Vilakuvelil Cherian Samuel (1912–1998), called Samuel AchenAchen is the term for priests in Malayalam was an Indian Christian philosopher, scholar, university professor, theologian, historian, polyglot and ecumenical leader. He was a priest of the Malankara Orthodox Church.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. He was the author of many doctrinal books and papers including The Council of Chalcedon Re-Examined: Historical Theological Survey.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, , 2001.
Early life Samuel was born 6 April 1912, at Edayil House – Cheekanal in the village of Omallur, in the British Raj Province of Travancore, now Pathanamthitta, Kerala, India. He was born in a Jacobite Syriac Orthodox family. He was the fifth child of nine children of his parents E. I. Cherian and Annamma. His father was a school teacher and educator who established 15 primary schools when there were few facilities for modern education and a member of the Legislative Assembly (Sree Moolam Popular Assembly).Sreemoolam Praja Sabha of Travancore Province.
Education Samuel was educated at a primary school founded by his father in his village and the Government English Middle School, Pathanamthitta, going on to the St. Thomas English High School (St. Thomas Higher Secondary 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 keen interest in the patriarchal mission and was deeply moved when the Patriarch died at Manjanikkara, close to his home in 1932. The place where the Patriarch had died soon grew in stature as St. Ignatius Church, a center 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, Samuel wanted to continue his theological research but had no plans to be ordained. He began to share teaching duties with a colleague, Malpan Dn. Abdul Ahad Remban and also served as the secretary and translator for the Metropolitan.
In addition to Malayalam, his mother tongue, Samuel learned Sanskrit, Tamil, Hindi and English. He continued studying languages, later learning Syriac. He maintained his knowledge of English by reading books on church history, theology, and biblical and devotional subjects.
In 1944, Samuel joined the Union Christian College as a priest and followed a programme of study and research for another sixteen years.
1944–1948 Union Christian College Alwaye, India: B.A. Degree in philosophy, first rank with gold medal, University of Travancore later University of Kerala) 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, US: PhD, Yale University magna cum laude 1957–1960 University of Chicago, Chicago, US: Post Doctoral Research Scholar, Rockefeller Foundation Fellow
Samuel carried out research in several academic centres: Serampore College, West Bengal; United Theological College, Bangalore; CNI Library, Kottayam and Syriac Library of Pampakkuda all in India; Addis Ababa Library – Ethiopia; Bodleian Library, Oxford; British Museum Library / British Museum Reading Room, London; Library of the Bossey Ecumenical Institute, Switzerland; Library of the Jesuit College, Louvain; and the Vatican Library, Rome.Samuel V.C.; The Council of Chalcedon Re-Examined: A Historical Theological Survey
Doctoral research: Christological controversy With a background in secular education, Samuel researched the History of Christian thought, which he chose for his specialization; 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 knowledge of philosophy, Syriac and Greek made it possible for him to work with ancient texts and documents to carry out his Alexandrine-Antiochene Christologies. In choosing this area of research, Samuel's purpose was ecumenism.
The Council of Chalcedon in 451 was called to discuss the definition of the Godhead and manhood of Christ. Differences in opinion led to a major division in the Christian Church which has been interpreted by Church traditions, each in its own way to imply that the other sides were at fault. Samuel's purpose was, firstly, to find out why the division arose, and secondly, to clarify for all concerned why the Churches exist in a divided state. Finally, his work was intended to be of service to the Churches and improve the cause of Christian unity.
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. These Church traditions have been referred to as "monophysite" heretical community by the Byzantine or the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Catholic Church and the major Protestant Churches. Samuel researched the real point of the division following the council and the teaching of the Church Fathers who opposed it. He hoped to rescue Oriental Orthodoxy from centuries of intellectual oblivion. The doctoral thesis, "The Council of Chalcedon Re-examined: A Historical and Theological Survey" was published worldwide along with several papers. This stand represented the Oriental Orthodox perspective.
Post-doctoral research scholar Samuel promoted the concept that the Church in India should be Indian. He had a deep interest in comparing the roots of the historic Christian faith with the religious heritage of Hinduism. He knew that the claim of Apostolic origin and the identity as Syrian Christians of India did not match its present standing either as part of the Catholic Church or of Antiochene Syrian Church. From this point of view both these sections of the Indian Christianity could envision 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.
On completing his doctorate at Yale, an opportunity arose for him to research Hinduism. At this time Dr. P.D. Devanandan was establishing the Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society in Bangalore. Samuel joined 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 which included research for two years in India and one year in Chicago. Besides Indian Philosophy, Sankaracharya's Advaita, Ramanujacharya's Visishtadvaita and Madvacharya's Dvaita Vedanta, he gained 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.Religion and Society: Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society, Bangalore, 1957.
Polyglot Samuel was familiar with fifteen languages including his mother tongue, Malayalam and a scholar in Sanskrit, Syriac, Hebrew, Greek, Ge'ez and Arabic which he could teach in seminaries and universities.Geevarughese Mar Osthathios: My Elder Brother and Guru; Ch. Vaidikarude Vaidikan: Commemorative Volume; p. 492, Konni, Kerala, India, 2001
Career
Teaching
1933–1944 Manjanikkara Dayara – Seminary (Malphano), Pathanamthitta, Kerala, India. 1960–1963 Serampore College, Serampore, West Bengal, India. 1963–1966 Theological College of the Holy Trinity, Haile Selassie I University (Addis Ababa University), 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, Kottayam (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 contributed to 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 in 1961 voted Samuel 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 influential and expressed the importance of church unity. In 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 relativize these traditions.See Uniting in Hope; Accra 1974, Faith and Order Paper No.72 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 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