Work of The Church Missionary Society, The Malayalam Bible, and The Reformation
Perhaps, the greatest event in the history of the Malabar Church was the publication of the Malayalam Bible, a glorious achievement of the Church Missionary Society (C.M.S.), an arm of the Anglican Church of England. (Malayalam is the mother tongue in Kerala and is one of the major Indian languages). The free and easy access to the Word of God and the influences of the C.M.S. Missionaries had already begun to produce results. Their mission work led to a revival and reform in the Church. Mainly due to the labor of the Rev. Abraham Malpan (Malpan means Syriac Professor) and a few others, a movement was set afoot with a view to purify the Syrian Church, in light of the teachings of the Bible. He emphasized the place of "the open Bible", the message of sinners’ direct approach to God through Jesus Christ, and the importance of the worth and freedom of the individual. In a memorandum submitted by Abraham Malpan and his associates to Colonel Munro, the then British Resident in Travancore-Cochin, requesting his help and support, they stated what reforms were necessary in the Church. This was naturally resisted by the authorities of the Church which had by this time become steeped in ritualism, lifeless sacerdotalism, and even superstitions. In fact, the only course open to the Reformists by then was to secede from the parent church.
The movement to separate was spearheaded by Abraham Malpan Achen (Achen means "Priest") and Palakunnathu Mathews Mar Athanasius ("Bishop"), who was excommunicated by that time thanks to the tricky dealings of Pulikottil Metran (Metran means "Bishop") who wanted to declare himself as the Malankara Metran (the "Presiding or Chief Bishop") with the support of some others in the Church. This led to the formation of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar which had by then lost all court cases (against these tricky dealings in the parent church) and started with just five and a half Edavakas (parishes). The Rev. Abraham Malpan accordingly made certain changes in the liturgy of the Holy Communion and other offices of the Church as some of the prayers of the liturgy were against the Scriptures. Today the Marthoma Church is a towering institution among Kerala Churches.the
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