C. T. E. Rhenius
Charles Theophilus Ewald Rhenius (5 November 1790 – 5 June 1838) was a German-born missionary of the Church Mission Society (CMS).
Rhenius' work was recognized in 1980 by the Reverend Daniel Abraham, the then Church of South India (CSI) bishop of Tirunelveli diocese.
Rhenius's work was given official recognition by the Anglican Communion during the Tirunelveli diocese bicentenary celebration in 1980, in which, all the bishops, including Anglican bishop Stephen Neill and all the presbyters took an oath in front of the tomb of Rev Rhenius to follow the path of the resting soul, regard to evangelism.
Rhenius's journey to India was eventful: he experienced a fire aboard the ship and it was almost wrecked near Maldives.
They reached safely Madras, only to learn that Dr John, under whose aegis they had planned to work as missionaries, was dead.
Rhenius and Schnarre managed to stay for two weeks with the chaplain of the British East India Company in Madras.
He fashioned his proselytizing method according to the belief - by appealing Hindus to go back to monotheism and the worship of Jesus Christ.
After starting several schools in Madras, he extended his missionary work to Palmaner and Vandavasi, where he was exposed to the religious doctrines of Jainism.
During his travel he recorded in his diary that the caste Hindus did not allow him to enter their house and on one occasion he had to spend the night in a cow shed.
Thous his ideas on translation were not accepted in his time, they are similar to the current ones followed by the Bible Society.
On 5 November 1817, a group of Protestants, Roman Catholics and Hindus met in Madras and formed the Tamil Bible Association.
During the 18th century, Christian missionaries had witnessed persecution of converts coinciding with the Polygar Wars, by clubmen from the state of Ramanathapuram.
Following the Mudalur pattern, Rhenius started several Christian satellite villages, including Neduvilai (later known as Megnanapuram) (1825), Idayankulam (1827), Asirvathapuram (1828), Nallur (1832) and Surandai (1833).
In 1827, Rhenius created a settlement for the Christians of Puliakurichi in a village he purchased with money donated by a Prussian nobleman, Count Dohna of Scholodin, and named it after him as Dohnavur.
The village later became the place where Amy Carmichael founded the Dohnavur Fellowship to protect women rescued from prostitution.
Until now, precedents going back to Thanjavur and Tranquebar had been followed, whereby the local missionary enjoyed considerable autonomy in such matters.
But the CMS Committee was now of the opinion that, although many Indians might have previously received ‘Lutheran orders’, the time for a change had arrived.
Rhenius and his colleague, Bernard Schmidt, replied that their newly trained workers, as catechists, pastors, and teachers, had conscientious objections to following this new instruction.
At about the same time, Rhenius wrote to the new Bishop of Calcutta welcoming him to India and extending to him an invitation to visit Palaiyamkottai as soon as possible.
His reports, having dwelt at length on mass conversions then taking place, stressed the need for pastors to watch over new Christians and the recent ordination of seven promising young men.
The reply he received, indirectly, declared that his actions were invalid and reprimanded him for violating the apostolic succession.
I never concealed my sentiments and mode of proceeding I never promised to submit to the English bishops, not even to observe the Church of England forms.
The Committee of the Society, at that early period, did not even expect that German clergymen should conform to the Church of England.Several catechists from Tirunelveli appealed to him to return, and Rhenius decided to do so.
