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Papers by Allan Varghese Meloottu

New Life Theological Journal, 2022

While critically examining the popular western Christian apologetics approaches, this paper attem... more While critically examining the popular western Christian apologetics approaches, this paper attempts to broaden the horizon of apologetics by proposing a Missional Apologetics Paradigm.

Missiology: An International Review

World Christianity provides a glimpse of the shifting Christian landscape from the global North t... more World Christianity provides a glimpse of the shifting Christian landscape from the global North to the South, influencing a change in missiological patterns, especially in light of contemporary globalization, migration, and transnationalism. This short reflection considers such transition and proposes a vision for a better global missiological engagement for the next 50 years, calling for deeper friendship between western and non-western Christians. This reflection was presented at the 50th-year banquet celebration of the American Society of Missiology (ASM).

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology, Apr 17, 2023

In Indian Pentecostal theological and missiological literature, the role of Kerala Pentecostals i... more In Indian Pentecostal theological and missiological literature, the role of Kerala Pentecostals is well documented. However, the pioneering voices that are highlighted are of men, sidelining women’s voices and contributions that shaped the grassroots Kerala Pentecostal imagination. The preacher-songwriter Annamma Mammen (1911–2002) is one such voice that impacted early Kerala Pentecostal growth. Therefore, this article, in addition to bringing forth the sidelined story of Annamma Mammen, emphasizes Mammen’s role as a songwriter and analyzes one of her early songs to highlight how her theology encapsulates early Kerala Pentecostal theological emphases (eschatological imagination, scriptural importance, contextual primacy, and Jesus-centeredness). Although Mammen’s missionary life and itinerant preaching were impactful for developing Kerala Pentecostalism, namely the Indian Pentecostal Church of God (IPC), it was her role as a songwriter that carries Mammen’s legacy in shaping the contemporary Kerala Pentecostal imagination.

Springer eBooks, Dec 14, 2022

Religions, 2023

While studies indicate that Pentecostal teachings center the egalitarian move of the Holy Spirit ... more While studies indicate that Pentecostal teachings center the egalitarian move of the Holy Spirit with empowering effects on the social lives of the Dalits in the South Indian Pentecostal landscape, the persistence of ethnocentric behavior from “Syrian Christian” Pentecostals continues. Hence, this paper focuses on exploring the historical development of a Syrian Christian identity marker as a privileged one that became prefixed by the Pentecostals in Kerala, especially in Travancore. In this regard, this paper seeks to answer questions such as: How did caste dynamics structure the formation of Christian communities in Kerala? How did the historical Western missionary interactions deal with local caste-influenced distinctions (especially between the “Syrian Christian” and Dalit communities)? How did Pentecostalism challenge and perpetuate the Syrian Christian caste identity? Through an intersectional (religion and caste) historical analysis, this paper shows that the Syrian Christian...

The Asbury Journal, 2021

Today, Christian mission scholarship widely accepts the historical missiology as a scholarly disc... more Today, Christian mission scholarship widely accepts the historical missiology as a scholarly discipline. Therefore, many scholars have been calling for the “decolonization” of Christian mission. This paper seeks to join the call of decolonization by offering a considerate discussion on integrating autoethnography as a research methodology in missiological inquiry. While qualitative research, it later demonstrates how autoethnography can be an integral methodology for missiological inquiries, namely in the process of de-colonizing and de-westernizing contemporary mission research.

Advancing Models of Mission: Evaluating the Past and Looking to the Future (edited by Kenneth Nehrbass , Aminta Arrington, Narry Santos ), 2021

Christian apologetics has traditionally been understood as an intellectual endeavor for theologia... more Christian apologetics has traditionally been understood as an intellectual endeavor for theologians to provide a rational defense {apologia) for Christianity. However, the history of Christian missions demonstrates another kind of apologetics that is often ignored by popular Christian apologists: apologetics through social action. Intentionally or unintentionally, missionaries and pioneering local Christians have used social action and grassroots reform efforts as a reasonable defense for their Christian beliefs. Hence, in this chapter I will put forth a case for social action as apologetics, which I term as social apologetics. To propose the case effectively, first I will evaluate contemporary approaches to apologetics and offer social action as an alternative apologetic mediod through a concise exegetical analysis of 1 Peter 3:13-16. Second, I will provide a brief account of the lives of Pandita Ramabai and Amy Carmichael, giving attention to their social efforts and ethical living in India that stands as a testament of lived Christianity, where evangelism1 and social action2 were held in a holistic nature to provide a social defense (apologetic) for the gospel against social injustices.

The Journal of Asian American Theological Forum , 2020

Nidan: International Journal for Indian Studies, 2019

Crucible Journal, 2018

The article demonstrates how the poems in Lamentations provide a unique theological language for ... more The article demonstrates how the poems in Lamentations provide a unique theological language for the 21st- century believer to express and to communicate their pain or even the remorse or rage at God.

Book Reviews by Allan Varghese Meloottu

Reading Religion, 2022

In Believing Without Belonging? ..., Vinod John expounds on the historical conversation concernin... more In Believing Without Belonging? ..., Vinod John expounds on the historical conversation concerning the identity of the Hindu-devotes of Christ. Using empirical data and applying the analytical framework of “World Christianity,” ... the book argues that the Hindu devotees of Jesus Christ in Varanasi, who confess faith in Christ but otherwise remain in their sociocultural communities, "are negotiating a distinctive way of belonging to Christ and the church" (12). To read more of this review; see https://readingreligion.org/9781532697227/believing-without-belonging/

Reading Religion, 2021

In Hospitality, Service, Proclamation..., Tom Wilson provides a Christian theological framework f... more In Hospitality, Service, Proclamation..., Tom Wilson provides a Christian theological framework for engaging with other religious adherents, which goes hand in hand with one’s discipleship journey. Wilson's central thesis is that hospitality, service, and proclamation are three Christian interreligious practices that are to be held in “creative tension” (23) undergirded by two fundamental Christian commitments, “an uncompromising commitment to the exclusive Lordship of Jesus Christ; and . . . to love those who reject that Lordship” (141). To read more on this review, see https://readingreligion.org/9780334057994/