Tradition and history proclaims that the Gospel was preached in Malankara in AD 52 by St. Thomas the Apostle. The apostle also made seven and a half churches, ordained priests and established the Malankara Church. The Church is a very peculiar part of the Kerala Community. Its rich original tradition is forgotten, or not preached good enough these days. The newer Christian generation of Kerala is a bunch of confused, in all sectors mentioned in this article, namely Faith, Tradition and Culture. The people of Kerala has been very approachable to many visitors and aliens who were coming to the land for various needs and reasons, and the open minded approach to welcome everyone has often lead to exploitation and encroachment. This is seen in all the above mentioned sectors.
Faith & Tradition: The faith that is preached by St. Thomas the Apostle is definitely the same as that is preached by St. Paul and St. Peter and all the other disciples around the world. History puts the original Christian family of Malankara in to the Oriental Orthodox Family of Christians. Oriental Orthodox Christians left the communion with the rest of the Churches at the synod of Chalcedon in AD 451. The Oriental Orthodox Family lies closest to the Eastern Orthodox Family and both come under one umbrella of the Orthodox Christians. The differences between the Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox is later discussed and found as literal differences and not theological differences. These Churches hold the very essence of the old and ancient faith preached by the apostles following our Lord. This was the original faith of the Indian Church(Malankara Church). In the 16th century, the Portuguese invaders, 'in the name of the Lord', literally attacked the original India Church, destroyed all the official documentation, liturgical texts and basically tried to bring the Church under the autonomy of the Roman Catholic Pope. This was another classic example of the actions of the Roman Catholics in acquiring power and strength. The brave Malankarites stood against in it, and with the support of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch which is also in the Oriental Orthodox family, resurrected in to a new power. Meanwhile, the Roman Catholics were busy converting many through power and money! Later, many missionaries came around led to much more splits, confusions and formations of many many new organizations(some called Churches!), and it is still in the process of development, one after the other, continually. The final result is a mixture of Faith in the very small population of Christians in India, a lot of confusions and the lose of the rich Kerala Christian Heritage.
Culture: The differences formed in centuries in the Christian Community has resulted in the development of new cultures in the society. The Christians now cannot claim one cultural heritage. The original Christians were so mingled with the original Kerala Tradition, and was a part of it. The traditional dress of the Christian Men and Women of Kerala, the Margam kali, the Minnu used in wedding etc are examples of the acceptance of the good parts of the Culture. Our God is the God of all human beings and therefore, will be able to accept any culture, and will sanctify those cultures if the people accept Him as the God and follow His words. In recent times, the over whelming presence of Western Christianity in the Indian soil has created a wrong notion about what traditional original Kerala Christianity is, and have made many Christians in Kerala to consider the traditional practices as wrong and unacceptable to their ideology. They not only rejects it but condemns those who still live traditionally. For example, there are many Keralite Christians who consider the Classical Karnatic Music as part of Hinduism and unacceptable to Christianity. Similar is the case with many other cultural facts which should be considered as feathers of pride. The same kind of cultural differentiation is seen even in the dressing styles and its acceptance. Who will be able to accept a Christian Missionary dressed like Sadhu Sundar Singh? Priests and bishops has to be in the middle eastern blend, and pastors in the western suits, or they will not be considered as Christian, at least by some! The issue is not the dresses, but the multitude forgetting the Kerala/Indian culture, and entraining Christianity in to the circles of these styles only. Is it possible for a Christian monk to walk around in Kaavi? How many will be able to accept it as part of the Indian Christian Tradition? The Malankara Church needs to reestablish and rediscover with its own peculiar styles and cultural traditions.
The multitude should not consider Christianity as a religion of the West or the Middle East anymore, but as a part of our own motherland. The Orthodox, Catholics and Protestants, all should be able to discover the Indian and Kerala part of Christianity. We don't need to be imitators anymore. We should be able to rediscover the true self of Indian Christianity. After all, some might say that all they care is about 'a' way to worship, and they don't find distinctions between Eastern or Western. That means you don't have any appreciation towards your own motherland. They say that these does not bother them anyway, because all they care about is Christ. Every Christian is a missionary and to preach the word of Christ effectively, one should be able to see it from the angles they have been living with. It will be easier for the religions in India to accept Christianity as part of our own nation if we were more national than international! If we were able to proclaim Christ as Indians, we must had many more Christians, and we must have had a more stronger Christian Church in the nation. Each human being is different and Christ appreciates those differences and asks to grow holier while keeping the differences. Similar will be the case with cultures. This is a thought to think about and consider. This will not lead to sudden changes, and conversions, nor is it possible. But a bunch of thoughtful minds can bring changes. May God bless all.
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