Rev. Rhenius Took the Initiative to build a Church at Black Toon: At the close of the year 1817, an attempt was made by Rev Rhenius to build a Church in Black Town. But this effort was prevented by the Governor Mr. Elliot, who granted the request of some inimical people. After many endeavours taken by the friends of the Church Missionary society for permission to build the Church, the Governor allowed the CMS to build the Church .in Black Town. . Rev Rhenius and his friends decided to lay the foundation stone to build the Church in the Mission garden, on the 30th of June 1819 .A celebration meeting was conducted to celebrate the occasion . In the afternoon on 30th of June 1819, the native congregation members, a large number of heathens, several European ladies and gentlemen. and many friends of the CMS assembled in the Mission garden. Mr. Thompson prayed in English, for the Lord's blessing on this church, congregation, Madras city and country.. Then Rev Rhenius addressed the natives in Tamil on the words of the Lord Jesus, " I will build my church, and the gates of the hell shall not prevail against it. Then they proceeded to the selected place and the foundation stone was laid. publicly. Then Rev Rhenius addressed the gathering again, the congregation then sang a Tamil Song, a doxology to the Holy Trinity. Then prayer in Tamil and blessing in Tamil and English were pronounced by Rev Thompson and Rev Rhenius . The whole day was celebrated with joy and gratitude for God had overruled all things for good, nay, turned the evil into good..
Rev. C.T.E. RHENIUS .
Rev C.T.E. Rhenius was Asked to go to Palayamkottai by CMS in 1820: In 1816 the historian the Rev James Hough who was the Chaplain to the English garrison in Palaymkottai fort and cantonment wrote to the CMS, Madras, asking for a Missionary to serve in Palayamkottai By this time there developed a misunderstanding between CMS and Rev Rhenius. Rev Rhenius came to the decision of resigning his job and to return to this native country But CMS did not like to lose the service of a an able missionary like Rev Rhenius and so they asked him to go to Palaymkottai, and he accepted the suggestion made by the CMS Committee .Rev Rhenius left all the Mission affairs in the hands of Mr. Barenbruck and started his journey towards Palayamkottai. on the 2nd of June 1820. Rev. Rhenius and his family reached at Palayamcottah on the 7th of July 1820. On arrival at Palayamcottai Rev. Rhenius and family proceeded to a house in the Fort at Palamkottai which had been secured for them by Rev James Hough, the English Chaplain in Palayamkottai Fort.. Next day Rev. Rhenius felt loneliness for he missed Madras so much and he wrote that he was like tree torn out of its own soil and put into a strange one. But without delay Rev Rhenius entered upon his missionary work. The schools and the heathens, the revision or rather translation of the Scripture into Tamil and the compilation of a pamphlet entitled "The Essence of true Vedam" immediately occupied his time. CMS wisely sent his friend Rev Bernard Schmid to Palayamkotai to work with Rev Rheneius His friend Rev. Bernard Schmid's arrival at Palayamkottah on the 20th of October 1820, as his missionary colleague filled Rev Rhenius' mind with new joy and encouragement..
Rev. Rhenius started a Seminary and tried to eradicate caste based discrimination among the students; As SPCK was already working inside the Fort , Rev. Rhenius wanted to shift his residence and headquarters from the Fort and so wanted to go out from the fort. He was is search of a suitable place to purchase . In this situation Rev. Hough came forward to sell his garden with the buildings in it to CMS at a low price. Rev Rhenius happily bought that land from Hough with the approval of CMS committee.. In the newly purchased garden there was a big bungalow and two school buildings. Rev. Rhenius started a Seminary in one school building to train catechists for Lord's ministry . The next building was used as a School where English was taught to the students and so it was called a English school. Rev Rhenius modified these two school buildings and used it. He allotted a portion of his house as Boarding for the Seminary students. and used a portion of the Seminary as a Chapel. Mr. Rhenius wanted to admit 20 students every year in the seminary.. But he started the Seminary with 7 students in the year 1820 . In 1821, The CMS Committee allowed to raise the strength of the students to 20, so in 1821, 20 students were admitted in the seminary. Out of these 20 students 7 students were from upper caste students, 10 students were Nadar students, 3 students were from Adi-dravidar community. These 7 upper caste students protested and deemed it an insult to them to take food with the other 13 students This matter was brought into the notice of Rev Rhenius. Rev Rhenius was against caste discrimination He wanted all the students to live friendly and eat food together, but as no accord was agreed Rev. Rhenius closed the Seminary in 1821. and reported the matter to CMS Committe and the CMS stood with Rev Rhenius. As some parents requested Rev. Rhenius to reopen the Seminary he re-opened the Seminary on the confirmation and condition that caste discrimination will not be followed by the students. In the month of May 1822, Rev Rhenius reopened the Seminary with 20 students. The seminary students were not only taught theology but also they were given singing practice, to sing translated hymns and many other needed trainings
Rev Rhenius Started a Seminary For Girls: In the year 1823-24 the strength of the Seminary students increased to 31 . So Mr. Rhenius wanted to start a Seminary for the girls and for this cause some military officials happily and collectively donated Rs 238 and on hearing this news the CMS also came forward to help Rhenius financially to build a seminary for girls. Rhenius completed the construction work of the Seminary for Girls before the end of January 1823. Without delay Girls seminary was started by Rhenius with 19 girl students. On completion of Hostel building again 20 more girls were admitted in this school. A Widow Christian was appointed as Warden to supervise these 39 girl students But before the end of that year 16 girls stopped their study and went out Only 23 girls continued heir studies and out of these 23 students, one was from Vellala community, 4 from Nadar and the remaining 18 girl students were from Adi-Dravidar community. Mrs. Ann Van Sameren Rhenius also taught the students in this Seminary for girls. From this we can understand about Rev Rhenius' consuming concern for the education of girls
Rev Rhenius Visited the educational Institutions : Rev Rhenius took active interest in the education of the students. He regularly visited the village schools, the Central School in Palayamkottai, Boys Seminary, Girls seminary and 13 more schools, under his control . He appointed an intelligent and pious Christian by name Mr. David to report about the educational progress of the students, who were studying in CMS schools.
The Congregations Established By Rev Rhenius : Rev Rhenius was really a great Apostle of Christ He established 406 congregation in total in South Inida. In Madras and its surrounding areas he established 35 CMS congregations. Operating from Palayamkottai he covered many villages in the undivided Tirunelveli district which included the present Thoothukudi district and Ramanathapuram district. He established the first CMS congregation in Palayamkottai on 10th of March, 1822 and it is now called as Holy Trinity Cathedral, Palaymkottai. Rev.CTE.Rhenius established 371 congregations in the then Tirunelveli District, within 15 years of his ministerial service.
Rev Rhenius Began to Translate the Bible into Tamil: The Bible translation work done by Rev Rhenius continued even after his arrival in Palayamkottai from Madras.. The Bible Society at Madras resolved that Rev.Rhenius should go on in the revision of the Tamil Bible. and also they have allowed a sum of money to pay copyists, etc, . Moreover the Bible Society in Madras had allowed him first to finish the New Testament. He continued his translation work.. Rev Rhenius wrote a book on the Principles of Translation and he translated the bible portions from the original Hebrew and Greek versions. He completed the New testament first and the Old testament partly from genesis till the book of Daniel. The New Testament translated by him was published by the Madras Auxiliary Bible Society in 1936. Rev. Rhenius was the first to avoid the practice of compounding words in Tami and separating individual words with space, His translation was simple and beautiful. Rev. Rhenius used to quate Dr, Martin Luther, saying it was not necessary to translate the Bible word by word and accordingly he translated the Bible, up-to Daniel into Tamil in the language of the common people.
Rev. Rhenius was a Great Tamil scholar and Great Author: Rev. Rhenius remained as a Student of Tamil till his death; he learnt Tamil Grammar from Mugavai Ramanuja kavirayar, using grammar books like "Nanool.".In Tirunelveli he studied Tamil Grammar and Literature under Thiruparkadalnathan kavirayar for 14 years. and became a great Tamil scholar.. He wrote the following Prose books;-[1] Bhooomi Sastra Nool, [2] Palavakai Tirutatam, [3] Thamizh Ilakanam, [4] Vedha Utharana Thirattu, [5] Uruvaga Vanakkam, [6] Manukula Varalatu Surukam, [7] Samaya Saram, [8] Protestant- Catholic Uraiyadal, [9] Suvishesha Saramsam, [10] Christhu Marga Nichayathuvam and [11] Theiveega Saramsam. He also wrote the following Text books ;-[1] Poologam,[2] Sarithiram, [3] Iyarkai, [4] Vana Sasthiram, [5] Manukula Varalaru, [6]Surya Manadalam, [7] French Ilakanam, [8] Kala Nul, and [9] Thargam [ Logistics].
Conclusion: No doubt Rev. C.T.E. Rhenius was one of the greatest Evangelists who ever lived on Earth. It is said that Rev. Rhenius had visited almost all the villages in the undivided Tirunelveli district. He cared for the physical, intellectual and spiritual development of his congregation members. With great zeal and consuming concern he preached the gospel to the people . He was an intellectual and great author.. He was a pioneer in the filed of Inter Religious Dialogue.. He established many Adaikalapuram villages to give shelter to the prosecuted poor Christians.. He paved the way for harmony among various Christain denominations. He published a famous pamphlet, " Union of Christians", an address to all Christians especially to all the ministers of the Gospel. He sincerely attempted to bring harmony among missionaries of different backgrounds, for example he kept cordial relationship with the Rev Charles Mead and Rev Charles Mault of LMS, who were then working in South Travancore On account of some difference with Committee of the CMS, he was removed from the CMS, in spite of that he continued his Church Planting ministry with relentless enthusiasm. and burning ambition and formed a separate Christian Mission in Tirunelveli District. He died on the 5th of June 1838 at the age of 48, and his body was buried at Adaikalapuram , Palayamkottai. The congregations founded by CTE. Rhenius, had become under the control of CSI dioceses of Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi. Rev Rhenius' missionary work was recognised in 1978 by the then Bishop of CSI Titunelveli Diocese, Rt. Rev. Daniel Abraham. Rev. Rhenius' missionary work was given official recognition by the Anglican Communion during the Bicentenary Celebration of the Titrunelveli CSI Diocese in 1978. It is not possible to cover all the aspects of his meaningful life within the space of this Blogpost, and so I will end this Blogpost with one sentence, "Dear and respected Rev CTE Rhenius, we thank God for your meaningful life, we love you and proud of you "
END .
By. P. Babu Manoharan, M.A[ All rights are reserved. this Blogpost will be enlarged, modified or corrected later, if needed].
No comments:
Post a Comment