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eading his articles and books, one hardly gets the feeling that Thomas developed a However, academic theological methodology. Some remarks and insights can be found throughout systematic, body of his writings, but he did not bring them together in a well-developed study on methodology. the does not mean that he would play down the importance of a sound theological methodology. On This contrary, his reflections on current issues in society, churches and the ecumenical movement, the Bible studies, meditations and sermons, all witness a deep awareness that theology implies a his volume of studies on Thomas shows that his theology can rightly be called a theology of dialogue. This would like to add a dimension to the dialogical nature of his thinking which has often not been I His thinking has also a ‘journey’ dimension, or as we would call it today in the ecumenical highlighted. his thinking can be seen as a personal pilgrimage of justice and peace. In his unpublished movement, ‘Faith Seeking Understanding and Responsibility’, he tried to write, probably challenged by manuscript of his friends, an autobiography. At that time his attempt was not really a success as he more or some had brought together significant passages of his most important articles and annotated these less with some notes with reference to the context in which they were written. It was never passages as a book as it would probably not have appealed to a wider audience. However, this published manuscript is of great importance for those who want to study the development of his unpublished title of this unpublished manuscript is very meaningful to understand Thomas’ personal faith The and engagement in and understanding of socio-cultural, economic, and political affairs. He journey it ‘Faith Seeking Understanding and Responsibility’. These four words precisely mark the key called in his thinking: his personal faith and spirituality, the need to analyse and understand, and elements urgency to take up responsibility. The word “seeking” forms a crucial marker for his methodology in the together faith, understanding and responsibility. For him it was a journey in which answers bringing solutions were not given once and for all. Comparing his early articles and meditations and his and books helps us to see that he has gone through a development in his thinking which is on the one later a continuous response to current issues and on the other hand a growth in theological hand of them leading to Christian responsibility. understanding methodological approach is still very relevant. I hope that re-reading his articles and books will This us in our own faith search for understanding and responsibility. M.M. was a person who help seeking out people with pastoral care and encouragement. But he was also a person accompanied liked critical dialogue challenging easy and comfortable assumptions. I hope that this volume will who approach to the questions and concerns of his days would mean today. SAHTRI’s choice to focus on Thomas’ contribution to reflections on theological methodologies is therefore very timely and relevant. continuous interaction between sociology of religion and theology of society, as he formulated in his book Man and the Universe of Faiths. thinking. help the readers to engage with him in a heuristic conversation. Rev. Dr Hielke Wol
http://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/t-u-v/thomasmadat Thomas, M(adathilparampil) M(ammen) (1916-1996) Indian church leader and world ecumenical leader Born in the Travancore region of Kerala, Thomas was raised in the Mar Thoma Syrian Church, whose combination of ancient sacramental liturgy with modern evangelical spirituality undergirded his life and ministry. His early Christian youth work and social action in India projected him onto the scene after World War ll. From 1947 to 1953 he was on the staff of the World Student Christian Federation in Geneva. The Christian in the World Struggle, written by Thomas in 1952 with colleague David McCaughey, was an influential guide to Christian student groups in its time. Thomas served the World Council of Churches (WCC) as moderator of its Central Committee fro 1968 to 1975. Earlier, he was Asian staff member of the WCC church and society department, then chair of the departmental working committee and co-chair of the World Conference on Church and Society in Geneva, 1966. He was also secretary of the East Asia Christian Conference for church and society concerns. He was a tireless speaker and writer, stimulating ecumenical debate and forging consensus, expressed in countless conference and meeting reports he helped write. Towards a Theology of Contemporary Ecumenism (1978) presents some of this work. In India, Thomas served as associate, then director, of the Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society from 1958 until his retirement in 1975. His work produced a libraiy of studies and conference reports on the religious and social dimensions of Indian life in Christian perspective. He also wrote extensively in his own name, interpreting Christian faith in light of the Asian revolution, in Indian society, and in encounter with Hinduism and secular ideologies. In retirement, he continued to write biblical studies and theology in Malayalam, his mothertongue. He sewed as governor of Nagaland, by appointment of the government of India, from 1990 to 1992. Charles C. West, “Thomas, M(adathilparampil) M(ammen),” in Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, ed. Gerald H. Anderson (New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 1998), 666-7. This article is reprinted from Biographical Dictionaiy of Christian Missions, Macmillan Reference USA, copyright © 1998 Gerald H. Anderson, by permission of Macmillan Reference USA, New York, NY. All rights reserved.
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MADATHILPARAMPIL MAMMEN THOMAS 1
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Mrs. Mariamma Mammen Teacher Mother
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1951 10
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May 15: Born to Mr. M.M.Mammen (Pri
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Associate Director, CISRS; 1957: of
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Mammen Thomas Family Arun,Thampy, A
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Front Veranda
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Evanston, Illinois, USA Place: 15-3
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M. Thomas (left),director of the Ch
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M. Thomas of Bangalore, India, M. o
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Hall at Raj Bhavan, Kohima Durbar N
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and the associated fertility cults
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Bishop Dr. Paulose Mar Paulose and
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40
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The Procession through the Tiruvall
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Ideological Quest Within Christian
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Page 83 and 84: Ibid., p.13 27 The Secular Ideologi
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