1. Birth of Christianity in Jerusalem
Church was born out of the Pentecost event in Jerusalem. Apostles and other witnesses of Jesus Christ founded the first communities of Christians in Judea, in Antioch, in Corinth,....
Soon after Pentecost when some non-Jews embraced Christian faith and joined the community of believers, question arose about the jewish imposition of circumcision on the new converts. The Apostolic Council in 49 AD decided that baptism was sufficient and there was no need to impose the jewish initiation ceremony of circumcision. But as the church spread in the second century and pagans too joined the church, they brought along with them some pagan customs and ways of life.
2. Growth of Christianity as the Roman Catholic Church
After the martyrdom of Peter and Paul in Rome the church of the catechumens flourished even in the period of persecution. But with Constatinian era of freedom the church in Rome flourished as the church of the empire. Christianity spread across the roman empire and the church was gaining formidable power like the secular state and abuses too increased.
Centuries of growth of the church under the leadership of Rome in all the European countries happened with interaction absorption and losing on both sides of the gospel and culture.
3. Missions of the Counter-reformation Churches
After the translation of the bible into the vernacular, criticisms against the Roman church increased. Many reformers including Martin Luther became a threat to the authority and arrogance of the Roman Church. Hence during 15th and 16 th centuries, there was a counter-reformation efforts by the catholic church - strengthening the church with all heavy structures disciplines etc. under the leadership of Rome and with the help of the Jesuits. Council of Trent did most of the work for the counter-reformation catholic church. Hence missionaries who came to India and Ceylon were sons and daughtrs of the counter-reformation churches.
1. Origins of the Tamil Catholic Churches in India and Sri Lanka
Christianity came into the Tamil world with the Portuguese colonialism. Portuguese missionaries, including St.Francis Xavier, preached Christianity as they have learnt and experienced it in their home country - Europe. And European churches were from the Roman empire, after the arrival of the apostles Peter and Paul into Rome and the consequent growth of the early Roman catholic church. This R.C. church grew into a large and strong institution with its hierarchy dogma liturgy life style etc. Threats of division came to this church from the eastern churches as well as from Martin Luther of the 16th century Germany. This caused a counter-reformation church which strengthened further all the threatened aspects of the church. The missionaries who accompanied the colonizers were sons and daughters of these churches. Hence they transplanted into Africa and Asia their mother-churches with little adaptations.
As far as Tamils were concerned, they lived in villages grouped according to their caste! Caste was considered an indelible character from birth to death, willed by the Gods! This was the explanation of the Hindu priests for accepting caste-system as God-willed! Hindu religion was interwined with the life of the Tamils. Not only caste system, but also several religious practices such as astrology ininterpreting and forecasting lives f people, dealing with evil spirits etc. all these practices were conceived as the ethnic cultural life-style of the Tamil people not pertaining to their religion.
Missionaries not willing to erase or overlook what was claimed as part of the Tamil culture or ethnicity, built separate churches for each village/caste and overlooked the Tamil practices with astrologers and evil-spirits. Catholic churches confined themselves to building churches and communities of people who accepted the preaching of the missionaries or rather the catechism taught by the catechists and took part in the latin-liturgy
We the present day Tamil Christians living as churches with different rituals and hierarchies. I am a Tamil Catholic priest having been formed during the 2nd Vatican Council that was the Pentecost of our times, I have taken the teachings of Vatican II very seriously in my formation ministry and in forming priests for the future.
Is the Tamil church a compromising church between faith and Hindu-culture?
Dilemma for the early missionaries.
Their overcoming it with building of different churches for different communities of different castes!
Periyar as eye-opener to the Tamil Church
Religious belief of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy resulted in him being considered the Voltaire of South India. Periyar E. V. Ramasamy was mainly regarded as positive propagandist who always condemned the ruthlessness of religious influence on society, mainly the domination of the Brahmin. At a very tender age, he also felt that some people took the help of religion only to shield and deceive innocent people and considered it as his mission in life to warn people against priests and superstitions. Periyar stated that "religion goes hand in hand with superstition and fear. Religion prevents progress and suppresses man. Religion exploits the suppressed classes".
Religious Ideology of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy
Through Periyar’s movement, the Temple Entry Acts of 1924, 1931 and up to 1950 were created for the non-Brahmins. Another accomplishment took place during the 1970s when Tamil replaced Sanskrit language as the Temple language in Tamil Nadu, while Dalits were finally eligible for priesthood. Periyar opposed religion virulently, because according to their views, the so-called men of religion invented myths and superstitions to keep the innocent and ignorant people in darkness and to go on exploiting them.
Periyar and Hinduism
On Hinduism, Periyar believed that it was a religion with no proper distinctive holy books or the origin but to be an imaginary faith preaching the greatness or superiority of Brahmins, the badness or inferiority of the Sudras or the untouchables or Dalits. His contemptuous attitude to the baleful influence of Hinduism in Indian public life is strikingly similar to the anti-Catholic attacks of the enlightenment philosophers. In the year 1955, he was arrested for his public outrage of burning the pictures of Lord Rama at public places, as a symbolic protest against the Indo-Aryan domination and degradation of Dravidian leadership according to the Ramayana epic. The great social reformer, Periyar also criticized the images of Lord Krishna saying that they were Aryan Gods and considered the Dravidians as Sudras to be "sons of prostitutes".
Periyar also openly suggested that those who were marginalised or secluded within the Hindu communities to think of converting to other faiths like Islam, Buddhism or Christianity.
Periyar and Islam
On Islam he said, in many of his speeches, that it was good for abolishing the disgrace in human relationship. He also commended Islam for its belief in one invisible and formless God; proclamation of equal rights for men and women; and advocating of social unity.
Periyar and Christianity
Periyar viewed Christianity similar to the monotheistic faith of Islam, and explained that their faith says that there can be only one God which has no name or shape. Periyar took an interest in Rev. Martin Luther, where both he and his followers wanted to liken him and his role to that of the European reformer. Thus, Christian views such as that of Ram Mohan Roy’s "The Precepts of Jesus" has had at least an indirect influence on Periyar.
Periyar and Buddhism
Apart from Christianity and Islam, he also found in Buddhist religion akin to the philosophy that he believed in. Though he did not accept the religion but somewhat found in that the religion has a basis for his thought and ideology.
My Paper on Periyar and Humanity at the int. conference on Periyar in Koeln University, Germany in 2017
??
Periyar as eye-opener to the Tamil Church
Religious belief of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy resulted in him being considered the Voltaire of South India. Periyar E. V. Ramasamy was mainly regarded as positive propagandist who always condemned the ruthlessness of religious influence on society, mainly the domination of the Brahmin. At a very tender age, he also felt that some people took the help of religion only to shield and deceive innocent people and considered it as his mission in life to warn people against priests and superstitions. Periyar stated that "religion goes hand in hand with superstition and fear. Religion prevents progress and suppresses man. Religion exploits the suppressed classes".
Religious Ideology of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy
Through Periyar’s movement, the Temple Entry Acts of 1924, 1931 and up to 1950 were created for the non-Brahmins. Another accomplishment took place during the 1970s when Tamil replaced Sanskrit language as the Temple language in Tamil Nadu, while Dalits were finally eligible for priesthood. Periyar opposed religion virulently, because according to their views, the so-called men of religion invented myths and superstitions to keep the innocent and ignorant people in darkness and to go on exploiting them.
Periyar and Hinduism
On Hinduism, Periyar believed that it was a religion with no proper distinctive holy books or the origin but to be an imaginary faith preaching the greatness or superiority of Brahmins, the badness or inferiority of the Sudras or the untouchables or Dalits. His contemptuous attitude to the baleful influence of Hinduism in Indian public life is strikingly similar to the anti-Catholic attacks of the enlightenment philosophers. In the year 1955, he was arrested for his public outrage of burning the pictures of Lord Rama at public places, as a symbolic protest against the Indo-Aryan domination and degradation of Dravidian leadership according to the Ramayana epic. The great social reformer, Periyar also criticized the images of Lord Krishna saying that they were Aryan Gods and considered the Dravidians as Sudras to be "sons of prostitutes".
Periyar also openly suggested that those who were marginalised or secluded within the Hindu communities to think of converting to other faiths like Islam, Buddhism or Christianity.
Periyar and Islam
On Islam he said, in many of his speeches, that it was good for abolishing the disgrace in human relationship. He also commended Islam for its belief in one invisible and formless God; proclamation of equal rights for men and women; and advocating of social unity.
Periyar and Christianity
Periyar viewed Christianity similar to the monotheistic faith of Islam, and explained that their faith says that there can be only one God which has no name or shape. Periyar took an interest in Rev. Martin Luther, where both he and his followers wanted to liken him and his role to that of the European reformer. Thus, Christian views such as that of Ram Mohan Roy’s "The Precepts of Jesus" has had at least an indirect influence on Periyar.
Periyar and Buddhism
Apart from Christianity and Islam, he also found in Buddhist religion akin to the philosophy that he believed in. Though he did not accept the religion but somewhat found in that the religion has a basis for his thought and ideology.
My Paper on Periyar and Humanity at the int. conference on Periyar in Koeln University, Germany in 2017
??
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