I am the Professor of World Christianity and the Director of Andrew F. Walls Centre for the Study of African and Asian Christianity at Liverpool Hope University. I am an Indian theologian with deep interests in World Christianity. My teaching and research primarily deal with the dynamics of Christian missions and their interaction with native cultures. I am a leading authority on the study of the Royal Danish-Halle Mission (i.e., Tranquebar Mission), Pietism, and the emergence of Protestant churches in eighteenth century India. Through my pioneering research in several European libraries and archives I have either recovered or identified numerous paper and palm leaf manuscripts written in various languages including Tamil, Telugu, German, Danish, Portuguese, and English by Indian Christians and European missionaries; these manuscripts contain important first-hand information on the South Indian church, society, and culture. I am the first Indian to receive the prestigious dissertation-based post-doctoral teaching degree “Dr. theol. habil” (= D.Th. + Dr. habil.) from the Faculty of Theology, Martin Luther University Halle - Wittenberg in Germany.
I have translated two major monographs of Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg (1682-1719), the first Protestant missionary to South India, from German into English. From an Indian perspective I have also written a definitive biography of Ziegenbalg. In 2010 I published an English version of the Grammatica Damulica (1716), the first Tamil grammar ever to be printed in Germany. In cooperation with Professor Richard Young at Princeton Theological Seminary in the USA I have just completed translating the famous Malabarian Correspondence (1712 - 1714) containing 99 lengthy letters from Tamil scholars addressed to German missionaries in Tranquebar. This book will be released within the next few months. My several books and numerous research articles have made a significant contribution to the study of the history of Christianity in South India, its impact on the west, and to the emergence of important cross-continental networks.I have received a number of research awards from various churches, research foundations and universities. I have also lectured in major theological colleges and universities in India, Europe, and the U.S. I taught at the Union Biblical Seminary in Pune, India; the Gurukul Lutheran Theological College & Research Institute in Chennai (Madras), India and the Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey, USA. (September 2001 – June 2003). I am an ordained presbyter of the Diocese of Tirunelveli, Church of South India. Currently, I serve as the chief editor of Dharma Deepika, a biannual South Asian journal of missiological research.