G. D. V. Prasad

Last updated

The Reverend

G. D. V. Prasad

CSI
Born
Gundugollu [1] Deva Vara Prasad [1]

Andhra Pradesh
Nationality Indian
Citizenship Indian
Education B.Sc. [2] (Andhra),
1979, B. D. [2] (Serampore),
1981, [3] M. Th. [2] (Serampore)
Alma mater Bishop’s College, Calcutta, United Theological College, Bangalore, University of Aberdeen, Scotland
Occupation(s) Ecclesiastical Administrator and Translations Scholar
Religion Christianity
Church Church of South India [1]
(Diocese of Krishna-Godavari)
Writings2011, The Bible Society of India: Partnership in Scripture Translation [1]
2011, Imaging the Word: A Twenty-First Century Perspective 1811-2011 (with Chiranjivi Nirmal) [4]
Congregations served
 CSI-St. John's Church, Visakhapatnam
Offices held
Teacher of Old Testament, Bishop’s College, Calcutta [2] (-1991),
Director, (Translations), Bible Society of India, Bangalore (1991 [2] -2011 [1] )
TitleThe Reverend

G. D. V. Prasad is an Old Testament scholar and translator [5] who was the Director of Translations at the Bible Society of India, Bangalore, from 1991 [2] to 2010. Prasad is from the Diocese of Krishna-Godavari of the Church of South India.

Contents

Spiritual studies

West Bengal

After initial graduate studies in sciences [2] at the Andhra University, Prasad discerned his avocation towards priesthood and was sent by N. D. Anandarao Samuel, then Bishop-in-Krishna-Godavari for propadeutic studies to the Bishop’s College, Calcutta [6] where he pursued a graduate degree in divinity along with his companion, G. Dyvasirvadam, also hailing from the Diocese of Krishna-Godavari. Later, the Senate of Serampore College (University) awarded Prasad a degree in B. D. during the Registrarship of D. S. Satyaranjan.

Karnataka

For postgraduate studies, Prasad enrolled at the United Theological College, Bangalore in 1979 [3] where he specialised in the Old Testament under Theodore N. Swanson and E. C. John, a direct student of Gerhard von Rad and Claus Westermann. Companions of Prasad during his postgraduate studies included M. Devadas and G. Devakadasham. [3] Prasad's study period at the Seminary in Bangalore coincided with the Old Testament scholar Rev. G. Babu Rao's research studies. [7] After two years in Bangalore, Prasad completed his studies in 1981 and was awarded a postgraduate degree, M.Th., by the Senate of Serampore College (University) in its ensuing convocation held in 1982 at the Karnataka Theological College, Mangalore during the Registrarship of the New Testament Scholar, D. S. Satyaranjan.

Scotland

After a period of ecclesiastical ministry as presbyter and teacher of the Old Testament, Prasad carried out research at the University of Aberdeen, [8] Scotland where some of his companions from India included Siga Arles [9] and others.

Ecclesiastical contribution

Prasad was ordained as a Pastor of the Diocese of Krishna-Godavari of the Church of South India during the bishopric of T. B. D. Prakasa Rao at a joint ordination mass at the CNI-St. Paul's Cathedral, Kolkata in the presence of Dinesh Chandra Gorai, then Bishop - in - Calcutta.

Teacher

Prasad began his ecclesiastical contribution first as a Teacher of the Old Testament at the Bishop’s College, Calcutta [2] and began teaching along with Timotheas Hembrom who, incidentally, was a study companion [3] of G. Babu Rao, Nitoy Achümi and Basil Rebera.

Pastoral

After a period of teaching ministry in West Bengal, Prasad was recalled to the Diocese of Krishna-Godavari to take up a pastoral [2] role at the CSI-St. John's Church in Visakhapatnam during the bishopric of T. B. D. Prakasa Rao. Prasad pastored a predominantly Congregational Church that was established by the London Missionary Society.

Translations

In 1991, [2] after returning from the University of Aberdeen, Prasad joined the Bible Society of India as Director, Translations succeeding John Philipose During Prasad's stint with the Translations Department, he worked closely with the Translation Consultants of the United Bible Societies, Graham Ogden and Basil Rebera.

Following the footsteps of his predecessors, Chrysostom Arangaden, M. P. John and John Philipose, Prasad ensured that translations continued to remain in focus and worked together with his colleague Jonadob Nathaniel, then translations advisor. Many versions and revisions of the Bible were released during Prasad's incumbency as Director, Translations. One among them was the Lambadi version of the New Testament which was released at the STBC-Centenary Baptist Church, Secunderabad in the presence of Rev. G. Babu Rao, then auxiliary secretary of the Bible Society of India Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary on 25 October 1999. [10]

During the bicentenary of the Bible Society of India, Prasad along with Chiranjivi J. Nirmal co-authored Imaging the Word: A Twenty-First Century Perspective. [4]

In 2001 when T. B. D. Prakasa Rao took voluntary retirement from the Diocese of Krishna-Godavari, Prasad chose not to contest the bishopric paving way for the election and subsequent consecration of G. Dyvasirvadam, his companion at the Bishop’s College, Calcutta as the fifth CSI-Bishop-in-Krishna-Godavari Diocese.

Other offices
Preceded by
John Philipose,
1984-1991
 Director-Translations,
Bible Society of India, Bangalore
1991 [2] -2011 [1] 		Succeeded by

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Premasagar</span>

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">Andhra Christian Theological College</span>

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bible Society of India</span> Christian organisation

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.

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

B. P. Sugandhar was the fifth successor of Frank Whittaker as Bishop - in - Medak of the Church of South India whose bishopric lasted for more than a decade and half from 1993 through 2009 coinciding with the archbishoprics of Samineni Arulappa and Marampudi Joji of the Archdiocese of Hyderabad.

Govada Dyvasirvadam is Bishop Emeritus of Krishna-Godavari Diocese of the Church of South India.

Revd. E. C. John was an Indian Old Testament scholar and a member of the Society for Biblical Studies in India. He was also a member of the George Bell Institute at the University of Chichester, Chichester and the Society for Old Testament Study, England.

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.

L. Prakasam was a Pastor of the Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars who served as the Auxiliary Secretary of the Bible Society of India Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary during the period 1982-1998, the longest in the history of the Auxiliary.

Bishop Emeritus Sanki John Theodore was the fourth Bishop-in-Karimnagar Diocese of the Church of South India.

Bishop B. D. Prasada Rao(born 13.8.1952) is Bishop Emeritus - in - Rayalaseema Diocese of the Church of South India and past ex officio member of the Church of South India Synod for the period 2013-2019. He retired on attaining superannuation on 13 August 2019.

Basil A. Rebera is an Old Testament Scholar and a Translation Consultant with the United Bible Societies focusing on translations of the Bible the world over. As a contributor to scholarly research, Rebera's writings have been reviewed in Journal of Biblical Literature and The Bible Translator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timotheas Hembrom</span>

Timotheas Hembrom is an ordained Minister of the Church of North India and an Old Testament Scholar who taught at the Bishop's College, Kolkata, affiliated to the nation's first University, the Senate of Serampore College (University). As a Biblical scholar, Hembrom is a member of the scholarly Society for Biblical Studies in India, with members from the Protestant, Orthodox, Catholic and Charismatic Church societies. He researched on Santali creation traditions and his work was first published in 1996 was simultaneously reviewed in the Indian Journal of Theology and the Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies.

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.

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

The Kretzmann Commission was constituted in 1969 by the Board of Governors of the Andhra Christian Theological College, Hyderabad to:

survey and study the task of theological education in the Churches related to the College Society

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaddala Solomon</span>

G. Solomon was an Old Testament Scholar and a Baptist Patriarch hailing from the Protestant Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches Society (an affiliate member of the Baptist World Alliance and the National Council of Churches in India) and led it as its President during the years 1978-1982 overseeing the spiritual affairs of the Church Society whose ecclesiastical jurisdiction comprises the three states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana with 873 Churches comprising nearly a million members per present statistics.

Tantepudi George Cornelious is the current Bishop - in - Krishna Godavari Diocese of the Church of South India with the Bishop's Cathedra housed in CSI-St. Andrew's Cathedral in Machilipatnam. However, for administrative purposes, the Office of the Bishopric is located in Vijayawada with its ecclesiastical jurisdiction encompassing the civil districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna, and Guntur in Andhra Pradesh.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 G. D. V. Prasad, The Bible Society of India: Partnership in Scripture Translation in Michael Nai-Chiu Poon (Edited), Church Partnerships in Asia: A Singapore Conversation, Singapore, 2011, pp.196-204, 224.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 The Bible Society of India, Our Directors
  3. 1 2 3 4 K. M. Hiwale (Compiled), Directory of the United Theological College 1910–1997, Bangalore, 1997. Past students, postgraduate course, p.116.
  4. 1 2 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 ]
  5. ↑ Ji-Youn Cho, Politeness and Korean Addressee Honorifics in Jesus' Reply, “’Eγώ ἐıμı, κἀı ̓óψεσθε τὸν ὑıòν τoυ̑ ̓ανθρώπου…” in The Bible Translator, January 2008; vol. 59, 1: pp. 26-38.
  6. ↑ The Community of Women and Men in the Church: Report of the Asian Consultation Held at the United Theological College, Bangalore on 11–15 August 1978 : Sponsored by the World Council of Churches, Geneva, United Theological College, Bangalore, 1978, p.104.
  7. ↑ G. Babu Rao, Content Analysis of Theological Syllabi – Old Testament in Religion and Society, Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society, 3 September 1985.
  8. ↑ British phone book
  9. ↑ Arles, Siga (1990). Theological Education in Relation to the Identification of the Task of Mission and the Development of Ministries in India: 1947 to 1987 with Special Reference to the Church of South India (PhD thesis). University of Aberdeen.
  10. ↑ Sowing Circle, A Bulletin of the Bible Society of India, Volume 15, Number 1, January–April 2000 (For Private Circulation), Bengaluru. pp.24-25.
Further reading
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.