Bethel Bible College, Guntur

Infobox_University
name=Bethel Bible College
native_name=


latin_name=
motto=A commitment to serve.
established=2000
type=Seminary
president=Rev. P. N. S. Chandra Bose [Rev. Bose is the General Secretary of the Gospel Association of India. The Hindu, July 29, 2007. [http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/29/stories/2007072950910200.htm] ]
principal=Dr. S. Robertson
students=
city = Guntur
state = Andhra Pradesh
country = India
coor =coord|16|18|17|N|80|24|31|E|type:edu
address = Shalome Nagar, Hyderabad 522 006, India
campus=Urban
telephone = 91 0863 226 2832
affiliations=Senate of Serampore College (University), Serampore 712 201, Hooghly District, West Bengal, India
website=
footnotes=Data as of September 2008

Bethel Bible College (BBC) is an ecumenical theological seminary located in Guntur in Andhra Pradesh in India founded in the year 2000 and affiliated [Senate of Serampore College (University), List of Affiliated Colleges "(Graduate and Post Graduate Centres)", Internet, accessed 25 August 2008. [http://www.senateofseramporecollege.org/affiliation/graduate.htm] ] to the Senate of Serampore College (University), Serampore, West Bengal. [Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Education [http://www.education.nic.in/cd50years/n/75/7Y/757Y0H01.htm] Other Universities. Retrieved April 23, 2006.]

The Gospel Mission of India founded the college for ensuring adequate spiritual formation for priests [Prospectus 2008-2009, Bethel Bible College, Shalome Nagar, Guntur 522 006. Page 3.] .

This college is one of the two [The other seminary from Andhra region affiliated to the University in Serampore is the Master's College of Theology, Visakhapatnam. There are five theological colleges in Andhra Pradesh, "viz.", Andhra Christian Theological College (Hyderabad), Mennonite Brethren Bible College (Shamshabad), Master's College of Theology (Visakhapatnam), Bethel Bible College (Guntur, and St. John's Regional Seminary-theologiate (Hyderabad). Of these five, four are affiliated to the University in Serampore while St. John's Regional Seminary is affiliated to a Papal University in Rome.] seminaries in Andhra region to offer university-recognised graduate-level courses in theology.

Affiliation

The Senate of Serampore College (University) to which the College is affiliated is a University within the meaning of Section 2 (f) [Under Section 2 (f) of the UGC Act, 1956, "University means a University established or incorporated by or under a Central Act, a Provincial Act or a State Act, and includes any such institution as may, in consultation with the University concerned, be recoginsed by the Commission in accordance with the regulations made in this behalf under this Act." The UGC took the opinion that the Senate fell under the purview of Section 2 (f) of the said Act since "The Serampore College Act, 1918" was passed by the Government of West Bengal. [http://www.senateofseramporecollege.org/act/UGC.htm] ] of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 [The University Grants Commission Act, 1956. [http://www.ugc.ac.in/policy/ugcact1956.html] ] "(as modified upto 20^th December 1985)".

In fact, Serampore was the first institution [Murli Manohar Joshi, Higher Education in India Vision and Action, A paper presented at the UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education in the Twenty First Century, Paris, 5-9 October 1998. Internet, accessed 22 August 2008. [http://education.nic.in/unhighedu.asp] ] to be given the status of a university in India. ["Ibid"]

The following are the present Officers of the Senate [Officers of the Senate, Senate Web Site, Internet, accessed 3 May 2008 [http://www.senateofseramporecollege.org/administration/senate.htm] ] :
* President - Rev. Dr. John S. Sadananda
* Convenor - Rev. Dr. Lalchungnunga
* Registrar - Rev. Dr. Y. Ravi Tiwari
* Treasurer - Dr. R. L. Hnuni

Courses offered & admissions

* Bachelor of Divinity (B.D.) [Prospectus 2008-2009, "op. cit." page 11.]
* Integrated Bachelor of Divinity (B.D.) ["Ibid."]

Admission of students

Entrance examination is held every annum based in which selection is made ["Ibid."] .

Library

More than ten thousand volumes form part of the Library in this College. It also has access to more than nine thousand books and journals in e-form. ["Ibid." page 12.]

Principalship

The present Principal is Dr. S. Robertson ["Ibid." page 2] .

Present Staff

Teaching staff

The faculty comprise of theologians from diverse Church backgrounds including Pentecostals ["Ibid." pp. 7-8] . The current faculty members are ["Ibid." pp. 8-11] :

* Old Testament
** Rev. Pau Za Khup "(on study leave)"
** Rev. Ch. Victor Moses [Ch. Victor Moses was an M. Th. candidate at the United Theological College, Bengaluru.]
** Mr. N. Jerald Praveen

* New Testament
** Rev. O. J. Bulliah
** Mr. Johnson Vincent
** Rev. Babu Emmanuel
** Ms. K. B. Jayasree

* Theology
** Mr. T. James Elisha [James Elisha is an Indian Theologian with published articles. [http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=2451] ] "(on study leave)"
** Rev. B. John Ratna Raj "(on study leave)"
** Mr. Sean David House [Sean D. House pursued M. Th. in the discipline of Systematic Theology at the University of South Africa. He dedicated his thesis to the Cantabrigian Victor Premasagar. [http://etd.unisa.ac.za/ETD-db/theses/available/trash/etd-08152007-101024/unrestricted/dissertation.pdf] ]
** Mr. Tiameren Aier
** Ms. Lovely
** Ms. Taochila Marwein Jamir

* Missiology
** Rev. P. N. S. Chandra Bose [Rev. Bose studied at the Leonard Theological College, Jabalpur.]
** Rev. N. N. Chhatriya
** Rev. R. M. Alexander

* Religions
** Dr. S. Robertson [Dr. Robertson pursued doctoral studies at the South Asia Theological Research Institute, Bengaluru.]
** Rev. B. Joshua

* History of Christianity
** Mr. Akho Dazo

* Communication
** Mr. Y. Chitti Babu Israel

* English
** Mr. K. John Sobhan

* Other subjects
** Rev. D. Kamalakar "(on study leave)"
** Ms. D. Bharathi "(on study leave)"

Visiting Faculty

* Rev. Dr. O. M. Rao
* Mr. B. Chandra Paul

ee also

* Master's College of Theology, Visakhapatnam
* Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church
* Bishop V. E. Christopher----"Indigenous Scholars:"
* Rev. Fr. Dr. D. S. Amalorpavadass
* Rev. Dr. B. V. Subbamma----"Theological degrees:"
* Doctor of Theology, Master of Theology, Bachelor of Divinity, Bachelor of Theology----"Arms of the Senate of Serampore College (University)"
* Board of Theological Education of the Senate of Serampore College (BTESSC)
* South Asia Theological Research Institute (SATHRI)----"Past Registrar of the Senate of Serampore College (University)"
* Rev. D. S. Satyaranjan

References

Further reading