Introduction

Biography

Son of a law­yer, and grand­son of a pas­tor and po­et, Niles was edu­cat­ed at the Jaffna Cen­tral Col­lege and the Unit­ed Theo­lo­gic­al Col­lege, Ban­ga­lore.

He served as a ev­an­gel­ist and min­is­ter of the Me­tho­dist Church of Sri Lan­ka, as YMCA ev­an­gel­ism sec­re­ta­ry in Ge­ne­va, Swit­zer­land (1939–40), and Ge­ne­ral Sec­re­ta­ry of the Na­tion­al Christ­ian Coun­cil of Cey­lon (1941–45).

He helped found the East Asia Chris­tian Con­fer­ence (EACC) in 1957, and com­piled the EACC hym­nal. On the death of Mar­tin Lu­ther King, he was elect­ed to the pre­si­di­um of the World Council of Church­es. He was a strong ad­vo­cate of Pro­test­ant ecu­men­ism in Asia.

Works

• That They May Have Life (New York: Harp­er & Bro­thers, 1951)
• Preaching the Gos­pel of the Re­sur­rect­ion (West­min­ster Press, 1953)
• Living with the Gos­pel (New York: As­so­cia­tion Press, 1957)
• The Preach­er’s Task and the Stone of Stum­bling (New York: Harp­er, 1958)
• The Preach­er’s Call­ing to Be Ser­vant (Lut­ter­worth Press, 1959)
• As See­ing the In­vi­si­ble (New York: Harp­er, 1961)
• Upon the Earth (Mc­Graw-Hill, 1962)
• We Know in Part (Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: West­min­ster Press, 1964)
• The Mes­sage and Its Mes­sen­gers (New York: Ab­ing­don Press, 1966)
• Buddhism and the Claims of Christ (John Knox Press, 1967)
• The Pow­er at Work Among Us (Lon­don: Ep­worth Press, 1968)
• A Tes­ta­ment of Faith
• Who Is This Je­sus?