Bible Society of India

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Bible Society of India
AbbreviationBSI
PredecessorThe British and Foreign Bible Society in India and Ceylon
Formation21 February 1811 [1]
FounderThe British and Foreign Bible Society
Founded at Nagpur [1]
Type Bible Society
Legal status Society
PurposeLiterary
Headquarters Bangalore
Location
Region
Indian subcontinent
ServicesContribution, Translation, Printing, Distribution
Official language
English
Secretary General
Rev. Dr. Kavito G. Zhimo
President
Rev. Dr. Leelavathi Vemuri
Vice-President
Rev. Dr. Bijaya Kumar Pattnaik
Treasurer
Mr. Deepank George Pothan
Directors
Translations: The Rev. Dr. W. Along Jamir, [2] D.Th. (Serampore)
Church Relations and Resource Mobilisation: The Dr. Hrangthan Chhungi, [3] D. Th. (Serampore) (Associate Director),
Marketing and Publishing: Mr. Paul Stephen (Director), [2]
Media and Special Audience: Mr. Caleb Hilton Martin (Associate Director), [2]
Production: Mr. Ashith Ezekiel (Director), [2]
Finance: Mr. Tinku George (Director)
Main organ
India Bible Society Trust Association (IBSTA) [4]
Parent organization
 United Bible Societies
Subsidiaries 17
Affiliations National Council of Churches in India
Website https://www.bsind.org/
Remarks Sowing Circle (A publication of the BSI)
Formerly called
The Bible Society of India and Ceylon

The Bible Society of India is a Christian body that is authorized to translate, produce, distribute and market the Bible and is a member of the United Bible Societies.

Contents

The motto of the Society is to translate the word of God into languages, which people can understand, in a format they have access to, and produce the scriptures at a price people could afford to buy. The Bible Society works together with many organizations in India to translate the Bible into various languages of India. The Bible is now available in 74 Indian languages, the New Testament in 92 additional languages, [5] Braille Bibles in 15 Indian languages for visually impaired people, and Scripture portions in 48 languages. [6]

Bible society of india bangalore.jpg

History

On 21 February 1811, a meeting was held "at the college of Fort William for the propriety of instituting a Bible Society, as Auxiliary to the British and Foreign Bible Society established in London", entitled "The Calcutta Auxiliary Bible Society" with the same objectives as those in London." This Auxiliary Bible Society in Serampore, West Bengal first began an attempt to coordinate the supply of Scriptures to existing Christians in Portuguese, Tamil, Cingalese , Malayalam, and Canarese languages. They sent 5,000 Cingalese (Sinhalese) New Testaments to a new Auxiliary Bible Society in Ceylon formed in August 1812. [7]

The headquarters of the Bible Society of India moved from Nagpur to Bangalore in 1950, under the leadership of General Secretary Premanand Mahanty. The Central Office of the Bible Society of India is located in Bangalore city in the state of Karnataka in South India. [8]

The Translations

Succession of Translation Directors

Sources for translating and revising

The Society depends on original sources material of the scriptures available in Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Aramaic and Biblical Greek languages for which the sources include the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the Novum Testamentum Graece.

Pool of Scholars trained in Biblical languages

Since the beginning, the Society worked together with the National Council of Churches in India and the Senate of Serampore College (University) and the first Translations Director, C. Arangaden helped found the Society for Biblical Studies in India (SBSI) which had been fully-ecumenical consisting of Biblical Scholars from the Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and Charismatic Church Societies.

Father Rene Van de Walle a member of the Society for Biblical Studies in India was associated with the revision of the Marathi Bible. Similarly, Father Lucien Legrand was associated with the inter-confessional translation in Tamil language. With this background, the Society systematically built up a pool of Biblical Scholars who specialised in Old Testament with Biblical Aramaic and Biblical Hebrew and also New Testament with Biblical Greek. The Scholars include Yisu Das Tiwari, B. E. Devaraj, C. Arangaden, Victor Premasagar, E. C. John, K. V. Mathew, M. P. John, John Philipose, Gnana Robinson, G. Babu Rao, Timotheas Hembrom, Nitoy Achümi, Basil Rebera, S. John Theodore and others.

Inter-confessional translations

The Society translates and revises the scriptures from the original Biblical languages without prejudice to Protestant, Orthodox, Catholic or Charismatic. As such, the translations of the Society are held in regard by the Christians. Though the Catholics did not have scriptures in a language of their own, it was the outcome of the Second Vatican Council which paved way for the vernacular translations.

Old Testament and New Testament Scholars of the Catholic Churches worked together with the Society to either translate or revise vernacular translations and were also instrumental in inter-confessional translations. [9] The Rev. Father D. S. Amalorpavadass was a strong proponent [9] for the inter-confessional translations making the Bible Society to come out with one such version in Tamil language. In other languages of India too, the Catholic Fathers were very much in favour [10] of an inter-confessional translation.

In the recent times, the Society works together with the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India led by Fr. Govindu Rayanna, [11] a New Testament Scholar [12] and a member of the Society for Biblical Studies in India.

The Translation Directors

The Directors who led the translation at the Society were notable in the Senate of Serampore College (University) having taught at either the constituent College of the University or its affiliated institutions. It was during the period of C. Arangaden that the translations department was built up together with the General Secretary, the rural Pastor, A. E. Inbanathan had much understanding of the Church and Christianity in India and worked together with the Senate of Serampore College (University). It was during their tenure that thoroughbred Scholars were appointed throughout India leading to quality translations.

Auxiliaries of the Bible Society of India [13] [14]
No.Founding
year		Name of the AuxiliaryLocationStateSecretary [15]
I.1983Aizawl Auxiliary Aizawl Mizoram Rev Remlal Faka
II.1845Allahabad Auxiliary Allahabad Uttar Pradesh The Rev. Chittaranjan Polson
III.1951 Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary Guntur Andhra Pradesh The Rev. Rev John Vikram,
IV.2020BSI Andaman Nicobar Auxiliary Port Blair Andaman Nicobar Island The Dn. Ranjit Paswan
V.1813Bombay Auxiliary Mumbai Maharashtra Mr. Shantwan Raiborde, [16] B. D. (Serampore) [16]
VI.1811Calcutta Auxiliary Kolkata West Bengal Rev. Philip Bari
VII.1986Dimapur Auxiliary Dimapur Nagaland The Rev. Yiepetso Wezah, D. Th. (Serampore)
VIII.1969Gujarat Auxiliary Ahmedabad Gujarat The Rev. David H. Desai, [17] CNI, B. D. (Serampore)
IX.1986Jabalpur Auxiliary Jabalpur Madhya Pradesh The Rev. Daniel Nath
X.1945Karnataka Auxiliary Bangalore Karnataka Ms. B. S. Shashikala Alva, CSI, M. Th. (Serampore)
XI.1956Kerala Auxiliary Kottayam Kerala The Rev. Jacob Antony Koodathinkal
XII.1953North West India Auxiliary New Delhi New Delhi The Rev. Gershombhai Khirsti, CNI, B. D. (Serampore) [18]
XIII.1983Odisha Auxiliary Cuttack Odisha The Rev. B. K. Kouri
XIV.1966Ranchi Auxiliary Ranchi Jharkhand The Rev. Soma Bhatkar, CNI
XV.1956Shillong Auxiliary Shillong Meghalaya The Rev. V.T.S. Langstieh
XVI.1820Tamil Nadu Auxiliary Chennai Tamil Nadu The Rev. P. Moses Devadason, CSI, B. D. (Serampore) [19]
XVII.2016 Telangana Auxiliary Secunderabad Telangana The Rev. John Basy Paul, CSI, M. Th. (Serampore)

Management of the Society

The Society has been led by able administrators hailing from the Clergy. During 1980 when a gap arose, the Society had to appoint Laymen for a temporary period but with the appointment of The Rev. M. Mani Chacko, an Old Testament Scholar and a member of the Society for Biblical Studies in India (SBSI), the Society is again led by the Clergy.

Trust Association

The India Bible Society Trust Association (IBSTA) is the main management body which runs the administration of the Bible Society of India and has been led by Theologians including Victor Premasagar, Navamani Elia Peter and other Clergy.

General Secretaries

Though General Secretaries were in short tenures, it was the rural Pastor, The Rev. A. E. Inbanathan who held the longest tenure and built up the society in all spheres in Translation, Promotion, Distribution and Resource Mobilisation.

YearsSuccession of General Secretaries [20] Earned Academic Credentials/Other notes
1944-1947 The Rev. J. S. M. Hooper, WMMS, [21] B. A. (Oxford), M. A. (Oxford)/
Kaisar-i-Hind Medal 1938
1947-1949 The Rev. George Sinker, C of E
1949-1958 Mr. Premananda Mohanty Laity M. A. (Calcutta) [22] /
M. L. A. - Odisha Legislative Assembly 1937-1946 [23]
1958-1959 Ms. Marjorie Harrison Laity [24]
1959-1960 The Rev. W. Park Rankin, MCI
1960-1981 The Rev. A. E. Inbanathan, CSI B. D. (Serampore), M. A. (Union),
Ph.D. (Hartford)
1981 Major General O. M. Mani, [25] Corps [26] Laity Retired Military Officer of the Indian Army Corps of Engineers
1981-1982 Mr. T. Albert Manoraj, IPS Laity [27] Retired Police Official
1982-1985 Mr. T. John Ramakrishnan, IAS Laity [28] Retired Civil Servant
1985-2011 Mr. B. K. Pramanik, OSCS Laity [29] Odisha State Service Official who voluntarily resigned from the service
2011- The Rev. M. Mani Chacko, CSI B. D. (Serampore), M. Th. (Serampore), Ph.D. (London)

Sowing Circle

Sowing Circle is a triannual magazine published in English in Bangalore by the Bible Society of India, for private circulation, containing reviews of its work throughout the Indian subcontinent. [30]

The magazine has often been referred to by Scholars [31] and other Writers. [32] David Vumlallian Zou of the University of Delhi in The Pasts of a Fringe Community: Ethno-history and Fluid Identity of the Zou in Manipur [33] has substantially cited the magazine in matters relating to translations in Zou language.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Premasagar</span> Indian churchman and Old Testament scholar

Victor Premasagar (1927–2005) was the fourth successor of Frank Whittaker as Bishop in Medak. He was an Indian churchman and Old Testament scholar who made major contributions to research on the Old Testament and to the field of theology. Premasagar's articles appeared in the Expository Times (1966), the Vetus Testamentum (1966), the International Review of Mission (1972), and the Indian Journal of Theology (1974) and cited in major works relating to the theme of Promise in the Bible and critical works on Psalms LXXX and the Hebrew word HOQ in the Tanakh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Sugandhar</span>

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Mathew P. John was a Biblical Scholar and President of the Society for Biblical Studies in India.

Bishop T. B. D. Prakasa Rao was the fourth CSI-Bishop - in - Krishna-Godavari of the Protestant Church of South India who occupied the Cathedra placed at CSI-St. Paul's Cathedral, Vijayawada. The Bishopric of Prakasa Rao lasted for two decades from 1981 through 2001, one of the longest in the history of the Church of South India Society. Prakasa Rao led the bishopric of Krishna-Godavari that comprised the Christian missions established by the London Missionary Society (LMS) and the Church Missionary Society (CMS) which merged its South India Christian missions in India into the Church of South India Society which was inaugurated in 1947 at the CSI-St. George's Cathedral, Madras.

The Bible Society of India Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary is located in Guntur.

The Bible has been translated into the Nepali language several times. Beginning in 1821 with the first New Testament translation, these were historically translated and published in India. More recently, translations like the Nepali New Revised Version in 1997 have been translated and published in Nepal. Other recent versions like the Trinitarian Bible Society edition continue to be made in India specifically in the dialect of Nepali spoken in India.

Ch. Victor Moses is President Emeritus of the Protestant Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church Society headquartered in Guntur. Victor Moses is an Old Testament Scholar and a member of the Society for Biblical Studies, India, an august body of learning having members well versed in Hebrew and Greek languages hailing from the Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox and Pentecostal traditions.

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Chrysostom Arangaden (1916—2004) was an Old Testament scholar and a member of the Society for Biblical Studies, India. Arangaden was notable for his contribution as Associate General Secretary (Translation's) of the Bible Society of India.

John Philipose is a New Testament Scholar who served as the Director of Translations at the Bible Society of India, Bangalore during 1984-1991 succeeding M. P. John. Philipose was involved in various translations and revisions of the Bible into the many Indian languages and used to contribute to scholarly journals like The Bible Translator.

G. D. V. Prasad is an Old Testament scholar and translator who was the Director of Translations at the Bible Society of India, Bangalore, from 1991 to 2010. Prasad is from the Diocese of Krishna-Godavari of the Church of South India.

Devasagayam Jonadob Nathaniel is a New Testament Scholar and the current the Director, Translations at the Bible Society of India, Bangalore.

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P. G. George (born 8 October 1952 is an Indian Old Testament scholar who was dean of studies at the South Asia Theological Research Institute, Serampore, West Bengal.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. C. Solomon Raj</span>

A. C. Solomon Raj is the seventh successor of Frank Whittaker and eighth Bishop in Medak of the Protestant Church of South India Society and shepherds the Diocese from the Cathedra of the Bishop housed in the CSI-Medak Cathedral in Medak Town, Telangana, India. On 12 October 2016, the Church of South India Synod headquartered in Chennai, appointed Solomon Raj to assume the ecclesiastical Office of the Bishopric of Medak and was consecrated the next day on 13 October 2016 at the CSI-St. George's Cathedral, Chennai, ending four years of sede vacante in the Diocese of Medak which was without a bishop during the intervening period of 2012–2016.

G. M. Butterworth is an Old Testament scholar who taught at the United Theological College, Bangalore from 1972 through 1978 and later on moved to TAFTEE in Bangalore and finally to England where he continued to bring out the message of the Old Testament.

References

  1. 1 2 Neville Barker Cryer, Bibles Across the World, Mowbrays, 1979, p.109.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Bible Society of India, Leadership
  3. ↑ Phualva Times, Dr. Machhungi in BSI CRRM ah Associate Director len ding, February 17, 2019.
  4. ↑ Tax Management, India
  5. ↑ "Translation". Bible Society of india. Archived from the original on 26 September 2017. Retrieved 12 Oct 2015.
  6. ↑ Nirmal, Chiranjivi (2011). Imaging the Word: A Twenty-First Century Perspective. Bangalore: The Bible Society of India. p. 70. ISBN   978-81-221-2908-3. OCLC   785824115.
  7. ↑ Nirmal, Chiranjivi (2011). Imaging the Word: A Twenty-First Century Perspective. Bangalore: The Bible Society of India. p. 12,13. ISBN   978-81-221-2908-3. OCLC   785824115.
  8. ↑ Nirmal, Chiranjivi (2011). Imaging the Word: A Twenty-First Century Perspective. Bangalore: The Bible Society of India. p. 23. ISBN   978-81-221-2908-3. OCLC   785824115.
  9. 1 2 Basil Rebera, The Bible Society of India and Inter-Confessional Translations, in D. S. Amalorpavadass (Edited), Report of the II All-India Biblical Meeting, NBCLC, Bangalore, 1975, p.348.
  10. ↑ C. Arangaden, Fiddler in the Zoo, iUniverse, Bloomington, 2011, p.89.
  11. ↑ The Sowing Circle, Volume 28, Number 1, January-April 2012, p.20
  12. ↑ Rayanna Govindu, The Table Fellowship of Jesus (Luke 5.27-32), Pontifical Urban University, Rome, 2003.
  13. ↑ The Bible Society of India, list of Auxiliaries, October 2015
  14. ↑ The Sowing Circle , Volume 34, Number 2, July–December 2018.
  15. ↑ The Sowing Circle, Volume 32, Number 1, January-April 2016, p.9
  16. 1 2 Linked In [ permanent dead link ]
  17. ↑ Church of North India. Archived 2016-04-24 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ↑ Serampore Examination Registration.
  19. ↑ "The Sowing Circle, Volume 29, Number 2, May-August 2013, pp.32-33" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
  20. ↑ G. D. V. Prasad, Chiranjivi J. Nirmal, Imaging the Word: A Twenty-First Century Perspective, The Bible Society of India 1811-2011, Bible Society of India, Bangalore, 2000, (revised edition 2011), p.115. [ dead link ]
  21. ↑ Kenneth Cracknell, Susan J. White, An Introduction to World Methodism, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2005, p.150.
  22. ↑ University of Calcutta Calendar 1929 , p.511.
  23. ↑ Odisha Legislative Assembly - List of Members in First Pre-Independence Assembly (03/02/1937-14/09/1945).
  24. ↑ Annual Report of the American Bible Society, Volume 149, American Bible Society, 1964, p.144.
  25. ↑ J. S. Ishar, History of Project Vartak, Border Roads Organisation.
  26. ↑ J. S. Bawa, History of the Corps of Engineers, Palit & Palit Publishers, New Delhi, 1980, p.193.
  27. ↑ The Civil List of Indian Police Service, 1968, p.232
  28. ↑ Interact 2012 of the Indiranagar Methodist Church, Bangalore
  29. ↑ Mr. B. K. Pramanik has been conferred a honorary doctorate by an unrecognised institution which has no standing before the University Grants Commission. Hence, the prefix has been retained as Mr. See Some Distinguished Alumni and Honorary Degree Recipients of IICM.
  30. ↑ Magazine Training International, Sowing Circle
  31. ↑ Bangalore Theological Forum, Volume 33, 2001
  32. ↑ Daniel Sathiaraj, Everyday with Our Awesome God: Inspiring True Stories.
  33. ↑ David Vumlallian Zou, The Pasts of a Fringe Community: Ethno-history and Fluid Identity of the Zou in Manipur in Indian Historical Review , Volume 36, Issue 2, 2009, pp.209–235.
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