MM Thomas - Life, Legacy and Theology
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THEOLOGY OF MADATHILPARAMPIL MA<strong>MM</strong>EN THOMAS<br />
A Brief Overview of Ecumenical Engagement in Interfaith<br />
Relations<br />
http://vacouncilofchurches.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=121&I<br />
temid=98<br />
Rev. Dr. Shanta Premawardhana<br />
Associate General Secretary for interfaith relations at<br />
the National Council of Churches USA,<br />
In India, the Christian Institute for the Study of Religion <strong>and</strong> Society in Bangalore was<br />
headed by M.M. <strong>Thomas</strong>. A prolific writer with an acute theological mind, <strong>Thomas</strong><br />
became one of Asia’s most respected theologians <strong>and</strong> a foremost proponent of the<br />
dialogical approach. His work Salvation <strong>and</strong> Humanisation, had a significant impact on<br />
the 1972 Chiang Mai conference of WCC’s Commission on World Mission <strong>and</strong><br />
Evangelism which produced the document “Salvation Today.” With that <strong>Thomas</strong> became<br />
the foremost proponent of a soteriological model for dialogue. Christopher Duraisingh<br />
writes of M.M. <strong>Thomas</strong>:<br />
He has insisted that it is the collective struggles of human beings for their humanization<br />
that provides an adequate point of departure <strong>and</strong> ground for our rethinking mission <strong>and</strong><br />
dialogue. It is not through our a priori doctrinal formulations on God or Christ, but rather<br />
through our collective human search for meaning <strong>and</strong> sacredness that the “universe of<br />
faiths” could be adequately understood.<br />
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