Vengal Chakkarai


Vengal Chakkarai Chettiar was an Indian Christian theologian, missionary, independence activist, politician and trade unionist.

Early life

Chakkarai was born to a Hindu Chettiar family. He was educated at the Scottish Mission School, Madras Christian College, graduating in 1901 after majoring in philosophy. He then studied at Madras Law College, and practiced for some time as a lawyer.

Career

In 1913, Chakkarai joined the Danish Mission Room as a Christian preacher and worked as a missionary for twenty years. During these years, he also became a disciple of Mahatma Gandhi and participated in the Indian independence movement. He served as mayor of Madras from 1941 to 1942.

Theology

Chakkarai tried to explain the Christian faith through the Hinduism point of view. This can be seen when he tried to find the meaning of cross for the followers of Christianity with how to get moksha.
Some of the Chakkarai's point of view about Christianity: