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| Kerala Brethren | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Plymouth Brethren |
| Polity | Congregationalist |
| Region | Kerala, India |
| Origin | 1899 |
| Congregations | 600 |
| Part of a series on |
| Christianity in India |
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The Kerala Brethren are a subset of the Open Brethren movement. In the South Indian State of Kerala, four Syrian Christian (Nasrani) men who came from traditional churches were baptised in 1898.[ citation needed ]
Many Indian Christians believe that the Apostle Thomas brought the Christian message to India in 52AD. In the words of an Indian hymn, "...It was his mission to espouse India to the One-Begotten...." [1] Some Indian Brethren disclaim their missionary origins, instead making a case for historical continuity with the First-Century converts of the Apostle Thomas, [2] claiming that for several centuries Christians on the Malabar coast (modern Kerala) followed what Brethren believe to have been the New Testament model of church organisation and worship, with no clergy, and that clericalism began to creep in only after 345 AD, when seventy-two families belonging to seven Jewish clans followed Thomas of Cana from Iraq to Kodungalloor, which is now in Kerala. Thomas of Cana, they claim, brought in bishops and deacons, changing the practices of the Kerala Christians. This interpretation of history is not widely shared by non-Brethren Christians, however.
The modern Brethren movement was introduced into India in 1833 by Anthony Norris Groves, [3] a dentist turned missionary who was one of the original Plymouth Brethren pioneers in Ireland. The Brethren movement began to take root in Kerala when Mathai Upadeshi, who had been an (Anglican) CMS evangelist from Tirunelveli, arrived in 1872. Another early preacher was Justhus Joseph, also known as Vidwankutty, a Tamil Brahmin and also a CMS priest like Mathai Upadeshi. He arrived in Kerala in 1875, but his ministry declined after the failure of his prediction that Jesus Christ would return in 1881.
A second wave of growth among the Kerala Brethren started in 1894 with the arrival of V.D. David, better known in Kerala as Tamil David, and L.M. Wordsmith, the latter an Indian Tamil from Colombo, Sri Lanka. They were joined by Herbert Handley Bird, who established assemblies in Northern Kerala. [4] They were helped by Baptist preacher and Keswick Convention speaker J.G. Gregson, who visited Kerala in 1896. Although a Baptist, he was sympathetic to Brethren viewpoints and helped to found the first Brethren assembly in Travancore, central Kerala. He also preached in Ayroor, near Kumbanad, paving the way for German missionary Volbrecht Nagel to conduct the first Brethren "meeting" (as they usually call their services) there on 19 March 1899.[ citation needed ]
Thomas the Apostle, also known as Didymus, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Thomas is commonly known as "Doubting Thomas" because he initially doubted the resurrection of Jesus Christ when he was told of it ; he later confessed his faith on seeing the wounds left over from the crucifixion.
The Plymouth Brethren or Assemblies of Brethren are a low church and Nonconformist Christian movement whose history can be traced back to Dublin, Ireland, in the mid to late 1820s, where it originated from Anglicanism. The group emphasizes sola scriptura, the belief that the Bible is the only authority for church doctrine and practice. Plymouth Brethren generally see themselves as a network of like-minded free churches, not as a Christian denomination.
Christianity is India's third-largest religion with about 26 million adherents, making up 2.3 percent of the population as of the 2011 census. The written records of Saint Thomas Christians mention that Christianity was introduced to the Indian subcontinent by Thomas the Apostle, who sailed to the Malabar region in 52 AD.
Kalloor is the name of the place in Tamil Nadu, India, where the Apostle Thomas, one of the 12 disciples of Jesus, is believed to have been killed. Though there are differing claims and no written accounts have been found to favor one over another, it is generally accepted that the Apostle Thomas arrived in what is now the state of Kerala and established a number of churches, converting mainly Brahmin families. He then traveled to what is now the modern state of Tamil Nadu and on to China, establishing small works along the way. After returning to Tamil Nadu, he was killed by some locals. Though he was buried in India, his body was taken, in the fourth or fifth century, to Edessa, in modern-day Turkey.
The Indian Brethren are a Christian Evangelical premillennial religious movement. Although they have some distinct characteristics, they have a lot in common, in both doctrine and practice, with the international Open Brethren movement, with whom nearly all of them are historically affiliated.
The Maramon Convention, a Christian convention in Asia, is held at Maramon, Pathanamthitta, Kerala, India annually in February on the vast sand-bed of the Pampa River next to the Kozhencherry Bridge. It is organised by Mar Thoma Evangelistic Association, the missionary wing of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church.
Anthony Norris Groves was an English Protestant missionary, who has been called the "father of faith missions". He launched the first Protestant mission to Arabic-speaking Muslims, and settled in Baghdad, and later in southern India. His ideas influenced a circle of friends who became leaders in the Plymouth Brethren. Among these were George Müller, who had married Groves's sister Mary, as well as John Nelson Darby and John Vesey Parnell, 2nd Baron Congleton.
Thomas of Cana was a Syrian Christian merchant magnate who arrived to the Chera Dynasties capital city of Kodungallur between 345 C.E. and 811 C.E. Thoma brought with him Jewish-Christian families and clergymen from Persian Mesopotamia.
Protestants in India are a minority and a sub-section of Christians in India and also to a certain extent the Christians in Pakistan before the Partition of India, that adhere to some or all of the doctrines of Protestantism. Protestants in India are a small minority in a predominantly Hindu majority country, but form majorities in the north-eastern states of Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland and significant minorities in Konkan division, Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, with various communities in east coast and northern states. Protestants today trace their heritage back to the Protestant reformation of the 16th century. There are an estimated 20 million Protestants and 16 million Pentecostals in India.
The Diocese of Medak is one of the prominent Dioceses in the Church of South India, a Protestant Uniting Church with its headquarters in Medak comprising nearly 200 Presbyters ministering to Telugu, Lambadi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindustani, English and other linguistic groups numbering nearly 1/3rds of a million spread over 105 pastorates and administered through 3 District Church Councils (DCC), namely, the Town DCC, the Medak DCC and the Godavari DCC geographically located in the erstwhile civil districts of Adilabad, Nizamabad, Medak, Rangareddy, Hyderabad and Mahboobnagar in Telangana.
Mahakavi Kunnampurathu Varghese Simon was a Malayalam Christian poet from Kerala, India. He was also a musician, a teacher, a reformer, a writer, a Bible scholar and apologist. Simon authored around three hundred hymns or poems and some thirty books. K. V. Simon was given the title Mahakavi by the Sahitya Parishad. His major work was Veda Viharam, based on the biblical Genesis. It was this work, published in 1931, that earned his name among the noted Malayalam poets. Simon was a prominent leader of the Kerala Brethren movement.
Christianity in the state of Tamil Nadu, India is the second largest religion in the state. According to tradition, St. Thomas, one of the twelve apostles, landed in Malabar Coast in AD 52. In the colonial age many Portuguese, Dutch, British and Italian Christians came to Tamil Nadu. Priests accompanied them not only to minister the colonisers but also to spread the Christian faith among the non-Christians in Tamil Nadu. Currently, Christians are a minority community comprising 6% of the total population. Christians are mainly concentrated in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu - Kanyakumari, Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli.
Malankara Church of God Thrikkannamangal is a church in Kottarakkara, Kerala, India, originally known as Malankara Poorna Suvisesha Sabha.
The Saint Thomas Christian denominations are Christian denominations from Kerala, India, which traditionally trace their ultimate origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. They are also known as "Nasranis" as well. The Syriac term "Nasrani" is still used by St. Thomas Christians in Kerala. It is part of the Eastern Christianity institution.
The Assemblies Jehovah Shammah are an Evangelical Christian network of churches that originated in India, which is still home to the great majority of them. The Evangelical publication Operation World estimates their numbers, as of 2010, at 310,000 adults and children in 910 assemblies, as their churches are generally known. Other sources estimate upwards of two thousand congregations, with a large presence in the State of Andhra Pradesh. The movement was founded in 1942 by evangelist Bakht Singh, whose theology and ecclesiology were much influenced by the Open Brethren. Although historically distinct from the Indian Brethren movement, which originated from missionary endeavours, the Assemblies Jehovah Shammah have a lot in common with it and are sometimes considered a part of the Brethren movement worldwide.
The Open Brethren, sometimes called Christian Brethren, are a group of Evangelical Christian churches that arose in the late 1820s as part of the Assembly Movement within the Plymouth Brethren tradition. They originated in Ireland before spreading throughout the British Isles, and today they have an estimated 26,000 assemblies worldwide.
Joseph Gelson Gregson (1835–1909) was an English Baptist missionary to the Indian sub-continent during the British Raj.
