A presentation

On

“Vengal Chakkarai”

Submitted By

Srujana. Mellimi

In partial fulfilment on the requirements of the course of:

“INDIAN CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY”

Submitted to:

Sir. John Signey

CHURCH ON THE ROCK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY,

DORATHOTA

Submitted

On

29th December 2020

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TABLE OF CONTENT

INTRODUCTION

1. Early life
2. Christian role of Vengal Chakkarai
3. Later life
4. Teachings of Vengal Chakkarai
4.1. No biblical objection to turn to Christ
4.2. Teaching on Christianity in relation with Hinduism
4.3. Knowing God
4.4. Distinction between Jesus the Galilean and exalted Christ
4.5. Jesus as the true man
4.6. Jesus as Avatar
5. Implication of Chakkarai for the Indian Church

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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INTRODUCTION

Christianity originated in India, as is commonly believed, after the missionary efforts of

the apostle Thomas. According to documented history, Christian churches have existed in
India since as early as the fourth century A.D. These early congregations were from the
Syrian church tradition. Later, during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Roman Catholic
missionaries established churches along the western and southern coast of India. William
Carey, although not the first Protestant missionary to India, led a movement of missionaries
and resources to India at the turn of the nineteenth century. All of these missionary efforts
helped to establish a large population of Indian Christians around the country. However, it
was not until the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that serious questions began to surface
regarding the Indian church’s foreign nature and its apparent lack of indigenous influence.
The growing excitement surrounding the move towards independence from Great Britain led
some Indian Christians to reevaluate how much influence the West continued to hold in
Indian churches. These Christians sought to make the Indian church faithfully devoted to
Christ in a genuinely Indian manner. One of the most prominent voices among these
Christians was that of Vengal Chakkarai. Therefore, the writer dealt with his early life, his
role as a Christian and his teachings on Christianity.

1. Early life

Vengal Chakkarai was born in 1880 in Madras, what is now Chennai, in the South Indian
state of Tamil Nadu. His family was of the Chetty caste, the second highest in Tamil Nadu
beneath the Brahmin caste. Chakkarai’s father, a banker, was a devotee of the Vedanta
tradition, a Hindu philosophy that centers on the relation of the soul to the supreme deity.
However, since his father died while Chakkarai was very young, it was his mother and
maternal grandmother who became the greatest spiritual influences in his life. They adhered
to Vaishnava bhakti, a Hindu tradition centering around a personal devotion to the god
Vishnu. Chakkarai’s grandmother would regularly reward him for reading the
Mahabharatham and Ramayanam, both prominent Hindu scriptures. Through his mother and
grandmother’s bhakti instruction, Chakkarai’s religious convictions came to be shaped more
by an emphasis on loving devotion than by his father’s impersonal Vedantic tradition.
Moreover, Boyd argues that Chakkarai’s experience with Hindu devotional life was deeper
and more prolonged than any of his later Christian contemporaries who would join him in
reevaluating Indian Christianity. His mother 2 and grandmother’s bhakti tradition of loving

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devotion would later come to greatly influence Chakkarai’s theology after becoming a
Christian.1

2. Christian role of Vengal Chakkarai in India

Chakkarai’s role in championing the indigenous nature of the Indian church was birthed
in the years surrounding his conversion to the Christian faith. As was common for many
upperclass Hindu children, Chakkarai received an English medium education in a Scottish
mission school and later entered the esteemed Madras Christian College to study philosophy.
It was in this college that Chakkarai came under the influence of its president, William
Miller. A significant figure in the advancement of education in late nineteenth century India,
William Miller would prove to be a formidable figure in Chakkarai’s journey to becoming a
Christian. Remembered as a liberal Scottish missionary, Miller was a pioneer in advancing
fulfillment theology in regards to how Christ fulfills the deepest religious longings of Hindus.
At a time 3 when most Protestant missionaries in India were encouraging new Christians to
reject virtually all of their Hindu past, Miller saw much in Hinduism that can point to Christ.
Miller’s engagement with Hindu religious traditions in relation to the Christian gospel drew
Chakkarai’s interest in learning more about Christianity. Boyd argues that through studying
the Bible under Miller’s influence, Chakkarai eventually came to a personal experience of
Christ which became the “centre and turning point of his whole life.” This experience led to
Chakkarai accepting 4 baptism at the college’s chapel in 1903. 2

3. Later life

After his short service in the Danish Missionary Society, Chakkarai spent the rest of his life
working as a Madras city councillor, including one term as city mayor in 1941, and as a
member of the Madras Legislative Council. During this time he worked with city legislators
on a number of different post-independence policies, including one which he vehemently
opposed: the political entity of a legal Christian “community.” 3 Chakkarai died in 1958 after
more than thirty years of public service. Although the memory of Chakkarai may not be
present in the minds of most Indian Christians today, his theological writings have remained
in print and continue to be included in studies of Indian Christian theology. Chakkarai was a
1
M. S. S. Pandian, “Nation as Nostalgia: Ambiguous Spiritual Journeys of Vengal Chakkarai,”
Economic and Political Weekly 38, no. 51/52 (December 2003 - January 2004), 5358.
2
R. H. S. Boyd, An Introduction to Indian Christian Theology (Madras: The Christian Literature
Society, 2 1975), 165.
3
Chandra Mallampalli, Christians and Public Life in Colonial South India, 1863-1937: Contending
with 19 Marginality (London: Routledge, 2004), 111.

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lawyer and politician by trade and not a professional theologian. However, Chakkarai’s
theological writings may be his most significant contribution to Indian Christianity.4

4. Teachings of Vengal Chakkarai

4.1. No Biblical Objection to turn to Christ

Vengal Chakkarai, a follower of Christ from a high caste Tamil family, stated it this way in
his book The Cross and Indian Thought, first published in 1932. To strike a personal note
which our readers may pardon, the writer never felt the awfulness of sin and probably does
not feel it now as some of the European Christian bhaktas [devotees]. It was fuller
acquaintance with Jesus in the beauty of His holiness and matchless and moving character
that has made him realize the Protestant feeling of sin and its enormities. In one word, it is the
positive character of Jesus that has brought out the negative character of sin as the very
opposite of all that he stood for.

It is Christ himself, his person and his approach to people and to life, which draws Hindus.
There can be no biblical objection to people turning to Christ simply because Christ is
wonderful; sin and its subtlety and spirituality can best be taught to someone who has humbly
surrendered to Christ.5

4.2. Teaching on Christianity in relation with Hinduism

Chakkarai draws the basis from Hinduism is a form of background for Christianity in
India. If for the Israelites Judaism (the Old Testament) was the background for Christianity,
so was Hinduism for the Indians. As such, the Old Testament has no meaning for Indian
Christians. For Indian Christians, the position of the Old Testament was replaced by
Hinduism. If we are to understand Jesus Christ correctly, we must explain it only through
Hinduism and the New Testament. Christianity is seen as the fulfillment of Hinduism.
Hinduism is seen as a "preparatio evangelica".

Then Chakkarai expressed his opinion that even though Christianity is the fulfillment of
Hinduism, it does not mean that Hinduism is imperfect, inferior, and false. Hinduism itself
can answer Indian problems and meet Indian needs. If so, why was the Gospel being
4
Chakkarai, V. Jesus the Avatar. Madras: The Christian Literature Society, 1930. “What is to Indianise
Christianity?” The Guardian 9, no. 42 (October 29, 1931): 495-496.
5
C T Kurien, “For a Renewal of the Church of India”, National Christian Council Review (NCCR),
vol.97 (April 1977), p.197.

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preached to Hindus again? Chakkarai's answer is, we preach the gospel and convert Hindus to
Christianity not because Hinduism is imperfect or false, but because of Christ who is in
Christianity. Hindus who convert to Christianity are not turning from false religion to true
religion. Hindus become Christians because God chose them and God's call to them is heard
and obeyed. Thus for Chakkarai, Hinduism still applies as the true religion.

In his book, "Jesus the Avatar" (Jesus, Awatar), Chakkarai describes his views on the
person Jesus Christ. According to him, Jesus Christ is the only true Awatara and only Him.
Jesus was truly a human, but a unique human. His uniqueness lay in His prayer life and
sinlessness. His prayer life exceeds that of the prophets and sages and yogis in India.

In his book, "The Cross and India Thought", Chakkarai describes the meaning of the cross in
penance. Under the shadow of the cross, man's sin grew darker and sin even more dreadful.
Contemplating the cross will produce deep feelings of regret and cause tears to flow into
repentance. To express the meaning of sin, Chakkarai uses the words "maya" and "sat asat".
Chakkarai had such a positive attitude towards Hinduism that his critical power was lost. It is
important to keep in mind that Jesus Christ can only be properly understood by not
abandoning the Old Testament. The Old Testament foretold the coming of the Messiah, who
is Jesus Christ.6

4.3. Knowing God

There are two ways to know God which are as follows:

Firstly, Personal experience: Chakkarai’s view on the meaning of the cross for the
believers in this world of suffering is appropriate in theology. Because he confronted with the
choice to begin theologizing ‘from God’ or ‘from Christ’. While Chakkarai chooses the latter
because it is based on the Chakkarai’s conviction of the impossibility of Knowing God
without first acknowledging Christ. This knowledge is not intellectual rather it is a personal
experience of him. Chakkarai calls this knowledge as ‘bakti marga’ (way of devotion).

Secondly, Christian edification: Christ here means the risen Christ, the transcendent
Christ, who at the same time is also immanent in the hearts of those who acknowledge and
love him. As Chakkarai says that,

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https://biokristi.sabda.org/vengal_chakkarai,2ndDecember2020.

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 “the historical figure of Christ Jesus is acknowledged to be alone today by his
bhaktas…..not a mere radiating influence but his very personality is claimed to
be the antaryamin (the indwelling controller), the inspirer and the guru seated
in the lotus of the bhakta’s heart”7

Chakkarai understands the immanence of Christ in the hearts of his bhaktas as the
corollate of the immanence of his atman (the self) in the life of man. This knowledge, he says
comes from the Christian experience and the Holy Bible.8

4.4. Distinction between Jesus the Galilean and the exalted Christ:

Chakkarai makes distinction to say that these two may be separated from each other in
order to know Christ who is living in our heart (immanent). We must also know Jesus the
Galilean. Chakkarai says that, the humiliation (Jesus the Galilean) and exaltation of Jesus
(exalted Christ) are rhythmical processes of divine deeds which may not be separated from
each other. Finally, the humiliation and exaltation, the death and resurrection, the historical
and the spiritual Jesus constitute the two sides of reality. 9

4.5. Jesus as the true man (sat purusa)

For Chakkarai, Jesus is the true man (sat purusa). The proof of his true manhood lies in
the fact that he was capable of performing miracles and was sinless. These two things,
Chakkarai says are not meant to be proof of his divinity rather to show what sort of man Jesus
really was. Jesus is the original pattern who lives in the mind of God himself. This pattern is
then followed as the model in the creation of man. Later Chakkarai asserts that Jesus is not
simply as ‘sat purusa’ but also ‘mula purusa’, the spiritual background of all humanity. As sat
purusa, Jesus is not influenced by maya (Chakkarai understands maya in this respect as sin)
as other humans are. He says that, Jesus is free from maya. He is exalted so that his full
dignity and light shine in the world.

This brings Chakkarai further to question how the relationship between Jesus and his
father should be understood in light of Jesus as sat purusa. According to Chakkarai, this
relationship may not be conceived of as something metaphysical, in the sense of oneness. On
the other hand, Jesus cannot be understood as merely man. As the result, Jesus cannot be

7
A A Yewangoe, Theologia Crucis in Asia (Netherlands: Amsterdam, 1987), 60.
8
A A Yewangoe, Theologia Crucis in Asia (Netherlands: Amsterdam, 1987), 60-61.
9
Ibid, Theogia Crucis in Asia, 62-63.

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conquered by sin. This means that Jesus does not live for himself. On the contrary, he lives
for the kingdom of God in his own heart. Jesus says, Chakkarai is a reality and God. Through
him, also becomes a reality for us. Jesus’s sinlessness may not be regarded as a metaphysical
divinity but a dynamic sinlessness which is an expression of his own free choice, and his own
personality which works itself out in suffering love. His sinlessness is the cross and there is
no self can exist but is burnt up in the homa or the sacrificial fire that burnt in the deepest
heart of God and necessarily of humanity, which is Jesus in history. In his concern to live for
the other and not for himself as an expression of his suffering love can also be seen the
emptying act of God towards men. 10

4.6. Jesus as Avatar (incarnation)

Based on the historical Jesus, Chakkarai defined that Jesus is the divine Avatar for us.
This Avatar is not something static rather he is continuous from one stage to the next from
historical to the spiritual. What does Chakkarai mean by this? He means that the Avatar, the
incarnation, is not only visible in the historical Jesus and then disappears in the crucifixion
but rather that it still goes on even now. This Avatar is tangible in the life of believers.
Therefore, we can understand that there is a difference between the Avatar in Christianity and
Hinduism. In Hinduism, Chakkarai says that Avatar only appears in time of crisis. For
example, in a situation of injustice or oppression. When the critical situation is over, the
avatar is no longer needed. He has fulfilled the task, so he returns to the divine nature into
which he is then absorbed.

Jesus on the contrary, is the embodiment of logos. In Jesus, Logos became man. After this
event of becoming man, Logos still remains with us. This means eternally living with us as
‘God-Man’. He still lives and works in the hearts of the believers.

Chakkarai emphasizes here the significance of the incarnation not as a metaphysical or a

substantial oneness of God and man, but as an appearance of Christ in the uncertainty of our
history. Unlike Hinduism, Jesus in his incarnation does not simply wait until a crisis situation
takes place. He remains there, always ready to help. In the incarnation, Chakkarai says both
man and God entered a new phase of life. As a result, it is not the metaphysic of God which
functions in Hinduism as the key in understanding the incarnation, but the life of Jesus

10
A A Yewangoe, Theologia Crucis in Asia (Netherlands: Amsterdam, 1987), 63-64.

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himself. The life of Jesus enables us to know the works of the mind of God and how to fulfill
the needs of man.11

5. Implications of Chakkarai for the Indian Church

There are significant implications for the Indian church that can be drawn from
Chakkarai’s thoughts on the importance of actively experiencing Christ. Chakkarai
sometimes used the Sanskrit term anubhav, generally translated as “experience,” to describe
the act of experience in the Christian life. The Hindu concept of anubhav is a philosophy of
revelation in which God manifests himself to man through various spheres of man’s
consciousness.12 Chakkarai held the Bible, not anubhav, as the supreme form of revelation.
However, he saw anubhav and the Scriptures as linked. One has a genuine encounter with
Christ through hearing or reading his word. After Chakkarai, this Christian form of anubhav
became more nuanced by later theologians and even made its way into the discipline of
evangelism and missions. Timothy Shultz has written a recent book describing the
importance of anubhav in leading a Hindu to believe the gospel. Shultz argues that Christians
should cease from using apologetical methods in evangelism and, instead, seek to build
authentic relationships with Hindus wherein the verbal proclamation of the gospel is always
paired with deeds of love.13 This is primarily carried out through the Christian and the Hindu
sharing life experiences, praying to Jesus together, reading the Bible together, and, hopefully,
seeing answered prayer. This could also be seen as an attempt to invite Hindus into the
devotional life of a Christian so that they can “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm
34:8).

Chakkarai spoke of the significance of experience in the act of conversion when he drew
from the stories of Paul (Acts 9) and Cornelius (Acts 10) to show that it was their encounter
with Christ, not an apologetic comparison that led them to see their past religions
inadequate.14

Vengal Chakkarai was a prominent figure in “rethinking” Christianity in India during the
early twentieth century. His story shows a man who sought to rediscover the God-glorifying
elements of his Hindu heritage. This journey of rediscovery led him to see the parallels
11
A A Yewangoe, Theologia Crucis in Asia (Netherlands: Amsterdam, 1987), 64-66.
12
Antony Mookenthottam, Indian Theological Tendencies: Approaches and Problems for Further Research 38
as Seen in the Works of Some Leading Indian Theologians (Berne: Peter Lang, 1978), 108.
13
Timothy Shultz, Disciple Making Among Hindus: Making Authentic Relationships Grow (Pasadena, CA: 39
William Carey, 2015), 65.
14
Job, G.V. Rethinking Christianity in India (Bangalore: Center for Contemporary Christianity, 2013), 71-72.

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between his nation’s independence movement and the Indian church’s foreign dependency.
His public career was marked by ostracism from the local church and religious prejudice in
the city council. However, even though his public career does not seem to have made a
lasting impact, Chakkarai’s theology continues to inform readers of Indian Christian theology
today. Those who wish to learn how Indians have contributed to Christian theology must
study the life of Vengal Chakkarai.

CONCLUSION

Chakkarai remained a layman with an extensive knowledge of theology. Just like

Appasamy, Chakkarai has the passion to convert Christianity to India. It seeks to think of
Christianity in Indian concepts. He believed that God had spoken in various ways at different
times through His prophets, receipts to mankind. God has revealed His holy will to mankind
here a little and there a little. God never leaves Himself without a witness who conveys His
will to man. In India, Chakkarai often referred to the need for Indian Christians to be freed
from the West’s authoritative influence and to be allowed to think for themselves on matters
related to theology and church practice.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Boyd, R H S. An Introduction to Indian Christian Theology (Madras: The Christian

Literature Society, 2 1975), 165.
G.V. Job. Rethinking Christianity in India (Bangalore: Center for Contemporary Christianity,
2013), 71-72.
Kurien, C T. “For a Renewal of the Church of India”, National Christian Council Review
(NCCR), vol.97 (April 1977), p.197.
Mallampalli, Chandra. Christians and Public Life in Colonial South India, 1863-1937:
Contending with 19 Marginality (London: Routledge, 2004), 111.
Mookenthottam, Antony. Indian Theological Tendencies: Approaches and Problems for
Further Research 38 as Seen in the Works of Some Leading Indian Theologians (Berne: Peter
Lang, 1978), 108.
Pandian, M S S. “Nation as Nostalgia: Ambiguous Spiritual Journeys of Vengal Chakkarai,”
Economic and Political Weekly 38, no. 51/52 (December 2003 - January 2004), 5358.

V, Chakkarai. Jesus the Avatar. Madras: The Christian Literature Society, 1930. “What is to
Indianise Christianity?” The Guardian 9, no. 42 (October 29, 1931): 495-496.
Yewangoe, A A. Theologia Crucis in Asia (Netherlands: Amsterdam, 1987), 64-66.
Shultz, Timothy. Disciple Making Among Hindus: Making Authentic Relationships Grow
(Pasadena, CA: 39 William Carey, 2015), 65.
https://biokristi.sabda.org/vengal_chakkarai,2ndDecember2020.

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