This previously published article was revised and is now republished. It is an effort to explore the work of Christians in India’s history—its strengths & shortcomings; and encourage the church today to hold out the timeless gospel in our time-bound context.
Telugu Christians have a rich history dating back hundreds of years. Its earliest records show Portuguese missions to the Vijayanagar Empire in the 1500s. Later, in the 1600s, the work of Jesuit missionaries began, and Roberto de Nobili led a man named Sivadarma to faith in Christ. By the 1700s, Telugu Christian literature was flourishing. It marked an era of significant theological and literary advancements, as James Elisha Taneti writes in his book Telugu Christians: A History
Mangalagiri Anandam and Vedanta Rasayanam
One notable figure from this period was Mangalagiri Anandam. He was a Telugu Catholic Christian scholar of Niyogi Brahmin background. He composed a theological text in Telugu titled Vedanta Rasayanam.
According to Taneti, he structured this work as a fictional dialogue between a local Brahmin and a European missionary, employing the genre of religious discourse. He designed the text to teach and instruct children and people new to faith in Christ about the meaning of the Christian faith.
Anandam’s writings remind us that our faith is not foreign to India.
Vedanta Rasayanam consists of 904 stanzas, each comprising four lines.
- The first canto explores the attributes of God.
- The second recounts the beginnings of human history and the Gospel narratives of Jesus’s birth.
- The third focuses on Jesus’s public ministry.
- The final section interprets the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, incorporating a Roman Catholic understanding of the Sacraments.
His work provides an interesting case study on communicating Christ in comprehensible ways. Its strengths and limitations can help us proclaim Christ clearly and courageously today (Col. 4:3-4, Eph. 6:19-20).
Anandam’s Six Marks of Divinity
In the first part of Vedanta Rasayanam, Anandam outlines six marks of God’s Divinity.
- The Oneness of God: There is one supreme God, the Creator of all things, who works through his creation and is without cause.
- Eternal Nature: God has no beginning or end.
- Invisibility and Eternal Light: Though he is eternal light and unseen, human minds depict him as saguna (visible), with hands and feet.
- Justice and Truth: Every perfect gift originates from God. When time ceases, virtues return to him, and at the renewal of creation, virtues are displayed again. (Admittedly, the English missionary who translated this Telugu piece is uncertain of what the original author intended to say. But essentially, the argument can be taken to mean that value and virtue cannot be understood apart from God. Virtue finds its ultimate source only in God, not in human wisdom).
- Omnipresence: God pervades all nature as the supreme King. Those who pray to him receive wisdom and knowledge.
- Creator of All Things: Only the supreme Lord can create matter from nothing.
These six marks represent one scholar’s attempts in the 1700s to contextualise and affirm God’s sovereignty, eternity, justice, and omnipresence to his readers. It represents the complexity and challenge of fruitful contextualisation of the gospel.
A Critique of Anandam’s View of God
While some of Anandam’s descriptions of God are faithful to Scripture, his characterisation of God (particularly points 3 & 4) creates more ambiguity than clarity. Though there are gaps in time and something could be lost in translation, such descriptions appear to be more influenced by the culture he is trying to reach than the Scripture he is called to teach.
His efforts are creative and culturally astute but also show us that any description of God to any culture through any language must be faithful to God’s revelation of himself in Christ and the Scriptures.
It is much easier to contextualise poorly than to contextualise well. So it is work that benefits greatly when it is done with care and in community, so there is minimal risk of slipping into syncretism.
The Complexity of Historical Study and Contextualisation
While we can critique some of Anandam’s language and articulation, it provides valuable insight into historical efforts of theological engagement in India.
What we can appreciate is that Anandam attempts to call Christians in his context to trust in God’s provision, seek his wisdom, and worship him as infinite and personal. In a world that often diminishes divine authority or relegates faith to abstraction, his efforts call believers to worship a God who is just and merciful, unseen and ever-present, infinite and personal.
Any description of God to any culture through any language must be faithful to God’s revelation of himself in Christ and the Scriptures.
What we must recognise is that interpreting the author’s true intent from historical, especially obscure, texts can be challenging. It requires careful theological discernment on the part of the reader.
It invites us to embrace what is helpful and avoid what is unclear, untrue, and unhelpful. Most importantly, we learn to study our history in the light of the Scriptures and the revelation of God in Christ.
A Parable on Creation and Worship
Following his exposition on God’s divinity, Anandam presents a parable on creation and worship: “God created all things for his good pleasure. Rational beings were created to serve and be received by him.”
To illustrate this, he tells a story: “A king prepares a royal feast for his servants and receives their praise. However, if the king himself serves a higher authority, can his servants’s praise truly reach that supreme power? Similarly, the world is God’s house, built for worship to be offered to him. If we direct our worship to the sun or moon—mere lights he placed in the sky—we divert worship from its rightful recipient.”
This parable reinforces Anandam’s view of God’s sovereignty, justice, and creative power. He challenges Christians to direct their worship rightly, recognising that while they may appreciate creation, true worship belongs to God alone.
Telugu Christians Today
For centuries, Telugu Christians have had to navigate significant complexities, especially caste dynamics. Nevertheless, Christians of all strata have been thoughtful “custodians and transmitters of their world-views.” In Taneti’s words: “Telugu Christians take their calling to verbally share faith with others seriously.”
Today, Telugu Christians have grown into a vibrant community. While not without their problems, they contribute significantly to education, healthcare, and social work and form a diverse group across different denominations, all engaging with contemporary challenges while preserving their unique cultural identity and faith traditions.
All this provides us with important historical data points. It can help us reflect on the complications of the past and apply the gospel more effectively today—to all of life and ministry in India.
The advance of the gospel today invites us to learn from the Indian church history’s successes and shortcomings. It calls for more Christlike leadership, gospel-centered preaching, and focused disciple-making. Fruitful contextualisation always cherishes Jesus, treasures the Bible, seeks clarity, and goes to people in the power of God, not human wisdom.
Why Indian Christian History Matters
Three centuries after its composition, Anandam’s Vedanta Rasayanam remains crucial for Indian Christians who want to appreciate their theological and cultural heritage. His work represents a unique effort to articulate the Christian story in Telugu literary traditions and frame them within India’s intellectual and religious landscape.
Anandam’s writings remind us that our faith is not foreign to India. Christians have wrestled with it, contextualised it, and expressed it in Indian thought for centuries—properly and sometimes poorly.
As Indian Christians today navigate questions of identity, faith, and cultural belonging, Anandam’s efforts invite all Christians to proclaim Christ in culturally comprehensible ways while remaining devoted to Christ at the same time.
