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.
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, Braille Bibles in 15 Indian languages for visually impaired people, and Scripture portions in 48 languages.
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.
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.
The Translations Succession of Translation Directors 1960-1981 The Rev. C. Arangaden, Th.M. (Princeton), 1981-1984 The Rev. M. P. John, Ph.D. (Chicago), 1984-1991 The Rev. John Philipose, Ph.D. (St.Andrews), 1991-2011 The Rev. G. D. V. Prasad, M. Th. (Serampore), 2011-2021 The Rev. Jonadob Nathaniel, D.Th. (SEAGST) 2021- The Rev. Dr. W. Along Jamir, D.Th. (Serampore)
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.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. The Rev. Father D. S. Amalorpavadass was a strong proponent 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 favourC. Arangaden, Fiddler in the Zoo, iUniverse, Bloomington, 2011, p.89. 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,The Sowing Circle, Volume 28, Number 1, January-April 2012, p.20 a New Testament ScholarRayanna Govindu, The Table Fellowship of Jesus (Luke 5.27-32), Pontifical Urban University, Rome, 2003. 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 IndiaThe Bible Society of India, list of Auxiliaries, October 2015The Sowing Circle, Volume 34, Number 2, July–December 2018. No.Foundingyear Name of the Auxiliary Location State SecretaryThe Sowing Circle, Volume 32, Number 1, January-April 2016, p.9 I.1983 Aizawl AuxiliaryAizawl MizoramRev Remlal Faka II.1845Allahabad Auxiliary Allahabad Uttar PradeshRev. Gershombhai Khirsti (Pro tem) III.1951 Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary GunturAndhra PradeshRev. Rev John Vikram (CSI) BD., M.Th., IV.2020BSI Andaman Nicobar Auxiliary Port Blair Andaman Nicobar IslandThe Dn. Ranjit Paswan V.1813 Bombay Auxiliary Mumbai MaharashtraRev. Clement Christian VI.1811 Calcutta Auxiliary Kolkata West BengalRev. Soma Bhatkar VII.1986 Dimapur Auxiliary Dimapur NagalandRev. Yiepetso Wezah, D. Th. (Serampore) VIII.1969 Gujarat Auxiliary Ahmedabad GujaratRev. Ashish Amin IX.1986 Jabalpur Auxiliary Jabalpur Madhya PradeshRev. Daniel Nath X.1945 Karnataka Auxiliary Bangalore Karnataka Rev. Ms. B. S. Shashikala Alva, CSI, M. Th. (Serampore) XI.1956 Kerala Auxiliary Kottayam KeralaThe Rev. Jacob Antony Koodathinkal XII.1953 North West India Auxiliary New Delhi New DelhiThe Rev. Gershombhai Khirsti, CNI, B. D. (Serampore)Serampore Examination Registration. XIII.1983 Odisha Auxiliary Cuttack OdishaThe Rev. B. K. Kouri XIV.1966 Ranchi Auxiliary Ranchi JharkhandThe Rev. Ms. Neelam Tigga XV.1956 Shillong Auxiliary Shillong MeghalayaThe Rev. V.T.S. Langstieh XVI.1820 Tamil Nadu Auxiliary Chennai Tamil NaduThe Rev. P. Moses Devadason, CSI, B. D. (Serampore) XVII.2016 Telangana AuxiliarySecunderabadTelanganaThe 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.
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. Years Succession of General SecretariesG. 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. Earned Academic Credentials/Other notes1944-1947The Rev. J. S. M. Hooper, WMMS,Kenneth Cracknell, Susan J. White, An Introduction to World Methodism, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2005, p.150. B. A. (Oxford), M. A. (Oxford)/Kaisar-i-Hind Medal 19381947-1949The Rev. George Sinker, C of E1949-1958Mr. Premananda MohantyLaityM. A. (Calcutta)University of Calcutta Calendar 1929, p.511./M. L. A. - Odisha Legislative Assembly 1937-1946Odisha Legislative Assembly - List of Members in First Pre-Independence Assembly (03/02/1937-14/09/1945).1958-1959Ms. Marjorie HarrisonLaityAnnual Report of the American Bible Society, Volume 149, American Bible Society, 1964, p.144. 1959-1960The Rev. W. Park Rankin, MCI1960-1981The Rev. A. E. Inbanathan, CSIB. D. (Serampore), M. A. (Union), Ph.D. (Hartford)1981Major General O. M. Mani,J. S. Ishar, History of Project Vartak, Border Roads Organisation. CorpsJ. S. Bawa, History of the Corps of Engineers, Palit & Palit Publishers, New Delhi, 1980, p.193.LaityRetired Military Officer of the Indian Army Corps of Engineers1981-1982Mr. T. Albert Manoraj, IPSLaityThe Civil List of Indian Police Service, 1968, p.232Retired Police Official1982-1985Mr. T. John Ramakrishnan, IASLaityInteract 2012 of the Indiranagar Methodist Church, BangaloreRetired Civil Servant1985-2011Mr. B. K. Pramanik, OSCSLaityMr. B. K. Pramanik has been conferred an 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.Odisha State Service Official who voluntarily resigned from the service2011-2023The Rev. M. Mani Chacko, CSIB. D. (Serampore), M. Th. (Serampore), Ph.D. (London)2023-Rev. Dr. Kavito G. ZhimoAn Ordained Baptist minister from Nagaland. He served as the pioneering founding principal of Trinity Theological College, Dimapur, for 26 years (1992-2000 and 2004 -2022). Some of his important leadership position includes, President of the Sumi Baptist Theological Association (1990–1993), President of the Council of Baptist Churches in North East India (2012–2015), President of the Senate of Serampore College, University (2017–2019) and Chairperson of the Board of Theological Education of the Senate of Serampore College (2017–2019).
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.Magazine Training International, Sowing Circle
The magazine has often been referred to by ScholarsBangalore Theological Forum, Volume 33, 2001 and other Writers.Daniel Sathiaraj, Everyday with Our Awesome God: Inspiring True Stories. David Vumlallian Zou of the University of Delhi in The Pasts of a Fringe Community: Ethno-history and Fluid Identity of the Zou in ManipurDavid 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. has substantially cited the magazine in matters relating to translations in Zou language.
References
External links Bible Society of India