Eastern and Reformed

A Theological Enquiry into the Doctrine of Atonement and the Holy Spirit of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church

Abraham Kuruvilla

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781532659621
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

The book looks into the liturgy of the Mar Thoma Church. The Mar Thoma Church claims to be eastern and reformed. An enquiry is made into the liturgy of the passion week and the Eucharist to look into the theology of Atonement (work of Christ) and the nature of the Holy Spirit respectively. The measuring rod to determine the Eastern and the Reformed nature is the Eastern Fathers such as Gregory Nazianzen, Athanasius, St. Basil, etc., and the Reformer John Calvin. The theology of atonement (work of Christ) and the nature of the Holy Spirit as laid out in the liturgy of the Mar Thoma Church are compared to the teachings of the Eastern Fathers and Reformer John Calvin. Some observations are made and accordingly conclusions are drawn. Based on the conclusions some implications are made for the Mar Thoma Church.

Chapter 1

A Brief Introduction to the Mar Thoma Syrian Church

A proper starting point to an introduction to the Mar Thoma Syrian Church would be perhaps explaining the title itself. The title “Mar Thoma” means St. Thomas. As the title suggests, there is a connection with St. Thomas, the Apostle of Jesus Christ. It is believed that the Mar Thoma Syrian Church1 was founded by St. Thomas, the Apostle of Jesus Christ. This claim has been well researched in terms of its historicity.2

The mention of “Syrian,” in the title suggests that there is some connection to the East of the world. This connection to the East was a result of a migration that happened from the eastern part of the world to the south of India.3 Until now, we have been trying to understand the MTC on the basis of the title. However, to conclude an understanding of the MTC only on the basis of the title would lead to an incomplete understanding of the MTC. So it is necessary to mention that the unique characteristic of the MTC is that it is reformed.4 This reformed characteristic was a result of the reformation that happened in the MTC some 200 years ago.5 So, we can say that the MTC is arguably founded by St. Thomas, it has a connection to the East of the world, which gives the MTC an eastern nature, and it is reformed.

We can safely conclude that the MTC has a mixed history, which is a combination of eastern elements and reformed principles. However, irrespective of the above two claims, there is a lot of ambiguity regarding the theological nature of the MTC. There are sections in the MTC that arguably claim that the MTC is eastern. However, there also exists another section in the MTC that arguably claims that the MTC is reformed. Though the historicity of such claims is well researched and credible, in terms of doctrines and theological nature such claims are arguable because they are not credibly founded. There definitely exist some eastern elements and also some reformed elements in the MTC. However, to claim that the MTC is only eastern in its theological nature or only reformed in its theological nature is always debatable. Such arguable and debatable claims linger on in sections of the clergy, the faithful, and also in the general understanding of the MTC by the outside world at large. As a result, there is always a trend of over-emphasizing the importance of either the eastern elements over the reformed elements or vice-versa.

A logical and credible starting point to start from this reality of arguable and over-emphasized ambiguity would be to map the eastern and reformed elements in the MTC. The process of mapping would involve pointing out the respective elements as and where they are evident. In this process of mapping, it would necessarily involve a comparison with the eastern and reformed doctrines or beliefs as found in the global church. Toward this endeavor, I will make an effort in equating the beliefs of the MTC with the eastern and reformed doctrines or beliefs as found in the global church. Along with this, there will be a systematic analysis of the beliefs. Such a combination of mapping, equating, and analyzing would make the doctrinal claims of the MTC credible. However, since the effort of this book is an inquiry into the theological nature of the MTC, it would mean to spend a considerable amount of time with one or two elements. Accordingly, this book is an effort toward mapping the eastern and reformed elements with regards to the doctrine of atonement and Holy Spirit as found in the MTC.

The question before us is, how do we start the process of mapping the theological nature of the MTC or, in other words, what is the source of inquiry for mapping the theological nature of the MTC? Unlike some churches, the MTC does not have a documented copy of its theology in detail. However, one of the characteristics of eastern churches is that its theology is found in its liturgy.6 To begin a mapping process with the understanding that the theology of the MTC is found in the liturgy, it should not be misunderstood that we are concluding that the MTC is eastern even before we start. Using liturgy as a source of inquiry should only be looked upon as a starting point. However, it should be understood that the Mar Thoma liturgy7 is not an explicit confessional document regarding the doctrines of christian faith pertaining to the MTC. Such an endeavor has never been attempted in the MTC, and hence this book is important, as it will give clarity with regards to the theological and confessional standpoints of the MTC.

1. From now on I will refer to the Mar Thoma Syrian Church as the Mar Thoma Church and abbreviate it as MTC.

2. Missick, “Mar Thoma: The Apostolic Foundation,” 52–59. For a brief reading into the historicity see John, “The Liturgy of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church,” 1–3.

3. Missick, Mar Thoma, 45–50.

4. John, The Liturgy, 4–7.

5. For a detailed reading into the reformation of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church see Varughese, “Religion, Renaissance and Protest,” 170–80.

6. Patros Yousif connects the syriac liturgy to syriac spirituality; see Yousif, “East Syrian Spirituality,” 112–33. Also see Meyendorff, Byzantine Theology, 115–25.

7. The liturgy of the Mar Thoma Church, hereafter referred to as MTL.

Chapter 2

The Doctrine of Atonement

In the previous chapter I attempted to give a brief introduction of the MTC. We noticed on the analysis of the title and the characteristic of the MTC that it has some mixed elements, namely eastern and reformed. Now I should begin the task of mapping these respective elements in the liturgy of the MTC. I will begin with the doctrine of atonement.

The doctrine of atonement is very important for the Christian life. It helps us to understand the relation between the work of Christ and our salvation. The thesis of this chapter is that in the liturgy of the MTC we find a combination of eastern and reformed views of the atonement. By eastern and reformed, I mean the theology of the atonement as taught by the fathers of the Eastern Church8 like Origen, Athanasius, Basil, and Chrysostom, etc., as well as reformers like John Calvin. Accordingly, the MTC’s theology of atonement is evaluated against the teaching of eastern fathers and that of John Calvin. This helps us to understand the doctrine of atonement as one that exists between God as the doer of atonement and humans as the responder to that atonement.

In this chapter I will cover the mechanism of atonement as is found in the MTL. Furthermore, though an explicit understanding of the atonement is found in terms of Jesus as the Lord9, Prophet, and Priest, I will limit this chapter to the understanding of Christ’s priestly role. Throughout this chapter, various sub-theses will be explored...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: A Brief Introduction to the Mar Thoma Syrian Church
• Chapter 2: The Doctrine of Atonement
• Chapter 3: The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit
• Chapter 4: Conclusion
• Bibliography