Joshua Russell Chandran (1918–2000) was an Indian Christian theologian, who served as President of Senate of Serampore College, Bengal (1970–1), and as President of the United Theological College, Bangalore (1954–83), and was for some years a vice-chairman of the World Council of Churches (1966–68).

Early life and education

Joshua Russell Chandran was born in

Nagercoil Nagercoil, natively spelt as Nāgarkovil (, "Temple of the Nāgas", or Nagaraja-Temple), is a Municipal Corporation city and the administrative headquarters of Kanyakumari District in Tamil Nadu state, India. Situated close to the tip of the ...

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

, on 6 May 1918 into a family who were communicant members of the South India United Church. After schooling and collegiate education, he took his BA and MA in Mathematics at the

University of Madras The University of Madras is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and most prominent universities in India, incorporated by an ...

, Chennai (1933–1938). In 1941 he enrolled at the United Theological College,

Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

in 1941, where he took his B.D. in 1945.

Pastorate and further study

Chandran belonged to the South India United Church; which made him a pastor of South Travancore Church Council in 1945. He was ordained on 20 October 1946, and he continued serving as pastor until 1947. in 1947 he left India for Britain, to study at the University of Oxford, Mansfield College,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

for pursuing a

B.Litt. BLitt may refer to: * Bachelor of Letters Bachelor of Letters (BLitt or LittB; Latin ' or ') is a second bachelor's degree in which students specialize in an area of study relevant to their own personal, professional, or academic development. Thi ...

His B.Litt. thesis was titled ''A Comparison of the pagan apologetic of Celsus against Christianity as contained in Origen's

Contra Celsum ''Against Celsus'' ( Greek: Κατὰ Κέλσου, ''Kata Kelsou''; Latin: ''Contra Celsum''), preserved entirely in Greek, is a major apologetics work by the Church Father Origen of Alexandria, written in around 248 AD, countering the writ ...

and the neo-Hindu attitude to Christianity as represented in the works of Vivekananda and an estimate of the value of Origen's reply for Christian apologetics with reference to neo-Hinduism''. He then studied at Union Theological Seminary, New York, during the academic year 1949–1950 earning an S.T.M.

Teacher

On his return to India in 1950 the Church of South India asked him to teach theology and ethics at the United Theological College,

, then under the Principalship of Max Hunter Harrison. In 1954 Chandran succeeded Max Hunter Harrison as Principal, and remained in post until 1983, when he was succeeded by E. C. John.

Contribution

Theological education

As the first Indian Principal of the United Theological College,

, J. R. Chandran provided quality leadership to the College in many aspects. In 1970 and 1971 he also served as President of the Senate of Serampore College. In the academic year 1964–65, Chandran was Henry Winters Luce Visiting Professor of World Christianity at the

Union Theological Seminary in the city of New York Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Unio ...

. He was the first President of the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians (EATWOT) for the first five-year term (1975–1981).

Church leadership

Chandran served as Vice Moderator of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches from 1966 to 1968.Konrad Raiser, ''Joshua Russel Chandran'', Tributes. WCC Site
/ref> His contribution to ecumenism was ''far-reaching''.

Honours

India's first University, the Senate of Serampore College (University) in West Bengal conferred upon Russell Chandran an honorary doctorate in 1962. In 1978 Samuel Amirtham and others also came out with a

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

in honour of Chandran, titled ''A Vision for Man: Essays on Faith, Theology, and Society in Honour of Joshua Russell Chandran''.

Retirement and death

Although Russell Chandran retired in 1984, he began living in

. He went to

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

, to the

Pacific Theological College The Pacific Theological College (PTC) is an ecumenical theological college located in Suva, Fiji. Established in 1965, it opened for training in 1966 and was originally designed as the only regional institution to offer degree-level education in th ...

for some time before returning to

. On 27 September 2000, Joshua Russell Chandran died in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandran, Joshua Indian Christian theologians Christian clergy from Chennai Christian clergy from Bengaluru 1918 births 2000 deaths Senate of Serampore College (University) alumni University of Madras alumni Academic staff of the Senate of Serampore College (University)