a contextual missiology of the spirit - eTheses Repository ...

spiritual renewal in the lives of Christians, increased sale of the scriptures, and the
promotion of evangelism. 142
T.G. Ommen, a pioneer Pentecostal leader in Kerala and an outstanding leader of
IPCoG in its early years, believed that the false prophecy regarding the second
coming of Christ by both Koodarapallil Thommen and Justus Joseph adversely
affected the revival movement in Kerala. 143 On the other hand, both McGee and
Dev suggest that severe criticism of the revival by foreign missionaries was the
chief reason for the decline of the revival in Tamilnadu. 144 According to Dev, the
exercise of spiritual gifts was restricted in the Brethren church after the death of
Aroolappen. He argues that it was in the Brethren church that the revival began in
India for the first time, and had they preserved and propagated the 1860s revival
experience there would not have been either a Pentecostal or a Charismatic
Movement, as the Brethren Movement was strong enough to include the
characteristics of both the Movements. Thus, the Brethren Movement missed the
opportunity to be the ‘care-takers’ of the greatest revival in Indian history. 145
142
Orr, Evangelical Awakenings in Southern Asia, 62.
143
T.G. Oommen, IPC yum Anpathu Varshathe Sevana Charithravum [IPC and History of Fifty
Years Ministry] (Mallappally, India: T.G. Oommen), 1979, 3-4. Thommen and Joseph were the
two most prominent revival preachers of the time. In 1875, Thommen prophesied that Jesus Christ
would return in glory on 2 October 1881. Joseph began to propagate this prophecy and many
people believed and expected the same and thus formed a church known as Revival Church, which
was later known as ‘Six Years Party’. When the prophecy failed, many left the revival group. Also
see Daniel, Sadhu Kochukunju Upadeshi, 90-91.
144
McGee, ‘Pentecostal Phenomena,’ 113; Dev, ‘Bharathan Unarvukal,’ 4.
145
Dev, ‘Enthukondu Topeka,’ 4.
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