Louis F. Knoll (died 2004) was an American Baptist missionary who taught Christian Ethics at 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 G ...

, Hyderabad, affiliated with the Senate of Serampore College (University). Robert Eric Frykenberg, Professor Emeritus of History & South Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin,

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

writes that Louis F. Knoll believed that the British Rule in India was a major obstacle to the spread of Christianity in India.

Leadership

India

Knoll was the co-founder of the

, Hyderabad. Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches ran their seminary in

Ramayapatnam Ramayapatnam is a small village in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, India on the bank of the Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Banglad ...

. At first in 1967, the

B. D. In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology ...

section of the Ramayapatnam Baptist Theological College, of which he was the Principal, was made to be situated on the same campus of

before it was fully integrated into the

in 1972 through an ''Act of Integration'' performed by Louis F. Knoll and then acting Principal William P. Peery. Talathoti Punnaiah who underwent a 1-year spirituality course as an

Aspirant Aspirant is a rank in the Royal Canadian Navy, Estonian Defence Forces, French military, Brazilian military, Portuguese military, Swiss military, Italian Air Force, Argentinian Armed Forces, Romanian Navy, Polish Policja and Państwowa Straż ...

at the

Baptist Theological Seminary affirms the fact that it was Knoll as President of the

Seminary who integrated the graduate section of the

Seminary into the

. The Mennonite Brethren Mission also sought Knoll to consolidate its organizational structure In 1978, when the

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

movie '' Karunamayudu'' was released, the movie acknowledged the contribution of Knoll as a financial adviser displayed during the opening titles.

Overseas

After Knoll left India, he served as Vice President of the

American Baptist Seminary of the West The Berkeley School of Theology (BST) is a Baptist theological institute in Berkeley, California. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. It is part of the Graduate Theological Union, a consortium of theological schools and cente ...

from 1978 to 1985.

Writings

* 1951 – The Abrahamic covenant in the Light of HistoryLouis Fred Knoll, ''The Abrahamic covenant in the Light of History'', Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1951.

/ref> * 1959 – The Role of the Depressed Classes in Andhra Pradesh * 1967 – Now We are Together * 1968 – Population Trends and the Mission of the Church in Andhra Pradesh * 1971 – State and Religions in British India: 1814 to 1865Louis F. Knoll, ''State and Religions in British India: 1814 to 1865'', Graduate Theological Union, 1971

/ref> * 1975 - A Christian understanding of Hinduism (in Telugu)

Studies

After pursuing doctoral studies at the

Graduate Theological Union The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is a consortium of eight private independent American theological schools and eleven centers and affiliates. Seven of the theological schools are located in Berkeley, California. The GTU was founded in 1962 ...

, Berkeley, California, Knoll was awarded the doctoral degree in 1971. His doctoral thesis is preserved in microfilm and kept at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in New Delhi.

University academic

Knoll became a member of the Council of Senate of Serampore College (University) in 1966,Serampore College, ''The story of Serampore and its college'', Council of Serampore College, 1961, fourth edition 2005, pp.129-138.

/ref> a position in which he continued until his resignation in 1986. In 1972, Knoll became the Master of the University.

References

;Notes {{DEFAULTSORT:Knoll, Louis F. Baptist missionaries in India Editors of Christian publications Baptist ministers from the United States 2004 deaths University of California, Berkeley alumni Founders of academic institutions Year of birth missing Academic staff of the Senate of Serampore College (University) Baptist missionaries from the United States Missionary educators American expatriates in India