Vengal Chakkarai

Vengal Chakkarai Chettiar (17 January 1880 – 14 June 1958) was an Indian Christian theologian, missionary, independence activist, politician and trade unionist.[1] He was the former president of AITUC.

Vengal Chakkarai
President of the All India Trade Union Congress
In office
1949–1957
Preceded byS.A. Dange
Succeeded byS.S. Mirajkar
Personal details
Born
Vengal Chakkarai Chettiar

(1880-01-17)17 January 1880
Died14 June 1958(1958-06-14) (aged 78)
Occupationtheologian, activist

Early life

Chakkarai was born to a Hindu Chettiar family.[1][2] He was educated at the Scottish Mission School, Madras Christian College, graduating in 1901 after majoring in philosophy.[1] He then studied at Madras Law College, and practiced for some time as a lawyer.[3]

Career

In 1913, Chakkarai joined the Danish Mission Room as a Christian preacher and worked as a missionary for twenty years. During these years, he also became a disciple of Mahatma Gandhi and participated in the Indian independence movement. He served as mayor of Madras from 1941 to 1942. He was the president of the All India Trade Union Congress from 1954 to 1957.

Theology

Chakkarai was baptised as a Christian on February 22, 1903.[4]

He was a member of the Rethinking Christianity group[5] along with his brother-in-law, Pandipeddi Chenchiah. He believed in the Indianisation of Christianity, although the anti-colonial feeling of the time led many people to feel that an Indian could not be a Christian without abandoning their Indian culture.[6] Instead he suggested that Christians should refuse allegiance to earthly states and overcome their nationalistic behaviour.[7]

He tried to explain the Christian faith through the Hinduism point of view.[1] This can be seen when he tried to find the meaning of the Christian cross for the followers of Christianity in how it could bring moksha.[1][3]

Some of the Chakkarai's views about Christianity included:[1][8]

  • Jesus is truly human (sat purusa).
  • The Holy Spirit is Christ himself, who continues to exist and work until now.
  • God cannot be seen as the creator of sin.
  • Humans themselves are responsible for the sins that they commit.
  • Knowledge of God is not something that is intellectual (jnana), but a personal experience of God (anubhava).
  • Sin is seen as the handcuffs (pasa), which prevents the human soul (pasu) to reach God.
  • The essence of sin is the desire to find "the mystery of the forbidden".

Publications
  • Jesus the Avatar (1927)[9][10][11]
  • The Cross and Indian Thought (1932)[12]
  • A selection (Library of Indian Christian theology)[13]

References
  1. Yewangoe, Andreas Anangguru (1987). Theologia crucis in Asia: Asian Christian views on suffering in the face of overwhelming poverty and multifaceted religiosity in Asia. Amsterdam studies in theology. Amsterdam: Rodopi. ISBN 978-90-6203-610-3.
  2. (in Indonesian) FD Wellem.1993.Riwayat Hidup Singkat Tokoh-Tokoh Dalam Sejarah Gereja. Jakarta: PT BPK Gunung Mulia. p. 75-77
  3. Google Books, Theologia Crucis in Asia: Asian Christian Views on Suffering in the Face of Overwhelming Poverty and Multifaceted Religiosity in Asia, by Andreas Anangguru Yewangoe (1987), page 59
  4. Brill Reference Works website, Religion Past and Present: C
  5. Oxford Reference website, Chakkarai, Vengal
  6. JStor website, Nation as Nostalgia: Ambiguous Spiritual Journeys of Vengal Chakkarai, article by M. S. S. Pandian, published in Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 38, No. 51/52 (Dec. 27, 2003 - Jan. 2, 2004), pp. 5357-5365
  7. Google Books, Theologia Crucis in Asia: Asian Christian Views on Suffering in the Face of Overwhelming Poverty and Multifaceted Religiosity in Asia, by Andreas Anangguru Yewangoe (1987), page 81
  8. Google Books, Theologia Crucis in Asia: Asian Christian Views on Suffering in the Face of Overwhelming Poverty and Multifaceted Religiosity in Asia, by Andreas Anangguru Yewangoe (1987), pages 59-82
  9. Indian Culture website, Rare Books website, Jesus the Avatar
  10. Brill website, Jesus the Avatar
  11. Bee Zone website, Jesus the Avatar
  12. WorldCat website, The Cross and Indian Thought
  13. Amazon website, Vengal Chakkarai
  • Schouten, Jan Peter (2008). Jesus as Guru: The image of Christ among the Hindus and Christians in India. Rodopi. pp. 117–119.
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