Manilal Chhotalal Parekh (1885-1967), a Gujarati convert to Anglican church, was an Indian Christian theologian, and the founder of Hindu Church of Christ—free from Western influence - opposing Western and institutional nature of Christianity in India. He developed a new syncretistic Jesus-Yogi model, identifying himself as a Hindu disciple of Jesus Christ—although, Jesus never knew of Yoga, Parekh credited him with being a Yogi by birth. He authored several books, especially A Hindu's Portrait of Christ that constructed a portrait of Christ from a Hindu point of view. Biography Early life Parekh was born in 1885 at Rajkot of western Gujarat, India, in a family already following Jainism and Vaishnavism, specifically followed by his father. It is said that his illness drew him closer to God in 1903; consequently, he read the entire Bible and a book about Swami Narayana in Gujarati language. Prior to that, at the age of fifteen, he seems to have already read The Use of Life written by John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury, and also The Imitation of Christ influencing him in moral and spiritual attraction at a younger age. After entering the University in Bombay, he was influenced and introduced to Christ through Christ-centric writings of Keshub Chunder Sen, a renowned leader of Brahmo Samaj; later, he served at Church of New Dispensation, founded by Keshub Chunder Sen, for some years. He was baptized to an Anglican church in Bombay on 6 February 1918, and thereby embraced Christianity. He considered himself as "Christian Hindu", having interpreted Hindu as a name[term] derived from river Indus in both national and cultural context, rather than religious context. Hindu-Christian baptism He was baptised to Anglican Church, as he believed that he had no right to preach Christ without openly professing to be a disciple of Christ—he took baptism considering it as "a purely spiritual sacramental, signifying the dedication of the new disciple of Christ." He felt that new disciple or convert of Christ ought to remain within his community and considered baptism in India as "joining community which stands as a distinct social and political body with its own airs and aspirations which are very often antithetical and far from Christian"; hence, he lived as a Hindu-Christian, consciously Christian, but in Hindu surroundings like Brahmabandhab Upadhyay, Narayan Vaman Tilak, and Pandita Ramabai—all these were said to be Hindus by birth, but claimed to remain Christians. He denounced Westernized