The history of the Indian Orthodox Church from the 16th to the 19th
Century is mainly a record of the stress and strain suffered by the
Church of Malabar exerted by the Portuguese Roman Catholics and the
British Protestant missionaries.
~Lesson 7, Unit III Sunday School, Northeast American Diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church,
By the late 19th to the 20th Century, we could add the Syrians also into this mix, Syrians whom we came into touch with in a big way from the 16th Century, while resisting the ways of the other foreigners above. Foreigners who came to the Church of Malabar have left their mark on the history of the Church here. Its true that the Church of Malabar has benefited from these foreigners yet they have done more harm than good -- they have left a proud and ancient Church of India - badly bruised, broken and violated.
~Lesson 7, Unit III Sunday School, Northeast American Diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church,
By the late 19th to the 20th Century, we could add the Syrians also into this mix, Syrians whom we came into touch with in a big way from the 16th Century, while resisting the ways of the other foreigners above. Foreigners who came to the Church of Malabar have left their mark on the history of the Church here. Its true that the Church of Malabar has benefited from these foreigners yet they have done more harm than good -- they have left a proud and ancient Church of India - badly bruised, broken and violated.
Finally with a Catholicate of its own, and visionary leadership at the
helm - this Church has found new life and is witnessing her Master with
renewed vigor (even though she falls and fails often, He raises her up
again and again) starting from Kerala and through the beloved land of
India and abroad since the beginning of the last Century. Having lived
and witnessed in the spiritually rich land of India from the beginning
of Christianity, this Church understands the core ethos of India -- its
secular fabric, its religious passion, its religious plurality, the
goodness in the other faiths and have embraced these sentiments
completely while always sharing the love and peace that Christ brings
for the world, which is for all. This is possible not because of any
peripheral show of tolerance, but because the Church of India truly is
Indian, living in, giving to and taking from the land from its
inception. The way she lives her faith in Christ will be totally
different from the way of the West or anywhere else in the world.
Just as the foreigners who came to India by the 16th Century influenced the history of India as a whole, the history of the Indian Church has been a tussle against foreigners and their influences, especially from the 16th century on wards. It has influenced the progress of the Church - remembering it and taking lessons from it will keep the Church in good stead.
Just as the foreigners who came to India by the 16th Century influenced the history of India as a whole, the history of the Indian Church has been a tussle against foreigners and their influences, especially from the 16th century on wards. It has influenced the progress of the Church - remembering it and taking lessons from it will keep the Church in good stead.
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