Christian seminaries and theological colleges in India
There are three kinds of Seminaries in India:
- Roman Catholic Seminaries for churches that are in full communion with the Catholic Church and are affiliated with the Pontifical Urban University or the Roman Curia,
- Ecumenical Seminaries for churches that are part of World Council of Churches and are affiliated with the Senate of Serampore College (University),
- Evangelical Seminaries for churches that are part of World Evangelical Alliance and are affiliated with the Asia Theological Association.
Most of the seminary degrees awarded in India are not recognised by the University Grants Commission. The Roman Catholic seminaries are often affliated with Pontifical Urban University or Roman Curia. The degrees and doctorates awarded by Senate of Serampore and Asia Theological Association (ATA) are not legally recognized under Section 22 of the UGC Act. The Senate of Serampore derives its power to grant degree from the Royal Charter granted by King Frederick VI of Denmark. Senate of Serampore is also the first institution to grant degrees in India.[1]
The degree titles such as
- Licentiate in Theology (L.Th. or Th.L.),
- Bachelor of Theology (B.Th., Th.B., or B.Theol.),
- Bachelor of Sacred Theology (B.Th. or S.T.B.),
- Bachelor of Divinity (B.D. or B.Div.),
- Master of Divinity (M.Div.),
- Licentiate of Sacred Theology (L.Th. or S.T.L.),
- Master of Theology (M.Th., Th.M. or M.Theol.),
- Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.),
- Doctor of Sacred Theology (S.Th.D.),
- Doctor of Theology (D.Th., Th.D. or D.Theol.) and
- Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or D.Div.)
are not listed under UGC Act for the purpose of the Section 22 of the Act and hence can be awarded by seminaries without the approval of UGC.[2][3][4]
The degree titles such as
- Bachelor of Arts (B.A.),
- Master of Arts (M.A.),
- Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.),
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D or D.Phil.),
- Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) or (Litt.D.)
are listed under the purposes of Section 22 of UGC Act[5] and hence only those institutions with university status as approved by parliament within the meaning of Section 2(f) of the UGC Act can confer such titles.[6] According to Section 22(2) of the UGC Act it is illegal in India for institutions other than those with university status as approved by parliament within the meaning of Section 2(f) of the UGC Act to confer research, professional or honorary doctorates, academic titles or degree certificate that are listed for the purposes of Section 22 of the UGC Act.[7][8]
Seminary students having degrees that are not listed under UGC Act are not eligible to sit for public service examinations, or avail public employment or government research grant, etc. based on their degrees. Since there are no government or UGC approved theological institutions in India that provide degrees in biblical languages and Christian theology, the degrees awarded by these seminaries are accepted and recognised by universities and seminaries outside of India peninsular, especially in Europe and North America for futher studies and research.
The following is a list of major Christian seminaries and theological colleges in India:
Major Seminaries and Theological Institutions in India[]
- Rachol Seminary 1609
- St Peters Pontifical Institute 1778, affiliated to the Pontifical Urban University
- Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam 1815, member of Federated Faculty for Research in Religion and Culture (FFRRC) and affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University)
- Mar Thoma Syrian Theological Seminary 1926, member of Federated Faculty for Research in Religion and Culture (FFRRC) and affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University)
- Senate of Serampore College (University) 1818
- Serampore College 1818, affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University) and University of Calcutta
- Bishop's College, Calcutta 1820, affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University)
- Madras Christian College, Institute for Advanced Christian Studies 1837, affiliated to University of Madras
- Jnana Deepa, Institute of Philosophy and Theology 1893
- Papal Seminary 1893, affiliated to Jnana Deepa, Institute of Philosophy and Theology
- United Theological College, Bangalore 1910, Autonomous (B.D.) and affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University)
- Mennonite Brethren Centenary Bible College 1920, affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University)
- Thrikkunnathu Seminary 1930-31, affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University)
- India Bible College & Seminary 1930, affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University) and accredited by Asia Theological Association (ATA)
- Kerala United Theological Seminary 1943, member of Federated Faculty for Research in Religion and Culture (FFRRC) and affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University)
- Gurukul Lutheran Theological College 1953, affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University)
- Dharmaram College 1957, affiliated to Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Bangalore
- Karnataka Theological College 1965, affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University)
- St. John's Regional Seminary 1965, affiliated to Roman Curia
- Presbyterian Theological Seminary 1969, accredited by ATA.
- Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary 1969, affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University) and Madurai Kamaraj University
- Faith Theological Seminary 1970, affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University) (G.Th, C.Th, B.A in Theology, B.Miss, B.D, M.Th, D.Th)
- Evangelical Theological Seminary of ACA 1973, accredited by ATA.
- New India Bible Seminary 1975, accredited by ATA.
- Malankara Syrian Orthodox Theological Seminary 1975, affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University)
- North India Institute of Post Graduate Theological Studies 1980, affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University)
- South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies 1982, accredited by ATA (M.A., M.Div, M.Th, D.Min, Ph.D(ATA)) and affiliated to University of Mysore (M.A. and Ph.D (Univ. Mysore))
- Luther W. New Jr. Theological College 1989, affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University) and accredited by Asia Theological Association (ATA).
- South Asia Theological Research Institute 1989, affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University)
- Mary Matha Major Seminary 1997, affiliated to the Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium
- Advanced Institute for Research on Religion and Culture 2016, affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University)
All India Mission Seminary, Pilar, Goa (1946) (Affiliated to Jnana Deepa, Pontifical Institute of Philosophy and Religion, Pune)
Seminaries and Bible Colleges[]
- Academy of Integrated Christian Studies
- Aizawl Theological College
- Andhra Christian Theological College
- APC Bible College, Bangalore
- Asian Board For Christian Theology-ABCT Chennai
- Bangalore Bible Institute & College
- Baptist Theological Seminary
- Bethel Bible College, Punalur
- Bethel Bible College, Guntur
- Central India Theological Seminary
- Charis Bible College, Mumbai
- Charlotte Swenson Memorial Bible Training School
- C.O.T.R Theological Seminary
- Ebenezer Bible College
- Ecumenical Christian Centre
- Eva Rose York Bible Training and Technical School for Women
- Evangelical Theological Seminary
- Faith Baptist Bible College and Seminary
- Faith Theological Seminary, Jotsoma
- Gossner Theological College
- Grace Bible College (India)
- Gurukul Lutheran Theological College
- Indian Theological Seminary
- IPC Theological Seminary
- Japfü Christian College
- Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth
- Karnataka Theological College
- Koinonia College of Theology, Pune
- Living Waters Institute of Theology
- Luther W. New Jr. Theological College
- Malankara Syrian Orthodox Seminary
- Maranatha Theological Seminary, Hyderabad
- Mary Matha Major Seminary
- Master's College of Theology
- Mount Zion Bible College, Mulakuzha
- Nagpur St. Thomas Orthodox Theological Seminary
- North India Institute of Post Graduate Theological Studies
- Oriental Theological Seminary, Dimapur
- Rachol Seminary
- Real Colégio de Educação de Chorão
- Shalom Bible Seminary, Zubza
- St. John's Regional Seminary
- St. John's Regional Seminary (Philosophate)
- St. Joseph's Seminary (Mangalore)
- South Asia Theological Research Institute
- South India Faith Baptist College & Seminary, Bangalore
- Southern Asia Bible College
- Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary
- Trinity Theological College, Dimapur
- Union Biblical Seminary
- Vidyajyoti College of Theology
References[]
- ^ Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Higher Education, "Other Universities", Chapter XVI, Calcutta University, Three Missionaries, Carey, Marshman and Ward started the first Mission college at Serampore in 1818, and 9 years later it received a charter from the King of Denmark empowering it to grant degree."Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ The UGC Commission noted that the Theological degrees granted by Serampore College had not been included among the degrees to be notified by the Commission under Section 22 (3) of the U.G.C. Act and that therefore there would be no bar to the College continuing to award these degrees. https://www.senateofseramporecollege.edu.in/pages/index/ugc-and-serampore-college
- ^ (PDF) https://www.ugc.ac.in/oldpdf/ugc_act.pdf.
{{cite web}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help) - ^ "University Grants commission ::UGC ACT 1956".
- ^ https://www.ugc.ac.in/pdfnews/1061840_specification-of-degrees-july-2014.pdf[dead link]
- ^ "Welcome to UGC, New Delhi, India".
- ^ "University Grants commission ::UGC ACT 1956".
- ^ "University Grants commission ::Fake Universities".
- Christian seminaries and theological colleges in India
- Christian organisations based in India