Jesudas M. Athyal and John J. Thatamanil eds., Metropolitan Chrysostom on Mission in the Market Place - Book Review

Ecumenical Review, The, July, 2003 by P. Victor Premasagar

Tiruvalla, Kerala, Christava Sahitya Samithy, 2002, Rs.100.

This fascinating book is based on the editors' interviews with Mar Chrysostom, the metropolitan of the Mar Thoma church, conducted in India and also in the USA. The task of the editors was intriguing: to draw out the metropolitan's views on topics related to the church, scriptures and interpretation, Indian Christian theology, mission, the ecumenical debate, the diaspora, the Mar Thoma church and its contribution to the world church. The metropolitan himself writes in the preface that the task of his editors was more difficult than Pharaoh's assignment to the Israelites to make bricks without giving them the straw (p.12., referring to Ex. 5.7)!

The book has thirteen chapters plus a foreword by Konrad Raiser, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, a preface by the metropolitan himself, and an introduction by the editors, as well as a glossary and index at the end. Notably the editors recall the metropolitan's radical attitude in receiving holy communion from a lay leader, a woman at St John's (Church of South India) church in Vellore, who was a member of his own church (p.18). The editors have put together the metropolitan's theological ideas, his understanding of ecumenism, dialogue with people of other faiths, the diaspora Mar Thoma Christians and his interpretation of intricate issues relating to the Mar Thoma church.

The book is filled with deep insights, his personal experience of the faith with simple but telling illustrations, allusions to biblical stories and passages, with humour and brilliance reflected on every page. While responding to the searching questions of the editors. the metropolitan gives an insight into his autobiographical materials, his personal experience and struggles of faith as a pilgrim on the way.

To indicate the richness and interest of this book, I would like to draw attention to the radical views of the metropolitan on some issues:

Identity and Heritage of the Mar Thoma Church: The church is a Reformed Eastern church; it was reformed under the influence of the western missionaries who came to Kerala, India, in the 18th and 19th centuries. The concern of the leaders following the early reformers such as Abraham Malpan was increasing the number of believers, as those who had come out in allegiance to the reform movement were not many. Thus, survival of the new church was the main concern. But they did not receive many Dalits; indeed one of the reasons persons did not join the new church was because they did not want to associate themselves with the missionaries, who had mainly worked among the Dalits (p.33).

The translation of the Bible into Malayalam by the missionaries made the Bible and the liturgy more meaningful to the ancient church. Metropolitan Chrysostom thinks that while the Reformation in the West (e.g. in Europe) was a protest against the church' self-understanding, the reformation in Kerala was an opposition to the decadence of the church's practices, for instance the fact that the prayers said periodically for the dead gave the impression that endowing money to the church would assure salvation (p.43).

The term "Syrian" is for the Mar Thoma church not an ethnological but only a liturgical identity (p.52). In times of persecution, it was liturgy that held the church together as one body. For the Western missionaries, preaching was important and not the liturgy; the Mar Thoma church reformed its liturgy in response to the missionary influences and included new theological insights into their liturgy. In principle, of course, the revision of the liturgy is a revolutionary and blasphemous act, not acceptable in the Eastern tradition. In this context, written prayers approved by the church and its theologians, based on their ancient traditions, are used in public worship. Extempore prayers are used in personal meditation and family prayers but not in public worship and liturgy.

The text and the context: The metropolitan observes that there is mostly a preaching and not a teaching ministry in the church, to the detriment of Bible study. He says that there are two sections of people in the Indian churches: one specializing in administration, and devising all kinds of strategies to capture power and positions in the church; and the other interested in organizing campaigns and conventions. This also favours preaching over the regular teaching of the believers in the faith.

While advocating a Bible-centred church the bishop warns against the dangers of bibliolatry and biblicism. Bible study should be a corporate and not an individual matter, led by people who have prepared in depth and have theological training. The emphasis should be on the message of the Bible for today, and not so much on the historical veracity of the text. Wrong interpretation of the text could lead to evasion of the truth; but it may not always be "helpful" to speak the truth: the metropolitan asks whether an achen (priest) would be willing to do so, if he knows that it might bring the displeasure of the bishop, thereby costing the priest his chance of being assigned to the parish in New York (p.64). What the metropolitan has pointed out is an important trend in the Indian churches, where the leaders are often not willing to tell the truth lest they lose favour with those in power and authority. Fr Mark Gibbard, in Unity Is Not Enough: Reflecting after a Visit to the Church of South India (London, Mowbray, 1963, p.75), makes a similar comment on teachers and pastors in the CSI after a brief visit there in 1962.