pericope is followed by J esus teaching his disciples to
pray.
The Interpreters Bible opens discussion on the possibility that it could be because the
writer wants to warn of a concept of Christianity based solely on charitable deeds, but
hastens to add that it is doubtful and concludes that the authors motive could only be
guessed.
170
However it agrees with Fitzmyer that the main message of the pericope is
that listening to the word of God goes beyond the love of neighbour.
171

3.2.2.2 To Whom is it Addressed?
This episode is addressed to a Christian who is expected to balance between
contemplative and active elements of Christian life. According to J . Fitzmyer, to read
this episode as a commendation of contemplative life over and against active life is to
allegorize it beyond recognition and to introduce a distinction that was born only of later
preoccupation. The episode is addressed to the Christian who is expected to be
contemplativus(a) in actione.
172

3.2.3 Exegesis Proper
3.2.3.1 On Their Way
The passage begins with a travel motive as the words on their way point out. J esus
was on the way to J erusalem. The journey begins in Lk 9:51. Luke presents the latter
part of the ministry of J esus
173
from the perspective of a journey undertaken by him to
J erusalem where the passion narrative would unfold.

169
Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament, Bangalore: Theological Publications in
India, 2009, 245.
170
The Interpreter's Bible: A Commentary in Twelve Volumes. Vol. 8 (Luke, John). Tennessee:
Abingdon, 1982, 197.
171
J oseph A. Fitzmyer S.J , The Anchor Bible: The Gospel According to Luke X-XXIV, New York:
Doubleday and Company, 1986, 892.
172
Ibid., 892.
173
According to Raymond Brown and several other scholars, the first part of the ministry is the Ministry
in Galilee (4;14-9:50) and the second, J ourney to J erusalem (9:51-19:27). Cf. R. Brown, An Introduction
to the New Testament, 2009, 237 & 243.
50

3.2.3.2 A Certain Village

The name of this certain village is Bethany. We get the name Bethany when we
compare it with the J ohannine parallels in J n 11:1-14 and 12:1-8. In J n 11:1-14, the
chief characters of the above story are seen weeping for their brother Lazarus who was
dead and was raised to life by J esus. In J n 12:1-8, we see this family again where
Martha was seen serving, Lazarus at the table with J esus and Mary anointing J esus with
a costly perfume. The author may have left out the name to be true to his travel
perspective since geographically this village is two miles from J erusalem and does not
fit on the route to J erusalem from Galilee.
174
J esus often visited this village, mostly to
visit a particular family of two sisters and a brother, Martha
175
, Mary
176
and Lazarus
177

by name, in the village. The fact that Martha and Mary had Lazarus as their brother is
clear from the gospel of J ohn, but is evidently not mentioned in Luke. It is also clear
from the Gospels that this family had a special place in J esus circle of intimate
relationships.
178

3.2.3.3 The Woman Named Martha and Her Sister Named Mary
Between Mary and Martha, Martha seemed to be the mistress of the house, since the
passage mentions that she welcomed him into her home (v. 38, emphasis mine). The
two sisters of the story portray contrasting natures. Martha is shown as the perfect host
ever eager to serve. On the contrary, Mary is portrayed a perfect disciple finding her
position at the feet of the Lord (Lk, J n). Two attitudes of disciples in general are
reflected in Martha and Mary one of selfless service and the other of patient listening.
Yet the Lord seemed to have preferred the latter to the former. This naturally leads to
two other questions. First, what was Marthas mistake here in spite of her good
intentions? Secondly, what was Marys merit that she deserved praise?

174
Cf. R. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament, 2009, 245; J . Fitzmyer S.J , The Anchor Bible,
1986, 891.
175
For a brief biography of Martha, cf. Martha, in The Family Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. 11, New York:
Curtis Books, Inc., 1972, 2109-2111.
176
For a brief biography of Mary, cf. Mary of Bethany, in The Family Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. 12,
New York: Curtis Books, Inc., 1972, 2130-2133.
177
For a brief biography of Lazarus, cf. Lazarus, in The Family Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. 10, New
York: Curtis Books, Inc., 1972, 1917-1920.
178
E.g. in Jn 11:5 we read, J esus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. Again, in 11:33 we read, When
J esus saw her weeping ... he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. His sensitivity reaches its
climax when in 11:35, J esus began to weep.
51

The first of Marthas mistake according to William Barclay was that she displayed the
wrong type of kindness.
179
He tries to picturize J esus mental agony as he was on the
way to J erusalem (9:51). Amidst the din of the maddening and demanding crowd, J esus
might have been faced with an inner battle: that of surrendering his will to the will of
God. To quote Barclay, With the cross before him and with the inner tension in his
heart, he had turned aside to Bethany to find an oasis of calm away from the demanding
crowds if only for an hour or two; and that is what Mary gave him and what Martha, in
her kindness, did her best to destroy.
180
Martha did not understand J esus whereas Mary
did.
Secondly, as E. J . Tinsley points out, Martha lacked attention which brings about
insight; Mary had it and was praised. He reminds us that the Lord himself has warned
his disciples and eventually all of us regarding the necessity to pay attention, Then pay
attention to how you listen; for to those who have, more will be given; and from those
who do not have, even what they seem to have will be taken away (Lk 8:18).
181

It is William Neil who tries to picturise Martha in a positive light and point out her
actual fault. According to him, the positive side of Martha is that she is a practical, busy
person without whom life would soon come to a standstill.
182
Hence, that is not for
which she is blamed. Rather she is blamed for being anxious. I tell you, do not worry
about your life...Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap nor gather into
barns... (Mt 6:26). Marthas anxiety could be compared to that of the Pauline married
woman who is anxious about worldly affairs (1 Cor 7:34). On the other hand, Mary
could give undivided attention to the Lord (1 Cor 7:35).
183

3.2.3.4 Sat at the Lords Feet
In the Eastern world especially in J ewish culture, sitting at someones feet indicates
discipleship.
184
Thus, Luke portrays Mary as a disciple learning at the feet of a master.
A footnote under the pericope in The Catholic Study Bible points out that it was

179
Cf. William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Luke, Bangalore: Theological Publications
in India, 1987, 142.
180
W. Barclay, The Daily Study Bible, 1987, 142.
181
E. J . Tinsley, The Cambridge Bible Commentary on the New English Bible, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1965, 121.
182
Cf. William Neil, One Volume Bible Commentary, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1973, 393.
183
The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 8, 1982, 197.
184
Cf. Lk 8:35, Acts 22:3. In India we have the custom of touching ones gurus feet before one publicly
debuts in the art one has learnt from the guru. Besides, the gurus feet is also touched to invoke blessings.
52

remarkable for the first-century Palestinian J udaism that a woman would assume the
posture of a disciple at the masters feet
185
and that it reveals the characteristic attitude
of J esus toward women in this Gospel.
The story of Martha and Mary has rightly been called a parable of discipleship.
186
The
picture of Martha and Mary as disciples could only be complete if we take a look at the
concept of discipleship in Luke. The characteristics of the typical Lucan disciple are as
follows:
1. They should have complete devotion to the Kingdom of God including
renunciation of family (9:57-62).
2. They are sent out to heal and to preach the approach of the Kingdom (10:9).
3. Their paths would be full of potential dangers (10:17-20).
4. Their words would be considered as the words of J esus (10:16).
5. Most importantly, they are not to have any anxiety, fully trusting in divine
providence and having utmost confidence in the generosity of others (12:22-34).
187

Thus the Martha and Mary story illustrates a discipleship that abandons the cares of this
world, even the obligation of hospitality for the one thing necessary to salvation: hearing
and keeping the words of J esus.
188
It teaches us that we can serve J esus in many ways,
but one thing is absolutely necessary for all disciples: listen to Christ when he is present.
This duty of discipleship takes precedence over all other concerns.
189

This particular passage has a great importance from a feminine point of view. Luke has
emphasized time and again the important role played by women in J esus ministry
especially in terms of discipleship. In 8:2-3 we see women travelling with J esus and the
apostles. In this particular passage, the place of women goes one step further to that of
discipleship.
190
In this particular situation at Bethany, J esus is seen to have transgressed
three J ewish cultural norms with regard to women: firstly, he was alone with women not
his relatives; secondly, a woman serves him (in the absence of male members of the

185
Cf. The Catholic Study Bible: The New American Bible, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990, 120,
footnote no. 10, 39.
186
E. J. Tinsley, The Cambridge Bible Commentary on the New English Bible, 1965, 121.
187
The Catholic Study Bible, 1990, RG 430.
188
Ibid., RG 430.
189
The New Community Bible, Catholic Edition, Mumbai: St. Pauls, 2008, 1833.
190
J . Fitzmyer S.J , The Anchor Bible, 1986, 892.
53

household) and thirdly, he teaches a woman in her own house.

191
Through this, Lukes
universalism comes to the fore as he demonstrates that J esus discipleship is open to
both men and women.
192

3.2.3.5 Distracted By Her Many Tasks
True to her nature, Martha was distracted by her many tasks and was rebuked by J esus
who reminded her, Martha Martha, you are concerned about many things, but of few
things there is need, indeed only one.
193
Marthas mistake was that she offered culinary
services to J esus when he wished to give her words of eternal life.
194

The Interpreters Bible gives a beautiful reading into the message of this pericope.
According to an article under this section, service and sitting and listening to the Word,
both needs to be rhythmic and alternative, not only to save our souls, but also to make
our service really helpful. The author of the article points out that here Martha is
distracted and she is not able to give effective service. She is anxious about many things
that do not really matter to her guests. The author points out that she is wasting her time
because she has lost her perspective in which all her activities must be viewed.
195
This
perspective was provided by the words spoken by J esus. Having lost the word, i.e. her
perspective, she has lost the reason of her work and the work itself ceases to be efficient
or creative.
196
The author makes a valuable point that human beings are really in much
more need of finding meaning in life than they are of life itself. He adds that our frantic,
nervous search for many things and our attempts to enjoy various novelties and
luxuries are efforts to make up for or to hide the lack of the one thing necessary.
3.2.3.6 Need of Only One Thing
The author of the above mentioned article in The Interpreters Bible tries to apply his
statement to a social perspective and says that while building an economic order of
justice is one of the most important aims in the world, it is not the only important or

191
Cf. Raymond E. Brown, SS., J oseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J ., and Roland E. Murphy, O.Carm. (ed.), The
New Jerome Biblical Commentary, Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, 2011, 702.
192
Cf. Ibid., 702.
193
There are different versions of this verse. The above verse is reproduced as found in NKJ V, Interlinear
Greek version, which according to the Interpreters Bible, is a translation of codices Sinaiticus and
Vaticanus. For a brief account of the various versions found in MSS, Cf. The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 8,
1982, 199.
194
Cf. The New Community Bible, 2008, 1833.
195
Cf. The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 8, 1982, 197.
196
Cf. Ibid., 198.
54

even the most important. According to him, it is one thing to see that every human
being has the fullest possible chance at life and another to see and enable others to see
that life is worth having a chance at.
197
He contrasts between bare existence and
existence made worthy of having through meaning making. Often we find that many are
willing to give up their lives for a cause that they feel close to themselves, something
that gives meaning not only to themselves, but also, from their perspective, to the human
race at large. In other words, sometimes, the only way to have life is to give it up.
198

And what is it that gives meaning to human life and existence? The author quotes Mt 4:4
for an answer: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from
the mouth of God. He reminds us of the primitive era, when for the first time human
beings took the first decisive step to distinguish themselves from animals. That element
of distinction was the faculty of communicating meaning through words. And ever
since, says the author, humans have had two kinds of benefactors: one kind who have
given him bread and the other who have given him words.
199
It is common knowledge
as to which of these is more respected and revered. Without bread we cannot live; but
without the words which give meaning to life, one would not even desire to live. The
author then recalls the incident in the fourth gospel where J esus after watching the
crowd depart disappointed and angry because they had asked for bread and he had none
to give, asked his disciples, Do you also wish to go away? The answer he received
was, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. (J n 6:66 ff) In the
words of the author, it is not only values beyond bread that are needed to give meaning
to our life, but values beyond life itself.
200

Some scholars point out that J esus was talking on two different planes, the lower
followed by the higher. They point out that few things
201
here could mean to be few
dishes pointing out that he would be content with a simple meal rather than an exquisite
one. And then he rises above the material plane when he says that Mary has chosen the
better portion. i.e. listening to the Word of God and assures that it will not be taken
away from her.
202

197
The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 8, 1982, 198.
198
Ibid., 198.
199
Ibid., 198.
200
Ibid., 198.
201
See the allusion to the different versions of this verse in footnote 21.
202
Cf. The Jerusalem Bible, London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1966, New Testament: 111, footnote j.
55

3.2.3.7 The Better Part that shall not be Taken Away

What is that better part, which J esus extols, which Mary has found and which will not be
taken away? All commentaries are unanimous in stating that it was the Word of God
manifest in J esus Christ that Mary found and that would not be taken away from her. As
Mary sat at the feet of the Lord, not only was she listening to the Word of God, but her
entire disposition was turned towards God and her sole intent was God-Realization. And
as a disciple seated at His feet, she was, as our novice master once put it being in the
presence of the Presence.
Scanning the Scriptures, we come across God himself who is said to be the portion of
His people. God is the portion to those who chose to serve Him. That is why the tribe of
Levi were denied a portion of the inheritance of the Promised Land, for the one who
promises Himself was their portion: Then the Lord said to Aaron, You shall have no
allotment in their Land, nor shall you have any share among them. I am your share and
your possession among the Israelites (Num 18:20; cf. J osh 13:14). We know that there
can be no better portion than God and good that He is, He is also the portion that lasts
forever as the psalmist sings: My flesh and my heart may waste away, but God is the
rock of my heart, my portion forever (Ps 73:26).
Mary has chosen the right portion, i.e. she has chosen God manifest in the person of
Christ. The choice that Mary has made is not like the different choices we make in our
day to day life, the most existential being the choice between good and bad. On the other
hand, Marys choice is not a choice made at any particular moment or for a temporary
situation which may change at another. Rather, it was her life choice, her fundamental
option. That may perhaps be why it shall not be taken away from her.
The above idea regarding the choice made by Mary comes to our mind as a first thought.
But on a second thought we may move to a deeper level of understanding that choice.
From the above argument the question that comes to mind is: Does that mean that
Martha had not made the fundamental choice in favour of God? Certainly she did. So
Marys credit is not so much in her fundamental option, but in her choice on the mode of
serving. Marys choice was not like that of choice faced by Moses (Heb 11:25), or that
which J oshua placed before the Israelites (J osh 24:15), or that made by David (Ps
119:30). Rather, Mary was faced with two good ways of responding to the presence of
56

Christ,
203
of which the way she chose was the better at that particular moment. For when
Revelation comes to the seeker, listening to it is the best service.
3.3. The Ivanian Precept in the Light of the Mary-Martha Story
To put the aforementioned idea in different words, the real contention here is not
between Martha the perfect host and Mary the perfect disciple as some commentaries
would have us believe, but it lies in the two different approaches in the discipleships of
Martha and Mary. While Martha sought to serve God, Mary sought to realize God.
Mar Ivanios echoes J esus preference when he says that Marys choice of realizing God
was nobler than Marthas choice of serving God. How, Why and such questions come to
our mind and this would be our object of discussion in the second part of the chapter
where we try to understand the Ivanian teaching in the light of the Mary-Martha story.
3.3.1 Towards a Right Interpretation of the Ivanian Maxim
In the General Introduction, we have seen the difficulty in translating the Ivanian maxim
under consideration. Another difficulty arises when we try to interpret this maxim. To a
non-Malayali reader, the translation, difficult as it is, seems ambiguous as to what it
really means. Malayali readers in English who are well versed in Ivanian thought may
often express dissatisfaction at the translation and may point out the various ambiguities
it may lead to in the interpretations. In the light of such difficulties, it is the need of the
hour to interpret the maxim rightly and to rule away the possible wrong interpretations.
Below we come across two wrong interpretations marked by a question mark at the end
and finally what could possibly be a right interpretation.
3.3.1.1 Realization of God is nobler than the Service of Humans (?)
This is one of the most common interpretations of the maxim. Here it is taken for
granted that the subject of service (diakonia) is always Human Beings, and that this
diakonia consists in involving in with apostolic activities that range from charitable
works to establishment of a just order. Realization of God then would be equated with
contemplation, meditation, liturgical prayer etc. and to say that the latter is nobler than
the former would amount to placing the contemplative life on a higher plane than that of
the active life. But this is not really what Mar Ivanios intended, because, even in the

203
Cf. Robert J amieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary,
Bible Hub, 1882, http://biblehub.com/commentaries/jfb/luke/10.htm (accessed August 4, 2014).
57

height of contemplation on the serene hills of Bethany, Mar Ivanios himself went around
serving the poor and the marginalized, preaching to them the Word of God and
endowing them with dignity. In other words, it is a misinterpretation to say that Mar
Ivanios asks us to be contemplatives rather than active.
3.3.1.2 Contemplation is nobler than liturgical service (?)
This could be an extreme interpretation. Here the focus is on God: realizing God
against serving God. We have already seen how in common thinking and praxis
realization of God is synonymous with contemplation, meditation, yoga etc. But then
what does it mean to serve God? Certainly one of the ways to understand diakonia is in
terms of liturgical or priestly service. Thus we read often that Aaron and his descendants
served the Lord (Num 4:27, 8:11; Lev 10:11; Ezra 6:18; Lk 1:8?). In the Catholic
Church too, a deacon is the one who serves at the altar through the offering of incense
and other duties. There is a school of spirituality that gives precedence to meditation
over liturgical services since they doubt the efficacy of ritual and symbolic actions. Does
Mar Ivanios belong to that school? Did he really mean that contemplation is nobler than
liturgical service when uttered the above maxim?
This could not be a right interpretation since first of all, Mar Ivanios was very particular
about liturgical practices. He insisted upon liturgical reforms in the Malankara Orthodox
Church so as to make liturgy more meaningful and experiential to the common people.
Secondly, we notice that the above interpretation has nothing to do with human beings at
all. But Mar Ivanios bases his theology of deification and the spirituality of union with
God on anthropology itself, because his contemplation on God begins with the human
capacity for deification.
204

3.3.1.3 Theosis as True Relationship with God Rather Than Diakonia
Here relation with God and the service of God are taken to be two approaches in
discipleship as that of the choice faced by Mary and Martha in Lk 10. We have already
seen how their choice was not between good and bad, God and evil etc. but between two
ways of expressing their discipleships. Here it is implied that God and Human Beings

204
Cf. Archbishop Mar Ivanios, Blossoms of Meditation: A Book of Meditation for the Malankara
Faithful, The Complete Works of Archbishop Mar Ivanios 4, ed. by Dr. Antony Valiyavilayil OIC, trans.
by Samuel Thaikkoottathil, Trivandrum: Cause of Canonization of Mar Ivanios, 2006, 25. We have
developed the theological anthropology from the Ivanian point of view in section 3.2.6.1 Deification as
the Ultimate End of Human Beings: An Ivanian Vision.
58

are taken as synonyms and is taken for granted that loving God and serving Him amount
to actually loving and serving ones fellow beings: Truly I tell you, just as you did it to
one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me (Mt. 25: 40). In
fact, the Ivanian maxim presupposes such a synonymous approach. The conflict
therefore, is not between ones duty towards God and fellow beings, in fact there is not
conflict at all. For Mary has chosen the path of theosis (daivasambadhanam/God-
realization) when she sat at the feet of the Lord and Martha that of diakonia, both of
which are integral part of discipleship. The real reason as we have seen why J esus
rebuked Martha was that her diakonia was distracted and worried over many things
and that only one thing was necessary. Though diakonia is an integral part of
discipleship, more often than not it has the danger of being distracted by the many
things at hand. We are again reminded of Pope Francis warning of Temptations faced
by Pastoral Workers in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelium Gaudium and Mar
Ivanios caution in founding a missionary society since he felt that in due course of time,
selfishness and craving for recognition seize the hearts of its members.
205
Hence,
diakonia needs to be transformed through theosis in order to be effective and to have the
right perspective. Diakonia is only one aspect of discipleship, an aspect that needs to be
a natural outflow of the process of deification which is the final end of human life.
3.3.2 God Realization, Union with God and Deification (Theosis)
We have already seen in the General Introduction about the dynamic nature of the
concept of God-Realization. Though words such as God Realization, Union with God,
Deification, Divinization etc. are used in different ways by different traditions, they all
mean the same thing: namely transformation of the human nature into the divine.
Therefore, henceforth in this paper, though these words, as mentioned above, are used
elsewhere in different contexts, all will be considered synonymous: human being
acquiring the divine nature, i.e. the very idea intended by Mar Ivanios when he used the
term daivasambadhanam or God Realization.
The aim of mans life is union (HENOSIS) with God and deification (THEOSIS).
206
It is the
Greek Fathers who use this concept more than the Latin Fathers, one reason why the
idea of deification is more integral to the orthodox theology than the western.

205
Mar Ivanios, Girideepam, 2007, 61; we have already seen it in detail in section 1.3.2.2 The Second
Thought in this paper.
206
Cf. A Monk of the Eastern Church, Orthodox Spirtiuality: An Outline of the Orthodox Ascetical and
Mystical Tradition, London: SPCK, 1978, 22.
59

Deification or Union with God does not mean a pantheistic identity but that human
beings are called to participate in the divine life.
207
This doctrine is based on many
passages of both OT and NT (cf. 2 Pet 1:4; Ps 82:6 the psalm quoted by our Lord in J n
10:34), and it is essentially the teaching both of St. Paul, though he tends to use the
language of filial adoption (cf. Rom 8:9-17; Gal 4:5-7), and of the Fourth Gospel (cf. J n
17:21-23).
Another term used for deification/divinization is Christification. This is based on the
idea that there is a christological structure to human being and the destiny of humanity
is to be found in Christ.
208
Karkkainen quotes Kenneth Paul Weshewho expressed that
theosis is the mystery of human natures perfection in Christ, not its alteration or
destruction, because theosis is the mystery of eternal life in communion with God in the
divine Logos.
209
The Fathers of the Church like Irenaeus were among the first to
develop the idea. According to Irenaeus, The word of God, our Lord J esus Christ... did
through His transcendent Love, become what we are, that He might bring us to be even
what He is Himself.
210
Athanasius echoes the same idea when he says, He, indeed,
assumed humanity that we might become God.
211
The patristic doctrine of theosis can
be briefly formulated as follows:
Divine life has manifested itself in Christ. In the church as the body of Christ, man
has a share in this life. Man partakes thereby of the divine nature (2 Pet 1:4).
This nature, or divine life, permeates the being of man like a leaven in order to
restore it to its original condition as imago Dei.
212

In recent times we have the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) also teaching
about deification:
The Word became flesh to make us partakers of the divine nature. For this is
why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that
man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine
sonship, might become a son of God. For the Son of God became man so that

207
Cf. A Monk of the Eastern Church, Orthodox Spirtiuality, 1978, 22
208
Cf. Panayiotis Nellas, Deification in Christ: Orthodox Perspectives on the Nature of the Human
Person, trans. by Norman Russell. New York: St. Vladmir's Seminary Press, 1997, 25.
209
Kenneth Paul Weshe, Eastern Orthodox Spirituality: Union with God in Theosis, Theology Today
56, no. 1 (1999) 31; cited from Veli-Matti Karkkainen, One with God, 2004, 25.
210
Irenaeus, The Scandal of the Incarnation: Irenaeus Against the Heresies Book V, intr. by Hans Urs
Von Balthasar, trans. by J ohn Saward, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1990, 14.
211
Athanasius, St. Athanasius on the Incarnation: The Treatise De Incarnatione Verbi Dei 54, trans. &
ed. A Religious of C.S.M.V., Intr. by C. S. Lewis, Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimirs Seminary Press,
1996. 93.
212
Tuomo Mannermaa, Theosis as a Subject of Finnis Luther Research, Pro Ecclesia 4, no.1, 1995, 42;
cited from Veli-Matti Karkkainen, One with God, 2004, 25.
60

we might become God. The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us

sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men
gods.
213

CCC further goes on to say: Those who die in Gods grace and friendship and are
perfectly purified live forever with Christ. They are like God forever, for they see Him
as He is face to face (cf. 1 J n 3:2; 1 Cor 13:12; Rev 22:4).
214

3.3.3 Deification as Ultimate Goal of Created Beings
Deification (theosis) is, for the Eastern Churches, the goal of every Christian.
215

Theosis as such is the goal, it is the purpose of life, and it is considered achievable only
through a interplay of two unequal, but equally necessary, forces: divine grace and
human will. Will is the chief human instrument of union with God. For intimate union
with God, the human will needs to be surrendered and conformed to the divine will.
216

But our human will being week needs to be upheld and sustained by the grace of God. It
was Clement of Alexandria, who coined the word synergy (cooperation) in order to
express the action of these two conjoined energies: grace and human will.
217

3.3.3.1 Deification as the Ultimate End of Human Beings: An Ivanian Vision
Mar Ivanios was well versed in Eastern and especially Orthodox theology as a result of
which deification of humanity was close to his spirituality. In fact, it was its integral
part and foundation. He had a clear vision about the ultimate aim of human beings. In
fact, this very topic is the subject chosen as the first step for the ladder of meditation he
has described in his book Dhyanakusumangal (Blossoms of Meditation). He calls the
meditation on the ultimate end of human being as the foundation (adistanam or
adharam) of spiritual life. According to him, the foundation of spiritual life is to
understand carefully what the ultimate end of life is.
218

In the opinion of Mar Ivanios, we ought to know why God created us. We should
determine to abandon fully everything that would deviate us from our ultimate end and
not to have attachment with those things which we are not certain whether they would

213
Catechism of the Catholic Church, Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, 2009, 460.
214
Ibid., 1023.
215
Cf. Giorgis I. Mantzaridis, The Deification of Man, Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimirs Seminary
Press, 1984, 7.
216
Cf. A Monk of the Eastern Church. Orthodox Spirtiuality: An Outline of the Orthodox Ascetical and
Mystical Tradition. London: SPCK, 1978, 23.
217
Ibid., 24.
218
Mar Ivanios, Blossoms of Meditation, 2006, 25.
61

lead us towards that end. At the same time, we should earnestly love and utilize those
things that we are sure will lead us towards the ultimate end for that very reason. Mar
Ivanios explains that God created human being to glorify, honour and serve him and
thus to attain salvation.
219
There are three fundamental truths about human being in
this sentence:
1. Human being came from God
2. Human being belongs to God
3. Human being is created for God
Thus, for Mar Ivanios, God is my principal foundation, my Lord and my ultimate
spirit.
220
He expounds the ultimate end of human beings on the basis of these three
truths.
3.2.6.1.1 Human Being Came from God
Human beings were created in Gods own image and likeness (Gen 1:27) with an
intellect capable of grasping things and a heart capable of loving goodness.
221
We were
created from a state of nothingness. But our creation was not a chance beginning. We
came into existence neither because of our parents nor by ourselves. It was God who
created us from nothing because only God is capable of making something out of
nothing (cf. Ps 119:73; 139:5). However, God did not create us because He was in need
of us. God, in the abundance of his holy love, created me.
222
God has created us with
an immeasurable love in His image and likeness.
3.2.6.1.2 Human Being Belongs to God
Since we come from God and since God is the cause of our existence, we belong to
God. Since God is our creator, He is our Lord and owner. We cannot deny this truth.
223

J ust as a father has right over his children, or as a king has authority over his subjects,
so does God has a right and authority over us. God has all rights and obligations over us
because there is nothing in us that does not belong to God. All our powers, abilities,
energy and time belong to Gods eternal dominion.

219
Mar Ivanios, Blossoms of Meditation, 2006, 27.
220
Ibid., 27.
221
Ibid., 28.
222
Ibid., 28.
223
Cf. Ibid., 29.
62

3.2.6.1.3 Human Being is Created for God

God is not only our creator and master. He is our ultimate end.
224

God, the supreme intelligent should have a purpose for creating me. God, who is
full of bliss and who is the embodiment of all virtues, created me only for the
glory of his own sacred name. Hence, I should know him, love him and serve
him.
225

God is the beginning and the end of everything; the Alpha and the Omega (cf. Rev 1:6).
Only the omnipotent and ever loving God can satisfy our longing to know and love, our
thirst for eternal bliss. This is how Mar Ivanios proves that the ultimate end of human
beings is no one but God. And hence, the realization of God is nobler than the service
God.
3.3.3.2 Deification of Cosmos through Humans
Any talk on deification cannot rule out the reality of sin and corruption that came into
the world through the sin of human beings. We know Pauls saying about the efficacy of
the sacrifice of Christ in Rom 5: 12-19:
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came
through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned (v.12) ... Therefore
just as one mans trespass led to condemnation for all, so one mans act of
righteousness leads to justification and life for all. For just as by the one mans
disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one mans obedience the
many will be made righteous. (v.18-19).
We could take this comparison to another level by making Adam and Christ both as
representatives of the human race. Thus we could say that just as the world was
corrupted through the sin of human race, so also the world would be deified through the
deification of the human race. Eastern anthropology accepts punishment, death, and
mortality, not as Gods retribution or revenge for sin as much as pedagogy. The human
beings finitude would make repentance well up within her, the possibility of free love
to God, the Creator and the source of all life. And, Gods plan has not changed; He
always desires that man should be united with Him and transfigure the whole earth.
226

As microcosm the human being represents and assimilates in him/her the whole

224
Cf. Mar Ivanios, Blossoms of Meditation, 2006, 33.
225
Ibid., 33.
226
Constantine N. Tsirpanlis, Introduction to Eastern Patristic Thought and Orthodox Theology,
Theology and Life Series 30, Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1991, 46, cited in Veli-Matti Karkkainen,
One with God, 2004, 20.
63

macrocosm, the creation. What happens to human beings, happens to creation. God is
the Saviour of all.
3.3.4 Deification as Transfiguration of Human Nature
Transfiguration as an idea is very dear to the Eastern Church. Here by transfiguration
what we intend is a total transformation. As Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia says,
Christianity signifies not merely an adherence to certain dogmas, not merely an
exterior imitation of Christ through moral effort, but direct union with the living God,
the total transformation of the human person by divine grace and glory what the Greek
Fathers termed deification or divinization (theosis, theopoiesis).
227
Below we try to
look into the two models of relationships human persons could have with God. From
our exegesis of Luke 10:38-42 and from the theological insights derived above, we try
to understand how the latter is more transformative than the former.
3.3.4.1 Serving God: A Master-Servant Relationship
The very word service conjures the image of a master-servant relationship. Here the
problem is not that God dominates over human beings or that human beings are forced
to be submissive. But the issue that a master and a slave are two different individuals
having two different intellects and wills. Hence, it is not necessary that there would be
agreement all the time on all matters. Yet here, in the master-servant relationship, the
human will is dominated by the divine will. One may not do something because one is
convinced of it rather because it is commanded to be done. One realizes the importance
of diakonia only because it is pointed out to one and not because the need is realized by
oneself. In other words, true and selfless diakonia encompassed by love can flow only
from an individual who is on the path of theosis.
3.3.4.2 Realizing God: Father-Son Relationship and a Merging of Identities
The image of Father-Son relationship conjures images of J esus relation with his Abba.
God the Father and God the Son, though two different persons with distinct identities,
are united in an all-encompassing loving relationship that it seems their identities are
merged, so much that J esus could say confidently, Whoever has seen me has seen the
Father (J n 14:9).

227
Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, Foreword to G. Mantzaridis, The Deification of Man, 1984, 7 (emphasis
his).
64

From the example of J esus who is our archetype,

228
we learn that union with God
involves the merger of identities and will. Deification then is the process through which
the human person becomes more and more like God, (manifest in human form as J esus
Christ) that he/she could say with Paul, it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who
lives in me (Gal 2:20).
The process of Deification brings about a total transformation of the human person.
Union with God does not bring about a loss of identity but a gaining of divine
identity through the loss of a pseudo-identity imprinted on us through sin. Again, Paul
can be quoted here, So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old
has passed away; see, everything has become new! (2 Cor 5:17) Through deification
we regain our divine identity lost in Paradise, what Ephrem refers to as a robe of glory
and what Paul refers to as putting on the new man, you have stripped off the old self
with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed
in knowledge according to the image of its creator (Col 3:9-11, c.f. Eph 4:22-24). A
human being thus transformed, now begins to look at the whole of reality from the
divine perspective. Thus, through deification, our eyes become Gods eyes and we see
the pain and suffering in the world on the one hand and the divine beauty of hope on the
other. Our hearts become the hearts of God so that it no longer harbours selfish desires
and hatred. God loves the world through our hearts. Our hands become Gods hands.
God serves the world through our hands. Thus, theosis transforms the very perspective
of our diakonia, so much that we realize that it is no longer our diakonia, but Gods.
3.4. Conclusion
We see that the Martha-Mary story of Luke 10:38-42 which finds its resonance in the
Ivanian teaching is not a favouring of the contemplative life over the active life, rather it
provides a perspective for a more effective Christian active life that is rooted in divine
life. Both the story and the teaching urges the Christian disciple engaged in works of
missionary or charitable nature, to be contemplatives in action so as not to be
distracted by the attractions of the world. Many often in pastoral life, the choice may not
be between the right and the wrong, good and bad, but between two or more things that
may be right and good at the same time. It is in such a situation that we need a

228
For a discussion on the Eastern understanding of Christ as the Archetype, Cf. P. Nellas, Deification in
Christ, 1997, 34.
65

perspective that would help us to stick on to the one thing necessary for us as disciples.
In the Section 1.3.2. Insights of a Mind Seeking Solutions, while dealing with the thought
process that motivated Mar Ivanios towards the spiritual discovery that realization of
God is nobler than the service of God we found how Mar Ivanios was cautious in
founding a missionary society. Rather he opted for a monastic order since he believed
that through total renunciation, the monks of his order may discover that one thing
necessary and that this one thing necessary may give them the perspective and
direction to achieve the goal of the evangelization of India. In the next chapter we shall
aim at applying such a perspective in the missionary context of India.
















66

CHAPTER IV
A DIAKONIA THAT LEADS TO THEOSIS: THE CHRISTIAN
MISSION IN INDIA

4.0. Introduction: Mission as Diakonia
Christian mission needs to be seen in terms of service (diakonia) of the disciples of
Christ to all those whom they encounter; and in serving the other, Christian disciples are
serving God Himself. This is clearly expressed by Christ when he said, Truly I tell you,
just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it
to me (Mt 25: 40). Thus a diakonia of humanity is the diakonia of God Himself.
Christian diakonia is not service for the sake of service, it is the outflow of the
disciples encounter with Christ who himself came to serve and not to be served (Mk
10:45; 20:28). Only a disciple who has placed himself/herself at the feet of Christ and is
on the path to deification (theosis) can effectively render this service (diakonia) or else
like Martha, be distracted by many things.
4.1. The Church as Missionary
We know that the Church is missionary by its very nature. By being missionary, the
Church participates in the missionary work of God Himself who sent His only Son, who
in turn sent the Holy Spirit in order to sanctify and deify all humanity and to restore it to
the glorious relationship that was lost in Paradise. The Son who gathered disciples unto
himself sent them forth as apostles into the world giving them the mandate, Go into the
whole world; preach the Gospel to all creatures, (Mk 16:15) Go therefore and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit (Mt 28:19). The Church as the community of disciples continues to
follow the mission commandment of Christ and proclaim the gospel, i.e. the good news
of salvation through the Incarnate God, unto the ends of the world and time. For anyone
who has encountered Christ, proclamation of the Gospel becomes mandatory, an inner
compulsion: For if I preach the Gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For
necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel (1 Cor 9:16).
67

4.2. Motive for Mission:

4.2.1. Christian Vision of Human Beings
The Christian Vision of Human Beings as we have already seen, flows from the
Yahwistic account of creation, where humanity is portrayed to have been created in the
Image and Likeness of God. This is in opposition to the then contemporary myths
wherein humanity was seen to be born out of some war among gods, or as slaves to
serve the gods etc. The biblical view of humans in terms of the Divine Reflection is
liberating and dignifying. This divine-human relationship is universal in the sense that it
is the same for all human beings regardless of ancestry, nationality, age or gender, caste
or creed. Further, God endows humanity with freedom and dominion (understood in
terms of partnership with him) over all created reality. But never in the Bible do we see
that God gave human beings the right to have dominion over one another.
Another liberating anthropological view is derived from the fact that God assumed
human flesh and nature to become one among us. Through this he sanctified human
existence and made us once again partakers of divine life, the initial privilege which
was distorted by sin. Thus human beings, by the very fact of being humans, deserve
dignity and respect. In short, we may say that the Christian vision of the human person
is that first of all, the human person is created in the image and likeness of God and
when this was distorted God took on human likeness and image in order to restore
humanity to divinity.
4.2.2. Christian Eschatology
The Second Vatican Council teaches us that the entire humanity has one goal and
destiny, i.e. God. All people comprise a single community, and have single origin,
since God made the whole human race dwell over the entire face of the earth. One also
is their final Goal: God. His providence, His manifestation of goodness, and His saving
designs extend to all human persons.
229
This ultimate end of human life in this world is
deification as we have already seen in the last chapter and in this way deification
according to the Eastern theology is synonymous with salvation.
230
This Eastern

229
NA 1, cited from K. Pathil, Trends in Indian Theology, 2005, 70.
230
Cf. Veli-Matti Karkkainen, One with God, 2004, 17.
68

understanding of the ultimate end of human beings finds resonance among the
eschatological vision of the major religions in the context of India.
231

But deification, as we understand it, is not an other-worldly reality, nor is salvation. It
begins here and now since the Kingdom has already come into this world.
232
Hence
the salvation brought about by J esus and the socio-economic liberation of humanity is
deeply connected. One cannot experience salvation unless one experiences true freedom
and liberation. The vision of a deified humanity begins with the experience of a
dignified humanity. Hence the Christian diakonia of mission begins with imparting
the hope of salvation that can be experienced first of all here and now and the further
hope that what we experience here and now is the foreshadow of that which is to come.
This has been clearly spelt out by the Indian Theological Association, in one of their
meetings,
The mission of the Church is realized by working for the salvation, which has
been realized in the person of J esus and at his death and resurrection. In her
mission the Church has to free herself from sin and widen her vision of God, man
and the world, freeing herself which often keeps her prisoner of the structures
within which she operates, immersed in her own internal problems without being
aware of the real salvific needs of the world.
233

4.3. The Indian Context
Cardinal Shans great list of the Asian realities presented by him just before the historic
Seventh Plenary Assembly of FABC that met at the dawn of the New Millennium is an
eye-opener to everyone who wishes to commit themselves both to theologizing and
mission-oriented diakonia in the Asian and eventually Indian Context. From the caste
and feudal systems to unequal distribution of wealth, to globalization to child abuse,
exploitation, problem of refugees, violence, free sex, individualism, destruction of
natural resources, etc. the Cardinal points out at least 50 to 60 sets of problems that the
Asian people are facing and calls for a renewed awareness in the Church and also to
have new considerations with regard to new missionary and pastoral plans and the

231
Union with God: after the cycle of birth and death the soul realizes that it was one with the Brahman.
Terms like Aham Bramhasmi, Tatvamsi etc. are pointers to this.
232
Cf. K. Pathil, Trends in Indian Theology, 2005, 68.
233
From the fourth annual meeting of the Indian Theological Association held at Bangalore in 1980
which discussed the topic, Understanding Salvation in the Indian Context cited from, Jacob Parappally,
MSFS (ed.), Theologizing in Context: Statements of the Indian Theological Association. Bangalore:
Dharmaram Publications, 2002, 59.
69

formation of new apostles capable of meeting theses new situations in a new

evangelization.
234

We have already spoken of the liberating theological vision founded in the Bible and
Christian tradition. But in the Indian context, we find that this liberating vision of
human person is in opposition to the theological-anthropological vision prevalent in the
ethos of the dominant religion here that demeans a section of the society and justifies
the structures that continue to demean them, namely the caste system.
235
Such an
understanding is already on the verge of change in the scenario of the modern
understanding of the human person that has emerged with the onset of democratic
values. But due to the deep impact of religiosity in India, divine will has more say than
human declarations and therefore an alternative theological anthropology is the need of
the hour. Thus the primary task of the Indian Christians diakonia of mission is to
emphasise the Christian vision of human beings through which an egalitarian society
can be envisaged.
On the positive side Asia, especially India, share a great religious tradition with India
being the cradle of several of the most significant religions of the world, many of them
which are now found predominantly in the Asian countries. Besides, the world also
looks to Asia, including India for the rich cultural traditions and great contributions in
the fields of literature, art and music. A theology that ignores such realities cannot be
called for.
4.3.1. Plurality and a Richness of Diversity
A major feature of the Indian milieu is its diversity and plurality whether it be in the
matter of religion, culture, tradition, language, or ethnicity. Thus the Indian scenario
presents a colourful mosaic of the theme unity in diversity. There seems to be no one
factor uniting all Indians except may be the constitution, administrative system, a

234
Edmund Chia, Interreligious Dialogue in Pursuit of Fullness of Life in Asia: From the Special
Assembly for Asia of the Synod of Bishops to FABC VII, FABC Papers, No. 92k. 2000, 3.
235
Cf. Purushasuktha, Rigveda, Hymn 10.90. The Purusha Sukta of the Rig Veda refers to the origin of
the caste. It is said in the Purusha Sukta that when the Gods divided the Creator (Purusha), the Brahmana
was his mouth; the Rajanya (Kshatriya) was made his arms; the Vaishya was his thighs; and the Sudra
sprang from his feet. It has been pointed out by some scholars that the Purusha Sukta is a testimony to the
prevalent caste system in the Rig Vedic Age. While the first three castes mentioned in the Purusha Sukta
were indentified with the limbs of the Creator, the Sudra merely spang from his feet. An inferior status
was therefore assigned to the Sudras and a distinction was made between them and the first three castes in
the Sukta.
70

national flag or other similar things that are only agreed upon. We have a language we
call the national language which more than half of the populace doesnt either speak or
know. On the one hand if this is a richness of diversity, on the other hand then it is a
melting-pot simmering and ready to boil over the slightest communal tension. In such a
situation, the Christian diakonia is challenged to be creative and all encompassing.
4.3.2. Socio-Economic and Political Dynamics
Fr. Kurien Kunnumpuram, S.J . in his book Towards a New Humanity: Reflections on
the Churchs Mission in India Today deplores the socio-economic and political system
of the country that deprives the bulk of the population of their right to a decent human
living.
236
It is true that our nation has made rapid economic progress particularly due to
the massive industrial growth in the last few decades. Today India is the tenth most
industrialized country in the world, an achievement, made within three decades. The
GNP has grown, quality consumer goods are available everywhere, and there has been
the resurgence of a rich middle class who have grown in number from 10% to about
30%. But the stark contrast is that on the other side we still have a large number of poor
who still struggle to make a living. It is no wonder that Indias place is 128 from the
point of view of social development.
237
The gulf between the rich and the poor is ever
increasing day by day.
Socially India is still reeling under the caste system, even though it has been
constitutionally and legally abolished. The lower castes including the Dalits and Tribals,
are both socially and economically discriminated against. Reservations which aim to
uplift the lower strata of our society are often frowned upon by the middle class. The
weaker and the marginalized sections of the society are often sidelined and any benefits
from the government are usurped by the middlemen. The plight of women who are daily
subject to domestic abuse and sexual violence is increasing by the day. All this makes
the Christian diakonia a challenging one.
Politically, India is in a better state than most countries of the world with a vibrant
democratic system which is founded upon a strong Constitution. This Constitution
safeguards the rights of all Indian citizens. But sadly most of it remains on paper since

236
Cf. Kunnumpuram, S.J ., Kurien. Towards a New Humanity: Reflections on the Church's Mission in
Indai Today. Mumbai: St. Pauls, 2005, 10.
237
Cf. Walter Fernandes, Indias Socio-Economic Situation, in Paul Puthanangady (ed), Yesu Krist
Jayanti 2000, p. 200; and above statistics cited from K. Pathil, Trends in Indian Theology, 2005, 23.
71

the poor and marginalized are illiterate and therefore unaware of their rights. They are
greatly exploited by the government, rich MNCs, land sharks etc. all of who are hand in
glove to snatch away their rights. The Indian Christian diakonia must do its best to
eradicate all these powers of domination by empowering the marginalized through
education and other means so that they too may lead a dignified life.
4.3.3. Hunger, Violence and Poverty
We have already had a glimpse of the issue of poverty when we analysed the economic
situation of India. As this is a major issue in our context, it needs more consideration
than just a passing remark. Fr. Kurien Kunnumpuram, S.J . in the aforementioned book
observes that as many as 40% of the population live on or below the poverty line, a
situation aggravated by the fact that it is not readily admitted that this is due to a human
cause. According to him this situation is a stark pointer to social injustice and an unjust
distribution of wealth which subjects them forever to lead a sub-human existence. He
contrasts this poverty with the Christian poverty and the poverty of the Indian spiritual
tradition which is understood as detachment from material possessions. While the latter
is voluntarily chosen, the former is inflicted upon people against their will.
238
Fr. J acob
Parapally observes that the words such as poverty and under-development do not
convey the seriousness of the situation. Poverty needs to be understood in terms of
extreme hunger, malnutrition and related diseases. He estimates that every year one
million children die due to malnutrition in India alone.
239

This situation of poverty and hunger ensures that India be a hotbed of violence. The
politicians and influential people exploit the condition of the poor and often instigate
them to violence. Bloodshed in the name of ethnicity, language, religion etc. has now
become common place. Most of the violence can be traced to political and economic
interests which is made worse by the criminalization of politics and the political
involvement of criminals.
240

4.3.4. Religiosity, Religious Plurality and Fundamentalism
The multiplicity of religious traditions in India has already been dealt with from the
perspective of plurality in a previous section. Here the focus is on the deep religiosity of

238
Cf. K. Kunnumpuram, Towards a New Humanity, 2005, 10.
239
Cf. J . Parapally, MSFS, Theologizing in Context, 2002, 31.
240
K. Kunnumpuram, Towards a New Humanity, 2005, 12.
72

the Indian people which makes it a fertile ground for the Word of God to be implanted.
The hearts of the Indian people are like the fertile soil in the parable which receives the
Word and produces fruit thirty, sixty and hundred fold (Mk 4:8). India has not only
given birth to religion like Hinduism, J ainism, Buddhism and Sikhism but also
welcomed J udaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Islam to its soil.
241
Today most of
these religions have evolved according to the needs of the times and many evil practices
such as sati, child marriage, temple prostitution, animal sacrifices, polygamy etc. have
all been left along the way. In the reformed Hindu ethos, service to the poor, needy, the
sick and the suffering is now equated to service to God. Moreover, due to modern
thinking and other influences, all religions have become to an extent secularised in the
sense that they have turned their attention more and more from the next world to this
world. They are now very much deeply involved in the concrete lives of human person
and problems of the society and their welfare in this world. The Indian religious
scenario is characterised by secularism which is not the negation of God but equal
treatment to all religions on the part of the State. It is the acceptance of religious
pluralism and freedom to believe, practice, and propagate any religion. Unfortunately
today Indian secularism is facing a serious threat from the movements of religious
fundamentalism and communalism.
242

4.3.5. Moral Decline
The decline in moral values is marked by an increase in corruption in the country.
Honesty no longer seems to be the best policy. Scams related to large-scale corruption
have become the order of the day. As an excerpt from a famous book goes, Who is not
corrupt in India? Corruption is the rule, not the exception, at every level of public life in
India ... Taking bribe and giving bribe is so common in India which is one of the worst
corrupt countries in the world.
243

Moral decline of a sexual nature is further threatening the traditional institution of the
family which was the fundamental guardian of social values. Consequentially crimes of
different degrees and nature are increasing and the number of adult crimes like rape
committed by juveniles increasing steadily. From divorce, adultery and pre-marital

241
J . Parapally, MSFS, Theologizing in Context, 2002, 33.
242
K. Pathil, Trends in Indian Theology, 2005, 20.
243
V.T. Rajshakar, Corruption Scandal Further Weakens Vajpayee, Dalit Voice, Vol. 20, No. 9, (April
16-31, 2001), p.3; cited from Samuel J ayakumar, Mission Reader: Historical Models for Wholistic
Mission in the Indian Context, Delhi: ISPCK, 2002, 156.
73

relationships to drug abuse, internet and other addictions etc. a large number of
problems are increasingly affecting the Indian populace and many seek professional
help to solve their problems. Such a situation poses a pastoral emergency to the Indian
Christian diakonia that seeks to implant the gospel into Indian hearts.
4.4. Some Theological Issues in Mission in India Today
4.4.1. New Understanding of Religions, Channels of Revelation and Ways of
Salvation?
The Second Vatican Council has opened the doors of possibility of a new approach of
the Churchs understanding and positive appreciation towards other religions. We shall
shortly look into the historical evolution of understanding of the other religions from the
part of the Church when we deal with the approaches. In the present scenario, we find
that the plurality of religions is an accepted reality not only as an irreversible historical
fact, but also as a theological principle.
244
Today the Church acknowledges the fact
that the origin of religions is not only from the different historical and cultural contexts
and the variety of human responses, but from the inexhaustible mystery of God who
cannot be contained in one religion.
245
Thus, it can be safely concluded that since God
is the origin of all religions (even religions that do not acknowledge Him) and that He is
present in all people especially who earnestly seek Him, all religions act as ways of
salvation to their followers. The Second Vatican Council through the document Lumen
Gentium also teaches that salvation is available to all those who strive to do the will of
God as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience.
246
Further Nostra
Aetate reminds us that there is a ray of truth which enlightens all
247
, in all religions
and exhorts every Christian to acknowledge, preserve and promote the spiritual and
moral goods in other religions.
248
In the light of such a positive approach, the very idea
of mission needs to be looked upon in a new light.
4.4.2. Jesus Christ as the Unique Savior
This theological issue is one which finds the Vatican authorities and the Asian bishops
at loggerheads. If other religions of the world are channels of salvation to their

244
K. Pathil, Trends in Indian Theology, 2005, 66.
245
Ibid., 66.
246
Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium (November 21 1964), in Vatican
Council II (Vol. I): The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, edited by A. Flannery, Mumbai: St.
Pauls, 2010, 16.
247
NA 2.
248
NA 2.
74

respective followers, how can we say that Christ is the one and the only Saviour? For
the Vatican, the issue is doctrinal: a reaffirmation of J esus Christ as the one and only
Saviour, while for the Asian bishops it is a pastoral issue which springs from their lived
experience: How to ensure the Church in Asia is faithful to Christ, while at the same
time be in harmonious relationships with the many great and living religions of Asia?
249

The Catholic Church through Vatican II and the subsequent teachings of Popes has
never compromised on the issue of the centrality and uniqueness of J esus Christ. Nostra
Aetate, after offering many positive insights into other religions, solemnly declares that
It is in Christ, the way the truth and the life, the human persons find the fullness of
religious life; in Him God has reconciled all things to himself.
250
Several Indian
theologians have come up with adequate responses to this question through their
insightful articles and books and yet the debate continues: Can we meaningfully preach
Christ as the unique saviour in the multi-religious context of India and Asia? The Indian
missionary diakonia needs to be aware of such an issue and respond to it if it seeks to
engage in meaningful ministry in India.
4.4.3. Faith and Culture: Inculturation and Evangelization of Cultures
Evangelization in its concrete aspect is the gospel meeting culture. When the Gospel of
Christ meets a culture it needs to incarnate into that particular culture in order to
meaningfully convey the message of joy and salvation to the people who follow that
culture while preserving the purity of the message. This incarnation of the gospel
message is called Inculturation. In the process the gospel of Christ purifies the culture of
all its dehumanizing and evil elements and makes it a perfect vehicle of communicating
the mystery of God. This aspect is called the Evangelization of Cultures.
251

In the early Christian era, we find the evolution of a number of local churches with their
own individuality and identity, which was a result of the inculturation of the gospel into
the local culture. Thus we had the Ethiopian, Corinthian, Roman, Antiochean,
Alexandrian and other churches each with its distinct flavour. In India too, we had a
church with local flavour as we had already seen in the first chapter. But this local
Christianity couldnt hold on to its local flavour due to the influence of foreign powers.

249
E. Chia, Interreligious Dialogue in Pursuit of Fullness of Life in Asia, 2000, 6,7.
250
NA 2; cf. K. Pathil, Trends in Indian Theology, 2005, 73, 88.
251
Cf. K. Pathil, Trends in Indian Theology, 2005, 88.
75

Today, the task of the Indian theologian is to envisage ways of meaningful inculturation
whereby the gospel becomes relevant in the Indian context.
One of the major obstacles of such a task is the plurality of cultures as we have seen
above. The Indian Church is thus perplexed because inculturating into every other
culture in India would make the Indian Church a very complex incomprehensible
structure. In the past inculturation in India was seen in terms of adopting the Brahminic
elements considering that it represented the whole Indian ethos. But later theologians
are wary of the symbol of domination it carries and hence no longer supports it. In the
process what has happened is that the European face of Christianity is retained to this
day. Therefore, before even we think of inculturation, deforeignization i.e. shedding
the foreign image, has become vital to the existence of the Church in India.
4.5. The Ivanian Vision of Mission
Mar Ivanios was a man who took the mission mandate of our Lord J esus Christ
seriously and dedicated his whole life for the mission of proclaiming the gospel. Mar
Ivanios through his life, action and movement had shown clearly the real missionary
nature of the Syrian Church of Kerala to the modern world.
252
His missionary vision is
Catholic in vision, monastic in spirituality, human in action, and Indian in culture.
4.5.1. Ultimate End of Christian Mission
According to Mar Ivanios the Church is missionary by nature. The ultimate aim of
mission is the glorification of God and bringing everyone to the presence of God.
According to him, human being is created with a purpose. God created man to praise,
respect and serve God and thus to attain eternal salvation.
253
There ought to be a
purpose for the omniscient God to create me therefore, I ought to know Him, love
Him and serve Him.
254
To know, love and serve God, one should be in the presence of
God. Thus, missionary should be a person of deep spirituality who chooses the one
thing necessary to be at the feet of the Lord.

252
Lawrence Mar Ephrem, Mar Ivanios: Vijathiyarkku Velipadinte Prakasam, (Malayalam, Mar
Ivanios: The Light of Revelation to the Gentiles) in Abo Geevarghese, ed. by Louis Moolaveettil OIC,
Kottayam: Bethany Publications, 1983, 75. (Abo is the Syriac word for father, here it means abbot.)
253
Mar Ivanios, Dhyana Kusumangal, 12.
254
Ibid., 20.
76

4.5.2. Missionary as God-Realized Person

Mission is not merely a verbal proclamation. Missionary is the one who sacrifices
everything so as to possess God. Proclamation should be a natural outflow of the
experience of the missionary as being possessed by God. The missionary who
renounces him/herself to realize God alone can experience and express the presence of
God. Mar Ivanios places life witness as the first and primary mode of evangelization.
He writes: In order to lead the people of the world to God, there should be evangelizers
who have true devotion to God and genuine love for him.
255
In other words, each
missionary should have a spirit of monasticism.
4.5.3. A Kingdom-Centric and Humane Vision of Mission
Mar Ivanios set some temporary goals which can act as driving forces for mission
works. It (missionary activities) should seriously consider the growth of the
community.
256
He wanted each mission to aim at the social transformation of the
people around. He reminded his priests: You have the obligation to do the work of God
among all the Syro-Malankara Catholics and non-Christians who reside within the
territory of the parish entrusted to you.
257
He tried to construct a social structure based
on the kingdom of God on earth in which all the people enjoy freedom and love as
children of God realizing the fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man.
258
Here we
see the humanitarian approach of Mar Ivanios. He wanted the missionaries to be men
and women full of compassion for others. The interplay of faith and action is very well
synchronized in his thoughts. The integral development of human person and the
empowerment of women found priority in his missionary activities.
4.5.4. Mission in Dialogue with Culture
The missionary vision of Mar Ivanios was also contextual. He had immense respect for
the ancient and rich Indian culture and promoted the study of Indian spirituality for a
fruitful apostolate in India. For practical knowledge, besides visiting many Hindu
Ashrams such as Ramakrishna Mission, Tagores International Institute and Gandhis
Ashram, he held many conferences with Hindu sannyasis and teachers.
259
He adopted

255
Mar Ivanios, Girideepam, 60.
256
Ibid., 56.
257
Mar Ivanios, Pastoral Letter, dated on J an 1, 1936.
258
J ose Konnath, Mar Ivanios A Social Scientist, in Archbishop Mar Ivanios in his Thoughts, 2004,
99.
259
L Moolaveettil OIC, The Spiritual Life of Mar Ivanios, 156.
77

the Indian way of life for his congregation for this very reason. Moreover, he
encouraged and promoted the use of vernacular languages in liturgy almost three
decades before the Second Vatican Council. He also adopted local customs and rites of
the newly converted to make the liturgical celebrations lively and meaningful.
4.6. Mission as Deification: Lessons from Oriental Theology
Christian mission is the diakonia whereby one leads the cosmos, including oneself, to
God-Realization or deification (theosis). Leading the cosmos to deification is the
primary mission of every Christian. In this authors primary reflections, he had tried to
define mission in terms of a deified humanity leading other humans on the path of
deification. But then the author realised that this definition smacks of the conquest
mode, wherein a group of people who claim to have achieved deification would
preach unto those whom they think lack the means to deification. Again a wrong
interpretation could place all Christians or all Catholics or even the Church in the place
of deified humanity and thus the conquest mode would once again be asserted. Hence
a better definition of mission would be as stated at the beginning of the paragraph:
Christian mission is the diakonia whereby one leads the cosmos, including oneself, to
deification. Here missionary diakonia then begins with oneself. The fact that deification
is a process and that people of every religion are in their own right on the path to
deification is not ruled out here. Then mission here becomes dialogue, i.e. we who are
deified by our encounter with Christ speak out our experience of the encounter so that
others may be enlightened and they share with us what they, through their own
encounter with the Divine Reality have experienced so that we may together progress as
pilgrims unto our common destiny which is Union with God.
4.7. Different Approaches to Mission
4.7.1. Approaches in the Past: Conquest Mode and Fulfillment Mode
In the history of mission of the Catholic Church we find three different approaches or
modes of encounter
260
when it comes to other religious traditions. The first of these was
marked by branding other religions as works of the devil or at the most as human
manipulations of the divine. Thus the mission of the Church was to destroy these

260
Cf. E. Chia, Interreligious Dialogue in Pursuit of Fullness of Life in Asia, 2000, 12; K. Pathil,
Trends in Indian Theology, 2005, 92.
78

religions and conquer, dominate and replace

261
them with the true religion i.e.
Christianity. This mode of approach could be called the conquest mode. At a later
stage with the advent of the modern era, various sciences such as history, anthropology,
sociology, psychology, phenomenology, philosophy etc. began to study these religions
and as a result all religions were accepted as containing truths and human values and
they had to be positively understood and not totally rejected. Yet, these were only
human and natural, whereas Christianity alone was divinely revealed.
262
The other
religions are true but only Christianity possesses the fullness of truth and therefore her
mission would be to fulfill, perfect, enlighten, purify, and ennoble
263
the other
religions. Such an approach would be called the fulfillment mode. In the Asian
context, both these approaches have been tried and both have met with failure. Today
the approach is more of a partnership mode which we shall see in the next section.
4.7.2. The Present Approach: Dialogue as Mission and Diakonia: A Partnership
Mode
In her encounter with the major religions of the world such as Hinduism and Buddhism,
the Church has realized that it has run into a thick insurmountable wall. On a deeper
understanding of these religions, the Church has realized that they are superior in
themselves, as much as the Church claims itself to be, and that the role of the Church is
not only to fulfill them but also to allow them to fulfill her in turn.
264
Such a mode of
partnership would enable mutual fulfillment, mutual purification, mutual enlightenment,
mutual ennobling and mutual perfecting. In this context the need for a real two way
dialogue comes about.
If mission is deification of the entire reality, and if every religion is a path unto
deification, then this mission can be accomplished only through dialogue. In other
words, the diakonia of Christian mission lies in dialogue by which humanity leads one
another and the whole cosmos to deification.
In the coming passages we shall see how dialogue with other religions is integral to the
new understanding of the Christian mission in terms of the establishment of the
Kingdom of God. This Kingdom of God is understood in terms of a society of equality,

261
E. Chia, Interreligious Dialogue in Pursuit of Fullness of Life in Asia, 2000, 12.
262
Cf. K. Pathil, Trends in Indian Theology, 2005, 92.
263
E. Chia, Interreligious Dialogue in Pursuit of Fullness of Life in Asia, 2000, 12.
264
Ibid., 13.
79

justice, peace, fraternity etc. where the reign of God is paramount. The question that
confronts us then is whether we can establish Gods kingdom in India or for that matter
Asia, without engaging the great religious traditions in dialogue? Edmund Chia reminds
us that the urgent concerns of the Church in Asia are the alleviation of suffering, and for
that to be actualized, the Church has to and must collaborate with peoples of other
religions. The Church cannot and must not attempt to do it alone for no religion can for
that matter do it alone. Collaboration between all peoples of good will is essential for
the establishment of the Kingdom of God.
265

4.7.3. A Kingdom-Centric Diakonia of Mission
Theologians who have pointed out the three modes of mission/encounter have also
pointed out the specific focus of each of these modes. In the conquest mode, the
orientation was ecclesiocentric and exclusivistic in perspective, whereby the goal of
mission was to baptize everyone into the Church for outside the Church there was no
salvation. In the fulfillment mode, Christocentrism was the orientation and the
perspective inclusivistic. Here the focus shifts from that of the Church to Christ. Christ
is larger than the Church and he operates beyond the Church. Therefore, other religions
have truth and grace and seeds of the Word but these were only preparations to
receive the gospel which would be brought by the Church. In the partnership mode, the
orientation is theocentric and the perspective pluralistic. It holds that even if for
Christians J esus is the path to God and salvation, it is God, not J esus, who occupies the
centre of the universe of salvation. One of the criticism of this model is that it
presupposes that all religions are oriented towards God and that even in the theistic
religions, the notion of God differs from one to another. Responding to these criticism,
theologians have proposed an adapted version of the partnership mode, which is also
pluralistic in perspective, and that is described as the Regnocentric (Kingdom-centric)
model. According to this model, it is presupposed that all religions have one thing in
common: the way with which they look at suffering in the world. Therefore it proposes
that all religions have a message of salvation, or human liberation, in the light of these
sufferings, a liberation which would usher in the Reign or Kingdom of God.
266
In this
context, the Christian diakonia would be to build up the Kingdom of God here and now
in this world.

265
E. Chia, Interreligious Dialogue in Pursuit of Fullness of Life in Asia, 2000, 18.
266
Cf. Ibid., 15.
80

4.7.3.1. Humanization through Social Emancipation: Building the Kingdom

The kingdom of God announced by J esus Christ was Gods biggest gift to humankind.
The Kingdom of God is a new reality, a new order, a new relationship of God and
humanity, a new situation in the world when Gods rule will be fully established, when
the whole humanity will be drawn together into one family in a life of harmony, love
and fellowship, where everybody will live fully for God and fully for others.
267
This is
the nature of the Kingdom that the church as the steward and servant of the Kingdom
seeks to build. Consecutive documents of the Church from Vatican II onwards have
called for the creation of a society founded on truth, built on justice and animated by
love. (GS 7) Ad Gentes, Nostra Aetate, Lumen Gentium, Gaudium et Spes, Evangelii
Nuntiandi (1975), Redemptoris Missio (1990) all belong to the list of documents
through which the Church urges her members to engage in a diakonia that seeks to build
a New Humanity.
268

For this vision to be concretized the Church in India must make a fundamental option in
favour of the poor. It must stand with and for the marginalized and act as the voice of
the voiceless. For this the Church must challenge the socio-economic and political
structures of the nation that permit the concentration of wealth in the hands of a small
minority.
269
Fr. Kurien Kunnumpuram emphatically declares, the removal of
poverty requires not merely a conversion of hearts but a transformation of the unjust
system.
270

Fr. Kuncheria Pathil traces the shift of focus of the church with regard to the project of
humanization. Initially, the Churchs focus was on winning souls wherein involvement
in the socio-economic and political life of the people was considered as mere charity
and with an aim to increase the numbers. Later the focus shifted to developmental
projects, relief works, welfare programmes and similar projects. In the third stage which
is the current one, the focus is on conscientization wherein the root cause of the
problems are dealt with and people are made aware of their rights. Here the people are

267
K. Pathil, Trends in Indian Theology, 2005, 67.
268
Cf. K. Kunnumpuram, Towards a new humanity, 13.
269
K. Kunnumpuram, Towards a new humanity, 25.
270
Ibid., 25.
81

not seen as receivers or objects of charity, but as subjects of change. In such a situation,
the Churchs task, its diakonia is to be a social catalyst and leaven buried in the mass.
271

After having said all this, a word of caution: often in the Church, there is a tendency for
good-intentioned diakonia often getting distracted over many things so much that we
miss the main part, the one thing necessary. Many good initiatives started with the aim
of humanization and emancipation of the poor have often become profit-oriented and
business minded institutions. In their zeal to alleviate the suffering of the poor and
needy, personal prayer and contemplation gets neglected to the effect that ones
diakonia loses its perspective. A diakonia that does not draw and nourish itself from the
spiritual heritage of humanity will lose its fervour and perspective with time. The
diakonia that has lost perspective fails to remember that it is primarily the Gods
diakonia that we are doing, his task and mission and that this task is nothing other than
the deification of the cosmos through human beings. Every diakonia that is not
oriented towards deification of humanity finally ends up dehumanizing humanity. The
best example is our educational and other institutions where for the sake of profit we
exploit our staff often failing to pay them due wages, not to mention the huge capitation
fees extorted from students and staff alike. The same is the situation in any ministry that
we undertake. In short, true Christian diakonia / service is that which flows from and
oriented towards theosis God Realization.
4.7.3.2. Humanization through Deification: A Complementary Approach
The Christian diakonia of establishing the Kingdom of God should be a spiritual
movement. Analytical way of thinking might quickly dismiss the notion of a spiritual
mission in the context of the this-worldly emphasis on mission in the present context of
India. That is because in the analytical thinking (typical of the west), spiritual is
diametrically opposed to material, other-worldly to this-worldly and so on. Thus to call
Christian mission as a spiritual movement would be to go back to square one, i.e. a
mission theology that is already discarded as ignoring the reality of poverty and misery.
But from an Oriental or Indian way of thinking, which is generally holistic, spiritual and
material could easily go hand in hand. Thus when we say that Christian diakonia is a
spiritual movement, it gives a deeper meaning to the whole involvement of the Church
and its members in facing contextual realities.

271
Cf. K. Pathil, Trends in Indian Theology, 2005, 117-133.
82

4.7.3.2.1. The Reality of Spiritual Poverty

We need to be reminded of what we had already reflected in the last chapter about the
human need for bread in contrast to the human need for word.
272
Bread sustains the
existence but it is the word which gives meaning to existence something which every
human being seeks. Material poverty is a reality, but in our zeal to alleviate material
poverty, Christian diakonia should not be blind to the reality of spiritual poverty.
Today, if 70% of the people of India are materially poor, at least 99% are spiritually
poor in as much as they are misled and misguided on the meaning of existence, on
values, on the ultimate end of human life, on God etc.; the result being increasing
hopelessness, depression, anguish even in the midst of prosperity, which manifests in
suicides, drug-addiction, crimes, defiance of authority, crimes against women, loose
moral life, disregard for parents and elders etc. Both spiritual and material poverty
needs to be addressed on a war footing by the Church. Material poverty can be
alleviated by any person of good will, either self-motivated or by any amount of
motivation on our part, but spiritual poverty can be alleviated only by ones who have
encountered Christ, who have sat at the feet of the Lord and listened to the Words of
Life. Today the world looks to the Church (and everyone in the spiritual realm) for the
Words of Eternal Life. This is what Mar Ivanios meant when he said, One who lies in
the trench cannot save another who lies in the same trench with him, but only he who is
out of the trench.
273

4.7.3.2.2. Examples of a Hindu Saints
We have before us the example of a few Maharashtrian Hindu saints who lived a few
centuries ago. Their mission was unique in the sense that they too were disturbed by the
caste system, inhuman treatment to the marginalized, poverty, widening social and
economic chasms etc. But their response was that they went about preaching God to all
the poor and the outcastes, often composing bhajans and hymns for them which were
simple to be learnt and sung. At a time when outcastes were denied entry into the
temples, these saints would conduct bhajan service in the homes of people and the
entire locality would join in. Their hymns are now part of the Bhakti tradition. Two of
these saints are Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram and even centuries after their death, scores
of people still swear by them. This is evident by the large number of barefooted pilgrims

272
Cf. Section 3.2.3.6 Need of Only One Thing
273
Mar Ivanios, Girideepam, 32.
83

(warkaris) traversing across the state for the annual pilgrimage in their honour. These
saints may not have alleviated poverty of the poor, but they certainly gave them a
meaningful existence in the world, a dignity that is proper to the children of God and
thereby to deified humanity. Their message was that even the outcastes could attain
Union with God.
4.7.3.2.3. An Alternative Understanding of the Kingdom of God
If Christian diakonia is to lead the cosmos to deification through the deification of
human beings, then the Kingdom of God would be a community of humans going
through a process of deification. This kingdom can be achieved not through social
activism or demolition of structures, but through a call to conversion (METANOIA).
Social activism without a call to conversion is dangerous since it may just cause a role
reversal, the very mistake of Communism: the oppressed becomes the oppressor and
oppression continues. For the Kingdom of God to be established, both the oppressor and
the oppressed, need to go through a process of metanoia, and eventually, be oriented
towards deification. It is easy to convert the oppressed, since he/she has nothing to lose,
but to convert the oppressor is a difficult task for he/she has many things to lose: Go,
sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor (Mt 19:21); He went away
because he had many possessions (Mt 19:22).
A person who enjoys all the pleasures in the world would respond to the call to
conversion only when he/she encounters the mystery of personified ultimate love, a love
that is total and self-giving, even to the point of death. Such an experience is called a
foundational experience and from the analogy of Paul, a dismounting experience
which is life transforming. It may not be as dramatic always, perhaps a look with
compassion would suffice to transform a hard core criminal. In the gospels we have the
example of such a conversion in Zacchaeus (Lk. 19:1-10). Zacchaeus was an oppressor.
He exploited the poor of the land. Yet J esus loved him and this love transformed him.
Without a word uttered by J esus, Zacchaeus promises to give back many times all that
he had wrongly usurped, Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor;
and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much (v. 9)
to which J esus said, Today salvation has come to this house (v. 10). Thus the mission
of the Church is to be agents of the very same transforming, self-sacrificing love of
84

Christ which can transform and deify both the oppressor and the oppressed and establish
the Kingdom of God.
4.7.3.2.4. Christ as relationally unique
In this context we need to revisit the theological question of the relevance of an
emphasis on the uniqueness of Christ in the context of multiple channels of salvation.
Doctrinally Christ may or may not be unique, but relationally he is unique, in the sense
that no one can manifest the love of God as much as he can. No person can ever love
another person to the point of incarnation (kenosis), degrading his/her being from a
higher form of existence to a lower one and then being lowest among the lowest and to
the point of dying the most humiliating death. In this act of love Christ is unique and
unparalleled. This act of love has brought and continues to bring many on the path of
transformation and salvation. When Christian diakonia becomes a reflection of this love
it too becomes unique and relevant in the midst of other diakonia (other religions, social
workers, NGOs, etc.).
4.8. Conclusion
To summarize what we have seen in this chapter, we could say that Christian
missionary diakonia understands the realities of this world and seeks to respond to it,
but keeping in mind that this diakonia is not an initiative on our part rather the
continuation of the diakonia of God through Christ and the Holy Spirit. The ultimate
end of this diakonia is the deification of the cosmos through the deification of human
beings. Christian diakonia needs to draw its strength from placing itself at the feet of the
Lord like Mary and focus on the one thing necessary if it is not to be distracted by the
temptations of the world. After all, though Christian diakonia in this world is divinely
inspired, the agents are weak and sinful human beings, who are still in the process of
deification.

85

GENERAL CONCLUSION

As we come to the conclusion of this journey of discovery of the dynamics between
Realizing God and Serving God, we realize that the Ivanian teaching is rooted in the
Scriptures and the liturgical and theological traditions of the Church especially of the
Oriental East. Mar Ivanios spirituality, his life and praxis all find its source in this
ultimate discovery of his which was the result of deep meditation and pondering over
(cf. Lk 2:19). Thus it is our task to imbibe his spirituality and to develop it further for
the good of the Church and the whole of humanity at large. This had been particularly
the task of this work. In this general conclusion, after putting forward a brief synopsis of
the ideas put forward in this paper, the author would also like to present an appraisal
and a critique of Oriental Theology and subsequent traditions, sandwiched by an
apology of what appears to be unfair critiquing of the Oriental traditions.
5.1. A Synopsis of the Ideas
Mar Ivanios spiritual discovery guided his life and continues to be a guiding light for
the Malankara Catholic Church and the Religious Congregations he had founded. This
maxim has often opened a Pandoras Box every time it is discussed and sparks anew the
age-old debate between contemplatives and actives both of who justify their respective
stands based on the Revealed Word of God manifest as Scripture and Tradition. Since
both have strong support basis from the Scripture and Tradition, the age-old debate
continues. In the twentieth century, the reality of human suffering cries out unto all
Christians for a response. In this context, the contemplative life is often critiqued as to
be failing in Christian charity while the active ones are often blamed for neglecting their
spiritual lives, their relationship with God and ultimately missing the point. The Ivanian
maxim is often misunderstood to have preferred the contemplative life to the active.
5.1.1. The dynamics of Theosis and Diakonia as Reconciled in Mar Ivanios
The very life and praxis of Mar Ivanios proves exactly the opposite of the
misunderstanding discussed above. From the spiritual mountain of Mundanmala, Mar
Ivanios descends to the low lying plains of Trivandrum (and from there to different
parts of India and eventually the world) bringing the good news of salvation and
deification to the poor, needy and the marginalized. Through the establishment of
86

churches, religious orders, and missionary endeavours, Mar Ivanios enabled others to
achieve the goal of deification to all who looked upon him as their guide. Though he
never aimed at converting anyone to Christianity, he nevertheless threw open the doors
of the Malankara Church, notorious for admitting people on the basis of caste for the
past twenty centuries, to the people of the lower castes. Thus the scheduled castes and
tribes of Trivandrum found themselves welcomed into the rich Christian traditions of
the Oriental East and centuries long tradition of the St. Thomas Christians. In short we
may say that by throwing open the doors of the Malankara Church Mar Ivanios threw
open the doors of dignity and eventually deification to the poor and the marginalized.
5.1.2. The dynamics of Theosis and Diakonia as Reconciled in Biblical Bethany
Another controversial trigger of the debate is the pericope in Luke 10:38-40. Both
contemplatives and active interpret the pericope differently in order to support their
argument. In the pericope, we see J esus favouring Mary over Martha, in what seems as
a victory for the contemplatives, when Martha is rebuked with the words, Martha,
Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things ... Hence, the contemplatives
interpret the words of J esus here literally, while the active ones insisting on reading the
mind of J esus and to interpret his words in the context of his life and praxis.
This conflict between Mary and Martha is reconciled in the concept of Bethany where
the opposite personalities of Mary, Martha and Lazarus dwell under the same roof in a
loving relationship, an ideal situation for the Lord to feel welcome. This harmony of
differences is an integral part of Bethanian Spirituality. Hence, the lesson for Christian
disciples is that the Mary within us needs to co-exist in harmony with the Martha and
both of them with Lazarus in order to create an ideal situation for the presence of the
Lord.
5.1.3. The Church and the World: Arenas Where the Dynamics Unfold
A Christian disciple attains theosis through the Church, not through mere membership
but by drawing from the bounty of treasures. Thus the Christian disciple attains
deification by sitting at the feet of the Lord (Lk 10:39) and listening to his words that
unfolds in the Scripture and Tradition of the Church. Further the Christian disciple
participates in the liturgy of the Church which is a means through which the great
fathers of the Church who have trodden the path of deification communicate their
87

experiences to us. In the Sacraments of the Church, the Christian disciple experiences
the mystery of salvation and through the signs and symbols encounter the invisible
grace that nourishes him on his journey unto deification. All this coupled with the
examples of Mary and the Saints provide a continuous help to all who seek to realize
God.
Theosis is not a process that is apart from or above the world. The experience of the
Christian disciple who is on the path of theosis compels him/her to face the challenges
that humanity faces in the world. Thus the Christian disciple responds to the problems
of poverty, unemployment, unjust social structures, etc. through selfless diakonia
aiming at the liberation of enslaved humans in order to lead them to the path of
deification. But in doing so, the Christian disciple is faced with several distractions,
temptations and challenges that may throw him off his mission and goal. In other words
Christian diakonia needs an anchor a reference point, a perspective and a direction.
5.1.4. The Dynamics Revisited and Concluded
In the life of a Christian disciple, how is Mary and Martha reconciled? Is Christian
discipleship really torn apart between ones orientation towards deification (God
Realization, theosis) on one hand and duty towards the Service of God (through
humanity) on the other? This was the contention that our study had taken up. In the light
of the exegesis of Luke 10:32-42 and through our attempt at making sense of the
Ivanian maxim, we could safely conclude that deification (theosis) is the ultimate end
towards which Christian discipleship is oriented and this is what is Gods plan for
humanity. But when we realize that deification of the entire created order is in the plan
of God, and that we are part of that created order, joined to it in intimate relationship,
we cannot but shun our responsibility towards the fulfilment of this plan. This calls for
diakonia, a diakonia that finds its ultimate fulfilment in the theosis of the cosmos
through the theosis of humankind.
5.2. Oriental Theology: An Appraisal, Apology and Self-Critique
5.2.1. Appraisal
Since our present study is deeply influenced by the Eastern/Oriental theological
perspectives, an appraisal and a critique of the same would not be out of tune as we
conclude this paper. The Second Vatican Council extols the rich heritage of the Oriental
88

Churches handed down since apostolic times and faithfully preserved in the liturgical
and spiritual traditions of the churches.
With regard to the authentic theological traditions of the Orientals, we must
recognize that they are admirably rooted in Holy Scripture, fostered and given
expression in liturgical life, and nourished by the living tradition of the
Apostles and by the writings of the Fathers and spiritual authors of the
East.
274

Some of the salient features of Oriental/Eastern Theology are that it is Biblical,
liturgical, doxological,
275
typological,
276
symbolic,
277
ecclesial,
278
pastoral,
279

apophatic,
280
eschatological, pneumatocentric, contextual, etc. Regarding the difference
in the approaches to theology in the Western and the Eastern traditions, Kuncheria
Pathil CMI notes:
Western approach to theology, tended to be more rational, academic, abstract
and philosophical, whereas the Eastern approach was more Biblical, Patristic
and Liturgical.... Western theology emphasises more scientific, academic,
systematic, and rational understanding, using definitions and dogmas, whereas
the Eastern theology is more mystical, contemplative, meditative, poetic, and
experiential. For the West, theology is more a science, whereas for the East,
theology is an art and wisdom.
281

In such an approach the divine mysteries were not seen as objects of study or
investigation, rather, they were beheld in awe and reverence and meditated over and
celebrated in liturgy as a result of which Christian life became more experiential.
282

274
UR 17
275
Great emphasis on Praise and thanksgiving, Cf. Antony Nariculam, Oriental Churches: History,
Liturgy,Theology (J une 23, 2012), http://nelsonmcbs. wordpress.com/2012/06/23/oriental-
churcheshistory-liturgy-theology/ (accessed August 24, 2014). The explanatios given to each of the
salient features in the following footnotes are all from this same source.
276
Poetic comparison, e.g. Ephrem: blood and water from the side of Christ point to sacraments of
Eucharist and Baptism; Adams side give life to Eve so also Christ side gives life to the Church his bride.
J esus breathing on apostles as God breathed on Adam. The aim of the typological method is to bring out
the hidden mysteries.
277
The meaning of symbols are inexhaustible and hence perfect tool for explaining incomprehensible
mysteries.
278
In the Eastern understanding, a theologian is a person of the Church who shares the faith of the
Church and that of the people of God.
279
Not only dogmatic and academic, see also Section 0.1 Mar Ivanios Contribution to the Field of
Theology
280
No sharp distinction between theology and mysticism, between the dogma affirmed by the Church and
the contemplative experience of the divine mysteries. Theology is, in fact, more an experience
(anubhava). It is not knowing something about God, but having God in oneself.
281
K. Pathil, D. Veliath. An Introduction to Theology, 2007, 11.
282
Pope J ohn Paul II minces no words when speaking on the ability of the Oriental traditions to convey
Christian experience. I listen to the Churches of the East, which I know are living interpreters of the
89

5.2.2. Apology
5.2.2.1. Critique 1: It is Rigid and Resists Adaptation
This is a very wrong critique. It is to be noted that the Orthodox Churches were the first
to use local languages and the culture of the lands in which it were established. Thus,
Orthodoxy became Greek Orthodox Church in Greece, Syrian Orthodox in Syria,
Russian Orthodox Church in Russia, Malankara Orthodox in Kerala and so on... These
Orthodox Churches believed in diversity and autonomy of local churches in matters of
faith and morals, liturgy and customs, spirituality etc. As a result we have today
different Eastern churches as opposed to a single church, Eastern traditions against
a uniform tradition, different liturgies as against one single liturgy. Compared to this
there is only one Roman Catholic Church all over the world with uniform liturgy,
theology, spirituality even if it is in Korea, Latin America, India or Europe.
5.2.2.2. Critique 2: It is too Spiritual, Other-worldly and Ignores the Human
Condition
From the very foundation of the church during the apostolic times to modern times, the
Eastern Churches were perpetually under persecution, the only peace they enjoyed
being the period between the Edict of Milan to the rise of Islam. The Emperors of
respective empires, Islamic forces, the Tsars of Russia, to the European missionaries
283

of Roman Catholic Church are counted among its oppression. In the midst of these
oppressions, the Eastern Churches developed a theology of resurrection and hope. The
high liturgy, which smacked of pomp and power were in fact an escape from the real
powerlessness they faced before imperial powers. With all its pomp, rich symbolism
etc., the Oriental heritage was always dear to the heart of the common people and it was
they, poor, uneducated, and illiterate though they might have been, who found solace in
the high liturgy and lent wholehearted support to it.
284
All this point to the fact that

treasure of tradition they preserve. In contemplating it, before my eyes appear elements of great
significance for a fuller and more thorough understanding of the Christian experience, cf. OL 5.
283
May be with a good intention, but a wrong understanding of Eastern Christianity.
284
Cf. History of Christianity, Documentary, BBC, 2011; We have living examples of simple people here
in India who after migrating to the cities look for the Malankara churches around. If they dont find them,
they would hunt down other Malankarites and within a year or two a parish community with four to five
families would be born, even if there would be scores of Roman Catholic churches around them. Another
option would be to visit the Orthodox Churches nearby. Even if they attend the Roman Catholic Churches
for their Sunday Eucharist, during the important feasts like Christmas and Easter, during the Lenten
season, Passion Week etc. they would not have the satisfaction unless they attend an Oriental liturgy. The
people referred to here are the common people and not people who are indoctrinated with courses on
Oriental theology.
90

there is something in the Oriental liturgy, which gives meaning to the common people
in the context of their struggles, their anguish etc. This something unfortunately has
not yet been pinpointed and could be the subject of further studies.
5.2.3. Self-Critique: Lack of Contextualizing
In the paragraphs above, we get a general impression of the Oriental heritage as a
contextualized inculturated heritage. But in the modern times, especially in India,
churches with Oriental heritages (Catholic and Orthodox) are on a reverse trend. In
India, especially among the Malankara churches, there is an increasing tendency to
conform every aspect of the liturgy to Antiochean practices, as if it were divinely
dictated, which is unfortunate. But what is to be blamed is not the Oriental theology or
heritage as such, but the Indian mindset that considers everything foreign to be superior
and everything Indian to be inferior. Moreover, there is more emphasis on liturgical
perfection, the arrangement of the altar, singing in harmony etc. over the emphasis to
live out the teaching of J esus in our attitudes towards our fellow human beings and
creatures. Secondly, Oriental theologians in India need to be open to the Indian realities
of religio-cultural pluralism, poverty, social evils etc. Since the Oriental churches of
India are part of the St. Thomas Christians who were of the higher strata of the society,
the theologians of this heritage often tend to overlook the problems faced by the lower
strata, not intentionally perhaps but out of ignorance. Now is the time to accept the
drawback and to develop a theology that is Biblical, liturgical (local forms of
celebration of faith), symbolic (with due consideration to local symbols), and pastoral
(that which is fodder for the ordinary flock). Thirdly we find in the Oriental Churches a
greater importance attached to orthodoxy over orthopraxis
5.3. Contribution of this Study to Oriental and Indian Christian Theology
285

Speaking on the need for a contextual theology of mission in India, Bishop Thomas
Dabre of Pune points out the contributions of Indian theologians in focusing on the
mission of J esus Christ while dealing with the social problems of India. However, he
also points out that while doing so, the spiritual dimension of the soteriological mission
of J esus Christ often gets downplayed.
286
The solution to this problem is given by the

285
This heading should be read as an attempt at contributing rather than making a claim to have
contributed.
286
Bishop Thomas Dabre, Towards an Indian Theology: Contribution of Syro-Malankara Theology, In
Theologizing in the Malankara Catholic Church, 26-33, Pune: BVP Publications, 2007, 27.
91

Oriental Theology which is deeply mystical and contemplative in nature. On the other
hand the criticism against Oriental Theology that it is solely spiritual should also be
taken into consideration. In this study which finds its roots in Oriental Theological
thinking, we have looked into the spiritual dimension of the soteriological mission of
J esus Christ by insisting that mission (diakonia) in India is oriented towards deification
(theosis) of the cosmos and in considering the Indian realities, we have contextually
applied it into the Indian situation. While still calling out for the social liberation of
humanity, the author in this work has given Indian Christian diakionia a critique by
reminding it that it is directed towards not only social, but spiritual emancipation of
humanity fulfilled in deification. On the other hand, we have not thrown out or
explained away the traditional pillars of Christiandom, namely the Church, liturgy and
the Sacraments, or the veneration of saints. Such an approach is actually the Oriental
approach. In this way this study has tried to contribute not only to the Oriental Theology
by giving it a contextual flavour at the same time, giving Indian Christian Theology an
Oriental flavour.







92

APPENDIX
THE INADEQUACY OF THE TRANSLATION
The original words of the Ivanian maxim are in the Malayalam language and this is the
very language in which he theologized. Malayalam as a language has its roots in the
Dravidian family of languages and borrowed massively from Sanskrit, both mediums of
ancient Indian philosophy and is the home of complex philosophical and theological
ideas replete with matching vocabulary, alien to Greco-Roman philosophy which
influenced the Western languages. Moreover, Mar Ivanios thought was so Indian and
his command over Malayalam so brilliant that translating him into Western languages is
a very difficult task and every time he is translated, either the language or the idea
would suffer casualty. With this in mind, we shall evaluate two prominent translations
of the maxim and see why the author prefers one over the other.
The original maxim of Mar Ivanios in Malayalam is as follows:
Daiva sevanathekal athyuthamamannu daiva sambadhanam.
(Daiva sevanathekal athyuthamam allayo daiva sambadhanamennu nammukku
thonni)
287

Translation 1: Possessing God is nobler than Serving God
This is the most common of translations. It sounds musical and rhythmic for the
language but the idea of possessing comes with a negative connotation in English
thinking. To possess somebody or something would mean to own that person or thing
completely and have powers to control and manipulate it. Secondly, the word conveys a
feeling of being static, having an either-or aspect. You either possess something or do
not possess it. But spirituality is a dynamic process. There is no static state of either-or
in the spiritual life. Rather it is a process, a dynamic process having an already-not yet
aspect, an aspect of growth from imperfection to perfection. This dynamic idea is
conveyed in the original maxim by the word sambadhanam. It literally means to earn
(something valuable). The verb to earn conveys a dynamic process. It conveys the
idea that you already have something and is in the process of getting more.

287
Mar Ivanios, Girideepam, 2007, 63.
93

Translation 2: Realization of God is nobler than the Service of God

The word realization in the place of possession is a welcome change since it conveys
the dynamic aspect of the maxim. It conveys a movement, a journey from an imperfect
state to a more perfect one. But on second thought, the question is: First of all, can we
really realize God? Is there a concept of God-Realization at all in English thought? If
no, what message does it convey to readers of English language? It must be mentioned
here that we have ideas such as self-realization and self-actualization in English thought
and when we say God-Realization, it conveys, though, a very faint idea of what is
intended. As we have seen above, a literal translation would be, Earning God is more
perfect than serving God or even more grammatically rigid, God earn-ment
288
is (the
best)? more perfect than God service or to be more faithful to the text, We felt thus,
wasnt God earn-ment more perfect than God service. But the concept of earning
God would leave an English reader puzzled and blank headed as compared to the idea
of realizing God since the word realizing has a common acceptance in a spiritual
sense. The usage more perfect is also not very common in English, though technically
and grammatically it may be correct. Hence we may use the words nobler than to
convey the meaning.
In short, though Translation 2 has its drawbacks, for a working translation, we have
used it in this work since it conveys a meaning that is closer to the original.

288
An attempt at coining a noun form of the verb earn since the original sambadhanam is the noun
form of the verb sambadhikuka which means to earn.
94

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary sources
Chediath, G., K. Valuparambil, and Philip Chempakassery, ed. Archbishop Mar Ivanios
in his Thoughts. Trivandrum: MS Publications, 2004.
George, Prabheesh. Missionary Vision of Archbishop Mar Ivanios: A Study on the
Missionary Revival among the St. Thomas Christians in India by the Servant of
God Archbishop Mar Ivanios of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. MTh.
Dissertation Paper. Pune: J nana Deepa Vidyapeeth, 2010.
Gibbons, Margaret. Mar Ivanios (1882-1953): Archbishop of Trivandrum: The Story of
a Great Conversion. Dublin: Clonmore & Reynolds Ltd., 1961.
Inchakkalody, Thomas. Archbishop Mar Ivanios: Jeevacharithram (I & II Volumes,
Malayalam). Third Edition. Kottayam: Bethany Publications, 2012.
Major Archiepiscopal Curia. Biography of The Servant of God Archbishop Mar
Ivanios. Malankara Catholic Church. http://catholicate.net/cu_
canonisation_biography%20of%20 marivanios. html. (accessed J une 24, 2014).
Mar Ivanios, Archbishop. Girideepam: Archbishop Mar Ivaniosinte Athmakatha (Lamp
on the Hill: An Autobiography of Archbishop Mar Ivanios, Malayalam).
Autobiography, 5
th
Edt. Kottayam: Bethany Publications, 2007.
--------------. A Guide to the Malankara Sanyasa. The Complete Works of Archbishop
Mar Ivanios 2. Edited by Dr. Antony Valiyavilayil OIC. Trivandrum: Cause of
Canonization of Mar Ivanios, 2006.
--------------. Blossoms of Meditation: A Book of Meditation for the Malankara Faithful.
The Complete Works of Archbishop Mar Ivanios 4. Edited by Dr. Antony
Valiyavilayil OIC. Translated by Samuel Thaikkoottathil. Trivandrum: Cause of
Canonization of Mar Ivanios, 2006.
--------------. The Holy Qurbono: An Appraisal and Meditation. The Complete Works of
Archbishop Mar Ivanios 5. Translated by Antony Valiyavilayil. Trivandrum:
Cause of Canonization of Mar Ivanios, 2006.
--------------. The Liturgical Year: A Theological Reflection. The Complete Works of
Archbishop Mar Ivanios 3. Translated by Samuel Thaikkoottathil. Trivandrum:
Cause of Canonization of Mar Ivanios, 2006.
-------------. The Sacrament of Confession: A Meditative Study. The Complete Works of
Archbishop Mar Ivanios 6. Trivandrum: Cause of Canonization of Mar Ivanios,
2006.
Moolaveetil, Louis, ed. Abo Geevarghese (Malayalam). Kottayam: Bethany
Publications, 1983


95

Secondary Sources
Bible and Bible Commentaries
Barclay, William. The Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Luke. Bangalore: Theological
Publications in India, 1987.
Brown, Raymond E. An Introduction to the New Testament. Bangalore: Theological
Publications in India, 2009.
Brown, Raymond E., J oseph A. Fitzmyer and Roland Murphy. The New Jerome
Biblical Commentary. Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, 2011.
Fitzmyer, J oseph A. The Anchor Bible: The Gospel According to Luke X-XXIV. New
York: Doubleday and Company, 1986.
Neil, William. One Volume Bible Commentary. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1973.
Robert J amieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown. J amieson-Fausset-Brown Bible
Commentary. Bible Hub. 1882. http://biblehub.com/commentaries/
jfb/luke/10.htm (accessed August 4, 2014).
The Catholic Study Bible: The New American Bible. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1990.
The Family Bible Encyclopedia. 12 Volumes. New York: Curtis Books, Inc., 1972.
The International Bible Commentary: An Ecumenical Commentary for the Twenty-First
Century. Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, 2004.
The Interpreters Bible: A Commentaray in Twelve Volumes. Vols. Eight (Luke, J ohn).
Tennessee: Abingdon, 1982.
The Jerusalem Bible. London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1966.
The New Community Bible. Catholic Edition. Mumbai: St. Pauls, 2008.
The Open Bible: The New King James Version. New York: Thomas Nelson Publishers,
1985.
Tinsley, E.J . The Cambridge Bible Commentary on the New English Bible. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1965.
Documents of the Magesterium
Catechism of the Catholic Church, Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, 2009.
Francis, Apostolic Exhortation on the Proclamation of the Gospel in Todays World
Evangelii Gaudium (24 Nov 2013). http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/
en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_
evangelii-gaudium.html, (accessed August 24, 2014).
J ohn Paul II, Apostolic Letter to mark the Centenary of Orientalium Dignitas of Pope
Leo XIII Orientale Lumen (2 May 1995).
96

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/ hf_jp-
ii_apl_02051995_orientale-lumen_en.html, (accessed August 24, 2014)
Neuner, J ., and Dupuis, J . The Christian Faith: In the Doctrinal Documents of the
Catholic Church. Seventh. Edited by J acques Dupuis. Bangalore: Theological
Publications in India, 2008.
Vatican II. Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions Nostra
Aetate (October 28 1965). In Vatican Council II (Vol. I): The Conciliar and Post
Conciliar Documents, edited by A. Flannery, Mumbai: St. Pauls, 2010.
Vatican II. Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio (October 28 1965). In Vatican
Council II (Vol. I): The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, edited by A.
Flannery, Mumbai: St. Pauls, 2010.
Vatican II. Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum (November 18
1965). In Vatican Council II (Vol. I): The Conciliar and Post Conciliar
Documents, edited by A. Flannery, Mumbai: St. Pauls, 2010.
Vatican II. The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium (December
4 1963). In Vatican Council II (Vol. I): The Conciliar and Post Conciliar
Documents, edited by A. Flannery, Mumbai: St. Pauls, 2010.
Vatican II. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium (November 21 1964).
In Vatican Council II (Vol. I): The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents,
edited by A. Flannery, Mumbai: St. Pauls, 2010.
Books
A Monk of the Eastern Church. Orthodox Spirtiuality: An Outline of the Orthodox
Ascetical and Mystical Tradition. London: SPCK, 1978.
Aerath, Chacko. Liturgy and Ethos: A Study Based on the Malankara Liturgy of
Marriage. Rome: Mar Thoma Yogam, 1995.
Agur, C.M. Church History of Travancore. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services,
1990.
Amaladoss, Michael. Making Harmony: Living in a Pluralistic World. Delhi: ISPCK,
2003.
Athanasius. St. Athanasius on the Incarnation: The Treatise De Incarnatione Verbi
Dei 54. Translated and Edited by A Religious of C.S.M.V. Introduction by C.
S. Lewis. Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimirs Seminary Press, 1996.
Behr, J ohn. The Mystery of Christ: Life in Death. Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimirs
Seminary Press, 2006.
Bermejo, Luis M. Body Broken and Blood Shed: The Eucharist of the Risen Christ.
Anand: Gujarat Sahitya Prakash, 1986.
Brock, Sebastian. Bride of Light. Kottayam: St. Ephrem Ecumenical Research Institute,
1994.
97

--------------. Studies in Syriac Spirituality. Bangalore: Centre for Eastern and Indian
Christian Studies (CEICS), Dharmaram Publications, 2008.
Brown, Raymond E., Karl P. Donfried, J oseph A. Fitzmyer and J ohn Reumann. Mary in
the New Testament. Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, 2004.
Cabasilas, Nicholas. A Commentary on the Divine Liturgy. London: SPCK, 1960.
--------------. The Life in Christ. Translated by Carmino J . deCatanzaro. Crestwood, New
York: St. Vladimis Seminary Press, 1974.
Carlyle, Thomas. On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and The Heroic in History. London:
J ames Fraser. 1841.
Chediath, G. Christology. Kottayam: OIRSI, 2002.
--------------. The Malankara Catholic Church. Translated by A. J . J oy Angemadathil.
Kottayam: Bethany Sisters Publication, 2003.
Chempakassery, Philip. Unity and Trinity: The God of Christianity.
Thiruvananthapuram: M.S.Publications, 2006.
Coward, Harold, ed. Life after Death in World Religions. New York: Orbis Books,
1997.
Cyril of J erusalem. Lectures on the Christian Sacraments: The Procatechesis and the
Five Mystagogical Catecheses. Edited by F.L. Cross. Crestwood, NY: St.
Vladimirs Seminary Press, 1995.
Devdat. The Acosmic: Human Quest for Liberation and Deification. Bangalore:
Asirvanam, 2004.
DSa, Francis X, ed. The Dharma of Jesus: Interdisciplinary Essays in Memory of
George Soares-Prabhu, S.J. Anand: Gujarat Sahitya Prakash, 1997.
Engleman, Dennis E. Ultimate Things: An Orthodox Christian Perspective on the End
Times. California: Conciliar Press, 1995.
Ephrem the Syrian. Hymns on Paradise. Translated by Sebastian Brock. Crestwood,
New York: St. Vladimirs Seminary Press, 1998.
George, K.M. Development of Christianity Throughout the Centuries: Tradition and
Discovery. Thiruvalla: Christava Sahitya Samithy, 2005.
Irenaeus. The Scandal of the Incarnation: Irenaeus Against the Heresies Book V.
Translated by J ohn Saward. Introduction by Hans Urs Von Balthasar. San
Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1990.
J ayakumar, Samuel. Mission Reader: Historical Models for Wholistic Mission in the
Indian Context. Delhi: ISPCK, 2002.
Kallunkal, George T. Eastern Christian Spirituality (Class Notes). Pune: Bethany
Vedavijnana Peeth, 2011.
98

Kanjiramukalil, Sylvester, ed. Darshanatheertham. Kottayam: Bethany Publications,

2011
--------------. Indian Church History. Pune: Bethany Vedavijnana Peeth, 2014.
Karakunnel, George. The Christian Vision of Man. Bangalore: Asian Trading
Corporation, 1984.
Karkkainen, Veli-Matti. One With God: Salvation as Deification and Justification.
Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2004.
Koodapuzha, Xavier. Christianity in India. Kottayam: OIRSI, 1998.
Kunnumpuram, Kurien. Towards a New Humanity: Reflections on the Churchs
Mission in India Today. Mumbai: St Pauls, 2005.
Lossky, Vladimir. In the Image and Likeness of God. Edited by J ohn H. Erickson and
Thomas E. Bird. Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimirs Seminary Press, 2001.
--------------. The Vision of God. Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimirs Seminary Press,
1983.
Macquarrie, J ohn. A Guide to Sacraments. London: SCM Press Ltd., 1997.
Malankara Catholic Church. Koodhashakal (Malayalam, Order of the Celebration of
Sacraments). Thiruvananthapuram: The Major Archiepiscopal Curia of the Syro-
Malankara Catholic Church, 2008.
--------------. Perunalukal (Malayalam, Order of the Feasts). Thiruvananthapuram: The
Liturgical Committee of The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, 2003.
--------------. Takso dKurbono: Malankara Suriyani Katholika Sabhayude Vishudha
Kurbana Taksa (Malayalam, The Order of the Holy Qurbono according to the
Malankara Syrian Catholic Church. Thiruvananthapuram: The Major
Archiepiscopal Curia, 2007.
--------------. The Order of the Holy Qurbono of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church.
Trivandrum: The Major Archiepiscopal Curia of the Syro-Malankara Catholic
Church, 2012.
--------------. Vishudha Kurbanakramam (Malayalam, Order of the Holy Qurbono).
Thiruvananthapuram: Synodal Commission for Liturgy, 2007.
Maniyattu, Pauly, ed. East Syrian Theology- An Introduction. Satna, M.P: Ephrems
Publications, 2007.
--------------. Oriental Liturgies and Theology. Class Notes. Pune: J nana-Deepa
Vidhyapeeth, 2013.
Mantzaridis, Giorgis I. The Deification of Man. New York: St. Vladimirs Seminary
Press, 1984.
McManners, J ohn, ed. The Oxford History of Christianity. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1993.
99

Menezes, Rui de. Voices from Beyond: Theology of the Prophetic Books. Mumbai: St.
Pauls, 2003.
Merton, Thomas. Contemplation in a World of Action. New York: Image Books, 1973.
Namitha. A New Paradigm for Evangelization: In the Light of Mission in the Gospel
According to St. John and the Early Upanishads. Bangalore: St. Peters
Pontifical Institute Publications, 2000.
Nellas, Panayiotis. Deification in Christ: Orthodox Perspectives on the Nature of the
Human Person. Translated by Norman Russell. New York: St. Vladmirs
Seminary Press, 1997.
Neuner, J . Mary Mother of the Saviour. Bangalore: Theological Publications in India,
2004.
New Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 5. Washington: Catholic University of America, 1979,
Oruvattithara, O.M. Mathew. Church and Sacraments. Kottayam: St. Ephrem
Ecumenical Research Institute (SEERI), 2001.
Osborne, Kenan B. Christian Sacraments in a PostModern World: A Theology for the
New Millennium. New York: Paulist Press, 1999.
Parapally, J acob. Emerging Trends in Indian Christology. Bangalore: IIS Publications,
1995.
--------------, ed. Theologizing in Context: Statements of the Indian Theological
Association. Bangalore: Dharmaram Publications, 2002.
Pathil, Kuncheria, and Dominic Veliath. An Introduction to Theology. Bangalore:
Theological Publications in India, 2007.
Pathil, Kuncheria. Trends in Indian Theology. Bangalore: ATC Publications, 2005.
Podimattam, Felix M. Liturgical Spirituality. Bangalore: IIS Publications , 2001.
Puthuparampil, J ames. Mariological Thought of Mar Jacob of Serugh (451-521).
Kottayam: St. Ephrem Ecumenical Research Institute (SEERI), 2005.
Rajan, K. Mani. Queen of the Sacraments. Mulanthuruthy: Seminary Publications,
1994.
Rathinam, Selva. An Introduction to the Hebrew Prophets (Class Notes). Pune: J nana
Deepa Vidyapeeth.
Roacha. Faith and Revelation. Pune: J nana-Deepa Vidhyapeeth, 2014.
Schmaus, Michael. Dogma 6: Justification and the Last Things. London: Sheed and
Ward, 1978.
Schmemann, Alexander. The Virgin Mary. New York: St. Vladimirs Seminary Press,
2001.
Stacey, W. David. The Pauline View of Man. London: Macmillan & Co. Ltd., 1956.
100

Tavard, George H. Mediation on the Word: Perspectives for a Renewed Theology. New
York: Paulist Press Paperback, 1968.
The Encyclopedia of Christianity Vol. 1, edited by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Michigan:
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999.
Order of the Imitation of Christ. The Holy Rule of the Order of the Imitation of Christ.
Kottayam: Bethany Ashram Generalate, 2000.
Udhanashram, ed. The Sayings of the Desert Fathers. Udhanamala: Udhanashram
Editions, 2002.
Vandana. Gurus, Ashrams and Christians. Delhi: ISPCK, 2004.
Veliath, Dominic, ed. Towards an Indian Christian Spirituality in a Pluralistic Context:
Papers and Statement of the Fourteenth Annual Meeting of the Indian
Theological Associaltion. Bangalore: Dharmaram Publications, 1993.
World Council of Churches. Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry. Geneva: World Council
of Churches, 1982.
Articles
Amaladoss, Michael. Is Christ the Unique Saviour? A Clarification of the Question.
In What Does Jesus Christ Mean? The Meaningfulness of Jesus Christ Amidst
Religious Pluralism in India. Proceedings from the 21st Annual Seminar of the
Indian Theological Association, edited by Errol DLima and Max Gonsalves. 6-
17. Bangalore: The Indian Theological Association, 1999.
Cathanar, George. The Orthodoxy of the St. Thomas Christians. In Indian Church
History Classics Vol. I: The Nazranies, edited by George Menachery, 149-186.
Thrissur: The South Asia Research Assistance Services, 1998.
Cherukarakunnel, Alexander. Characteristics and Lifestyle of St. Thomas Christians.
In The St. Thomas Christians Encyclopaedia of India Vol. II, edited by George
Menachery, 131-132. Thrissur: The St. Thomas Christians Encyclopaedia of
India, 1973.
Chia, Edmund. Interreligious Dialogue in Pursuit of Fullness of Life in Asia: From the
Special Assembly for Asia of the Synod of Bishops to FABC VII. FABC
Papers, No. 92k. 2000.
Dabre, Bishop Thomas. Towards an Indian Theology: Contribution of Syro-Malankara
Theology. In Theologizing in the Malankara Catholic Church, edited by J ames
Puthuparampil OIC, 26-33. Pune: BVP Publications, 2007.
Doss, Mohan. J esus: A Paradigm for a Spirituality of Solidarity. In Led by the Spirit:
Mission, Spirituality and Formation, 141-156. Pune: J nana Deepa Vidhyapeeth.
Ephrem. Ephrem the Syrian: Hymns. The Classics of Western Spirituality. Translated by
Kathleen E. McVey. New J ersey: Paulist Press, 1989.
101

102

Ittyavirah, Sadhu. Community Traits of St. Thomas Christians. In The St. Thomas
Christians Encyclopaedia of India Vol. II, edited by George Menachery, 133.
Thrissur: The St. Thomas Christians Encyclopaedia of India, 1973.
Monteiro SCC, Evelyn. Primacy and Conciliarity Revisited With Reference to the
Indian Church. In That They All May be One, edited by Philip Vysanethu OIC
and George Thomas Kallunkal, 130-145. Pune: BVP Publications, 2013.
Podipara, Placid. Hindu in Culture, Christian in Religion, Oriental in Worship. In The
St. Thomas Christians Encyclopaedia of India Vol. II, edited by George
Menachery, 107-111. Thrissur: The St. Thomas Christians Encyclopaedia of
India, 1973.
Rathinam, S. The Israelite Prophet: Identification and Relevance, in Vidyajyoti
Journal of Theologial Reflection, 63 (October 1999), 749-756.
Thottumkal, Shabu J . Mary in the Synoptics. In Mary Today: Fundamental Issues and
New Directions in Mariology, edited by J oy Kaipan, 3-14. Bangalore: Kristu
J yoti Publications, 2010.
Varickasseril, J ose. Behold the Man! (J n. 19:5) and O Woman! (J n. 2:4; 19:26):
J ohannine Parallels on the Greatness of J esus and Mary. In Mary Today:
Fundamental Issues and New Directions in Mariology, edited by J oy Kaipan,
44-56. Bangalore, 2010.
Documentary
History of Christianity: 3of6: Orthodoxy: From Empire to Empire. Documentary.
Directed by Diarmaid MacCulloch. Produced by BBC. 2011.
Internet Sources
J ust, Felix. The Trinity in the New Testament. http://catholic-resources.
org/Bible/Trinity.htm (accessed J uly 25, 2014).
Nariculam, Antony. Oriental Churches: History, Liturgy,Theology. J une 23, 2012.
http://nelsonmcbs.wordpress.com/2012/06/23/oriental-churcheshistory-liturgy-
theology/ (accessed August 24, 2014)