User:Pakalomattam/abraham malpan

Early Life

Abraham Malpan(May 30, 1795 - September 9, 1845 AD), was a distinguished reformer of the Malankara St.Thomas Suryani Church in Kerala, India, which is one of the oldest Christian Churches in history and believed to be founded by the Apostle St.Thomas in 52 AD. He was the son of Mathew of Palakunnathu House, Maramon, Kerala and Mariamma his mother, who was of the പകലൊമട്ട‍ത്തില്‍ (Pakalomattathil in English) Family & Moolecherry house of Pandanadu, Kerala. He lost his parents before he was three years old and was brought up by his uncle Mathen Thomma Malpan, a Sanyasi (സന്യാസി)/Celibate/hermit priest.

As a Clergy

Palakunnathu family had a priestly tradition and Thomma Malpan was a devout Syrian Christian priest. He was anxious to direct Abraham to the ministry to continue the family tradition and Abraham was happy and well inclined to follow his uncle’s advice. So after his Malayalam Education, he was sent to study Syriac, the language of the liturgy, under Kaithayil Korah Malpan, Puthupally.It was a residential discipleship like the ancient Indian Gurukula education. Abraham obtained good fluency in Syriac and the Bible and acquired a sound knowledge of Christian theology as he had the innate ability to delve deep to ascertain spiritual truths. He was ordained as a Semmasu (deacon) in 1811, and received the full ordination as a Kassessa (priest) in 1815 from Mar Thoma VIII. He was appointed as the Vicar of Maramon Marthoma parish.

Reformation

In AD 1816, Mar Thoma X, (Pulikottil Mar Dionysius) appointed Abraham Malpan as a professor of Syriac at the Kottayam Seminary.

His uncle, Thomma Malpan was of opinion that many of the beliefs that infiltrated into Malankara Church were against the teaching of the Bible. While he was the guardian of Abraham Malpan in his younger days, they talked about restoring the Church to its original purity. Teaching at the Kottayam Seminary, gave him enough time to read and study the Bible in his mother tongue (Malayalam). That made Abraham Malpan think of reforming the Church.

Punnathra Mar Dionysius ( Mar Thoma XI), convened a meeting of representatives of the Malankara Church at Mavelikkara, on December 3, 1818. In that meeting a committee was appointed to recommend reforms in the Church. Abraham Malpan, Kaithayil Geevarghese Malpan, Eruthikkal Markose Kathanar, Adangapurathu Joseph Kathanar were members of this committee. For Abraham Malpan it was a great step forward. His friends and members of his home parish (Maramon) gave him full support for reformation. But after the demise of Mar Thoma XI, things changed. Cheppad Mar Dionysius became Marthoma XII.

Due to doubts about the validity of the consecration of Mar Thoma VIII, Abraham Malpan had some doubts about his own ordination. So when a Jacobite bishop from Syria came, he and two others had themselves got reordained by him. Dionysius lodged a complaint against them to the government and they were fined 336 fanam (Rs.84) for flouting the authority of the Indian bishop.

Mar Thoma XII, (Chapped Mar Dionysius) did not support the idea of Reformation. So he convened a Synod at Mavelikkara on January 16, 1836 AD, in which the Synod accepted the supremacy of the Church of Antioch. Abraham Malpan did not attend this synod.

Trumpet Call:- On September 5, 1856 AD, the battle cry for reformation was sounded. Strategy was formed by a group of 12 senior clergy under the leadership of Abraham Malpan. They issued a letter describing the wrong teachings and a statement listing twenty-four evil practices of the Church which crept in by its association with other churches and religions.

Reforms:- (1.) Worship services including Kurbana (Holy Communion) were conducted in Malayalam, the language of the people. (2.) Prayers to the saints and prayers for the dead were removed from the worship books. (3.) Changes were made in the various prayers in the prayer books incorporating the divine light received through the study of the Bible.

On Sunday August 27, 1837 AD he conducted the Holy Communion service in Malayalam at his home parish in Maramon. Clergy, who supported him also did the same thing in various other parishes on the same day.

Every year on October 5, there was a church festival at Maramon, connected with a certain saint of the church. A wooden image of the saint named ‘Muthappen,’ was taken around in procession and people used to offer prayers and offerings to it. In 1837, Abraham Malpan took the image and threw it into a well saying, “Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?” (Isaiah 8:19). So when the festival came there was no image to be taken out for procession. This offended some people, but the practice was stopped.

Excommunicated.:- The use of the revised liturgy and the changes he brought about in practices offended Marthoma XII. So Abraham Malpan was excommunicated and deacons trained under him were refused priesthood.

But Abrahma Malpan was not disheartened. He continued with the reforms. He returned to Maramon. Many of his students joined him to continue their studies. All those who believed that the church need to revitalize also joined him. Members of parishes in Kozhencherry, Kumbanad, Eraviperoor, Thumpamon, Elanthoor, Kundara, Kottarakara, Mavelikara, Mallapally, and many other places made trips to Maramon to attend the service in Malayalam and listen to his sermons. Doors were also opened for reformation in other places by clergy who supported him.

At this stage he had three choices in front of him. Repent and go back to the old beliefs under Antioch; join the Anglican Church with western beliefs; or go forward with the reformation restoring the Church to its original purity. He chose the most difficult the third one.

Mathews was the son of the elder brother of Abraham Malpan. After completing his studies at Kottayam, he joined the school established by Rev. John Anderson (now Madras Christian College) in Chennai. After completing his studies, he told his friend George Mathen (later Rev.) , his ambition. “If I live, it is only for my mother Church. I will throw away the weeds and restore the Church to its original purity.” With the help of his teachers in Chennai, he was able to make his travel arrangements to go to Antioch. He reached Antioch, was ordained as a Metropolitan (bishop) in February 1842, Bishop of a region for a few months and returned home in March 1843.

Last Days.

By 1845 Abraham Malpan fell sick. He passed away peacefully on September 9. His remains were buried at Maramon Marthoma Church. The funeral service was conducted by his nephew Mathews Mar Athanasius Metropolitan, son of his brother Mathan. Two of his four sons also became bishops of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church, Thomas (Thomas Mar Athanasius) & Dethose(Titus I Mar Thoma) (1893-1910 AD).

Conclusion

Abraham Malpan “was of a conservative temperament and yet progressive in oulook.”

Abraham Malpan was a courageous leader and he advocated the reformation with sound Biblical knowledge, sense of history, with integrity and determination, following a habit of prayer and sustaining the faith in his mission. The progress of the Marthoma Syrian Church in Kerala and in the global Diaspora was rooted in the inspiration of Abraham Malpan.

References

English:

• 1. Agur, C.M. (1903). Church History of Travancore. Asian Education Services.
  2. Juhanon Marthoma Metropolitan, The Most Rev. Dr. (1993). Christianity in India and a Brief History of the Marthoma Syrian Church. Pub: K.M. Cherian.
  3. Mathew, N.M. (2003) History of Palakunnathu Family.
  4. Zac Varghese Dr. & Mathew A. Kallumpram. (2003). Glimpses of Mar Thoma Church History. London, England.ISBN: 8190085441

Malayalam:

• 1. T.C. Chacko, (2000) Concise history of Malankara Marthoma Suyani Sabha, E.J. Institute, Tiruvalla.
  2. K.N. Daniel,(1952). Udayamperoor Sunnahadosinte Canonukal (Canons of the Synod of Diamper), C.L.S., Tiruvalla.
  3. Eapen, Prof. K.V. (2001) History of Malankara Marthoma Suryani Sabha.
  4. Mathew, N.M. (2006) History of Malankara Marthoma Church.Volume I (2006), Volume II (2007), Volume III (to be published in 2008), E.J. Institute, Tiruvalla.

External Links

http://www.marthomasyrianchurch.org http://www.kuwaitmarthoma.com/e-library http://www.palakunnathu.org

Category.

Category:1795 births Category:1845 deaths Category:Indian religious leaders Category:Malayali people Category:People from Kerala