V. C. Samuel

Father V.C. Samuel (Vilakuvelil Cherian Samuel) Great Servant of Lord (1912–1998), called Samuel Achen was an Indian Christian philosopher, theologian, historian and ecumenical leader. He was a scholar, a university professor and a priest of the Indian Orthodox Church. He was the author of many doctrinal books and papers including The Council of Chalcedon Re-Examined: Historical Theological Survey.

Samuel was born 6 April 1912, in the village of Omallur, in Central Travancore, now Pathanamthitta, Kerala State, India. He was born to an Orthodox Syrian Christian family - Edayil House, 6 April 1912 as the fifth of the nine children of E.I. Cherian and Annamma. E.I. Cherian was a school teacher and educationist and a Member of the Legislative Assembly.

Samuel's growth in religious scholarship was due to in part to the atmosphere of religious devotion and Christian commitment of his family.

Samuel had his primary education in a school founded by his father in his village and the Government English Middle School, Pathanamthitta. Samuel obtained his secondary education at St. Thomas English High School, Kozhencherry. He received his English School Leaving Certificate (E.S.L.C) in 1931 with distinction.

Seminary teacher and scholar

In addition to his general education, Samuel learned the Syriac language, which was the ecclesiastical and liturgical language of the St. Thomas Christians of Kerala.

Patriarch Mar Ignatius Elias III of Antioch visited India in 1932. Samuel had a sincere longing for the success of the patriarchal mission and was deeply moved when the spiritual head of the Syrian Orthodox Church died at St. Ignatius Church, Manjanikkara, in the neighbourhood of his home in 1932. The place where the Patriarch had died soon grew in stature as a centre of religious activities, including the teaching of Syriac and Antiochene Syrian ecclesiastical doctrine. Samuel pursued further Syriac studies at Manjanikkara Dayara (monastery). He had been attracted there by the presence of the Syrian Metropolitan Elias Mar Julius, the delegate of the Patriarch, and the Syrian Deacon and Rabban 'Abdel Ahad (monk), (who later become Patriarch Mor Ignatius Ya`qub III). At the time, he had no plans to be ordained. He merely wanted to continue his theological research.

He did so well academically that in few years he completed his studies. He began to share teaching duties with a colleague, Malpan Dn. Abdul Ahad Remban. He also served as the secretary and translator for the Metropolitan who knew only Arabic and Syriac.

Samuel continued his private study of both languages. He maintained his command of English by reading books on church history, theology, and biblical and devotional subjects. Besides the above and ecclesiastical subjects, he mastered Syriac and planned for advanced study and research in secular universities.

In 1944, he joined the Union Christian College as a priest, thirteen years after he had completed his high school studies, to follow a regular university programme of academic discipline and devoted in study and research for another sixteen years.

• 1944–1948 Union Christian College Alwaye, India: B.A. Degree in Philosophy, first rank with Gold Medal, Travancore University.
• 1948–1950 Madras Christian College, India: M.A., Philosophy, First Class, Madras University.
• 1950–1953 United Theological College, Bangalore, India: B.D., Theology, Distinction, with Special awards Serampore College, West Bengal, India.
• 1953–1954 Union Seminary, New York: S.T.M, Post Graduates Degree in Theology. Magna Cum Laude
• 1954–1957 Yale Divinity School, New Haven, USA: PhD, Yale University. Magna Cum Laude
• 1957–1960 Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society (C.I.S.R.S), Bangalore; Ramakrishna Ashrams; Calcutta, India, University of Chicago, Chicago, USA: Post Doctoral Research Scholar, Rockefeller Foundation Fellow

Samuel spent long periods of research in various academic centres: Serampore College, West Bengal; United Theological College, Bangalore; Ramakrishna Ashram, Calcutta; CNI Library, Kottayam and Syriac Library of Pampakkuda all in India; Addis Ababa Library - Ethiopia; Bodleian Library, Oxford; British Museum Library, London; Library of the Ecumenical Institute, Bossey; Library of the Jesuit College, Louvain; and the Vatican Library, Rome.

Doctoral research: Christological controversy

With a background in secular education, Samuel researched anew the History of Christian thought, which he chose for his specialisation; the classical doctrine of the Person of Christ worked out in the fifth century, which led to the first division in the Church that continues today. Samuel's mastery of philosophy, and both Syriac and Greek, made it possible for him to work with ancient texts and documents to carry on this Alexandrine-Antiochene Christologies very effectively.

In choosing this area, Samuel's purpose was ecumenism. The fifth century division in the Church has been interpreted by Church traditions, each in its own way to make out that its acceptance or rejection of the councils in question was the result of a concern to conserve the Christian truth exclusively and the others were really at fault. Samuel's sense of objectivity and impartiality led him to feel that this reading must be as much one-sided as it was superficial, and that he should himself study the issues involved in the controversy. Thus his purpose was, in the first place, to find out him why the division arose, insofar as that was possible. Secondly, perhaps more importantly, to clarify all concerned why the Churches exist in a divide state. In other words, his work was intended to be of service to the Churches and the cause of Christian unity. From this point of view, Samuel had a special concern for the Churches of the East, particularly those of the Oriental Orthodox family, which have continued in the history without formally acknowledging the Council of Chalcedon on 451 A.D. These Church traditions have been referred to as "monophysite" heretical community by the Byzantine or the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Roman Catholic Church and the major Protestant Churches. In the face of this label of "heresy", Samuel felt interested in bringing out the real point of the division following the Council of 451 and the teaching of the fathers who opposed it. Samuel attempted to rescue Oriental Orthodoxy from centuries of intellectual oblivion. The doctoral thesis, "The Council of Chalcedon Re-examined: A Historical and Theological Survey" were published worldwide along with several papers. This stand represented the Oriental Orthodox perspective.

Post-doctoral research scholar

Samuel was a pioneer in these studies. He promoted the concept that the Church in India should be Indian. Out of this concern, he had deep interest in comparing at the roots of the historic faith with the religious heritage of Hinduism. Secondly, he realised that the claim of Apostolic origin and the identity as Syrian Christians of India, does not tally with its present standing either as part of the Roman Catholic Church or that of Antiochene Syrian Church. However, from the point of view both these sections of the Indian Christianity could envisualise a common future. Over the years, he promoted the history of the Indian Church and its foreign connections. He took the opportunity to compare them with other ancient Churches, particularly those of the East.

Samuel's concentration on the nuances of the classical doctrine of the person of Jesus Christ during his postgraduate studies did not leave him free to continue his studies in Hinduism. However, on completing his doctorate at Yale, an opportunity developed. Dr. P.D. Devanandan was establishing the Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society in Bangalore. Feeling that an association with the institute might enable him to combine the two plans, he joined it in 1957 under an appointment for the post-doctoral research programme sponsored by the University of Chicago. He was awarded the Rockefeller Fellowship for a period of three years. This included research for two years in India and one year in Chicago. Besides Indian Philosophy, Sankaracharya's Advaita, Ramanujacharya's Visishtadvaita and Madvacharya's Davita, that opportunity helped him to acquire first-hand knowledge of the Philosophy of Swami Vivekananda and working of the Ramakrishna Mission as well as of several others in contemporary Indian movements like Mahatma Gandhi's gramaswaraj and Vinoba Bhave's Bhoodan movement.

Samuel was familiar with fifteen languages and a scholar in six: Malayalam, English, Syriac, Greek, Hebrew and Sanskrit.

Teaching

• 1933–1944 Manjanikkara Dayara - Seminary (Malphano), Pathanamthitta, Kerala, India.
• 1960 - 1963 Serampore College (University), Serampore, West Bengal, India.
• 1963–1966 Theological College of the Holy Trinity, Haile Selassie I University (Addis Ababa University), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
• 1966–1968 United Theological College, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
• 1968–1976 Theological College of the Holy Trinity, Haile Selassie I University, Addis Ababa
• 1977–1978 Ecumenical Christian Centre, Whitefield, Bangalore.
• 1978–1980 United Theological College, Bangalore.
• 1981–1991 Orthodox Theological Seminary (Orthodox Pazhaya Seminary), Kottayam, Kerala.
• 1982 - 1991 Federated Faculty for Research in Religion and Culture, Kerala.

In addition to the above, Samuel served as a Professor, guide and examiner in almost all the Seminaries and Theological Colleges in India, and many abroad.

Ecumenical movement

Samuel's presence and contribution in the ecumenical movement in the international arena for three decades. He was an accredited delegate of the Indian Orthodox Church at four of the General Assemblies of the World Council of Churches:

• 1954 - Evanston, United States.
• 1961 - New Delhi, India
• 1968 - Uppsala, Sweden, and
• 1976 – Nairobi, Kenya.

Faith and Order Commission

The New Delhi World Assembly of World Council of Churches. 1961 voted him as a member of the Council's Faith and Order Commission. He held that position until 1984. The fourth general assembly of the WCC at Uppsala in 1968, elected him as a member of the Commission's Working Committee and later in its Steering Committee. His active participation in the meetings of Faith and Order Commission was very significant and giving expressions for the important of Church unity. His paper in the Faith and Order meeting at Accra 1974 on the subject "How can the Unity of the Church be Achieved" he points to the influence of "different intellectual and cultural backgrounds" in the evolution the different church traditions, awareness of which should help relativise these traditions. He was a participant of seven meetings of the Commission.

• 1963 – Montreal, Canada
• 1964 – Arhus, Denmark
• 1967 – Bristol, UK
• 1971 – Louvain, Belgium
• 1974 - Accra, Ghana
• 1978 – Bangalore, India and
• 1982 – Lima, Peru

Joint commissions

Samuel took a part in a number of study projects and joint commissions of the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Protestant Churches. The papers presented took an interest in discussing the issues from an Oriental Orthodox perspective. The papers were published under the auspices of the World Council of Churches:

• Apostolicity and Catholicity
• The Early Councils
• The Council of Chalcedon
• Authority of the Bible
• Uniatism and its Problem
• Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry Text; or Lima Document

Dialogue between Eastern and Oriental Orthodox theologians

The period of Samuel's association with the Faith and Order Commission of World Council of Churches coincided with two progresses where he made a valuable and lasting contribution. Those were "Unofficial Consultation of Theologians of the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches" held in Arhus-1964, Bristol-1967, Geneva-1970 and Addis Ababa-1971. Samuel presented papers at all of them and helped the participants in arriving at the conclusion that the difference in Christological Doctrine between the two families of Churches was only verbal and not substantial. These papers and joint agreed statements have been published in different journals.

Dialogue between Roman Catholic and Oriental Orthodox theologians

The second was a series of four consultations organised by the Pro Oriente Foundation of Vienna, Austria in 1972. These were called "Unofficial Consultations of Theologians of the Roman Catholic and Oriental Orthodox Churches". Samuel participated in them as an Orthodox theologian, presenting papers that were published under the auspices of the Pro Oriente Foundation. The first three of the consultations discussed the doctrine of the Person of Jesus Christ, on which there was agreement among participants that the difference between two Church traditions was not substantial.

Starting in 1964, Samuel took part in almost all the various meetings of the Unofficial Consultation of Theologians of Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches presenting papers, participated in the discussions, and drafting out for the agreed statements. He has served as a member of a group called together by the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches for a study, first of the Councils of early Church, and later of the Council of Chalcedon. The papers presented were published in the Greek Orthodox Theological Review, Brookline, Massachusetts, United States, Wort und Worhiet, Pro Oriente, Vienna, Ecumenical Review, World Council of Churches, Geneva and Abba Salama, Addis Ababa. Thus, Samuel's lifelong search for truth and the meticulous outcome helped to pave the way for a closer understanding, better relationship between the Chalcedonian and Non Chalcedonian Christendom, after a period of fifteen centuries of split and schism.

Ethiopian life

The Church of Ethiopia and Haile Selassie I University (since renamed Addis Ababa University) persuaded him to return to Ethiopia. The college appointed him Dean of the Theological College of the Holy Trinity in 1969, a position that he held until he left Ethiopia in July 1976. He also served as the Secretary of the Faculty Council of the University.

The Great Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches

Samuel helped organise the Conference of the Oriental Orthodox Churches with the initiative of both the Emperor Haile Selassie I and the acting Patriarch of Ethiopia, Abune Theophilus (later Patriarch). The conference brought together the five Oriental Orthodox Churches, Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Ethiopian and Indian, which were isolated after the fifth century.

He was a member of the local committee and General Coordinator, responsible for the preparatory work of the Addis Ababa Conference of the Heads of Oriental Orthodox Churches, which held in January 1965. He was also one of the delegates in the Conference along with the Catholicos Baselios Augen I and others representing Indian Orthodox Church. He edited the report of the Conference and published it by the interim committee.

Association of Ethio-Hellenic Studies

Samuel entered into a programme initiated by Methodios Fouyas, the Metropolitan of the Greek Orthodox Church of Aksum, founding the Association of Ethio-Hellenic Studies. Samuel was the Vice-President of it, and Editorial Board of the publications 'Abba Salama' and the 'Ecliastca Fharan', in English, Greek, Amharic and Ge'ez languages.

Ecumenism in the Indian context

Samuel played a major role in persuading the Indian Orthodox Church to abandon its old policy of isolation from other church traditions in India, and to join the Kerala Christian Council, the National Council of Churches, and the joint commission of Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

Ministry in the Indian (Malankara) Orthodox Church

Ordained at the age of twenty-five Samuel continued his ministry in the Indian Orthodox Church for a period of six decades:

• 1931–1932 Inspector, Sunday School.
• 1932–1940 Secretary and Translator of Elias Mar Julius, Delegate Bishop of the Patriarch
• 1935 Ordained as a Deacon.
• 1935 Ordained as a Priest
• 1935 - 1940 Priest and Malpan, Manjanikkara Dayara
• 1940–1944 Vicar and Malpan, St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Church Chengalam, Kottayam, Kerala
• 1944–1948 Alwaye, Kerala, India
• 1944–1998 Member, Governing Board of the Christu Shishya Ashram, Thadakom, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
• 1948–1950 Service in Thambaram and Madras City
• 1950–1953 First full-time Vicar, Holy Trinity Church, Bangalore. Started a new congregation in Jalahally
• 1957–1959 Spiritual service in Bangalore and Jalahally (Founding father).
• 1960–1963 Barakpore, across the River Hoogly, Calcutta.
• 1963–1966 Indian Orthodox Congregations, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
• 1966–1968 Intermittent Service in Holy Trinity, Bangalore and St. Mary's Jalahally. President, St. Greegorios Cathedral Building Committee.
• 1968 Ambassador of the Indian Orthodox Church to Ethiopia.
• 1968–1976 Vicar, Addis Ababa.
• 1970 Inauguration of the Parsonage of the St. Greegorios Cathedral in Bangalore
• 1972 Consecration of the St. Greegorios Cathedral, Bangalore. Conducted the first Sunday Holy Qurbana in the Cathedral.
• 1976–1982 Formation of the St. Thomas Orthodox Church, Bangalore East. (Founding father)
• 1980–1998 Formation of St. Stephen's Orthodox Church, Vijayanagar, Bangalore. (Founding father)

Association

• Founder Chief Advisor, Church Weekly, Alwaye, India
• Chief Advisor and Lifelong Governing Board member; Christu Sishya Ashram, Tadagom, Coimbatore, India
• Hindu Christian Dialogue, CISRS, Bangalore.
• Editor, Indian Journal of Theology, Calcutta.
• Secretary and Editor, Theological Forum, Bangalore.
• Founder Vice-President and Editor, Ethio Hellenic Association, Addis Ababa.
• Editor Abba Salama.
• Editor Ecclisiastica Faran.
• Patron, Indian Community School, Addis Ababa.
• President, St. Gregorios Cathedral Building Committee, Bangalore.
• WCC Delegate, Christian Muslim Dialogue.
• Advisor, All Africa Christian Conference.
• Member and Chief Advisor, Church History Association of India, Bangalore.
• Editorial board member, History of Christianity in India, Bangalore.
• Editorial Executive Member, Bible Commentary, CSS, Thiruvalla.
• Editorial Executive Encyclopedia of Indian Orthodox Church.
• Editorial Board Ethiopian Orthodox Church Publications .
• Governing board member, Orthodox Theological College, Kottayam.
• Resource Person, Thiruvachanabhashyam, Kottayam.
• Resource Person Divyabodhanam, Kottayam.
• Editorial board member, Malankara Sabha, Kottayam.
• Editorial board member, Purohithan.
• Editorial board member, Malankara Sabha.
• Member Joint International Commission: Catholic Church and Malankara Orthodox Church.
• Chief Editor, Harp, Kottayam.
• Chief Advisor, St. Ephrem Ecumenical Research Institute, Kottayam.
• President, Fifty Golden Years Celebrations Committee, Bangalore.

Ambassador of the Indian Church

The Church planned to consecrate him as a Bishop of the Church in the early 1950s. He declined this honour in favour of pursuing ecumenism through academia.

In 1968, the Catholicose Baselius Ougen I, the Head of the Malankara Orthodox Church appointed him as the Ambassador to Ethiopia and other African Countries.

In 1991, Professor Samuel Chandanappally published "Malankara Sabha Pithakkanmar" (Fathers of the Malankara Church). The book listed Samuel as the greatest Doctor of the Indian Church.

He died in the early morning of Wednesday 18, November 1998 at his residence in Bangalore. Funeral service was conducted on 20th Friday at St. Gregorios Cathedral where he had served. Bishops Philipose Mar Eusebius and Mathews Mar Severus, his former students, led the service assisted by hundreds of Priests. Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews II, who was unable to attend due to hospitalization, flew directly to Bangalore after his discharge from the hospital on 22nd morning and conducted Thanksgiving Holy Qurbana at the Cathedral, and delivered a memorial.

References

• The St. Thomas Christians of India was called Nazranis; Marthomman Christians; Jacobite Syrian Christians Etc. Father V.C. Samuel named the Indian Orthodox Church in the second half of the twentieth century. See Samuel, V.C: Ithe Oru Indian Sabhayo? (Is this an Indian Church?); Malayalam, C.L.S. Thiruvalla, India, 1974 and Kuriakose M.K, Fr. Ed. Orthodox Identity in India: Dr. V.C. Samuel 75th Birth Day Celebration Committee, Bangalore.
• Member of the Legislative Assembly - Sreemoolam Praja Sabha of Travancore.
• Samuel V.C.; The Council of Chalcedon Re-Examined: A Historical Theological Survey; For the Senate of Serampore College; Christian Literature Society, Madras, 1977; British Orthodox Press, ISBN 1-4010-1644-8, 2001.
• Religion and Society: Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society, Bangalore, 1957.
• Geevarughese Mar Osthathios: My Elder Brother and Guru; Ch. Vaidikarude Vaidikan: Commemorative Volume; p. 492, Konni, Kerala, India, 2001.
• Kuriakose M.K.; Ed, Orthodox Identity in India.
• Samuel V.C: Ed. The Oriental Orthodox Churches Addis Ababa Conference January 1965: Addis Ababa – August 1965.
• Abba Salama: Addis Ababa, 1972
• Thomas M.M.: Opening Indian Orthodoxy for Dialogue about its Future; Orthodox Identity in India
• Mathew Vaidyan K.L, Fr.Dr; Vaidikarude Vaidikan, Commemorative Volume, Rev. Dr. V.C. Samuel Ecumenical Forum, Konni, India, 2001.
• Who was a Church leader, literary orator and winner of Catholicate Award
• Samuel Chandanappally Dr: Malankara Sabha Pithakkanmar, Grace Samuel, Ceedees Books, Chandanappally, 1991.
• Kuriakose M.K: Orthodox Identity in India: Essays in Honour of V.C. Samuel; Vaidikarude.

Sources

• The Council of Chalcedon Re-Examined: Father V.C.Samuel; For the Senate of Serampore College;

Christian Literature Society, Madras, 1977; British Orthodox Press, ISBN 1-4010-1644-8, 2001

• A Brief Life History of Father V.C.Samuel: Sunny Kulathakka; Ed. Kuriakose, M.K; Orthodox Identity in India: Essays in Honour of V.C. Samuel; Rev. Dr. V.C. Samuel 75th Birth Day Celebration Committee, Bangalore – 1988
• Ente Chintha Vikasanam (Evolution of My Thinking); Autobiographical piece, Church Weekly, Alwaye, India. 1954.
• Malayala Manorama Daily; Nov.19, 1998.
• Ecumenical Contribution of V.C.Samuel; Sebastian, J. Jayakiran; Thomas, T.K; Ecumenical Review, 1 January 1999, WCC, Geneva.
• The Oriental Orthodox Churches Addis Ababa Conference January 1965: Samuel, V.C: Ed, Addis Ababa, August 1965.
• Fifty Golden Years: Samuel, V.C: Bangalore, 1994.
• Vaidikarude Vaidikan: Mathew Vaidyan, K.L, Fr.Dr.: Chief Editor, Rev.Dr.V.C.Samuel

Commemorative Volume, Ecumenical Forum, Konni, Kerala, India.