K. David

The Reverend Dr. K. David was a Priest, a New Testament Scholar, a Bible Translator and an able Administrator. He served as president of the Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars.

He was a member in the Society for Biblical Studies in India (SBSI) incorporating Biblical Scholars belonging to the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant traditions. He was also elected as the office bearer of the SBSI in the year 1977 and served as its Vice President. Later in the year 1979, he was elected as its President.

Rev. David knew Greek, English, Telugu, Bengali, and Hindi.

Background
Rev. David was born on January 15, 1930 in Penamaluru in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, India in an agricultural family. He was raised in the Church environment in the mission area of the Canadian Baptist Mission (known as the Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars following Indian independence). He accepted the Lord at 14 through the medical missionary Dr. Barss, an Indian Doctor serving in the Christian Medical Centre, Pithapuram, East Godavari District.

After completing his schooling in McLaurin High School, Kakinada in East Godavari District, he took up studies leading to the profession of priesthood.

Accepting the 'call', the young David left for the Baptist Theological Seminary, Kakinada and studied under Rev. Dr. A. B. Masilamani, the then Principal. He left for Serampore College, West Bengal to pursue a Bachelor of Divinity through the Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars, his parent Church.

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After returning, his Church posted him to a rural congregation in Andhra Baptist Church, Tekkali in Srikakulam district in the northern circars of Andhra Pradesh which he ministered for seven years. Later, he sought study leave from the Seminary Council of the Baptist Theological Seminary in order to upgrade his academic qualification. He left for Serampore and registered himself for (Philosophy) under the University of Calcutta. Subsequently, he enrolled for Master of Theology in New Testament in 1963.

Successful studies led to the Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars (CBCNC), his parent Church, to assign him a teaching task at the Ramapatnam Baptist Theological Seminary (RBTS) located side-by-side with the newly created Andhra Christian Theological College (ACTC) - an ecumenical seminary located in the river town of Rajahmundry. Later, the RBTS was amalgamated with ACTC and shifted to Secunderabad.

With interest to pursue research in New Testament, the Board of Governors of ACTC granted him study leave on sponsorship from his parent Church - CBCNC. Rev. David proceeded to Scotland to pursue a Ph.D. in New Testament in the University of Edinburgh in August 1969. Rev. David emerged out of the University on August 1973.

Return to ACTC
Once back at ACTC, Dr. David began delivering quality Biblical education to his pupils. With the end of two terms of Principalship of Rev. Dr. P. Victor Premasagar, Rev. Dr. K. David became the Principal in 1980 and continued up to 1986.

New Testament Scholar
With Dr. David's expertise in the New Testament, he was invited to many fora. One among them was the National Biblical, Catechetical and Liturgical Centre (NBCLC), Bangalore which invited him along with Rev. Dr. Victor Premasagar for taking up scholarly talks.

Bible Translator
Rev. David was involved in the common language translation programme of the Bible Society of India - Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary. Visits to the Bible House on Rashtrapathi Road in Secunderabad were frequent. Portions of the New Testament were translated from the Greek New Testament into modern (common language) Telugu.

Baptist Theological Seminary
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Dr. David continued to serve his alma mater - the Baptist Theological Seminary as a member of the Seminary Council for a long time and along with his teaching colleagues in ACTC belonging to CBCNC, Dr. David used to proceed to Kakinada to undertake teaching assignments in the BTS then under the Principalship of Rev. S.E. Krupa Rao. The BTS used to offer Graduate of Theology (G.Th.) programmes for 10th standard passed students.

Church Leadership
Dr. David belonged to the Canadian Baptist Mission (CBM) a.k.a. Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars (CBCNC), in which he played an active role in providing leadership to the Church. In the year 1978, Dr. David was elected as the President of CBCNC.

On invitation from Serampore College in the year 1988, Dr. K. David proceeded to Serampore as it was also his long cherished wish to teach in his alma mater and also particularly to guide the post-graduate students.

He passed away on July 29, 1991. His grave lies in the same cemetery as that of the Serampore trio, Carey, Marshman, and Ward in Serampore Town in West Bengal, India.
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