Worship and Sermon by Mr. Binu Thomas

On 16th July 2008, it was the turn of Mr. Binu Thomas, B.D. IV to conduct Evaluatory Worship and Sermon. The text for the sermon was John 7:53 -8:11. The text refers to the story of Jesus dealing with the Pharisees who caught a woman in adultery. This is a story not found in many manuscripts. (Read more here) Sphere: Related Content

Person and Work of Christ: Confusion of terms in Patristic theology

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Much of the controversies that raged the Patristic period regarding Christology were due to the confusion of meanings in the usage of Greek terms in the Alexandrian and Antiochean Schools. Dr. V. C. Samuel in his Council of Chalcedon Re-Examined (1977) writes: "In the Christological controversy, unlike any other theological dispute in the ancient church, there was a great deal of obscurity on account of the technical terms that were employed. theologians of all shades of opinion used the following terms: ousia in Greek; the Syriac used either ousia or Ithutho to correspond to it. Hupostasis in Greek and its Syriac equivalent Qnumo. Physis in Greek had kyono as its Syriac rendering. The Greek prosopon had parsupo in Syriac. (Continue...Person and Work of Christ: Confusion of terms in Patristic theology).

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2,000th anniversary of the Saint Paul's s birth.

On June 28, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI decreed 28th June 2008 to 29th June 2009 to be "The Year of St. Paul" commemorating the 2,000th anniversary of the Saint's birth.

The Pope declared:

"Meetings for study will be promoted and there will be special publications on Pauline texts, to promote the immense richness of the teaching contained in them, true patrimony of humanity redeemed by Christ.
.... Also, in every part of the world, similar initiatives will be organized in dioceses, sanctuaries and places of prayer by religious institutions, institutions of study and assistance, which carry the name of St. Paul or which have been inspired by him and his teaching."

In Chennai Layola College will be holding a special programme to inaugurate the celebrations on 17 July 2008.

After attending the the inauguration of the year long Jubilee Programmes in Damascus, where St. Paul experienced his conversion to Christ , Renuka Narayanan has published an article. Read the article here: The Church that came to Malabar by Renuka Narayanan, Hindustan Times

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Sermon on the Mount : Earth Quake Resistant Foundation

Sunday, July 13, 2008

In concluding the Sermon on the Mount Mathew records that Jesus has said: Any one who hears these words of mine and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock ... (Matt.: 7:24-27). I have preached on this verse several times. All those sermons were focused on the necessity of unchanging foundation. That has been the way it was interpreted in the Annangar church by Dr. K.M. Thomas, of Kozhikode today. Dr. Thomas is brother in law of Mr. James Abraham (Saji), our choir member, who visited the Church for the promotion of the ministry of the Gideons International. Gideon ministry would place Bibles in Public places in your name for the money you contribute. The parishioners generously responded to his appeal. People are in search of reliable and strong foundation. However, these days I am being challenged by the schools of non foundationalism and post foundationalism. The argument of the non foundationalism is that there are no reliable foundations. There are only shifting foundations....(continue...)




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Evaluation Worship Service and Sermon by Y. Biju

Mr. Y. Biju conducted his Evaluation Worship Service and Sermon on wednesday July 09, 2008. The order of service was well prepared. The service started with the beautiful Malayalam invocation song: Ishwara Enne Nin Veenayakkoo, Nin Veenayil Enne Nin Ragamakkoo (God make me your lute and let me be your tune in it). Also he included a very meaningful commitment song, composed by Dan Schutte, a Jesuit priest, in 1979, based on Isaiah 6:8 and Samuel 3. The most popular part of the song is the refrain which goes like this:

Here I am Lord, Is it I Lord?
I have heard your calling in the night.
I will go Lord, if you lead me
I will hold your people in my heart.

The sermon was based on the text: John 13:1-17, the story of Jesus washing the disciples' feet. He has titled his sermon as: Foot washing: A Model of Christian Ministry. Before the Sermon there was a skit played by John Wilson and team to bring out the central theme of the service. Mr. Biju who hails from Kerala is a very quiet person, consciously participating in the various activities of the College. Before coming to theological studies he worked as a missionary. The rich experience he brings with him has made him a different type of leader, a follower of the Servant Jesus who came not to be served but to serve. Serving others is Spirituality is the message he has attempted to communicate with his life in Gurukul and the sermon he preached, a quiet revolution. He has joined Gurukul as a private candidate. Hope the Mar Thoma Church to which he belongs will make use of his talents and commitment in its ministry. He is now serving as the Thiruvalluvar Hostel Secretary. Sphere: Related Content

Bachelor of Christian Studies Contact Classes in Chennai

Bachelor of Christian Studies Contact Seminars were held at ICSA, Egmore, from July 7 to 11, 2008. The new Dean of the Serampore Senate Extension Programme, Dr. Wati Longchar, organised the programme. He visited Gurukul also. Faculty members from Gurukul and Madras Theological Seminary Chennai, UTC, Bangalore and ACTC, Hyderabad acted as resource persons. Dr. Merci Rani who was in Gurukul for her M.Th and Ph. D. studies and now a faculty member at MTS also was a resource person. About 40 students in four batches attended the classes. Most of them came from secular fields -- one person was an MS in Neurosurgery, two were university professors, others were teachers, IT professionals, missionaries and house wives. They mainly joined this programme to get some deeper understanding of Christian faith and the degree they would get will of course qualify them to effectively participate in the Church's ministry along with their secular jobs. (To continue reading go to:Theologia Viatorum: Bachelor of Christian Studies Contact Classes in Chennai Sphere: Related Content

Kerala text-book controversy

tag: Church and State

What happens in Kerala in the name of a seventh standard Lesson on religion can only be described as chimaerical roadshow. It is not an innocent sort of reaction from some fundamentalists, but a calculated move to create confusion, much ado about nothing. Read more here ... Sphere: Related Content

Theological Education

Theological Education
Senate of Serampore College (University) is revising its curriculum. It has conducted several seminars and consultations in different parts of India inviting academicians and church leaders. Theological education in India needs serious re-thinking. Primarily we need to be clear about the aims and objectives of theological education in the Indian Context.

First, we need to start with defining the Indian cultural context.
Who is an Indian is question raised by several national leaders. To read further go to: Theologia Viatorum: Theological Education Sphere: Related Content

Towards Green Theology: Developing a Curriculum

July 6, 2008

Sunday Evening Chapel Service at Gurukul is a community event. This evening's preacher was Dr. Adella Paul, Retired Principal of Meston B. Ed. College, Chennai, now in the faculty of Gurukul in the department of Christian Ministry and the Wardern of Pandita Ramabai Women's Hostel. This was the third sermon I heard today, one was at the Annanagar Jerusalem Church by the vicar of the parish and another in the house of Dr.P.K. Joy, a neighbour and well wisher of Gurukul. The preacher for this meeting was Mr. Y. Biju, Secretary Thiruvalluvar Hostel, Gurukul. (To continue reading about the sermons please go to Sermonette: Three Sermons

The service was attended by Dr. K. Rajaratnam, our Director Emeritus. He came just after an Ecumenical Consultation in Africa. He has been so anxious to share with us his insights from the Conference. His newest vision is to challenge the Senate of Serampore College (University) to introduce a new Department of Green Theology. He said he was going to organize a consultation involving various theological seminaries to prepare a curriculum and syllabus for this new area. It is not actually a new idea. We have been discussing this area of theology from early 90s. Gurukul itself organized one of the Summer Institutes to study this subject and published a volume. What is new in the present proposition is to make it a part of the Serampore Currculum. With Dr. Rajaratnam's initiative things may move faster ion Serampore and we hope theological community in India would be able to contribute towards the global efforts to contain the growing ecocrisis. Sphere: Related Content

Introduction to Christian Faith

Christian Faith: Introduction to Christian Faith Sphere: Related Content

Ordination: Sibu Abraham Mathew

Praxes: Ordination: Sibu Abraham Mathew Sphere: Related Content