Silva, Lynn A. de (1919-1982)
Sri Lankan ecumenical leader and promoter of inter religious dialogue
De Silva, an ordained minister of the Methodist Church in Sri Lanka, studied theology at the United Theological College, Bangalore, India. Well known as a preacher and theologian, he contributed primarily in three areas: comparative studies in Christianity and Buddhism, theological debate in inter-religious relationships, and promoting Christian-Buddhist dialogue. These were his emphases at the study Centre for Religion and Society, Colombo, where he was the director for many years, and where his wife, Lakshmi, was also an able partner. De Silva was the founder-editor of the journal Dialogue, published by the center in Colombo. For many years he was a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC) working group of the subunit Dialogue with People of Living Faiths and Ideologies. He made significant theological contributions as Sinclair Thompson Memorial Lecturer at the Thailand Theological Seminary, Chiang Mai (1964), and as William Paton Lecturer at Selly Oak Colleges, Birmingham, England (1970). During the Nairobi assembly of the WCC (1975), where dialogue was a controversial subject, he made a notable intervention urging that dialogue is not a temptation to syncretism but a security against syncretism.
This article is reprinted from Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, Macmillan Reference USA, copyright © 1998 Gerald H. Anderson, by permission of Macmillan Reference USA, New York, NY. All rights reserved. By Lothar Schreiner. By Stanley J. Samartha.
Bibliography
Creation, Redemption, and Consummation in Christianity and Buddhism (1964).
Buddhism: Beliefs and Practices in Sri Lanka (1974).
The Problem of the Self in Buddhism and Christianity (1975).