Acharya A. B. Masilamani or Abel Boanerges MasilamaniK. Ranjit Kumar, Bhakti as one of the leading factor for transformation in the lyrics of Acharya A. B. Masilamani in the Telugu Christian Hymnal, Master's College Theological Journal, Volume 2, Number 1, April 2012, pp.83–97. (1914–1990A. B. Masilamani, Nadipinchu Na Nava, PDF version of song sheet at Evangelical Church of Kurhessen Waldeck, Germany. ) was a Golden JubileeMasilamani's priesthood covered the period between 1934–1990 surpassing fifty years of ecclesiastical ministry. Baptist pastor and evangelist on whom parallels had been drawn comparing his ecclesiastical ministry with that of Saint Paul.Billie Hanks, Billie Hanks Jr., Everyday Evangelism, Word, England, 1986, p.36. The Mar Thoma Syrian Church, one of the Saint Thomas Christian Churches founded by Thomas the Apostle in the first centuryGeorge Nedungatt, Quest for the Historical Thomas Apostle of India: A Re-Reading of the Evidence, Theological Publications in India, Bangalore, 2008. which holds the annual Maramon Conventions used to have Masilamani preach at its conventions since the 1970s.T. J. Jacob, My memories about Maramon Convention, Mar Thoma Sabha Doothan, 2014. During one such Maramon Convention held in 1983 at Maramon, Masilamani was one of the main speaker who spoke on Christology in the presence of the two patriarchs of the Mar Thoma Church, Alexander Mar Thoma and Thomas Mar Athanius.
Masilamani belonged to the Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars and had ministered as a pastor since 1934 and was a spiritual formator from 1955 through 1958 at the Baptist Theological Seminary, a major seminary in Kakinada. Masilamani got popular acclaim, especially as an original hymn writer, in Telugu and nine of his compositions can be found in the Christian Hymnal in Telugu used in the Protestant churches in the Telugu-speaking states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, which P. Solomon Raj, the Lutheran pastor notes that it has been of high literary standard consisting of hymns in Telugu set in music patterns of Carnatic music and Hindustani classical music.
In 2000, Roger E. Hedlund,Roger E. Hedlund taught at the Serampore College and is the Editor of the missiological journal, Dharma Deepika. the Missiologist wrote that, along with the Bible, the Christian Hymnal in Telugu also formed the main bulwark of Christian spiritual life for the Telugu folk and of equal use to both the non-literates and the literates as well.Roger E. Hedlund, Quest for Identity: India's Churches of Indigenous origin: The "Little" Tradition in Indian Christianity, New Delhi, 2000, p.261. Nearly a decade and half after the articles by P. Solomon Raj and Roger E. Hedlund on the importance of the Christian Hymnal in Telugu, G. Babu Rao,G. Babu Rao taught at the Serampore College and worked on the revision of the Bible in Telugu. See H. S. Wilson, Introduction in The Church on the move: a quest to affirm the biblical faith; essays in honour of Peddi Victor Premasagar, Bishop in Medak and Moderator of the C.S.I., presented on the occasion of his Shastiabdapoorthi celebrations, Christian Literature Society, Madras, 1988, p.vi. the Old Testament ScholarG. Babu Rao, Content Analysis of Theological Syllabi – Old Testament in Religion and Society, Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society, 3 September 1985. recollects the homiletical significance of the preaching and singing of Masilamani in the context of his birth centenary celebrations held in 2014,
While the use of Telugu in Christian hymns was on an upward rise in the Protestant churches, it was not so among their Catholic counterparts who had to stick to Latin. It was not until the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council that vernacular languages began being used instead of Latin. Once the Vatican Council approved the use of vernacular languages in Church liturgy, most of the songs in the Christian Hymnal in Telugu including Masilamani's songs readily found their way into the Catholic Hymn Books in undivided Andhra Pradesh. The Rev. Fr. D. S. Amalorpavadass who espoused the cause of Indian ethos and advocated for inclusion of vernacular languages at the Second Vatican Council rechristened himself as Swamy Amalorananda at a later stage of his ecclesiastical career.
The growth of the Church in Telugu-speaking states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh began taking shape with the adventMartin Senftleben, Influences of Hinduism on Christianity in Andhra Pradesh, Unpublished PhD thesis, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, 1992. p.8. of Catholic and Protestant Missions. One such Protestant Mission was the Canadian Baptist Mission which propagated the Gospel along the northern circars along the Bay of Bengal. Masilamani was the outcome of the missions and believed in self-identity of the Indian Church. Masilamani struck original ground in his lyrics and a forerunner in developing the Indian ethos way ahead of Rev. Fr. D. S. Amalorpavadass. At a later stage of his ecclesiastical life, Masilamani also rechristened himself as Acharya A. B. Masilamani in the spiritual traditions of India.
Early life and family Masilamani is a third-generation Christian. Reverend Abel Bellary, the grandfather of Masilamani, was a Hindu from a priestly class.Arathi Walter, Priya Sishya: A Biography of A.B Masilamani, Anupama Printers, Hyderabad, 2014 Both the Catholic and the Protestant missions spearheaded the missionary activity. It was the Protestant Canadian Baptist Mission and American Baptist Mission (now Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches), through which Abel Bellary became a Christian taking the name 'Abel' as his Christian name, retaining 'Bellary' as his surname. Bellary was ordained and served as a Baptist pastor. Later, the family chose the surname 'Abel Boanerges' as the family name ('Abel' to recognise the first person to become a Christian (and 'Boanerges' means sons of thunder). One of Bellary's sons is A. B Greshmon Paul.
Masilamani was born to A. B Greshom Paul and A. B Saramma on 30 November 1914 in the princely state of Pitapuram, Andhra Pradesh, India. Masilamani means 'A Spotless Gem'. Unlike the Catholic priestly traditions, marriage is optional in the Protestant priestly traditions and Masilamani heeded the advice of his parents and married Vimala Masilamani in 1945. They have four children – Sujatha Prasad, Arathi Walter, Gordon Sunath and Joseph Kishore. His son, Rev. Dr. A.B Joseph Kishore is the senior pastor of New Life Community Church and Trinity Cathedral, Hyderabad, India.
Masilamani has seven grandchildren and many great-grandchildren. His grandson Rev. Seidel Abel Boanerges also known as Rev. A.B Seidel Sumanth, is a Baptist minister ordained by the Baptist Union of Great Britain. Seidel is currently the Dean of Ministerial Formation and Development and also the Tutor in Ministerial and Practical Theology at Spurgeon's College, London.
Education
Scholastic and Ministerial Formation Masilamani schooled at the Canadian Baptist Mission High School in Samalkot where he grew in Christian faith and built up his foundation on strong Christian ethics under notable Teachers including Chetti Bhanumurthy.
After his scholastic studies, Masilamani discerned his avocation towards spirituality and joined the Baptist Theological Seminary, Kakinada for ministerial formation where his Spiritual Formators happened to be Mutyala Theophilus and Chetti Bhanumurthy who had by that time moved to the seminary. The Baptist Theological Seminary, Kakinada where Masilamani had his ministerial formation is a Major Seminary which was directly affiliated to India's first University,Sankar Ray, The William Carey Library in Serampore, Business Line, The Hindu, Friday 11 April 2008. Internet, accessed 17 October 2008. the Senate of Serampore College (University) and Masilamani was awarded an L.Th (Licentiate of Theology) at the end of his spirituality course.
Graduate studies Masilamani continued his theological studies and was incidentally sent to the university itself in 1941,S. J. Samartha, M. P. John (Compiled), Directory of students 1910–1967, Serampore College (Theology Department), Serampore, 1967, p.13. during the Principalship of G. H. C. Angus where he took a B.Div. (Bachelor of Divinity) majoring in Biblical Interpretation, Greek, Christian Theology and other allied subjects from the only constituent college of the university, the Serampore College in 1945. During his stay at the old Danish town in Serampore, Masilamani also happened to alternately pursue a postgraduate degree from the arts section of the Serampore College affiliated to the University of Calcutta where he took an M.A (Master of Arts).
Post Graduate and doctoral studies For long, Masilamani was assigned priestly duties at the Churches of the Canadian Baptist Mission whose area of operation included six northern coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh. As Masilamani had an academic leaning, the Council of the Baptist Theological Seminary at Kakinada sent him for postgraduate studies to the Emmanuel College, a constituent college of University of Toronto from where Masilamani took an Th.M. (Master of Theology) postgraduate degree in 1953A. B. Masilamani, Hindu Anticipations of the Christian Gospel, Emmanuel College, Canada, 1953. after submitting his dissertation entitled Hindu Anticipations of the Christian Gospel. Masilamani was a contemporary of the Old Testament Scholar Wolfgang Roth who also happened to study at the Emmanuel College around the same time in 1952.The Bulletin – Committee on Archives of the United Church of Canada, Issues 5–13, United Church of Canada Committee on Archives, United Church Publishing House, 1952, p.52. In later years, Wolfgang Roth taught at the Leonard Theological College, Jabalpur from 1959 onwards, whereas Masilamani taught at the Baptist Theological Seminary, Kakinada.
After a decade and half of ecclesiastical works, Masilamani did not stop and extol his educational pursuits and instead he registered as a doctoral candidate at the State-run University and obtained a PhD from Osmania University writing on 'Hindu and Christian Concept of Non-Violence'.
Ecclesiastical career
Spiritual Formator, Kakinada After completing his graduate studies in theology from the historical Serampore College, Masilamani was ordained as a Pastor of the Protestant Baptist Society, the Canadian Baptist Mission/Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars. Masilamani held several posts in the Protestant Church in Andhra Pradesh. He was Professor and Principal of Baptist Theological Seminary, Kakinada (1955–1958). Masilamani inspired many during his stint as Principal of the Baptist Theological Seminary, Kakinada. One of his students, K. David went on to master the New Testament at Serampore College, West Bengal and also pursued doctoral studies at the Edinburgh University, Scotland. Masilamani also played the part of a vocation promoterC. L. Johnson (Edited), Canadian Baptist Mission 125 years Jubilee Celebrations of Baptist Churches in Northern Circars, Baptist Theological Seminary, Kakinada, 1999, p.45-47. and guided S. E. Krupa Rao to don the mantle of Priest. In his later years', S. E. Krupa Rao became a notable contributor in matters of ecclesiastical, medical and technical contribution of the Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars as well as to the ecumenical movement through the Bible Society of India and the Andhra Pradesh Christian Council.