RUSSELL CHANDRAN
Russell Chandran
belongs to the generation of Indian Christians who stand between the colonial
period and the emergence of indigenised Christianity. As such he and his
contemporaries were compelled to take up the leadership from the outgoing
foreigners in all the Christian institutions, and so were unfortunately bogged
down in administrative and financial aspects of their organizations. This means
that their creativity in those lines, and so their writings are neither
definitive nor plenty. But they are important land marks on the way.
Joshua Russell
Chandran was born in Tamil Nadu in Kanyakumari district in a Christian family.
After his early education he took to ministry at the young age of 20, as a
probationer in the Kodankarai pastorate. This led him to theological studies at
United Theological College, Bangalore, (BD). He then served as pastor in the
Irenipuram Church for three years. He pursued higher studies at Mansfield
College, Oxford (1947-49), Union Theological Seminary, New York and Chicago
University Divinity School (1957-58). In between he was appointed as a lecturer
at United Theological College, Bangalore in 1950, and became its principal in
1954. He was the principal of this prestigious
institution till his retirement in 1981. He was, needless to say, the
first Indian principal of UTC.
The four concepts of
peace, justice, freedom and dignity are referred to by Dr. Russel Chandran in
almost all his sermons, articles and talks, for him, since love means concrete
action — “love has to be expressed in terms of justice, mercy and peace”. And
there is no justice without political change, and the people of God are always
on the move changing. This means clearly that political involvement is a must
for every Christian, for the Church. To restore every man to dignity and
freedom — this is the meaning of biblical righteousness. It means that
development is synonymous with freedom from karma, the consequences of my
background. Since justice and peace inevitably go together, the biblical
concept o peace (shalom) means “wholeness of life, harmony of humanity living
together”. And freedom involves an openness for all, respect for dissent and
responsible criticism. So freedom cannot be separated from human rights and
human dignity. It is in this connection that Chandran founded the unique
organization called the Christian Union of India. The motto of this union was
“to serve India in the name of Christ”. And the following were its objectives:
1.
To
strengthen and promote secular democracy.
2.
To
educate the Christian community in nation-building.
3.
To
cooperate with other agencies towards a classless Society.
4.
To
strive for international peace, justice and goodwill. As is obvious,
humanization is the goal of this effort.[1]
ECO – THEOLOGY
Eco - theology is a form of constructive
theology that focuses on the interrelationships of
religion and nature, particularly in the light of the environmental
concerns. Eco-theology generally starts from the premise that a
relationship exists between human religious/spiritual worldviews and the
degradation of nature. It explores the interaction between ecological values,
such as sustainability, and the human domination of nature. The movement has
produced numerous religious-environmental projects around the world.
Specifically, eco-theology seeks to identify
prominent issues within the relationship between nature and religion, but also
to outline potential solutions. This is of particular importance because many
supporters and contributors of ecotheology argue that science and education are
simply not enough to inspire the change necessary in our current environmental
crisis.
Christianity has often been viewed as the source of
positive values towards the environment, and there are many voices within
the Christian tradition whose vision embraces the well-being of the
earth and all creatures. While St. Francis of Assisi is one of the
more obvious influences on Christian ecotheology, there are many theologians
and teachers whose work has profound implications for Christian thinkers. Many
of these are less well known in the West because their primary influence has
been on the Orthodox
Church rather than the Roman
Catholic Church.
Some scholars argue that
Christianity actually helped bring about the current global
environmental crisis by instructing followers that God, and by extension
mankind, transcends nature. Much of the development of eco-theology as a
theological discourse was in response to this argument, which has been called
"The Ecological Complaint". Defendants of this perspective
essentially claim that Christianity promotes the idea of human dominion
over nature, treating nature itself as a tool to be used and even exploited for
survival and prosperity.
The significance of indigenous traditions for
the development of ecotheology can also not be understated. Systems of
Traditional Ecological Knowledge, in combination with modern scientific methods
of ecosystem management, are steadily gaining interest as environmental
activists realize the importance of locally invested groups.[2]
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