Gnana Robinson (17 March 1935 – 3 February 2019) was an Indian Biblical scholar who studied 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 ...

Biography

Robinson was born into a Christian family who were communicant members of what was then the South India United Church.Peace Trust, Kanyakumari, Founder's Profile, Internet, accessed 30 July 2008. He was educated in

Eraniel Eraniel is a panchayat town in Kanyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is of major commercial and political importance in the history of South India, as it was the seasonal capital of the affluent Venad and later Travancore ...

in the Kanyakumari district of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, India. Robinson later studied at

Scott Christian College Scott Christian College is an autonomous, co-educational, arts and science college in Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu. Run by the Diocese of Kanyakumari of the Church of South India, the college is graded "''A''" under National Assessment and Accreditat ...

and obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics. Robinson decided to pursue the priesthood, and his Church sponsored his theological studies. In 1957, Robinson joined the United Theological College and enrolled himself for a

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD, DB, or BDiv; ) is an academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies. ...

degree which he completed by 1960. Later, his Church assigned him a pastoral role, and Robinson served as Presbyter-in-Charge of the Kanyakumari District. Robinson was zealous for his studies and obtained permission from his

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

to pursue a

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 ...

degree in

Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. Robinson chose to specialise in Old Testament studies and studied between 1961 – 1963. Robinson left India in 1964 for North America and joined the Union Theological Seminary of New York City and obtained a

Master of Sacred 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 ...

degree. Gnana also did a course in the Tantur Ecumenical Institute for Theological Studies in Israel. Robinson went on to pursue doctoral studies in the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

in Germany. He registered himself at the School of Evangelical Theology and obtained a

Doctor of Theology Doctor of Theology (, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equivalent to the Doctor o ...

degree 1975. Robinson considered

Klaus Koch Klaus Koch (October 4, 1926 – March 28, 2019) was an Old Testament scholar. Koch first studied in the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz and later at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen. He did his doctoral dissertation at the Ruprec ...

, a professor at the university and a notable Old Testament scholar, to be his

guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...

Professorship

Robinson began his teaching career at what was then the Tamil Nadu Theological College (now the

Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary (TTS) is an ecumenical seminary in Madurai, South India. TTS is affiliated with the Senate of Serampore College and Madurai Kamaraj University. The Principal is Rev. Dr. Margaret Kalaiselvi. The seminary celebrat ...

) in 1962. In 1987, Robinson accepted an invitation from the Predigerseminar at Soest, Germany to teach there. Later that year, however, the Principal of the United Theological College in

, India, Rev. Dr. E. C. John, retired, and the school formed a committee to find a replacement. Robinson accepted their invitation to return to India and become Principal there, and also headed their Department of Old Testament studies. Professor Gnana has been invited to other institutions as well, where he taught for shorter periods of time. He was Visiting Professor at the

in 1982, and also taught at the St. Andrew's Theological College in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

that same year. He taught at the

Andover Newton Theological School Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS) was a graduate school and seminary in Newton, Massachusetts, affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA and the United Church of Christ. It was the product of a merger between Andover Theological ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

in 1983 as well as at the Lincoln Theological College in the United Kingdom.

Honours

While serving as the Principal of UTC, Bengaluru, friends of the Professor brought out a 377-page

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

in his honour edited by his junior colleague Rev. Dr. D. Jones Muthunayagam entitled ''Bible Speaks Today: Essays in honour of Gnana Robinson'', ISPCK, 2000,

Senate of Serampore College (University)

The Senate of Serampore College, West Bengal, the first University in India with degree-granting authority elected Gnana Robinson as its President in 1986. He was preceded by Rev. Dr.

C. D. Jathanna C. D. Jathanna (Constantine Devaprasad Jathanna) (6 July 1928 - 23 July 1996) was the fourthK. M. George, ''Church of South India: life in union, 1947–1997'', Jointly published by Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge and Christava ...

. Rev. Gnana continued as its President till 1988 and was succeeded by Dr. Jacob Verghis. Again in the year 1997, Rev. Gnana was elected as the President and was later succeeded by Rev. Dr. J. W. Gladstone in the year 2000. Robinson was acknowledged to have provided leadership to the Senate which has over fifty theological colleges from South Asia affiliated to it.

Retirement and death

After retiring as the Principal of the UTC, Bengaluru, Gnana was invited by the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia where he was Visiting Professor until 2001. He later returned to India, residing in Tamil Nadu, and was extensively involved in developmental activities. Gnana died in Nagercoil, Kanyakumari district on 3 February 2019, at the age of 83.

Development initiatives

For Rev. Robinson, theology did not mean existence within the seminary walls. He founded many development initiatives in Tamil Nadu. Prof. Gnana, as Principal of UTC, Bengaluru commissioned a team of volunteers along with the Ramakrishna Mission, Bengaluru to provide relief to the earthquake-affected people in Latur, Maharashtra. Gnana founded the Peace Trust, Kanyakumari. He also is a member on the following societies: * Bullock cart Workers' Development Association, * Peoples Association for Social Action, * Center for Rural Education and Employment for Development.

References

;Notes ;Further reading * {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Gnana 1935 births 2019 deaths Old Testament scholars 20th-century Indian Anglican priests Indian Christian theologians Indian biblical scholars University of Hamburg alumni Union Theological Seminary alumni Senate of Serampore College (University) alumni Academic staff of the Senate of Serampore College (University) Anglican biblical scholars People from Kanyakumari district Academic staff of Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary