Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church
Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC) was constituted in the year 1927 in Andhra Pradesh, India. It is the Indian successor to the United Lutheran Church in America which was started as a self-supporting, self-governing, and self-propagating ...
Society who served a term from 2009 through 2013. At present, Suneel Bhanu teaches at the
Gurukul Lutheran Theological College
Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute is an ecumenical seminary situated in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, South India. It is affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University).Indiaedunews.net Nepal Christians to renew t ...
,
Chennai
Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
Andhra Christian Theological College
Andhra Christian Theological College (ACTC) is a seminary in Telangana which was founded in 1964. It is affiliated with India's first university, the Senate of Serampore College (University) (a university under section 2(f) of the University Gr ...
,
Hyderabad
Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
during the period of the
Old Testament
The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...
Scholars,
Victor Premasagar
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. Prem ...
and G. Babu Rao. Later, Bhanu undertook postgraduate studies at the
South East Asia Graduate School of Theology
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...
from where he was awarded a postgraduate degree of
Master of Theology
Master of Theology (, abbreviated ThM, MTh or MTheol, or ''Sacrae Theologiae Magister''; abbreviated STM) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a ...
(M.Th.). Suneel Bhanu served as a Pastor of the Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Visakhapatnam.
Suneel Bhanu taught at the Bishop's College,
Kolkata
Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...
before moving to
Gurukul Lutheran Theological College
Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute is an ecumenical seminary situated in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, South India. It is affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University).Indiaedunews.net Nepal Christians to renew t ...
,
Chennai
Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
where he is currently teaching
Theology
Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...
. Suneel Bhanu is a member of the Academic Council of the nation's first University, the
Senate of Serampore College (University)
The Senate of Serampore College (University) is an ecumenical regulatory and affiliating body for Christian theological education, which works in partnership with Bible colleges, seminaries and theological research institutes in the Indian subco ...
in
West Bengal
West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...
.
Contribution
Suneel Bhanu's major contribution was seeing through the publication of the ''Bibliography of Original Christian Writings in India in Telugu'' compiled by Ravela Joseph for which Bhanu provided his assistance that ultimately resulted in its publication by the
Board of Theological Education of the Senate of Serampore College
The Board of Theological Education of the Senate of Serampore College (BTESSC) is the arm of theological education under the Senate of Serampore College (University). BTESSC was formed in 1975.
The Senate of Serampore College (University), unde ...
in 1993 under the aegis of the General Editors, Hunter P. Mabry, H. S. Wilson and Zaihmingthanga.
The compilation by Suneel Bhanu together with Ravela Joseph has been a source referred for original Christian writings in Telugu.
In addition, Suneel Bhanu has also co-translated Robin Boyd's ''Introduction to Indian Christian Theology'' along with
Victor Premasagar
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. Prem ...
and B. J. Christie Kumar, his Professors at the
Andhra Christian Theological College
Andhra Christian Theological College (ACTC) is a seminary in Telangana which was founded in 1964. It is affiliated with India's first university, the Senate of Serampore College (University) (a university under section 2(f) of the University Gr ...
.
Writings
* 2006, ''Glimpses of the Tercentenary Celebrations of the Arrival of Bartholomaus Ziegenbalf - The Father of Modern Protestant Mission'',
* 2009 (with Monodeep Daniel and Indukuri John Mohan Razu)
** ''The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians'',
** ''The Letter of Paul to the Philippians'',
** ''The Letter of Paul to the Colossians'',
** ''The first and second Letters of Paul to the Thessalonians'',
** ''The Letter to the Hebrews''
Other endeavours
In 2011, Suneel Bhanu delivered the annual Hein Fry Lecture at the
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) was one of eight theological seminary, seminaries associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest Lutheranism, Lutheran denomination in Lutherans#North America, No ...
.
In 2013, Suneel Bhanu participated in the
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...
's meetings in
Nellore
Nellore, also spelt as Nelluru, is a city located on the banks of Penna River, in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, India.D. M. Prakasam of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nellore which awarded N. L. Victor, the
Order of the Founder
In 1917, five years after the death of the founder of the Salvation Army William Booth, his son, General Bramwell Booth, inaugurated the Order of the Founder to recognise Salvationists who had rendered distinguished service, such as would have spe ...