Principal’s Message

The year 2025 is a year of great historical significance for the confessing global Churches – the 1700 years of Nicene Creed – the Creed which shaped and continues to shape Christian faith, identity and unity across ecclesiastical traditions. The year also is a significant one in the life of Gurukul – the 40 years of journey with “Bold Theological Vision” – a vision and action shaping the theological education and transforming the Church and Society with theologies arising from the lived experiences of people. A deliberate choice of the theme for this academic year – On Being Creedal, Confessional, and Contextual, weaves together these two significant milestones for shaping a theological vision that is faithful to the core of Christian tradition, yet dynamically engaged with evolving context. Appreciation to Academic and Administrative Committee members and the fraternity of Faculty for choosing such a fitting theme.

To be creedal is to stand within the historic faith of the Church – a faith articulated in community, shaped by Scripture, and affirmed through the creeds. The Creeds in general and the Nicene Creed in particular are not mere doctrinal formulas; rather, they are affirmations of the Church’s foundational beliefs, articulated amid controversy, heresy, confessional confusion, and even imperial interference. The Nicene Creed affirmed the full divinity of Christ in response to Arian challenges and upheld the unity and inter-relationality within the Godhead and the Body of Christ. Even today, creeds continue to unite diverse Christian communities. Despite doctrinal differences, many churches – Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Anglican, and others – affirm these ancient confessions as a sign of shared faith. In an increasingly fragmented ecclesial scenario, creeds serve as reminders of unity in the essentials of faith. To say “We believe in one God” today is not a claim of superiority but a call to unity in a deeply divided world. Thus, being creedal does not mean reciting outdated formulas but re-engaging ancient truths with fresh insights. As Jaroslav Pelikan states, “Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living” [The Vindication of Tradition: 1984, 65], to be creedal, then, is to participate in a living faith, not a dead one. It is about drawing wisdom from the deep streams of Christian tradition in order to engage thoughtfully and faithfully with the challenges of our times.

Therefore, in celebrating the 1700^th Anniversary of Nicaea, we affirm the importance of grounding our faith and theology in the shared tradition of the Church Catholic, while at the same time challenging the static, triumphalist, or imperialist orthodoxy. So, “On Being Creedal” thus means affirming the foundational convictions of the Christian faith, especially in contexts where confusion exists over the chief articles of faith. It is a call to confess our faith with clarity, courage, and contextual relevance.

Secondly, to be confessional is to profess and live one’s faith with clarity, conviction, and public accountability. It is the act of affirming the truth of the Gospel within a particular historical, cultural, and theological contexts. While creeds articulate the foundational beliefs of the Church, confessions emerge in specific moments of crisis, struggle, or reformation – when the Church is called to name its faith afresh in response to the signs of the times. Confessions are expressions of a community’s particular understanding of faith, often shaped by context. For examples, historically, confessions such as the Augsburg Confession (1530), the Westminster Confession (1646), Barmen Declaration (1934), Kairos Document (1985), and Belhar Confession (1982/86) and others arose not in times of comfort, but in moments when the Church had to define its identity over against theological error, corruption, and oppression of the vulnerable. It involves discernment, socially engaged and daring resistance against systems of injustice that contradict the Gospel. The Belhar Confession, for instance, emerged in response to apartheid. It boldly declares that God is “in a special way the God of the destitute, the poor and the wronged.” [Belhar Confession: 1986]. To confess, then, is to testify – to speak the truth of Christ not just within the sanctuary, but in the public square.  In the Indian context, it is standing with the marginalized peoples and communities. It is about public theology that confesses Christ through justice, compassion, and solidarity. It is an act of faithfulness and resistance – the resistance to false gospels, to unjust systems, and to ideologies that deny the dignity of God’s people. As Karl Barth challenged, “To confess is to take a stand.” [Theology and Church:1962, 262], to be confessional today, therefore, is to take a theological stand against dehumanizing systemic structures of evils. In India, this means confronting casteism, patriarchy, and other oppressive forces. It means that theology cannot remain neutral in the face of oppression and injustice. Christian confession must involve public responsibility. M. M. Thomas urges the Church to be a participatory community committed to humanization and liberation. [The Acknowledged Christ…:1969, 51f.]. Confession, hence, is not merely doctrinal but ethical – an act of solidarity with the suffering.

Thirdly, Christian faith affirmed in creed and confessions are contextual. Perhaps, being contextual is not an option, but a Gospel imperative. It is not an abstract metaphysical thought and talk, but faith expressions from lived reality. It is asking: Where is God in the suffering of the people? What does the Gospel mean in this specific time and place? As Gustavo Guttirez challenges, “theology”, therefore “is not an intellectual luxury but a necessity born from the cry of the poor. It is a critical reflection on Christian praxis in the light of the Word.” [A Theology of Liberation: 1973, 8].  Christian faith and theology must be from the life and language of the peoples representing their experiences, cultures, and histories. For example, in the context of women in Africa, Mercy Amba Oduyoye strongly argues that “A theology that ignores women’s experience is a theology without integrity,” [Introducing African Women’s Theology: 2001, 13].  In India, the experience, cultures and history of peoples and communities at the margins greatly matters in creedal, confessional expressions and theological reflections. Are the aspirations and voices of those peoples and communities heard and represented? Indeed, at home, Gurukul’s bold vision of theological reflection and imparting theological education with praxis-oriented approach has been calling for a faith that is reflected from the margins and lived reality. We are also conscious that being contextual also requires sensitivity to our neighbours of other faiths as well as our non-anthropological neighbours – the ecological world. India’s multifaith reality demands inclusive faith and dialoguing theology. As S. J. Samartha urged, dialogue is not a betrayal of faith but its deepening. [One Christ Many Religions…: 1991, 15]. Confessing Christ must not deny the dignity of our neighbours’ beliefs, but witness to God’s universal grace to all.

Having shared the above thoughts, I realize that the theme urges the Gurukul community – faculty, students, and staff to re-engage the creedal and confessional traditions not as a static monumental deposit, but as a living stream, always reforming (ecclesia semper reformanda) and ever-rooted in the Word of God. I believe, in this new academic year, we are called to be a community that reclaims the creeds as sources of spiritual strength and unity; reimagines confessions as bold acts of truth-telling and witness; and reinforces our theological commitment to justice, peace, and integrity of God’s creation. And I hope our thoughts and reflections on this theme throughout the academic year will be enriching experience.

So, I invite all Gurukul community members to engage in Learning, Living, Liberating contextual theological reflections on what and whom we have believed and confessed in and through historic creeds and confessions. As we commemorate 1700 years of the Nicene Creed and celebrate 40 years of Gurukul’s transformative theological vision, let us be creedal in faith, confessional in witness, and contextual in mission for the sake of the Gospel, the Church, and the wounded world. Let our confessional and contextual reflection of Creed with bold theological vision be a light of hope, unity, and communion in the Body of Christ. Let us strive to make our faith credible with costly discipleship – men/women for others. And by being creedal, confessional, and contextual, let us continue to shape our faith and theology not just what we believe and talk about, but daring to do in God’s name the ministry of mending the world towards reconciliation, unity, justice, peace, and harmonious creation and cosmos! God Bless Gurukul…!

REV. PROF. DR. SONGRAM BASUMATARY

                           PRINCIPAL