Stanley Jedidiah Samartha

Stanley Jedidiah Samartha (Kannada: ಸ್ಟಾನ್ಲಿ ಜೆದಿದಿಃ ಸಮರ್ಥ; 7 October 1920 – 22 July 2001) was an Indian theologian and a participant in inter-religious dialogue.

Samartha's major contribution was through the World Council of Churches (WCC) sub-unit "Dialogue with People of Living Faiths and Ideologies" of which he was the first director.

Western Scholars on Hinduism like Jan Peter Schouten brings Samartha in the line of thinking of M. M. Thomas (an Indian thinker) and Raimundo Panikkar (a Catholic Priest) terming them as the "Great Three" of whom Samartha was very involved in the developments in the Church in India.

Stanley Jedidiah was born on 7 October 1920 in Karkala, Karnataka into a pastoral family. His mother was a primary school Teacher while his father was a Pastor with the Basel Evangelical Mission. Stanley had his education at the Basel Evangelical Mission High School after which he enrolled at the local Government College. Later in 1939 he joined the Jesuit St. Aloysius College (then affiliated to the University of Madras) from where he obtained a B.A. in 1941.

It felt natural for Stanley to follow in the footsteps of his father, a Pastor. The Basel Evangelical Mission Board approved his candidature for theological studies and sent him to the United Theological College, Bengaluru in 1941. While pursuing theology, Stanley was afflicted with typhoid which kept him out of the Seminary for a year. While at the Seminary, Samartha came under the influence of his Professors, particularly Marcus Ward and P. D. Devanandan. In 1945, he was awarded the graduate degree of BD from the Seminary.

From 1945 to 1947, Stanley served as an Assistant to the Pastor in Udipi. Stanley was appointed as Lecturer in the Basel Evangelical Mission Theological Seminary (now Karnataka Theological College) , Mangalore beginning from the academic year 1947 - 1948 to teach Theology and Religions. After availing study leave for the period 1949 - 1952 Samartha returned to the Seminary and resumed teaching responsibilities.