George Soares-Prabhu

George Soares-Prabhu (17 November 1929 – 22 July 1995) was an Indian Jesuit priest, Exegete and Biblical scholar of renown, particularly in the field of Indian Hermeutics of the Christian Scriptures.

Soares-Prabhu completed his Senior Cambridge at Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh) in 1944 and then B. Sc. (Chemistry-Botany) at St. Xavier’s College, Bombay in 1949. Afterwards he joined the Society of Jesus and was ordained a priest on 24 March 1961 at De Nobili College, Pune.

He joined the Faculty of Theology at Pontifical Athenaeum (now known as Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth), Pune. He went to the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome, to secure a licentiate in Scriptures and completed a PhD in biblical theology in Lyon, France. He wrote his thesis An Enquiry into the Tradition History of Matthew 1-2 under the guidance of Xavier Léon-Dufour.

Soares-Prabhu returned to Pune in June 1969 and began teaching in 1970. Among various courses he taught, 'The Historical Jesus', 'Resurrection of Jesus and Dharma of Jesus' were most appreciated.^[1] Along with his colleagues, Francis X D'sa, Rui de Menezes and Kurien Kunnumpuram, he tried to articulate an Indian Christian theology. He was an ardent advocate of a Liberation Theology adapted to the Indian ethos and socio-religious context.^[2]

He died in a road accident in Pune on 22 July 1995.

A four-volume book on his collected works has been brought out by Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune, India.^[3]

His Writings

• The Formula Quotations in the Infancy Narrative of Matthew: An Enquiry into the Tradition History of Matthew 1-2 (Analecta Biblica, 63), Rome: Biblical Institute, 1976.
• Biblical Themes for a Contextual Theology Today (edited with an Introduction by Isaac Padinjarekuttu), Pune: Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, 1999.
• A Biblical Theology for India (edited with an Introduction by Scaria Kuthirakkattel, SVD), Pune: Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, 1999.
• Biblical Spirituality of Liberative Action (edited with an Introduction by Scaria Kuthirakkattel, SVD), Pune: Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, 2003.
• Theology of Liberation: An Indian Biblical Perspective (edited with an Introduction by Francis X. D’Sa, S. J.), Pune: Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, 2001.
• The Dharma of Jesus: Interdisciplinary Essays in Memory of George Soares-Prabhu, S. J. (edited by Francis X. D’Sa, S. J.), Pune: Institute for the Study of Religion, 1997.^[4]

References