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Vishal Mangalwadi (born December 20,1949) is a social reformer, political columnist, Indian Christian philosopher, lecturer, and author of over 30 books, known for his work on the role of the Bible in shaping world history and culture. Mangalwadi is also an esteemed public speaker.[1]
Early life
Vishal was born in Chhattarpur (M.P.), Madhya Pradesh, India, to Victor and Kusum Mangalwadi. He grew up in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, alongside his six siblings.
In 1974, Mangalwadi co-founded The Theological Research and Communication Institute (TRACI) and began to develop his master's thesis into his first book, The World of Gurus. In 1977, Asia’s then largest publisher, Vikas Publishing House, published The World of Gurus.
Vishal & Ruth Mangalwadi
In 1975, Mangalwadi married Ruth from Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh), a graduate of Lucknow University who returned to India after obtaining a master's degree in theology from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, USA. In 1976, they moved to his father's farm in Gatheora village in Chhatarpur District and founded a non-profit organization, the Association For Comprehensive Rural Assistance (ACRA), to serve the rural poor and transform their caste-based feudal social system. His work was opposed and violently resisted.
In 1980, he was briefly incarcerated in Tikamgarh Jail, where he began writing his second book, Truth and Social Reform. During the anti-Sikh riots that followed the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, his organization was burned down.[3]
In 1987, he initiated a national movement against the revival of sati.
From 1984 to 1987, Mangalwadi was the honorary director of TRACI and published Truth and Social Reform. In 1984, he was appointed the Convenor of the Peasant's Commission of the Janata Party. From 1988 to 1994, he was an assistant to Kanshiram, the founder of the Bahujan Samaj Party.
In 2003, William Carey International University awarded him a Doctorate in Law.[2] In 2009, he published the US edition of Truth and Transformation, encouraging local churches around the world to double up as centers of learning and service, offering tuition-free, internet-based college education. In 2010, he began a pilot project in Indonesia.
From November 2013, Vishal serves as the Honorary Professor of Applied Theology in the Gospel and Plough Faculty of Theology at the Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology, and Sciences (formerly an agricultural institute, but now deemed a university by the Government of India.)
From 2014 to 2017, he served as the Director of Centre for Human Resource Development at the Sam Higginbottom University, Allahabad, India
Interviews & Recognitions
In 2019, Vishal Mangalwadi was featured on the Eric Metaxas Show to discuss the Bible's profound impact on various aspects of society, including philosophy, language, law, economics, politics, and more.
In September 2020, Jeff Fountain hosted Vishal Mangalwadi and historian Tom Holland in the fourth episode of Schuman Talks to discuss the relationship between Christianity and democracy.
In May 2022, Jordan Peterson hosted Vishal Mangalwadi on his YouTube channel, where they delved into India's history and the pivotal role the Bible played in its development. Their discussion covered the influence of missionaries, the caste system, power dynamics, the British Empire’s impact on slavery, practices like widow burning and infanticide, and the transformative effect of distributing the Bible throughout the country.
In August 2024, Vishal Mangalwadi was awarded the President's Volunteer Service Medallion by the Biden White House for his ongoing contributions to education and social reform.
Revelation Movement
In 1995, while prayerfully seeking a response to a challenge against God's word and work from a prominent Indian intellectual, Vishal was inspired to launch the Revelation Movement ([1]). Its purpose was to restore the cultural authority of VERITAS (Truth), rooted in God's revelation through His words, creation, and human nature, which reflects His likeness.
Today, through the Revelation Movement, Vishal and Ruth Mangalwadi continue their mission to disciple nations by combining church and internet-based education, while leveraging media platforms to share enduring truths with the world.
Philosophy and Faith
Born to Christian parents, it wasn’t until his final year of college that he truly embraced his faith. “At first, I didn’t feel that I could believe the Bible as God’s Word,” he recalls in an interview with Christianity Today. Like many young intellectuals, Mangalwadi grappled with doubt and sought answers to life’s biggest questions in philosophy. His turning point, however, came when he read Escape from Reason by Francis Schaeffer.
By the time he graduated, Mangalwadi had come to a striking realization: “I knew that the philosophers knew that philosophy didn’t know the truth and couldn’t know the truth. Truth only comes through revelation.” He found it ironic to believe that humans could speak and reason, yet to think that the Creator, the source of all, couldn’t communicate with us seemed absurd. This epiphany laid the foundation for his faith in God’s Word.
Two specific books of the Bible played a crucial role in his journey—Kings and Chronicles. As he immersed himself in these texts, Mangalwadi began to see them not just as historical records of Jewish life but as divine insights. “This was God’s Word, written from God’s point of view. God was telling his people how their society was disintegrating,” he explains. Even though he was an Indian reading Jewish history, it resonated deeply with him. He recognized that the Bible’s message extended beyond Israel’s borders, affirming God’s promise that “all the nations of the world would be blessed through the seed of Abraham.” He saw this history as written not only for the Jewish people but also for him—an Indian—and for the purpose of blessing his nation.
Realizing the Bible was his only hope for understanding life and society, Mangalwadi felt compelled to deepen his understanding of faith. He reached out to Francis Schaeffer, whose work had so profoundly influenced him, and asked to study under him. In 1973, Mangalwadi spent six months with Schaeffer in Switzerland, where he was mentored by the theologian.
Mangalwadi’s journey from philosophical skepticism to firm belief in divine revelation shaped his life’s mission, ultimately leading him to become a voice of transformation for countless people across the globe.
In Search of Self: Beyond the New Age - Hodder & Stoughton, 1992
When The New Age Gets Old: Looking For a Greater Spirituality - Intervarsity, 1992
Fascism: Modern and Postmodern (Main author - Gene Edward Veith) - Nivedit Good Books, 1993
What Liberates A Woman: The Story of Pandita Ramabai—A Builder of Modern India (Main author - Nicol MacNicol) - Nivedit Good Books, 1996
India: The Grand Experiment (How Victorian Evangelicalism Created Modern India) - Pippa Rann Books, 1997
Missionary Conspiracy: Letters to a postmodern Hindu (Letters to Arun Shourie) - The MacLaurin Institute, 1998
Corruption vs. True Spirituality (Main author - Francis Schaefer) - The MacLaurin Institute, 1998
Why Must You Convert? - Nivedit Good Books Distributors, 1999
The Legacy of William Carey: A Model for the Transformation of a Culture - Crossway Books, 1999
The Bible in India (Wisdom from India Series) - Nivedit Good Books, 2000
Astrology (Wisdom from India Series) - Nivedit Good Books, 2000
Yoga: Seven Paths of Salvation In Hinduism (Wisdom from India Series) - Nivedit Good Books, 2000
Fascism: Modern and Postmodern (Main author - Gene Edward Veith) - Nivedit Good Books, 2000
Dear Rajan: Letter to a New Believer
The Quest For Freedom & Dignity: Caste, Conversion & Cultural Revolution - GLS Publishing, 2001
Spirituality of Hate: A Futuristic Perspective on Indo-Pakistan Conflict - Horizon Printers & Publishers, 2002
Burnt Alive: The Stains and the God They Loved (with Babu Verghese, Vijay Martis and others) - GLS Publishing, 2006
Truth and Transformation: A Manifesto for Ailing Nations - YWAM Publishing, 2009
Obama, The Presidency and the Bible
The Book That Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization - Thomas Nelson Inc, 2011
Why Are We Backward: Roots, Myths and True Hope for Development - Forward Press, 2013
The Gospel and the Plough (Main author - Sam Higginbottom) - Nivedit Good Books, 2016
This Book Changed Everything: The Bible’s Amazing Impact on Our World - Nivedit Good Books, 2019
Don’t Let Schooling Stand In The Way of Education (Main author - Darrow L. Miller) - Credo House Publishers, 2021
The Third Education Revolution : From Home School To Church College (Editor and Co-author) - Sought After Media, 2021
Conversion: The Revolution India Needs - 2023
Healing the Open Wounds of Islam (An abridged German edition has been published. The English language edition is in the pipeline)
GIRL: Abort or Empower Her (Co-author, Ruth Mangalwadi)
The Father of Modern India: William Carey (Co-author, Ruth Mangalwadi) - Sought After Media, 2023
Truth Transforms: A Manifesto for Ailing Nations - Sought After Media, 2024
Book reviews
The World of Gurus: "This volume examines the social and historical background, the religious intellectual impulses, and the religious and cultural aspirations of humanity that have produced the institution of gurudom." - The Companion.[4]
This Book Changed Everything: “When a brilliant philosopher from India gives his version of the history of the West, we should listen. In the 19th century, Tocqueville showed how the Bible made America different from France; today Vishal Mangalwadi shows why the Bible made Europe different from the rest of the world.” — Eric Metaxas, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Martin Luther and Bonhoeffer; Nationally syndicated host of The Eric Metaxas Radio Show
This Book Changed Everything: “I have come to believe that Vishal may well be Christianity’s most able global thinker. Not as famous as some, he travels deep into both the Bible and the historical record to uncover a treasure, and then he travels the globe sharing that treasure. I believe that he is one of the founders of the next great world-wide phase of Christian civilization.” — Jerry Bowyer, Financial Economist, Author, President of Bowyer Research; Editor of Townhall Finance.
The Book That Made Your World: “In polite society, the mere mention of the Bible often introduces a certain measure of anxiety. A serious discussion on the Bible can bring outright contempt. Therefore, it is most refreshing to encounter this engaging and informed assessment of the Bible’s profound impact on the modern world. Where Bloom laments the closing of the American mind, Mangalwadi brings a refreshing optimism.” — Stanley Mattson, founder and president, C. S. Lewis Foundation
The Book That Made Your World: “This is an extremely significant piece of work with huge global implications. Vishal brings a timely message.” —Ravi Zacharias, author, Walking from East to West and Beyond Opinion.
References
^Christianity Today, christianitytoday.com "Conversations: Vishal Mangalwadi, Christian intellectual Vishal Mangalwadi explains why India's experiment in democracy has failed", 12 January 1998
- Jonathan Petersen, Bible Gateway, biblegateway.com, "How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization: An Interview with Vishal Mangalwadi", 27 July 2015
- Lee Duigon, "The Book That Made Your World by Vishal Mangalwadi", Chalcedon Foundation, chalcedon.edu
- Vishal Mangalwadi, "Does the Bible Matter In the 21st Century?", Fox News, 13 April 2011]
