A. B. Masilamani

Acharya A. B. Masilamani or Abel Boanerges Masilamani^[8] (1914–1990^[9]) was a Golden Jubilee^[10] Baptist pastor and evangelist^[11] on whom parallels had been drawn comparing his ecclesiastical ministry with that of Saint Paul.^[11] The Mar Thoma Syrian Church, one of the Saint Thomas Christian Churches founded by Thomas the Apostle in the first century^[12] which holds the annual Maramon Conventions used^[7] to have Masilamani preach at its conventions since the 1970s.^[13] During one such Maramon Convention held in 1983 at Maramon, Masilamani was one of the main speaker who spoke on Christology^[14] in the presence of the two patriarchs^[14] of the Mar Thoma Church, Alexander Mar Thoma and Thomas Mar Athanius.^[14]

Masilamani belonged to the Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars and had ministered as a pastor^[8] 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,^[15] in Telugu and nine of his compositions can be found in the Christian Hymnal in Telugu^[16] 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^[17] consisting of hymns in Telugu set in music patterns of Carnatic music and Hindustani classical music.^[17]

In 2000, Roger E. Hedlund,^[18] 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.^[19] 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,^[20] the Old Testament Scholar^[21] recollects the homiletical significance of the preaching and singing of Masilamani in the context of his birth centenary celebrations held in 2014,

We heard the messages of Masilamani in the Church Society gatherings of the Churches under Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars where Masilamani would preach on a theme with key verses split into three parts, each stuffed with exegetical and expository-devotional and spiritually deep thoughts with exhortations through suitable and easily understood illustrations making an educated and illiterate member of Churches to go home feeling equally enthusiastic after having heard and listened to a wonderful sermon and songs. Sometimes the listeners would go home singing the theme song which Masilamani composed.^[5]

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^[22] 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 advent^[23] of Catholic and Protestant Missions. One such Protestant Mission was the Canadian Baptist Mission^[23] 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^[24] 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.