As a pupil of another CSI systematic theologian, Joshua Russell Chandran, under whom he was groomed in the 1960s, Yesurathnam established himself as a scholar and during the subsequent decade, as evidenced by his interest in dialogical theology, Yesurathnam seemed to have been influenced by the religious scholars Stanley Jedidiah Samartha of the Church of South India (CSI), Herbert Jai Singh of the Methodist Church in India (MCI)[9] and David C. Scott, also of the MCI.[10] During the initial years of his doctoral research in the 1970s, it was Arvind P. Nirmal, CNI (the proponent of Dalit theology) who supervised and enabled Yesurathnam to push through his doctoral studies.
In a work about Dialogical Theology, with special reference to the activities of the World Council of Churches and its unit on Dialogue, Professor Jutta Sperber, of the University of Münster, Germany, has quoted the work of Yesurathnam on the Christian-Muslim dialogue. Similarly, Sonia Calza[7] while researching on interfaith dialogue with reference to Hinduism and Christianity, referred to Yesurathnam's work on Dialogical Theology while writing about the contribution of Henri Le Saux.[11]
Yesurathnam, also wrote on the work on the concept of Avatara, which has been cited by other scholars. Bob Robinson[10] noted this work with special emphasis on the relationship to Christianity and Steven Tsoukalas quoted Yesurathnam's work on the forms of Avatara.[12]
Yesurathnam's definition of Contextualization has been acknowledged by scholars as a resourceful addition. Charles E. Van Engen[6] and Akintunde E. Akinade[14] refer to the word contextualization as defined by Yesurathnam.
Yesurathnam cautioned the Church against falling into traditionalism. During the Golden Jubilee of the founding of the Uniting church, the CSI held in Chennai in 1997,[15] Yesurathnam spoke on the ills befalling the Church in India,
Echoing the apprehensions by Yesurathnam, Stanley Jedidiah Samartha who was also present at the Jubilee in Chennai, pointed out that one must first introspect before raising cudgels against the Indian caste system and believed that one failed to notice the gradual transformation of the episcopacy into such a system.[17] Yesurathnam, in an introduction to the book Jesus' Tears! by Elizabeth Thelma Johnson (2007),[18] has highlighted the work of a Laity and appreciated their contribution towards the Christian missions.
In 1969, Yesurathnam was recalled from parish work and sent to the Protestant Regional Theologiate in Bangalore for further spiritual studies that lasted until 1972 and resulted in the award of a Master of Theology degree after research under Joshua Russell Chandran of the CSI.[4]
After a five-year teaching ministry that began in 1974[3] at the Andhra Christian Theological College, Secunderabad, Yesurathnam qualified to undertake doctoral level research in 1978[4] and was granted a five-year study leave.[19] Yesurathnam's Bishop during that period, B. G. Prasada Rao, made efforts to ensure that Yesurathnam was able to join his alma mater, the United Theological College, Bangalore, where he was able to take up research in the discipline of systematic theology under the guidance of Arvind P. Nirmal, CNI. Yesurathnam also came under the tutelage of Stanley Jedidiah Samartha, a leading authority on Dialogical Theology.[20] During the research period between 1978 and 1982,[4] Yesurathnam was also sent to the University of Birmingham, England, in 1979 for a two-year research exposure through the efforts of Gordon Shaw[3] who ensured his overseas travel and stay in England at Kingsmead College under the Selly Oak Colleges, where he was supervised by Walter Jacob Hollenweger, a leading authority on Pentecostalism.[21]
By 1981, Yesurathnam returned to the United Theological College and began shaping his doctoral dissertation under the guidance of David C. Scott and by 1982, he rejoined the Andhra Christian Theological College, which by then was being led by the New Testament scholar,[22] K. David, CBCNC[23] and took up his teaching role in systematic theology, but was able to submit his doctoral thesis to the university through his supervisor at the United Theological College and finally in 1987, much before nearing a decade of registering with the university, it awarded the degree of Doctor of Theology.[24]
Though Yesurathnam sought permission from the Senate of Serampore College to publish his doctoral work nearly two decades later, in 2006.[3] His thesis was already being referred by research scholars[25] on works relating to the contribution of Swami Abhishiktananda.
Yesurathnam was ordained in 1967 by Priestley, then Bishop-in-Medak, and was assigned ministerial functions in the parishes falling under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Diocese of Medak and served in Sangareddy[1] and other towns shepherding congregations for nearly a decade[3] until he was recalled in 1974 by then Bishop, H. D. L. Abraham, and reassigned the role of a Spiritual Formator.[citation needed]
In 1992, when Victor Premasagar vacated the bishopric of Medak on attaining superannuation, the ensuing Sede vacante was contested among whom Yesurathnam stood in the fray for the vacant bishopric, which was overseen by Ryder Devapriam, then Moderator of the Church of South India Synod and a former colleague of Yesurathnam at the Protestant Regional Theologiate. However, the sudden death of Devapriam on 4 September 1992[26] while in Germany[27] turned the tides for those in fray, resulting in the appointment and subsequent consecration of B. P. Sugandhar.
Teaching
The Andhra Christian Theological College (ACTC) relocated from Rajahmundry to Secunderabad. Yesurathnam was invited to join the college in 1974,[3] during the Principalship of Victor Premasagar.[28] In 1993 he was appointed guest professor at the Kirchliche Hochschule Wuppertal/Bethel in Germany,[29] where he taught until 1994.[citation needed] He then returned to ACTC and was appointed principal under the institution's policy of rotating that office between the various constituent churches in four-year cycles.[citation needed]
Yesurathnam took a year's sabbatical leave in 1998 to the Overseas Ministries Study Center,[2]New Haven, Connecticut, to continue his research pursuits[30] and rejoined the Theologiate in Secunderabad to teach for two more years until 2001.[citation needed]
Yesurathnam's works are available in nearly 35 research institutes, comprising seminaries, state universities and research academies across Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America.[32]
1972, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's concept of man and its relevance for a Christian interpretation of man in India
1987, The adequacy of the concept of Avatara for expounding the Christian doctrine of incarnation
1987, The Mythic Symbol Avatara in Indian Conceptual Formulations
1988, Religious Pluralism: Some Implications for the Mission of the Church
1990, Abhishiktānanda : An Indian Christian Theologian with a difference
1993, Contours of the emerging Indian Church: Problems and Possibilities
1998, Liberation from Jubilee Perspective
1999, Can the Clergy make it ?
1999, Book Review: Mission Today, Challenges and Responses
2000, Contextualizing in Mission
2001, Book Review: Relevant Patterns of Christian Witness in India: People as Agents of Mission
2001, Channels of Peace: A Theological Perspective
2003, The Cross of Christ as the Anchor of Hope in Suffering
2006, A Christian Dialogical Theology: The Contribution of Swami Abhishiktananda (Henri Le Saux)
^ abcdefghiR.Yesurathnam, A Christian Dialogical Theology: The Contribution of Swami Abhishiktananda,
Punthi Pustak, Calcutta, 2006.[3]
^ abcdeK. M. Hiwale (Compiled), Directory of the United Theological College 1910–1997, Bangalore, 1998. Past students of the graduate course, p.33; Postgraduate course, p.106.; D.Th., p.142.[4]
^ abCharles E. Van Engen, Five Perspectives of Contextually Appropriate Missional Theology in Charles H. Kraft (Edited), Appropriate Christianity, William Carey Library, Pasadena, 2005,
p.194.[6]
^T. Swami Raju, The Study of Religion: Methods of Perspectives, BTESSC, SATHRI, Bangalore, 2004, p.54.[8]
^Herbert Jai Singh, The Teaching of Religions in the Indian Context, Indian Journal of Theology, Volume 29, Numbers 3 and 4, July–December 1980, pp.149-159.[9]
^ abBob Robinson, Christians Meeting Hindus: An Analysis and Theological Critique of the Hindu-Christian Encounter in India, Regnum, Oxford, 2004, p.275.[10]
^Catherine Cornille (Edited), The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Inter-Religious Dialogue, Wiley-Blackwell, 2013. [11]
^Steven Tsoukalas, Krishna and Christ: Body-divine Relation in the Thought of Sankara, Ramanuja and Classical Christian Orthodoxy, Paternoster, Milton Keynes, 2007, pp.23, 227, 240, 241.[12]
^Akintunde E. Akinade, The Crucible of Faith: Justice and Liberation in the work of Engelbert Mvent in Religions - A Scholarly Journal, Issue 3, 2012, pp.107-116. [13]
^R. Yesurathnam, Religious Pluralism: Some Implications for the Mission of the Church in H. S. Wilson (Edited), The Church on the Move: A Quest to Affirm the Biblical Faith, Christian Literature Society, Chennai, 1988.[17]
^Hans Schwarz, Theology in a Global Context: The Last Two Hundred Years, William B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2005. pp.523-526. [18]
^David Komaravalli, Divine Operation and Human Response: A Comparison Between Rudolf Bultmann's Understanding of the Pauline Perspectives and Certain Elements in Recent Indian Thought, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, 1973.[20]
^Mar Aprem Mooken, Indian Christian who is who, Bombay Parish Church of the East, Bombay, 1983, p.106.[21]
^Senate of Serampore College, List of the Recipient of the Degree of Doctor of Theology. [22]Archived 14 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine
^Antony Kalliath, The Word in the Cave: The Experiential Journey of Swami Abhishiktānanda to the Point of Hindu-Christian Meeting, Intercultural Publications, New Delhi, 1996, p.436.[23]
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