M. Victor Paul (7 April 1935 – 14 October 2013) was a

biblical scholar Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Jewish usage and the Christian Bible including the can ...

who served as President of the

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 ...

from 1993 to 1997.

Early years and education

Victor Paul was born on 7 April 1935 into a

pastoral The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target au ...

familyVictor Paul, ''The Messianic King in

Gospel of Saint Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ), Jesus, his resurrection, and his mission to the wor ...

'', Published by the Telugu Theological Literature Board, Hyderabad, 2002. From the back cover of the book. in

Rajahmundry Rajahmundry ( ), officially Rajamahendravaram, is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and district headquarters of East Godavari district. It is the fifth most populated city in the state. During British rule, the district of Rajahmu ...

East Godavari District East Godavari is a district in the Coastal Andhra region of Andhra Pradesh, India. Its district headquarters is at Rajamahendravaram. Geography This district is surrounded by: * North East: Alluri Sitharama Raju district * North West: Eluru ...

in Andhra Pradesh as the eldest of nine children to Smt. Sundaramma and Pastor Mortha Sudarshanam. After undergoing schooling at the Lutheran Boarding in

Peddapuram Peddapuram is a town in the Kakinada district of Andhra Pradesh in South India. The town also forms a part of Godavari Urban Development Authority. Peddapuram is known for its milk based sweet called PalaKova. The town is also popular in manufa ...

, his parents sent him to the

Andhra-Christian College The Andhra Christian College or A.C. College is one of the oldest colleges in India located in Guntur Andhra Pradesh. It started in 1885. AC College is part of the education enterprise of the Protestant churches. It admits intermediate, undergr ...

Guntur Guntur (), natively spelt as Gunturu, is a city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district. The city is part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is lo ...

. Paul studied arts (''B.A.'') in the college when Rao Sahab T. S. Paulus was at the helm of affairs. After completing graduate studies in

, Victor Paul returned to

where he underwent studies in education at the local Government Training College leading to

BEd A bed is a piece of furniture that is used as a place to sleep, rest, and relax. Most modern beds consist of a soft, cushioned mattress on a bed frame. The mattress rests either on a solid base, often wood slats, or a sprung base. Many beds ...

Spiritual studies

Graduate spiritual studies

Continuing the

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

ly family tradition, Victor Paul chose to pursue divinity and his Church Society, then under G. Devasahayam, AELC, sent him to

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

during the academic year 1959–1960 for ministerial formation 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 ...

(GLTC),

' where Victor Paul pursued a graduate course in theology ('' B.D.''), which was then headed by Dr. P. David, AELC and was awarded a graduate degree after completion of studies by C. Devasahayam, CBCNC, then Registrar of 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 ...

Post-graduate spiritual studies

After serving as a Pastor, Victor Paul's Church Society under G. Devasahayam, AELC (second term of presidency) sent him again to

where Paul was to pursue a post-graduate degree in

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

(''

M.Th. 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 ...

'') beginning from the academic year 1963–1964. Initially Victor Paul spent a year working on

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

with Jim Bergquist as well as on the revision of portions from the Westminster Dictionary of the Bible (Revised Edition) edited by Henry Snyder Gehman and John D. Davis. From 1964 to 1965 onwards, Victor Paul registered as an

student with the

and worked out a thesis''Thesis Titles – M.Th., M.R.S., D.D., D.Th.'', Published by the Board of Theological Education of the Senate of Serampore College, Bengaluru, 1991. p.6 entitled ''A theological exposition of 'to know' in the Johannine literature with some points of contact and contrast between John and Gita'' under the guidance of his Professor, Jim Bergquist and later at the end of the academic year 1965–1966, the

awarded the post-graduate degree of

, again during the Registrarship of C. Devasahayam, CBCNC. In 1966, Victor Paul went to the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

De Nobili College,

Poona Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

along with Gali Bali to attend the biennial conference of the scholarly Society for Biblical Studies in India held on the theme ''The significance of the historical in the New Testament

Kerygma (from , ) is a Greek word used in the New Testament for 'proclamation' (see Luke 4:18-19, Romans 10:14, Gospel of Matthew 3:1). It is related to the Greek verb (), literally meaning 'to cry or proclaim as a herald' and being used in the sens ...

''.

Spiritual studies abroad

When W. D. Coleman, AELC was principal of 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 ...

, the Board of Governors of the college accorded study leave to Victor Paul who proceeded to

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

and pursued an S.T.M. in

Pastoral theology Pastoral theology is the branch of practical theology concerned with the application of the study of religion in the context of regular church ministry. This approach to theology seeks to give practical expression to theology. Normally viewed as ...

and Ministry and for academic years 1971–1973 and worked out a thesis titled ''Toward a Counseling Oriented Ministry to the People of Andhra Pradesh''M. Victor Paul, ''Toward a Counseling Oriented Ministry to the People of Andhra Pradesh'',

Luther Seminary Luther Seminary is a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is the largest seminary of the ELCA. It also accepts and educates students of 41 other denominations and traditions. It is accredited ...

, 197

/ref> in the

(''a degree granting authority accredited by the

Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) is an organization of seminaries and other graduate schools of theology. ATS has its headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. History The ATS was found ...

duly recognised by the

United States Government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

as an accrediting agency''). James A. Bergquist then Professor at the

was the guide of Paul and one of his companions hailing from Indian included the Religions Scholar, P. Kambar Manickam, TELC. In 1976, A. A. Sitompul on behalf of the

Lutheran World Federation The Lutheran World Federation (LWF; ) is a global Communion (religion), communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish city of L ...

invited Victor Paul to pursue doctoral studies ''( D.Min.)'' in Practical Ministry at the

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 ...

, CSI, then principal of the college put up the matter before the Board of Governors of the college which decided to accord study leave to Victor Paul. While at the

, Victor Paul's doctoral thesis was entitled ''Socio-cultural dimensions of the Renewal of Ministry in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

''M. Victor Paul, ''Socio-cultural dimensions of the Renewal of Ministry in

'', Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary, 1979. Cited in James Elisha Taneti, ''History of the Telugu Christians: A Bibliography'', Scarecrow, Lanham, 2011, p.10

/ref> done under the supervision of James A. Nestingen, currently Professor Emeritus of Church History. By 1979, Victor Paul was awarded the doctoral degree D.Min. by the

and he returned to take up his teaching responsibilities back in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Ecclesiastical ministry

Ordination & priesthood

At the end of the academic year 1961–1962, Victor Paul was awarded a B.D. and ordained in April 1962 as a Priest of the

headquartered in

. He was assigned a pastoral role in

Samalkot Samalkota, commonly known as Samarlakota, is a town in Kakinada district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The town forms a part of Kakinada Urban Development Authority. It was previously known as ''Chamarlakota'', which dates back to a l ...

and

parishes. Victor Paul also replaced S. W. Schmitthenner, AELC, as honorary Youth Director of the Church Society. When Victor Paul returned from

after his post-graduate studies, he was reassigned his former

ecclesiastical {{Short pages monitor **

Gospel of John The Gospel of John () is the fourth of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "Book of Signs, signs" culminating in the raising of Lazarus (foreshadowing the ...

First Epistle of John The First Epistle of John is the first of the Johannine epistles of the New Testament, and the fourth of the catholic epistles. There is no scholarly consensus as to the authorship of the Johannine works. The author of the First Epistle is ...

Second Epistle of John The Second Epistle of John is a book of the New Testament attributed to John the Evangelist, traditionally thought to be the author of the other two epistles of John, and the Gospel of John (though this is disputed). Most modern scholars beli ...

Third Epistle of John The Third Epistle of John is the third-to-last book of the New Testament and the Christian Bible as a whole, and attributed to John the Evangelist, traditionally thought to be the author of the Gospel of John and the other two epistles of John ...

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...

Pauline Epistles The Pauline epistles, also known as Epistles of Paul or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen books of the New Testament attributed to Paul the Apostle, although the authorship of some is in dispute. Among these epistles are some of the earliest ext ...

Epistle to the Romans The Epistle to the Romans is the sixth book in the New Testament, and the longest of the thirteen Pauline epistles. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by Paul the Apostle to explain that Salvation (Christianity), salvation is offered ...

Epistle to the Galatians The Epistle to the Galatians is the ninth book of the New Testament. It is a letter from Paul the Apostle to a number of Early Christian communities in Galatia. Scholars have suggested that this is either the Galatia (Roman province), Roman pro ...

Epistle to the Ephesians The Epistle to the Ephesians is the tenth book of the New Testament. Traditionally believed to have been written by the Paul the Apostle, Apostle Paul around AD 62 during his imprisonment in Rome, the Epistle to the Ephesians closely rese ...

Epistle to the Philippians The Epistle to the Philippians is a Pauline epistle of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and Saint Timothy, Timothy is named with him as co-author or co-sender. The letter is addressed to ...

Epistle to the Colossians The Epistle to the Colossians is the twelfth book of the New Testament. It was written, according to the text, by Paul the Apostle and Saint Timothy, Timothy, and addressed to the Church (congregation), church in Colossae, a small Phrygian cit ...

Epistle to the Hebrews The Epistle to the Hebrews () is one of the books of the New Testament. The text does not mention the name of its author, but was traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle; most of the Ancient Greek manuscripts, the Old Syriac Peshitto and ...

General Epistles The catholic epistles (also called the general epistles) are seven epistles of the New Testament. Listed in order of their appearance in the New Testament, the catholic epistles are: Naming The use of the word ''catholic'' in the term catholic' ...

Epistle of James The Epistle of James is a Catholic epistles, general epistle and one of the 21 epistles (didactic letters) in the New Testament. It was written originally in Koine Greek. The epistle aims to reach a wide Jewish audience. It survives in manusc ...

Epistle of Jude The Epistle of Jude is the penultimate book of the New Testament and of the Christianity, Christian Bible. The Epistle of Jude claims authorship by Jude the Apostle, Jude, identified as a servant of Jesus and brother of James (and possibly Jesu ...

Under the aegis of the Andhra Pradesh Council of Churches in 1974, a discussion was initiated on the theme ''Renewal of the ministry in Andhra Pradesh'' in which Victor Paul also participated. The findings of the consultation were later tabled before the Churches of Andhra Pradesh. A. A. Sitompul and others of the

took cognizance of Victor Paul's paper on Parish Renewal as early as September 1975 at an international consultation held at the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey in September 1975.

Scholarship

Martin Senftleben who researched at the

Sri Venkateswara University Sri Venkateswara University (commonly referred as S. V. University or SVU) is a public state university located in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, India. The university is named after Lord Venkateswara, whose shrine is located in the city. The un ...

Tirupati Tirupati () is a city in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Andhra Pradesh and serves as the administrative headquarters of Tirupati district. It is known for its significant religious and cultural heritage, being home to th ...

acknowledged Victor Paul to be a Scholar. Michael Bergunder, Professor of Missions at the

Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

, Germany believes that Victor Paul attempted to recognise

Charismatic Charisma () is a personal quality of magnetic charm, persuasion, or appeal. In the fields of sociology and political science, psychology, and management, the term ''charismatic'' describes a type of leadership. In Christian theology, the term ...

Christianity which was fast enveloping traditional Christianity. Being a person who puts theory into practice, Victor Paul as principal of ACTC once went ahead and invited the pioneer charismatic Pastor, Apostle P. L. Paramjyoti,

IPC IPC may refer to: Businesses and organizations Arts and media * Intellectual Property Committee, a coalition of US corporations with intellectual property interests * International Panorama Council, an international network of specialists in ...

to deliver the graduation address of the college in a particular year. Excerpt from Victor Paul's article quoted by Prof. Michael Bergunder:

Academic

* Member of the

* Member of the Research Committee of 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 ...

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 ...

. *

(ACTC) Victor Paul first began teaching

in ACTC from 1969. Past-timers acknowledge Victor Paul as having an influence in students lives in unique ways. After the four-year cycle of principalship of the

Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches (STBC) is a Baptist Christian denomination in the three states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu in India. The churches are part of the Telugu Christian community of Southern India. Its language i ...

ended in the academic year 1989–1990, the

's cycle of principalship began. Besides Victor Paul, there were four other faculty from this Church Society teaching in the college at that time, namely, B. W. David Raju, AELC, B. C. Paul, AELC, G. Sampurna Rao, AELC, and C. Yesupadam, AELC. Since the participating Church agency decides the name of the principal, the Board of Governors of the college left the decision to the

, then under the presidency of K. Nathaniel, AELC, which chose to nominate Victor Paul to the principalship of the ecumenical seminary for a term of four years.''

Cf. The abbreviation cf. (short for either Latin or , both meaning 'compare') is generally used in writing to refer the reader to other material to make a comparison with the topic being discussed. However some sources offer differing or even contr ...

'' Then Chairperson of the Board of Governors of the college, S. E. Krupa Rao of the

Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars The Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars (CBCNC) is a Baptist Christian denomination in north coastal Andhra Pradesh. The churches are part of the Telugu Christian community of Southern India. Its language is Telugu. It is affil ...

appointed Victor Paul as principal of the college for a term of four years. As principal, Victor Paul was able to prove himself as an able Administrator following the footsteps of his predecessors and advocated the

Ordination of women The ordination of women to Minister of religion, ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain religious groups in which ordination ...

. One of the early women graduates of the

United Theological College, Bangalore United Theological College (UTC) is an ecumenical Mainline Protestant, mainline seminary founded in 1910. It is situated in the southern city of Bangalore in the state of Karnataka in South India and affiliated to India's first Theological Unive ...

, Johanna Rose Ratnavathi, AELC, and a founding member of the Association of Theologically Trained Women in India was a three-time Dean of Women during the tenure of Victor Paul. In the final phase of Victor Paul's tenure as principal, he contested the bishopric of the

and proceeded on leave from the college. To fill the vacancy, the AELC then nominated Victor Paul's companion G. Sampurna Rao, AELC, as principal of the college.

Church leadership

When the term of K. Nathaniel, AELC, as President of the

ended, Victor Paul contested and was elected in 1993 as the ninth president of the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church headquartered in Guntur.''

In 1997, before Victor Paul's term ended, he returned to Secunderabad to teach at the

then headed by R. Yesurathnam, CSI. Victor Paul retired in 2000.