Timotheas Hembrom

According to them, Skrefsrud presented this myth as a parallel to Genesis, a tendency still found among Christian Santals.As a comparative religion scholar who drew parallels between the Genesis creation story and the Santal creation traditions, Hembram attributes the lead given by Old Testament's leading Scholar, Claus Westermann,[2] "Our very extensive knowledge of literature about creation and primeval time does not allow us to draw a sharp line of distinction between the high cultures and the primitive cultures and then to exclude the latter from the pre-history of the biblical story of primeval events."

The Jug-Sirijol which advances Santali language and literature focusing on the tribal identities continues to be published in Roman script which has been in use since the pre-colonial times.

Although a new script, Ol Chiki alphabet was propagated in 1979,[16] it had met dissent with the Santhal people who voiced their concerns to the scholarly fora including the University of California, Berkeley[16] and had also referred to the concerns of Hembrom who wrote[16] on the use of Ol Chiki alphabet, (adapted)…in West Bengal the issue of Santali script was further complicated by the Government when in 1979 it recognized Ol Chiki Script for publication of Santali literature.... but the Ol Chiki script has remained as an abnormally born baby still in an incubator all through these last twenty years.After early schooling at the Kaerabani Santal High School in Kaerabani, Dumka district, Hembrom had his ministerial formation at Santal Theological College, Benagaria, which had just then received affiliation[17] from the nation's first[6] University, the Senate of Serampore College (University).

[19] In his second stint at the College in Bangalore between 1971-1973,[19] Hembrom enrolled for postgraduate studies, Master of Theology, specialising in Old Testament under his Teachers, E. C. John, G. M. Butterworth and Gerhard Wehmeier working out a dissertation entitled Man and his destiny in the priestly sections of the Pentateuch.

[20] Hembrom was part of the pioneer group of postgraduate students[19] who specialised in Old Testament comprising A. P. Chacko, Basil Rebera, G. Babu Rao, Nitoy Achümi, and S. J. Theodore.

While teaching at the Bishop's College, Kolkata, Hembrom availed study leave and pursued research studies with the South Asia Theological Research Institute, Bangalore, a doctoral-level institute under the Senate of Serampore College (University) researching on the Santals with special reference to their creation stories and was supervised by Renthy Keitzar and Nirmal Minz who enabled him to work on his thesis after which Hembrom was able to submit his doctoral dissertation in 1991[5] which was originally entitled The Creation narrative of the Santals and the Genesis Creation narrative: A probing into their theological motifs[5] after which the Senate of Serampore College (University) awarded[24] him a doctoral degree [24] during the registrarship of D. S. Satyaranjan.

[1] The Danish Santali Mission (Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church) took a rigid stance debarring[1] not only Hembrom but even those students who accompanied him.

In the ensuing student unfriendly environment, the Principal, J. T. Krogh voiced[1] his apprehension at the decision of the Council of the Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church and left[1] the College taking along with him the five[1] debarred students as well as his debarred colleague Hembram and joined en masse in the Church of North India-led Bishop’s College, Calcutta.

The issue of inculturation, also referred to as indigenization took a dominant role in the scholarly meetings of the Society for Biblical Studies in India in which Hembrams also happens to be a member.

Matthew Vellanickal and other members of the scholarly society contributed immensely to the Indian interpretation and adopting of traditional forms in worship.

Hembrams was a Teacher at his alma mater, the Santal Theological College, Benagaria and started his ecclesiastical teaching ministry.

[3] No date, Doing Theology with the people of primal religion in India: Absence of Hymns and Praises to God has a theological reason in the ancestral religion of the Santals[31]1996, Maran Buru Bonga - Satan Equation a Theological Crime,[32]1996/2013,[10] The Santals: Anthropological-Theological reflections on Santali and Biblical Creation Traditions,[2]2007, The significance of water in the Old Testament,[4]2012 (in Santali), Santal, Sirjon binti ar bhed-bhangao[33] In 2014, the Diocese of Durgapur of the Church of North India awarded the annual Paul Olaf Bodding memorial award to Timotheas Hembrom for his writings highlighting the Tribal ethos of India.