Bible Society of India Telangana Auxiliary

The Bible Society of India Telangana Auxiliary is located in Secunderabad which was bifurcated from the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary on 2 February 2016.[3]

Bible Society of India Telangana Auxiliary

Abbreviation	BSI TS Auxiliary
Formation	2016
Founded at	Secunderabad
Type	Bible Society
Legal status	Charitable trust
Purpose	Literary
Headquarters	Bangalore
Location	Secunderabad
Region	Telangana
Services	Raising contribution, translating, printing, distribution
Official language	Lambadi, Telugu and Urdu
Secretary General	Rev. John Basy Paul, CSI, M. Th. (Serampore))[1]
Main organ	India Bible Society of Trust Association
Parent organisation	Bible Society of India
Secessions	Bible Society of India Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary
Affiliations	United Bible Societies
Budget (2014[2])	Rs.1.10,00,000.00[2]
Website	http://www.bsind.org/andhra_pradesh.html
Formerly called	Bible Society of India Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary

This Auxiliary translated the Telugu and Lambadi versions of the Bible.

Telugu version

In the Annual report of the British & Foreign Bible Society[4] John Hay had undertaken the revision of the Telugu Bible (of Lyman Jewett?). In the same report, mention was made of the Secunderabad Branch.[5]

In 1953, the Telugu Bible was revised from earlier version which had been translated by John Hay, Edward Pritchett,[6] John Smith Wardlaw (1813-), James William Gordon, John Redmond Bacon and Dhanavada Anantam.[7]

Rev. A. B. Masilamani who majored in Greek[8] at Serampore College was Auxiliary Secretary as well part of the Translation Team providing stylistic corrections in Telugu. Modern translations of the Telugu Bible in common language were taken up by Rev. Victor Premasagar[9] and Rev. G. Babu Rao,[9] both of whom were Scholars of Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Greek as well as colleagues at the Protestant Regional Theologiate in Secunderabad.

During the Auxiliary Secretaryship of Rev. B. G. Prasada Rao, a team consisting of Rev. Suppogu Israel and Rev. G. Babu Rao began translating portions of the Bible into modern Telugu which included,

• Portions translated into modern Telugu
  • Book of Ruth, 1976[10]
  • Man You Cannot Ignore, 1976[11]

The Old Testament Scholar, Dr. Graham S. Ogden, Asia-Pacific Regional Translations Coordinator of the United Bible Societies used to liaise with the Auxiliary during the Secretaryship of L. Prakasam, providing scholarly inputs and also reviewing the progress of the Telugu-Old Testament Common Language Project Coordinator, Rev. G. Babu Rao.

A Living Bible in Telugu was also proposed as early as 1980[12]

Lambadi version

In 2001, the Lambadi version translated by B. E. Devaraj was released.

Auxiliary formation and Secretaries

The present Auxiliary was bifurcated on 2 February 2016[13] from the Bible Society of India Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary and on 5 June 2016, a new Auxiliary Secretary was appointed hailing from the Protestant Regional Theologiate, that is, the Andhra Christian Theological College, which had by then had been a source of translators for earlier revisions of the Bible comprising B. E. Devaraj, CSI, Muriel Spurgeon-Carder, CBCNC, Victor Premasagar, CSI, K. David,[14] CBCNC and G. Babu Rao,[9] CBCNC, who also served as Auxiliary Secretary for the earlier Bible Society of India Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary encompassing the present two Telugu states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Administrators pre-bifurcation

Tenure	Auxiliary Secretary	Earned Academic Credentials
1953-1963	The Rev. E. Prakasam, AELC[15][16]	L. Th. (Serampore)
1963-1969	The Rev. A. B. Masilamani, CBCNC[15][16]	L. Th. (Serampore), B. D. (Serampore), M. A. (Calcutta), Th. M. (Toronto), Ph. D. (Osmania)
1969-1976	The Rev. B. G. Prasada Rao, CSI[15][17]	B. D. (Serampore), M. Th. (Serampore)
1976-1981	The Rev. T. B. D. Prakasa Rao, CSI[15][18]	B. A. (Andhra), B. D. (Serampore), M. A. (Osmania), B. Ed. (Andhra)
1981-1998	The Rev. L. Prakasam, CBCNC[15][19]	L. Th. (Serampore)
1998-2001	The Rev. G. Babu Rao, CBCNC[15]	B. Sc. - Mathematics (Andhra), B. D. (Serampore), M. Th. (Serampore)
2001-2012	The Rev. N. L. Victor, SA[15][20]	B. A.
2012-2016	The Rev. B. S. Raja Sekhar, STBC[21][15][22]	B. Com. (Nagarjuna), B. D. (Serampore), M. Th. (Serampore)

Present Administrators (post-bifurcation)

Tenure	Auxiliary Secretary	Earned Academic Credentials
2016-2018	The Rev. P. K. Praveen Prabhu Sudheer, CSI	B. Com. (Osmania), B. D. (Serampore), M. Th. (Serampore), Ph.D. (Madras)
2018-present	The Rev. John Basy Paul, CSI	B. Sc. (Kakatiya), B. D. (Serampore), M. A. (Kakatiya), M. Th., (PTU), M. Th. (Serampore)

References

Notes

1. The Sowing Circle, Volume 34, Number 2, July-December 2018.
2. The Sowing Circle, Volume 31, Number 1, January–April 2015. Archived 26 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine
3. BSI Auxiliary Office opened in Guntur in The Hindu, Guntur, 3 February 2016.
4. Annual report of the British & Foreign Bible Society, British and Foreign Bible Society, Printed for the Society by J. Tilling, 1867.
5. Howard Benjamin Grose, Missions: an international Baptist magazine, Volume 9, 1918.
6. Arrived in India, 17 November 1811
7. John Hay, Edward Pritchett, John Smith Wardlaw, John Redmond Bacon, Dhanavada Anantam, The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments: translated into the Telugu language (with references), under the auspices of the British and Foreign Bible Society, Bible Society of India, Pakistan and Ceylon, Secunderabad Auxiliary, 1953.
8. G. Babu Rao, in Souvenir of Birth Centenary Greetings of Rev. Dr. A. B. Masilamani, New Life Associates, Hyderabad, 2014, p.19
9. H. S. Wilson (Edited), The Church on the Move, Essays in honour of Victor Premasagar, Christian Literature Society, Madras, 1988, p.vi.
10. Suppogu Israel, G. Babu Rao (Translated), Book of Ruth, The Bible Society of India, Bangalore, 1976.
11. Suppogu Israel, G. Babu Rao (Translated), Man You Cannot Ignore, The Bible Society of India, Bangalore, 1976.
12. Roger E. Hudlund, World Christianity: South Asia, Volume 3 of World Christianity, Missions Advanced Research and Communication Center, Missions Advanced Research and Communication Center, 1980. p.60.
13. Bible Society of India, Telangana Auxiliary. Archived 2017-09-02 at the Wayback Machine
14. K. David, The development of the concept of salvation in the Qumran Community and its significance for our understanding of salvation in the NT, Indian Journal of Theology, Volume 30, Issue 3-4, July-December 1981, pp.131-137.
15. Prema Sakshi, Volume 6, Issue 4, August 2008. pp.11-41. Prema Sakshi, a monthly registered (APTEL 07419/01/2002) magazine published by I. C. Ashok Kumar at Neena Publications, Door Number 1-5-4/1/A, First Floor, Behind Sai Raja Deluxe Cinema, Musheerabad, Hyderabad 500 048.
16. Annual Report of the American Bible Society, Volume 147, 1963, American Bible Society, p.140.
17. Annual Report of the American Bible Society, Volume 160, 1975, p.105
18. Annual Report of the American Bible Society, Volume 165, 1980, p.90
19. Pastors who served Calvary Baptist Church, Visakhapatnam
20. Sowing Circle, Volume 28, 2, May–August 2012, pp.46-47
21. Sowing Circle : A publication of the Bible Society of India, Volume 28, Number 2, (May - August 2012), pp.24, 25, 46, 47. Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine
22. Sowing Circle, Volume 28, 2, May–August 2012, pp.46-47

Further reading

• I. C. Ashok Kumar (August 2008). "Prema Sakshi". 6 (4). Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• "The Encyclopaedia of Missions". 1891. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)