India Bible College and Seminary

A Paper Presentation on:

“M.M. Thomas: Salvation and Humanisation”
Subject: Indian Christian Theology
Submitted to: Dr. Shaibu Abraham Submitted by: Arun P John
Class: BD III Submitted on: 24th February 2020

Contents
1.0 The background of M.M. Thomas.................................................................................... 1
2.0 Biography of M. M. Thomas ............................................................................................. 3
3.0 M. M. Thomas’ Theology of Salvation as Humanization ............................................... 4
4.0 Target Groups of Humanization ...................................................................................... 5
5.0 Means of Humanization .................................................................................................... 6
6.0 The Goal of Humanisation ................................................................................................ 7
7.0 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 7

1.0 The background of M.M. Thomas

Aleyamma Zachariah a renowned writer in the area of modern religious and secular movements
identifies four forces which entered India from the west evoked social and religious awakening
in India.
1. It was a period when the east India Company have established in India and they started
their reign in the land by the support of Hinduism. Their main aim was the trade
relations in India.
2. There was an attempt from the side of the British government to abolish the social evils
that were prevailing in the land.
3. We see the arrival of the missionaries from west to India. Like the Danish Halley
mission, the Serampore trio, alexander duff etc. they acted as the agents of gospel as
well as the social reforms.
4. The European orientalist who have studies the Indian languages have learnt the sacred
books in Sanskrit and other Indian languages and translated it into English and this have
influenced the art the architecture and brought the changes in Hindu consciousness.
The concepts of M. M. Thomas have come into being mainly due to the situations that were
prevailing in the society. It was mainly a past world war period and the people came to be more
aware of their social identify and the political situations were in an unrest. It was a time of
national struggle for freedom from the British rule. People have joined hands irrespective of
their religion to fight against the problems in the society.
Different categories of people have experienced the colonialism in different way. The dalits
and the women were facing more discrimination in the society. The people were marginalised

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and the majoritarianism was prevalent. The colonialization and the mission works were going
hand in hand.
There was a national struggle for the liberation of the nation. The forerunner was the Indian
national congress found by A O Hume. There were also struggles between the Hindus and the
Muslims in the nation but the common enemy was the British government.
M. M. Thomas sees the British rule in India as apart of god’s intervention in the society. That
god used Britishers to annihilate the social evils that were existing in the nation. It was to judge
and correct the traditional Indian life and put India on the path of progress and in turn ordaining
Indian nationalism to remove the tool of judgment.
The subjugation of the Hindus under the Muslim rule and the British rule have also contributed
to the rise of Hindu nationalism during the freedom struggle. There were mass conversions of
Hindus to Christianity due to the missionary works. This had shaken the foundation of the
Hinduism in the Indian society. This gave rise to the Hindu Maha Sabha and the RSS which
promoted the Hindu nationalism. The RSS have identified Muslims and Christians as two man
religious forces that propagated values that lead to the denationalization and westernization.
The emergence of Muslim league under Muhammed Ali Jinnah marked the significant role of
the Muslim community in the nationalism. After the independence there were Hindu Muslim
communalism and this have caused unrest in the nation. The political revolution in India was
primarily aimed liberating the Indians from the hands of the britishers. The social revolution
against the system and the structure of Indian society that deprived the poor and the
marginalized people of the Indian society.
The foundation of the Indian system was basically on the cast system. There was inequality in
the status of the people. But this was legitimised by the customs and practices. The dalits were
the people who were victims of all kind of sufferings. They were the powerless in the society
they were the outcast. There was an anti-Brahmin movement in the nation. The anti-Brahmin
movement that arose during the Indian freedom struggle sometimes revolted against the
Hinduism and other times asked for the reform within it. We also see the Dalit movements like
the Dalit panther movement. That advocated for the Dalit upliftment challenging the upper-
class.
The tribals and the adivasies were the indigenous people but they were not having any positston
in land alswell as they had no rights and privileges. There were fights for the liberation and
freedom and autonomy. The Indian society was also curbed by the patriarchy poverty too.
These all lead to the formation of different ideologies in like the Humanism1, secularism2,
Gandhism3 and Marxism4. These all contexts have influenced in the theology of M.M. Thomas
especially in the area of salvation and humanization.

1
Humanism tries to emancipate humanity from the clutches of religious orthodoxy and dogmatisms.
2
The term ‘secular’ was added to the Indian constitution by an amendment. In 1970 by the supreme court of
India the primary aim to add the term secular was to prevent the nation from becoming a theocentric state which
gave first class citizenship to the particular followers of that religion.
3
Gandhism an ideology focused on human beings and their welfare
4
Marxism is an ideology that works and struggles to eliminate all kinds of exploitation, oppressing,
discrimination.

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2.0 Biography of M. M. Thomas
Madathilparampil Mammen Thomas was born on 15th May 1916 at Kavungumprayar and he
was brought up at Kozhehengery in Travancore. He was the eldest child in the family they were
altogether 9 children in the family. He was from a rural middle class family. His father
Mammen was a Gandhian socialist. He belonged to the Syrian Mar Thoma church of Malabar.
His mother was a school teacher. He was brought up in the evangelical piety at home. He
believed that the intercession for a personal social and religious life would impact the society
towards humanization. He was also influenced by the faith practices that he was following. He
was an active participant in all the church activities. He has a sound foundation in the Christian
spirituality also in the national patriotism. He was influenced by the Gandhism. Since he had
the affinity to the Marxism he was denied the ordination form the Mar Thoma church. He was
also denied the membership in the communist party because of his Christian membership. He
was married to Elizabeth Pennamma in 1945.
He was a graduate in chemistry. He was awarded as the best student of the science college at
Trivandrum. In his auto biography he writes like this “Jesus Christ became real to me as the
bear of the divine forgiveness and gave my life awakened to adolescent rages, a principle of
integration and sense of direction. He also worked a teacher he have also pioneered several
fellowships and interreligious fellowships of students. His ministry experience among the poor
made him realise that the gospel also needs to address the social conditions and needs. He was
annoyed on the just focus on the salvation of the soul apart from the social conditions and later
this lead him to the concept of salvation and humanization. He also worked as the secretary of
the beggar relief committee in Trivandrum. Also he worked as the secretary of the Balabhavan,
he also mastered shoe making to tach boys to make a living and so on. He was also the member
of the founding members of Youth Christian Council of Action. He was active as the secretary
of the Mar Thoma church. He was also the vice chairman of the world student Christian
federation. He have also made extensive travels to different part of the world. That have also
expanded this style in teaching. He have also served as the moderator of the Uppsala WCC
meeting and also elected as the chairman for the post assembly period. He was at the post until
he resigned the post in 1972. He have also served as the governor of Nagaland in May 1990.
He was never been to any seminary for his theological studies. He made the studies by himself
and he was awarded three honorary doctorate for his contributions. The Thiruvella sangam was
a group of theologians formed by M.M. Thomas and his friends for informal discussions. He
have added to the definition of theology as faith seeking understanding and social
responsibility.
He focused on maintaining the centrality of Christ in all the area of life while grappling with
the realities of other religion s and of the social concerns. His spirituality was a Christo centric
spirituality, and was against the dicomatization and compartmentalization of the spirituality
and the social activity. He believed in the power of the gospel to change the social life of the
people. Therefor he involved in the social works.

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3.0 M. M. Thomas’ Theology of Salvation as Humanization

Salvation according to Thomas is “the spiritual inwardness of true humanisation and that
humanization it inherent in the message of salvation in Christ.”5
He finds a close link between the salvation and humanization. He sees the salvation as present
reality as well as eschatological in nature. The real humanization includes the salvation. The
term humanisation was coined in 1971 by M. M. Thomas. For Thomas humanisation means
making the human genuinely and fully human. Liberated from all social political and religious
dehumanization. For him it’s the penultimate human destiny. The salvation and humanization
are happening in the real world and are like the two side of a single coin. For Thomas Christ is
the centre of the humanisation. His concepts are Christo centric and salvation happens thorough
Christ and it will result in the humanization. It’s only possible through Christ.
The oppressive structures in the world is the centre factor that leads to the concept of the
.theology and not the scripture. Is a response to the social oppression and injustices, According
to Thomas God’s salvific plan to leave his divinity and to take the on humanity. So the
anthropology is the starting of God’s redemptive plan. So he sees identifying the social
situations as the basic nessacity of the effective missions. Thomas sae the redemption and
salvation as similar terms. In his earlier works he have used this terms interchangeably. He
gave importance of personal redemption and collective redemption. The social but he gave the
importance for the social redemption than for the personal one. It’s more an evangelical
approach. He have also emphasised the salvation of the body and soul. Like the liberation
theologians Thomas insisted that the marginalized people should unite to resist the exploitation
of their oppressors.
From the late 1970 onwards Thomas moved from an ecumenical approach to a liberal and
pluralistic approach. The salvation of God in Christ offers and leads to humanization of people.
The concepts of Thomas according to Walter’s position its Christological, dialogical and
effective in religiously pluralistic society. He was against all that which opposes the basic
needs of survival. He sees that the alienation from God, Castism religion and modernization
as the factors that obstacles the humanisation. He was against all the one sided spirituality that
only emphasised the spiritual needs of the people. For Thomas sin is not absence of good but
self-claim for self-sufficiency and self-dependency.
Thomas believes that the restoration of the Dalit dignity depends on the renewal of traditional
cultural and religious values. He also critiques the cast system as the reason for the current
situation of the people. He had a positive approach towards the modernization in the early times
but in the later times he even personified the modernisation as Rakshasa. And identified it as
the source of dehumanisation. One another factor that we see us that in his understanding the
technological world has become aggressive and destructive towards humanity. Thomas
advocated the humanization for all the people but his focus is for the people who are
marginalised. He identifies the human goal is to eliminate the poverty and the indignity of the
people. The focus was mainly on the people who are supressed in the society. Especially the

5
Ibid., 93.

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marginalised, Dalit and the poor. For Thomas the humanisation of the people depends on the
humanisation of social and political structures as they promote dehumanisation.
The mission of the church is not simply the proclamation of the gospel and the growth of the
church. The goal of Community must be the humanisation. But these barriers that are created
by the human beings work against the task of humanisation.

4.0 Target Groups of Humanization

Thomas advocates humanisation for all the people. But his main focus is on the traditionally
oppressed people the harijans, girijans, sreejans. The concept of Thomas was that these people
must also come to the forefront of the society and participate in the structure of power and
decision making. He sees poverty as a social injustice. The main goal must be the eradication
of the poverty.
The tribal people needs to be humanised. They lack proper development and education and
facilities and they need to be provided by that for the betterment of their condition. His attempts
were supressed by the mainstream people in the society.
The women in India undergo severe mental and physical suffering in the name of cast creed
and gender. They also needs to be humanised. The Dalit women he calls them as the dalits
among the dalits and downtrodden among the down trodden. He identifies that many of the
people in India converted to Christianity not for the salvation of their soul but it was for having
a better status in the society.
M. M. Thomas calls for the humanisation of the dehumanised people. They are the submerged
and supressed groups of the traditional society. They are the outcast, the submerged and the
outcast. He sees the poverty as a social injustice and a social tragedy. He have raised his
concerns from 1950’s onwards on this issue.
Being in Nagaland have helped him to understand the issues of the people in Nagaland tribal
groups. The people had to move from their tribal pattern to the modern living style due to the
present social conditions. He was sympathetic to the conditions of the people in that land. They
lack the education and the development.
He also asks for the humanisation of the oppressive strictures. They are mainly religion politics
and history. According to Thomas the socio religious system and structures need to be
humanised because they perpetuate marginalisation and discrimination. If the politics can be
humanised it can be people oriented and work towards a just and fair society that will enhance
the life of the people.
To an extent Thomas have even for an organised militancy for the poor for their upliftenment.
He was in support of the movements like the Dalit panthers that have held in Maharashtra. He
reads the salvation history in the light of humanising the people. The mission of the church is
not simply proclamation but is also have to work for the humanisation of the people.
Thomas sees Christ as the source of all forms of humanisation in the world. Thomas
believed in both Jesus of history and Christ of faith. He had a strong Christological approach
towards the humanisation. The humanisation needs to be Christocentric in nature. The
incarnation and the ressruction give hope for the people for the humanisation. According to
Thomas the gospel of Jesus promised humanisation. The humanisation that was possible

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through the church have made the influx of people of other faith to become a part of the faith
community. Leslie Newbigin says that the identity in Christ have made the people from ‘no
people’ to ‘God’s people’.

5.0 Means of Humanization

Thomas sees secularism as means of humanisation. First he believed in the church to be an
agent of humanisation but later it failure to do so. He advocated for an inclusive and integrated
approach and appeared position so that they can collectively involve and participate in the
struggles for humanisation.
The interreligious dialogue is seen as a means of humanisation. It is because this can reduce
the communalism and fundamentalism and religion can relate reach other and in harmony.
Thomas speaks about the need not only interreligious dialogue but also inter faith dialogue.
He says whatever is the area it must address the modern problem of human existence and for
humanization of modern theological culture. The ultimate destiny is reconciliation and social
communion.
The conscientization as a means for humanization is where people are made aware of who
they are and the social position that they are having and about their right and privileges.
Because many of the poor and marginalised are unaware of their rights and privileges.
Revolution can also be a means for the humanisation. Because he sees God as also working
in the revolutions that are taking place. But this was critiques by the ecumenical theologians
like Hans Henrich Woulf and Sunand Sumithra. For Thomas Christ is Cosmic and therefore
the humanization is Christocentric. He saw the revolution as the partial fulfilment of the
kingdom of God; the church should remain as a prophetic voice.
The process of humanisation is a continuous process and will not take place overnight.
Salvation according to Thomas should be given a holistic perspective rather than an
individualistic approach. He gave importance for both individual salvation and social
salvation. He said whether social or individual it’s the salvation of the human kind. He was a
critique of the evangelists who define salvation purely in individualistic terms denying the
social concerns and isolating soteriology from anthropology and for compartmentalising the
salvation history and the social history.
He says that the bible speaks of the life on earth than the life in heaven. His theology is basically
an attempt to relate the word of God to the world of people and world of people to the word of
God. He follows the method of Paul Tillich as sees that the Christian message provides the
answers to the questions implied in human existence.
Humanization is not just the social work but it is for the social justice. According to Thomas
the church is in good the ministry of preaching teaching serving and fellowship but it has
neglected the ministry of social Justice.
According to Thomas the churches in India needs to shift from the charitable diakonia to a
social diakonia. He have interpreted other religious traditions from a Christ centred
perspective. He had a shift from the Church centred ecclesiology to the church Christ cantered
ecclesiology. The social and the evangelistic mission of the gospel has changed the lives of the
upper-class and the lower class.

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6.0 The Goal of Humanisation
He sees the people as the subject of history. The goal of the humanization is to give people
their dignity lost personhood and peoplehood so they become subject of history and makers of
history with all rights and equality. The purpose of God for humanisation according to Thomas
is to give them freedom and responsibility as that they can work with God and work for God
to fulfil God’s plan for the humanity and human existence. Thomas interpret humanisation as
“New Humanity” in Christ. The Goal of human community is to practice for Justice for the
poor and the submerged and supressed groups like the dalits, tribals and women. According to
Thomas tradition and technology have to be humanised so that they support to eco justice and
social justice which will lead them to new humanity in Christ. He envisages a new humanity
in Christ which is humanised community is free from all forms of oppression and subjugating
and enjoys and experiences equality of rights and privileges.
Like Aloysius Pieris Thomas believed that the church should exercise a “divine option for the
poor. “ the church needs to participate in the prophetic mission of humanisation.
In the later parts of his life and writing revels greater shifts from the ecumenical to a pluralistic
a pluralistic position whereby he acknowledges the importance of the collective role of all
religions and secular ideologies towards the task of humanisation in the context of religious
pluralism.

7.0 Conclusion
M. M. Thomas became a well-known theologian and a social activist from Kerala. He spoke
for the people who were marginalised and oppressed and he was a voice for the voiceless and
he have used the secular tools like the Marxian philosophy to understand the society and the
political scenarios. His thoughts and ideas were influenced by this social setting and the hard
realities of oppression in the land. His exposure to the tribal people in the north east have
enabled him to understand their pathos. And he formulates his theology in which he says
salvation and humanisation. Where Humanisation is the penultimate and Salvation is the
ultimate Goal of life. He have moved from an inclusive understanding to a pluralistic
understanding in the later period of his life.
He gave more importance to the People groups like the Dalits, Women and the Tribals. And
the stood for the humanisation of the people by bringing up their dignity and giving them new
standards of living.
His theologies are Christocentric in nature and upholds a cosmic view of salvation. He
understands Secularism, interreligious dialogue, conscientization and revolution as a means of
humanisation. He gives more importance for the life on earth than hoping for a life in heaven.
The main goal of humanisation is to keep up the dignity of the people and to have a better life
on earth free from any kind of oppression where people lives in freedom and joy.

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