Introduction
After a God-given successful school education, I went on to University education to study mathematics and physics. When I finished my degree BSc. in maths and physics, I took to high school teaching of these subjects as I learnt them. When I decided to become a priest, I closed my teaching and journalism, to study Latin, then philosophy and then theology, getting my BPh. and then BTh. S.L.T. and STD. when I returned to Sri Lanka, after a brief period of pastoral experience, I became professor at the National and Jaffna Seminaries for philosophy of science, for ecclesiology, ministries, ecumenism, christology...teaching all what I learnt in the universities in Rome. Added to it I had the experience of theological innovative thinking done as a theological advisor of the FABC from 1986 to 1994. All these came to a pause after I moved in self-exile to Europe.
I have been teaching theology, especially ecclesiology and subjects related to ministries and ecumenism. Christology too I taught. All my teaching was based on what I learnt as a student.
But my services as a theological advisor of the FABC gave me lot of chances for innovative thinking and writing. The many seminars and conferences I was called to address and the annual week long thological discussions and drafting of documents gave me more courage for innovative thinking. Hong Kong where we usually met was far away from Rome. And Cardinal Ratzinger was getting some ideas of what these asian theologians were doing, only by calling Archbishop Henry Souza of Calcuuta. What we Asian theologians were attempting to do was to contextualise the teachings of the church, especially after the 2nd Vatican Council. Contextualisation does not mean translating the teachings and thinking of the Church in our mother tongue, our own concepts and articulations. That will be one-way contextual theology. Unlike the earlier theologies of the church, where questions about God, Incarnation, church or sacraments etc. were formulated motu proprio, and then answers formulated according to scholastic philosophy, Asian theologians wanted to respond to questions of Asian human life with the revelation coming to us through Jesus Christ.
I believe that divine revelation has gone on from the beginning to all humanity in various ways and forms. On this basis religions are born. One of the ways of revelation was through the history of Israel and the bible up to Jesus Christ. While believing in this chain of revelations, I believe finally in me as a recipient of diving revelation, and that is my life.
Hence I speak of my experiential theology/ Christology/ecclesiology
In theology itself we speak of dogmatic pastoral moral ecumenical practical....theologies. Here I am concerned about Theo-logy in the strict sense of talking about God as God. Similarly Christo-logy and Ecclesi-ology.
A personal experiential reflection is not to contradict or question the systematic disciplines that I learn
what exactly is my experiential theology?
1. The Theology I learnt in Rome
2. The theology I taught as Professor in Kandy National Seminary for ten years (1976-86), at St.Francis Xavier's Major Seminary, Jaffna (1986-1996), at Heythrop College of London University as visiting scholar (1996-1997), at German Universities of Frankfurt 1999 and at University of Muenster during my sabbatical 1983-4. From 1986-1994 I was theological advisor to the Asians Bishops Conferences TAC/ FABC
3. The theologising on my past experiences as student, teacher and personal convictions earned during my 50 years of priestly life pastoral experiences
After a God-given successful school education, I went on to University education to study mathematics and physics. When I finished my degree BSc. in maths and physics, I took to high school teaching of these subjects as I learnt them. When I decided to become a priest, I closed my teaching and journalism, to study Latin, then philosophy and then theology, getting my BPh. and then BTh. S.L.T. and STD. when I returned to Sri Lanka, after a brief period of pastoral experience, I became professor at the National and Jaffna Seminaries for philosophy of science, for ecclesiology, ministries, ecumenism, christology...teaching all what I learnt in the universities in Rome. Added to it I had the experience of theological innovative thinking done as a theological advisor of the FABC from 1986 to 1994. All these came to a pause after I moved in self-exile to Europe.
During the last few years of self-exile, I had the privilege of
reflecting more and more about the nature of God, about Jesus Christ and
the Church.
I have been teaching theology, especially ecclesiology and subjects related to ministries and ecumenism. Christology too I taught. All my teaching was based on what I learnt as a student.
But my services as a theological advisor of the FABC gave me lot of chances for innovative thinking and writing. The many seminars and conferences I was called to address and the annual week long thological discussions and drafting of documents gave me more courage for innovative thinking. Hong Kong where we usually met was far away from Rome. And Cardinal Ratzinger was getting some ideas of what these asian theologians were doing, only by calling Archbishop Henry Souza of Calcuuta. What we Asian theologians were attempting to do was to contextualise the teachings of the church, especially after the 2nd Vatican Council. Contextualisation does not mean translating the teachings and thinking of the Church in our mother tongue, our own concepts and articulations. That will be one-way contextual theology. Unlike the earlier theologies of the church, where questions about God, Incarnation, church or sacraments etc. were formulated motu proprio, and then answers formulated according to scholastic philosophy, Asian theologians wanted to respond to questions of Asian human life with the revelation coming to us through Jesus Christ.
I believe that divine revelation has gone on from the beginning to all humanity in various ways and forms. On this basis religions are born. One of the ways of revelation was through the history of Israel and the bible up to Jesus Christ. While believing in this chain of revelations, I believe finally in me as a recipient of diving revelation, and that is my life.
Hence I speak of my experiential theology/ Christology/ecclesiology
In theology itself we speak of dogmatic pastoral moral ecumenical practical....theologies. Here I am concerned about Theo-logy in the strict sense of talking about God as God. Similarly Christo-logy and Ecclesi-ology.
A personal experiential reflection is not to contradict or question the systematic disciplines that I learn
what exactly is my experiential theology?
1. The Theology I learnt in Rome
2. The theology I taught as Professor in Kandy National Seminary for ten years (1976-86), at St.Francis Xavier's Major Seminary, Jaffna (1986-1996), at Heythrop College of London University as visiting scholar (1996-1997), at German Universities of Frankfurt 1999 and at University of Muenster during my sabbatical 1983-4. From 1986-1994 I was theological advisor to the Asians Bishops Conferences TAC/ FABC
3. The theologising on my past experiences as student, teacher and personal convictions earned during my 50 years of priestly life pastoral experiences
4. After my return to Sri Lanka after 21 years of self-exiled life in Germany, I started writing my contributions in Tamil This year 2020 I am publishing my book about Tamil Christianity and its experiential growth.
