A. B. Masilamani

Acharya A. B. Masilamani or Abel Boanerges Masilamani (1914–1990 ) was a Golden Jubilee Baptist pastor and evangelist The Mar Thoma Syrian Church, one of the Saint Thomas Christian Churches founded by Thomas the Apostle in the first century which holds the annual Maramon Conventions used During one such Maramon Convention held in 1983 at Maramon, Masilamani was one of the main speaker who spoke on Christology

Masilamani belonged to the Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars and had ministered as a pastor in Telugu and nine of his compositions can be found in the Christian Hymnal in Telugu used in the Protestant churches in the Telugu-speaking states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, which P. Solomon Raj, the Lutheran pastor notes that it has been of high literary standard consisting of hymns in Telugu set in music patterns of Carnatic music and Hindustani classical music. the Missiologist wrote that, along with the Bible, the Christian Hymnal in Telugu also formed the main bulwark of Christian spiritual life for the Telugu folk and of equal use to both the non-literates and the literates as well. Nearly a decade and half after the articles by P. Solomon Raj and Roger E. Hedlund on the importance of the Christian Hymnal in Telugu, G. Babu Rao, the Old Testament Scholar recollects the homiletical significance of the preaching and singing of Masilamani in the context of his birth centenary celebrations held in 2014,

While the use of Telugu in Christian hymns was on an upward rise in the Protestant churches, it was not so among their Catholic counterparts who had to stick to Latin. It was not until the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council that vernacular languages began being used instead of Latin. Once the Vatican Council approved the use of vernacular languages in Church liturgy, most of the songs in the Christian Hymnal in Telugu including Masilamani's songs readily found their way into the Catholic Hymn Books in undivided Andhra Pradesh. The Rev. Fr. D. S. Amalorpavadass who espoused the cause of Indian ethos and advocated for inclusion of vernacular languages at the Second Vatican Council rechristened himself as Swamy Amalorananda at a later stage of his ecclesiastical career.

The growth of the Church in Telugu-speaking states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh began taking shape with the advent of Catholic and Protestant Missions. One such Protestant Mission was the Canadian Baptist Mission Both the Catholic and the Protestant missions spearheaded

Education

Scholastic and Ministerial Formation Masilamani schooled at the Canadian Baptist Mission High School the Senate of Serampore College (University) and Masilamani was awarded an L.Th (Licentiate of Theology) at the end of his spirituality course.

Graduate studies Masilamani continued his theological studies and was incidentally sent to the university itself in 1941, during the Principalship of G. H. C. Angus where he took a B.Div. (Bachelor of Divinity) majoring after submitting his dissertation entitled Hindu Anticipations of the Christian Gospel. Masilamani was a contemporary of the Old Testament Scholar Wolfgang Roth who also happened to study at the Emmanuel College around the same time in 1952. In later years, Wolfgang Roth taught at the Leonard Theological College, Jabalpur from 1959 onwards, whereas Masilamani taught at the Baptist Theological Seminary, Kakinada.

After a decade and half of ecclesiastical works, Masilamani did not stop and extol his educational pursuits and instead he registered as a doctoral candidate at the State-run University and obtained a PhD from Osmania University

Ecclesiastical career

Spiritual Formator, Kakinada After completing his graduate studies in theology from the historical Serampore College, Masilamani was ordained as a Pastor of the Protestant Baptist Society, the Canadian Baptist Mission/Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars. went on to master the New Testament at Serampore College, West Bengal and also pursued doctoral studies at the Edinburgh University, Scotland. Masilamani also played the part of a vocation promoter and guided S. E. Krupa Rao to don the mantle of Priest. In his later years', S. E. Krupa Rao became a notable contributor in matters of ecclesiastical, medical and technical contribution of the Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars as well as to the ecumenical movement through the Bible Society of India succeeding Rev. J. I. Richardson. In the continuing year, Masilamani was replaced

NCCI literature secretary, Secunderabad After Masilamani's tenure as principal of the Major Seminary in Kakinada that ended in 1959, with the Secunderabad unit of the National Council of Churches in India, where Masilamani was able to make use of his literary talents and minister in an ecumenical setting with the churches of the Orthodox and Protestant backgrounds.

BSI auxiliary secretary, Secunderabad In 1963, when E. Prakasam retired as auxiliary secretary of the Bible Society of India Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary, Masilamani was appointed for the key position of auxiliary secretary and served in an ecumenical setting during the period 1963 to 1969. This period was eventful as the Bible Society of India headquartered in Bangalore was led by the rural Pastor A. E. Inbanathan who had an understanding of the Church in India and more so with fellow clergy.

Orville E. Daniel, a Canadian Baptist missionary, as early as 1973 wrote that Rev. Masilamani's distinguished service with the Bible Society of India was followed by a widespread evangelistic ministry, a fact reiterated by the Old Testament Scholar G. Babu Rao who points out that during Masilamani's tenure at the Bible Society of India Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary, he had set a trend and his work was regarded with great respect

New Life Associates, Hyderabad In 1970 Masilamani founded New Life Associates, a Protestant religious and social service organisation.

Serampore College (Theology Department), Serampore During 1974–1975, Masilamani was a part-time Lecturer in Evangelism in the Theology Department of his alma mater during the Principalship of Saral Kumar Chatterjee.

Contribution

Vision for theological education

Efforts to form the Protestant Regional Theologiate In the postcolonialism scenario the Protestant Churches in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana wanted to form a unified in their administration, especially the Spiritual Formators at the Protestant Seminary in Secunderabad. The sustained efforts of the vision of Masilamani and others resulted in the formation of the Andhra Christian Theological College in 1964 at Rajahmundry which eventually relocated to Secunderabad in 1973.

Writings Masilamani was also the President of the Asia Baptist Youth Fellowship. He was the editor of popular Telugu Christian magazines like Ravi 1947–1960, Gruha Joythi 1961–1965 and Kapari 1970–1990 with articles contributed by notable Pastors and Bishops. In fact, M. Edwin Rao who compiled a centennial edition of the history of the Diocese of Dornakal writes that Bishop G. S. Luke used to contribute articles to the magazine Kapari edited by Masilamani.

Ravela Joseph and B. Suneel Bhanu who had been commissioned by the Board of Theological Education of the Senate of Serampore College to compile the original Christian writings in Telugu have also included the titles of Masilamani in the compilation Bibliography of Original Christian Writings in India in Telugu which include: Original writings in Telugu A Telugu Theological Glossary, 1965,

Theological scholarship Masilamani was also a scholar theologian. In 1960 when the ecumenical Indian Christian Theological Conference was held in Madras, he participated in its proceedings where the notable Theologian Joshua Russell Chandran also happened to take part. Masilamani presented a paper on the theme Christian View of Man in Society which was later published in the Indian Journal of Theology under the title The Modern Conception of Man in the light of the Christian Faith. The same year, Masilamani also attended a conference called for by the National Council of Churches in India, Nagpur and the Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society, Bangalore in the presence of Paul David Devanandan with the theme, Christian participation in nation-building: the summing up of a corporate study on rapid social change.

In 1981, Masilamani addressed an inter-faith seminar conducted by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Educational Trust in Hyderabad and shared dais with a Hindu priest and a Mullah.

Lyricist The Wisconsin University Scholar, R. R. Sundara Rao included Masilamani's songs in his treatise Bhakti Theology in the Telugu Hymnal. R. R. Sundara Rao who taught at the Protestant Seminary in Secunderabad writes that,

The name of Masilamani rings bells in the Catholic

Masilamani is one of the proponents of Bhakti Theology of the lyricist Chetty Bhanumurthy in his lyric compositions in the line of the Ramanujacharya, the great Indian Vaishnava Saint on whose life many Christian parallels can be found.

The Christian Hymnal in Telugu has the following nine Hymn 96 – 'దేవుని నీతి ప్రతాపం – Devuni Neethi Pratapam', English Hymns translated into Telugu Hymn 65 – The Love of God (original writer unknown), CBCNC, Principal of the Baptist Theological Seminary, Kakinada,

There are many hymns written by Masilamani but the evergreen hymn for Communion service Jeevaharamu is the most popular among all the Protestant Churches. CSI, Former communications secretary of the Church of South India Synod,

Masilamani was a man of the masses, standing tall with a handsome personality and a majestic demeanour coupled with remarkable oratorial skills, he made his presence on stage compelling. CBM, executive director, Canadian Baptist Ministries,

Taranath S. Sagar, MCI, Bishop in Bangalore Episcopal Area of the Methodist Church in India,

Masilamani's ministry of teaching and preaching strengthened millions of people in India across all denominations. Even in Maramon Convention, he was remembered and many people shared his ministry. CBCNC, Old Testament teacher and was Principal of the Protestant Regional Seminary in Secunderabad,

Masilamani taught sound biblical doctrine to the Churches both by preaching and writing songs. He presented the gospel in a very simple manner which can reach even the rural masses. The whole Telugu Church benefited by his contribution which is long lasting. STBC, Pastor, Craig Emmanuel Baptist Church, Kakinada,

Honours and recognition For his contributions to worldwide Christian ministry many took note of Masilamani and was known by several nicknames, including 'Billy Graham of the East', 'Man of the Age', 'Spotless Gem' and 'King of Preachers'.

1974: Honorary doctorate degree In 1974, the McMaster University, Canada awarded him with a Doctor of Divinity degree.

2006 & 2012: Critical research on the works of Masilamani In 2006, a doctorate degree was awarded by the State-run Andhra University, Visakhapatnam to one of its doctoral candidates, Anita Margaret then student at the Department of Telugu who undertook a research study on Masilamani's writings

2021: Philatelic cover On 30 November 2021, Ministry of Communications (India), Department of Posts released a Philatelic cover through Office of Postmaster General Visakhapatnam region. This was released by Dr. M. Venkateswarlu, Postmaster General and N. Somasekhara Rao, Senior Superintendent of Post Offices, Visakhapatnam Division in the presence of Bishop M. A. Daniel, MCI and Dr. A. B. Joseph Kishore.

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