![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ca.langham.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/05\/Tacloban_Typhoon_Haiyan_2013-11-14.jpg\")
Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines.<\/sub>
[Credit: Trocaire from Ireland – DSC_0974, CC BY 2.0]<\/a><\/sub><\/p><\/div>After the typhoon, Athena led a group from Asian Theological Seminary (ATS) to one of the devastated islands in the Philippines. Instead of joining volunteers who were already clearing rubble and providing medical aid, Athena sat with those who were left. She and her team listened to survivors grieve. They provided spiritual care, as few others could. (You can read more about that situation\u00a0here<\/strong><\/a>.)<\/p>\n
Applying familiar Bible stories<\/h2>\nApproximately 10.2 million Filipinos have left their homes to work abroad. As non-citizens, Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) have no legal recourse and often face humiliating prejudices. Yet they often make high salaries and adapt to their second countries\u2019 cultures, which makes return difficult.<\/p>\n
Athena applies familiar Biblical stories to help people understand OFWs. Talking about Moses\u2019s flight from and return to Egypt at God\u2019s command, she says that for migrants who return home, \u201cThere\u2019s a\u2026 dying to certain things of a previous identity in order to be able to integrate into a new identity.\u201d (You can read Athena\u2019s essay on caring for OFWs\u00a0here<\/strong><\/a>.)<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ca.langham.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/05\/Ferdinand_Marcos_second_inauguration.jpg\")
Marcos takes his second oath of office on December 30, 1969. Credit: Philippine Presidential Museum and Library (Wikipedia).<\/sub><\/p><\/div>\n
Her college years, however, were \u201cthe Marcos years,\u201d years of dictatorship. \u201cI was taking journalism, and my classmates were out [protesting],\u201d she recalls, \u201cbut\u2026 I could not relate my faith with what was happening in society.\u201d<\/p>\n
This gap pushed her toward spiritual darkness. A mentor committed suicide; relationships failed. Remembering those years, she says, \u201cSometimes in my Christian community, you are affirmed if you are doing well, but if you fail\u2026 you get marginalised.\u201d Eventually, she dropped out of school.<\/p>\n
Grieving what she perceived as her failures, Athena read the Bible. She found the promise that God \u201cis able to keep you from falling and to present you blameless before Him with great joy. I said, \u2018I don\u2019t feel that I\u2019m blameless\u2026,\u2019 but there\u2019s this promise!\u201d<\/p>\n
Encouragement for further studies<\/h2>\nShe was serving at a Filipino-Chinese church, but she felt that she needed training, so she finished her degree. She jokes, \u201cOh, I was trying to find the meaning of life, but I couldn\u2019t\u2026 so I went back to school.\u201d<\/p>\n
She started studying at ATS. During a course on Christianity and society, a professor wrote on an exam, \u201cI hope you would go for further studies, Lady Theologian.\u201d With that encouragement, Athena earned her MDiv at ATS.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ca.langham.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/05\/Athena_scholars.jpg\")
Athena entered Fuller Theological Seminary\u2019s PhD programme in 2000 with support from Langham and ScholarLeaders.<\/sub><\/p><\/div>\n
When she finished, ATS invited her to earn a PhD and join the faculty. For decades, ATS had had only non-nationals as faculty. As Westerners retired, ATS began to hire Filipinos.<\/p>\n
Athena said yes to ATS\u2019s faculty development plan \u2013 \u201cI really want to study God\u2019s Word, and I really want to share God\u2019s Word,\u201d she remembers thinking \u2013 but she had to wait for more senior faculty to earn their degrees. ATS could not support most of its faculty leaving at once.<\/p>\n
While she waited, Athena started teaching at ATS in 1993. In 2000, with support from Langham and ScholarLeaders, she entered Fuller Theological Seminary\u2019s PhD program.<\/p>\n
Working with people in the grassroots<\/h2>\nIndeed, Athena still sees herself as speaking for the margins from the margins. \u201cNot that I\u2019m against ordination,\u201d she notes, \u201cbut I never see myself as playing a role in the hierarchy.\u201d Instead, she wants \u201calways to be in the margins\u2026 working with people in the grassroots.\u201d<\/p>\n
Athena returned to ATS in 2006. She now directs ATS\u2019s Contextual Theology PhD program, which is \u201can interdisciplinary PhD. Most people would just concentrate on Bible,\u201d she says, but ATS integrates Theology with Social Sciences. Thus, Athena trains the next generation of Christian leaders to address societal questions.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ca.langham.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/05\/Rodrigo_Duterte_is_greeted_by_overseas_Filipinos_during_his_official_visit_to_Vietnam_on_September_28_2.jpg\")
OFWs in Vietnam greet Duterte on his first visit there in September 2016. Credit: PCOO EDP (Wikipedia).<\/sub><\/p><\/div>\n
Social problems have a distinct edge in the Philippines right now, so outside her academic work, Athena engages in activism. In June 2016, Rodrigo Duterte became president of the Philippines thanks to explosive anti-drug rhetoric. Some observers have even suggested that he encouraged ordinary people to kill anyone suspected of drug involvement.<\/p>\n
Now, the situation is so drastic that \u201cPeople\u2026 kill people and then wrap them in masking tape with a cardboard [sign] saying, \u2018I\u2019m a drug user.\u2019 And that means that you\u2019re worth being killed,\u201d Athena explains. As of 2017, \u201c7,000 people have died.\u201d Athena and her colleagues have used social media, protests, and petitions to call for justice. (According to human rights groups, the\u00a0number<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0could be far higher.)<\/p>\n
Attitudes to women<\/h2>\nShe also criticises Filipino attitudes toward women. With disgust, Athena says that \u201ceven the top leadership has made a lot of jokes about women.\u201d When a Filipino congresswoman \u201claunched an investigation on the extrajudicial killings\u2026 she became a target.\u201d In order to discredit her, leaders \u201cwanted to show her sex video in Congress!\u201d<\/p>\n
When Athena\u2019s male students at ATS minimised the situation as \u201cjust a joke,\u201d Athena turned to the Bible, to Judges 19, in which a woman is raped and hacked in pieces to make a political point. After reading that passage, her students \u201ccould hardly talk,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ca.langham.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/05\/manila-1709394_1920.jpg\")
The Manila skyline.<\/sub><\/p><\/div>\n
Athena points out that this is one of the Bible\u2019s primary functions: just as the prophet Nathan confronted David about Bathsheba, so Scripture forces us to look from problems \u201cout there\u201d to ourselves, to acknowledge that those problems are our own.<\/p>\n
In such intense situations, Athena asks students, friends, colleagues \u2013 and her international community \u2013 to consider \u201chow Scripture can speak to the issues of today.\u201d She says that \u201cChristians often have a na\u00efve understanding of what goes on in society: \u2018Just because I read it this way, then it is this way,\u2019 when actually, there are other factors going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Call for practical theology<\/h2>\nTo support her call for contextual, practical theology, Athena says, \u201cRemember Job? The teaching of his friends was all right. They were orthodox\u2026. Yes, \u2026 in some cases, if we sin, we do suffer the consequences\u2026. But [for Job], it was the right doctrine to the wrong context.\u201d She concludes, \u201cthe same message applied to the wrong context becomes a false message!\u201d<\/p>\n
Athena does see the Church growing in the Philippines. The country is 80% Catholic, thanks to about 500 years of Spanish rule, but Protestants are increasing (a significant Muslim minority lives in the south and has been in the\u00a0news<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0for the ISIS-driven siege of Marawi).<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ca.langham.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/05\/2019-ISS-Athena-Gorospe-with-SL-group-REV.jpg\")
Athena with the ScholarLeader delegation at ATS.<\/sub><\/p><\/div>\n
In 2017, Athena received the\u00a0ScholarLeader of the Year Award<\/strong><\/a><\/em>, in recognition of her dedication to theology and the marginalised. As part of that award, she will work with a leading school in Colombia, in March 2019, on the topics of women and violence. She notes, \u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity for them to learn from me, and I\u2019m also going to learn and listen.\u201d<\/p>\n
This <\/i>article<\/a> is by Evelyn Reynolds, Director of Communications at ScholarLeaders International, and first appeared on the ScholarLeaders <\/i>website<\/a>. ScholarLeaders works with Langham to support a\u00a0number of Scholars from the Majority World.<\/i><\/p>\n
Prayer Guide May 2019 Printer Friendly 2<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Marcos takes his second oath of office on December 30, 1969. Credit: Philippine Presidential Museum and Library (Wikipedia).<\/sub><\/p><\/div>\n
Her college years, however, were \u201cthe Marcos years,\u201d years of dictatorship. \u201cI was taking journalism, and my classmates were out [protesting],\u201d she recalls, \u201cbut\u2026 I could not relate my faith with what was happening in society.\u201d<\/p>\n
This gap pushed her toward spiritual darkness. A mentor committed suicide; relationships failed. Remembering those years, she says, \u201cSometimes in my Christian community, you are affirmed if you are doing well, but if you fail\u2026 you get marginalised.\u201d Eventually, she dropped out of school.<\/p>\n
Grieving what she perceived as her failures, Athena read the Bible. She found the promise that God \u201cis able to keep you from falling and to present you blameless before Him with great joy. I said, \u2018I don\u2019t feel that I\u2019m blameless\u2026,\u2019 but there\u2019s this promise!\u201d<\/p>\n
Encouragement for further studies<\/h2>\nShe was serving at a Filipino-Chinese church, but she felt that she needed training, so she finished her degree. She jokes, \u201cOh, I was trying to find the meaning of life, but I couldn\u2019t\u2026 so I went back to school.\u201d<\/p>\n
She started studying at ATS. During a course on Christianity and society, a professor wrote on an exam, \u201cI hope you would go for further studies, Lady Theologian.\u201d With that encouragement, Athena earned her MDiv at ATS.<\/p>\n
Athena entered Fuller Theological Seminary\u2019s PhD programme in 2000 with support from Langham and ScholarLeaders.<\/sub><\/p><\/div>\n
When she finished, ATS invited her to earn a PhD and join the faculty. For decades, ATS had had only non-nationals as faculty. As Westerners retired, ATS began to hire Filipinos.<\/p>\n
Athena said yes to ATS\u2019s faculty development plan \u2013 \u201cI really want to study God\u2019s Word, and I really want to share God\u2019s Word,\u201d she remembers thinking \u2013 but she had to wait for more senior faculty to earn their degrees. ATS could not support most of its faculty leaving at once.<\/p>\n
While she waited, Athena started teaching at ATS in 1993. In 2000, with support from Langham and ScholarLeaders, she entered Fuller Theological Seminary\u2019s PhD program.<\/p>\n
Working with people in the grassroots<\/h2>\nIndeed, Athena still sees herself as speaking for the margins from the margins. \u201cNot that I\u2019m against ordination,\u201d she notes, \u201cbut I never see myself as playing a role in the hierarchy.\u201d Instead, she wants \u201calways to be in the margins\u2026 working with people in the grassroots.\u201d<\/p>\n
Athena returned to ATS in 2006. She now directs ATS\u2019s Contextual Theology PhD program, which is \u201can interdisciplinary PhD. Most people would just concentrate on Bible,\u201d she says, but ATS integrates Theology with Social Sciences. Thus, Athena trains the next generation of Christian leaders to address societal questions.<\/p>\n
OFWs in Vietnam greet Duterte on his first visit there in September 2016. Credit: PCOO EDP (Wikipedia).<\/sub><\/p><\/div>\n
Social problems have a distinct edge in the Philippines right now, so outside her academic work, Athena engages in activism. In June 2016, Rodrigo Duterte became president of the Philippines thanks to explosive anti-drug rhetoric. Some observers have even suggested that he encouraged ordinary people to kill anyone suspected of drug involvement.<\/p>\n
Now, the situation is so drastic that \u201cPeople\u2026 kill people and then wrap them in masking tape with a cardboard [sign] saying, \u2018I\u2019m a drug user.\u2019 And that means that you\u2019re worth being killed,\u201d Athena explains. As of 2017, \u201c7,000 people have died.\u201d Athena and her colleagues have used social media, protests, and petitions to call for justice. (According to human rights groups, the\u00a0number<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0could be far higher.)<\/p>\n
Attitudes to women<\/h2>\nShe also criticises Filipino attitudes toward women. With disgust, Athena says that \u201ceven the top leadership has made a lot of jokes about women.\u201d When a Filipino congresswoman \u201claunched an investigation on the extrajudicial killings\u2026 she became a target.\u201d In order to discredit her, leaders \u201cwanted to show her sex video in Congress!\u201d<\/p>\n
When Athena\u2019s male students at ATS minimised the situation as \u201cjust a joke,\u201d Athena turned to the Bible, to Judges 19, in which a woman is raped and hacked in pieces to make a political point. After reading that passage, her students \u201ccould hardly talk,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n
The Manila skyline.<\/sub><\/p><\/div>\n
Athena points out that this is one of the Bible\u2019s primary functions: just as the prophet Nathan confronted David about Bathsheba, so Scripture forces us to look from problems \u201cout there\u201d to ourselves, to acknowledge that those problems are our own.<\/p>\n
In such intense situations, Athena asks students, friends, colleagues \u2013 and her international community \u2013 to consider \u201chow Scripture can speak to the issues of today.\u201d She says that \u201cChristians often have a na\u00efve understanding of what goes on in society: \u2018Just because I read it this way, then it is this way,\u2019 when actually, there are other factors going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Call for practical theology<\/h2>\nTo support her call for contextual, practical theology, Athena says, \u201cRemember Job? The teaching of his friends was all right. They were orthodox\u2026. Yes, \u2026 in some cases, if we sin, we do suffer the consequences\u2026. But [for Job], it was the right doctrine to the wrong context.\u201d She concludes, \u201cthe same message applied to the wrong context becomes a false message!\u201d<\/p>\n
Athena does see the Church growing in the Philippines. The country is 80% Catholic, thanks to about 500 years of Spanish rule, but Protestants are increasing (a significant Muslim minority lives in the south and has been in the\u00a0news<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0for the ISIS-driven siege of Marawi).<\/p>\n
Athena with the ScholarLeader delegation at ATS.<\/sub><\/p><\/div>\n
In 2017, Athena received the\u00a0ScholarLeader of the Year Award<\/strong><\/a><\/em>, in recognition of her dedication to theology and the marginalised. As part of that award, she will work with a leading school in Colombia, in March 2019, on the topics of women and violence. She notes, \u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity for them to learn from me, and I\u2019m also going to learn and listen.\u201d<\/p>\n
This <\/i>article<\/a> is by Evelyn Reynolds, Director of Communications at ScholarLeaders International, and first appeared on the ScholarLeaders <\/i>website<\/a>. ScholarLeaders works with Langham to support a\u00a0number of Scholars from the Majority World.<\/i><\/p>\n
Prayer Guide May 2019 Printer Friendly 2<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Athena entered Fuller Theological Seminary\u2019s PhD programme in 2000 with support from Langham and ScholarLeaders.<\/sub><\/p><\/div>\n
When she finished, ATS invited her to earn a PhD and join the faculty. For decades, ATS had had only non-nationals as faculty. As Westerners retired, ATS began to hire Filipinos.<\/p>\n
Athena said yes to ATS\u2019s faculty development plan \u2013 \u201cI really want to study God\u2019s Word, and I really want to share God\u2019s Word,\u201d she remembers thinking \u2013 but she had to wait for more senior faculty to earn their degrees. ATS could not support most of its faculty leaving at once.<\/p>\n
While she waited, Athena started teaching at ATS in 1993. In 2000, with support from Langham and ScholarLeaders, she entered Fuller Theological Seminary\u2019s PhD program.<\/p>\n
Working with people in the grassroots<\/h2>\nIndeed, Athena still sees herself as speaking for the margins from the margins. \u201cNot that I\u2019m against ordination,\u201d she notes, \u201cbut I never see myself as playing a role in the hierarchy.\u201d Instead, she wants \u201calways to be in the margins\u2026 working with people in the grassroots.\u201d<\/p>\n
Athena returned to ATS in 2006. She now directs ATS\u2019s Contextual Theology PhD program, which is \u201can interdisciplinary PhD. Most people would just concentrate on Bible,\u201d she says, but ATS integrates Theology with Social Sciences. Thus, Athena trains the next generation of Christian leaders to address societal questions.<\/p>\n
OFWs in Vietnam greet Duterte on his first visit there in September 2016. Credit: PCOO EDP (Wikipedia).<\/sub><\/p><\/div>\n
Social problems have a distinct edge in the Philippines right now, so outside her academic work, Athena engages in activism. In June 2016, Rodrigo Duterte became president of the Philippines thanks to explosive anti-drug rhetoric. Some observers have even suggested that he encouraged ordinary people to kill anyone suspected of drug involvement.<\/p>\n
Now, the situation is so drastic that \u201cPeople\u2026 kill people and then wrap them in masking tape with a cardboard [sign] saying, \u2018I\u2019m a drug user.\u2019 And that means that you\u2019re worth being killed,\u201d Athena explains. As of 2017, \u201c7,000 people have died.\u201d Athena and her colleagues have used social media, protests, and petitions to call for justice. (According to human rights groups, the\u00a0number<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0could be far higher.)<\/p>\n
Attitudes to women<\/h2>\nShe also criticises Filipino attitudes toward women. With disgust, Athena says that \u201ceven the top leadership has made a lot of jokes about women.\u201d When a Filipino congresswoman \u201claunched an investigation on the extrajudicial killings\u2026 she became a target.\u201d In order to discredit her, leaders \u201cwanted to show her sex video in Congress!\u201d<\/p>\n
When Athena\u2019s male students at ATS minimised the situation as \u201cjust a joke,\u201d Athena turned to the Bible, to Judges 19, in which a woman is raped and hacked in pieces to make a political point. After reading that passage, her students \u201ccould hardly talk,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n
The Manila skyline.<\/sub><\/p><\/div>\n
Athena points out that this is one of the Bible\u2019s primary functions: just as the prophet Nathan confronted David about Bathsheba, so Scripture forces us to look from problems \u201cout there\u201d to ourselves, to acknowledge that those problems are our own.<\/p>\n
In such intense situations, Athena asks students, friends, colleagues \u2013 and her international community \u2013 to consider \u201chow Scripture can speak to the issues of today.\u201d She says that \u201cChristians often have a na\u00efve understanding of what goes on in society: \u2018Just because I read it this way, then it is this way,\u2019 when actually, there are other factors going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Call for practical theology<\/h2>\nTo support her call for contextual, practical theology, Athena says, \u201cRemember Job? The teaching of his friends was all right. They were orthodox\u2026. Yes, \u2026 in some cases, if we sin, we do suffer the consequences\u2026. But [for Job], it was the right doctrine to the wrong context.\u201d She concludes, \u201cthe same message applied to the wrong context becomes a false message!\u201d<\/p>\n
Athena does see the Church growing in the Philippines. The country is 80% Catholic, thanks to about 500 years of Spanish rule, but Protestants are increasing (a significant Muslim minority lives in the south and has been in the\u00a0news<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0for the ISIS-driven siege of Marawi).<\/p>\n
Athena with the ScholarLeader delegation at ATS.<\/sub><\/p><\/div>\n
In 2017, Athena received the\u00a0ScholarLeader of the Year Award<\/strong><\/a><\/em>, in recognition of her dedication to theology and the marginalised. As part of that award, she will work with a leading school in Colombia, in March 2019, on the topics of women and violence. She notes, \u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity for them to learn from me, and I\u2019m also going to learn and listen.\u201d<\/p>\n
This <\/i>article<\/a> is by Evelyn Reynolds, Director of Communications at ScholarLeaders International, and first appeared on the ScholarLeaders <\/i>website<\/a>. ScholarLeaders works with Langham to support a\u00a0number of Scholars from the Majority World.<\/i><\/p>\n
Prayer Guide May 2019 Printer Friendly 2<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
OFWs in Vietnam greet Duterte on his first visit there in September 2016. Credit: PCOO EDP (Wikipedia).<\/sub><\/p><\/div>\n
Social problems have a distinct edge in the Philippines right now, so outside her academic work, Athena engages in activism. In June 2016, Rodrigo Duterte became president of the Philippines thanks to explosive anti-drug rhetoric. Some observers have even suggested that he encouraged ordinary people to kill anyone suspected of drug involvement.<\/p>\n
Now, the situation is so drastic that \u201cPeople\u2026 kill people and then wrap them in masking tape with a cardboard [sign] saying, \u2018I\u2019m a drug user.\u2019 And that means that you\u2019re worth being killed,\u201d Athena explains. As of 2017, \u201c7,000 people have died.\u201d Athena and her colleagues have used social media, protests, and petitions to call for justice. (According to human rights groups, the\u00a0number<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0could be far higher.)<\/p>\n
Attitudes to women<\/h2>\nShe also criticises Filipino attitudes toward women. With disgust, Athena says that \u201ceven the top leadership has made a lot of jokes about women.\u201d When a Filipino congresswoman \u201claunched an investigation on the extrajudicial killings\u2026 she became a target.\u201d In order to discredit her, leaders \u201cwanted to show her sex video in Congress!\u201d<\/p>\n
When Athena\u2019s male students at ATS minimised the situation as \u201cjust a joke,\u201d Athena turned to the Bible, to Judges 19, in which a woman is raped and hacked in pieces to make a political point. After reading that passage, her students \u201ccould hardly talk,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n
The Manila skyline.<\/sub><\/p><\/div>\n
Athena points out that this is one of the Bible\u2019s primary functions: just as the prophet Nathan confronted David about Bathsheba, so Scripture forces us to look from problems \u201cout there\u201d to ourselves, to acknowledge that those problems are our own.<\/p>\n
In such intense situations, Athena asks students, friends, colleagues \u2013 and her international community \u2013 to consider \u201chow Scripture can speak to the issues of today.\u201d She says that \u201cChristians often have a na\u00efve understanding of what goes on in society: \u2018Just because I read it this way, then it is this way,\u2019 when actually, there are other factors going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Call for practical theology<\/h2>\nTo support her call for contextual, practical theology, Athena says, \u201cRemember Job? The teaching of his friends was all right. They were orthodox\u2026. Yes, \u2026 in some cases, if we sin, we do suffer the consequences\u2026. But [for Job], it was the right doctrine to the wrong context.\u201d She concludes, \u201cthe same message applied to the wrong context becomes a false message!\u201d<\/p>\n
Athena does see the Church growing in the Philippines. The country is 80% Catholic, thanks to about 500 years of Spanish rule, but Protestants are increasing (a significant Muslim minority lives in the south and has been in the\u00a0news<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0for the ISIS-driven siege of Marawi).<\/p>\n
Athena with the ScholarLeader delegation at ATS.<\/sub><\/p><\/div>\n
In 2017, Athena received the\u00a0ScholarLeader of the Year Award<\/strong><\/a><\/em>, in recognition of her dedication to theology and the marginalised. As part of that award, she will work with a leading school in Colombia, in March 2019, on the topics of women and violence. She notes, \u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity for them to learn from me, and I\u2019m also going to learn and listen.\u201d<\/p>\n
This <\/i>article<\/a> is by Evelyn Reynolds, Director of Communications at ScholarLeaders International, and first appeared on the ScholarLeaders <\/i>website<\/a>. ScholarLeaders works with Langham to support a\u00a0number of Scholars from the Majority World.<\/i><\/p>\n
Prayer Guide May 2019 Printer Friendly 2<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Manila skyline.<\/sub><\/p><\/div>\n
Athena points out that this is one of the Bible\u2019s primary functions: just as the prophet Nathan confronted David about Bathsheba, so Scripture forces us to look from problems \u201cout there\u201d to ourselves, to acknowledge that those problems are our own.<\/p>\n
In such intense situations, Athena asks students, friends, colleagues \u2013 and her international community \u2013 to consider \u201chow Scripture can speak to the issues of today.\u201d She says that \u201cChristians often have a na\u00efve understanding of what goes on in society: \u2018Just because I read it this way, then it is this way,\u2019 when actually, there are other factors going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Call for practical theology<\/h2>\nTo support her call for contextual, practical theology, Athena says, \u201cRemember Job? The teaching of his friends was all right. They were orthodox\u2026. Yes, \u2026 in some cases, if we sin, we do suffer the consequences\u2026. But [for Job], it was the right doctrine to the wrong context.\u201d She concludes, \u201cthe same message applied to the wrong context becomes a false message!\u201d<\/p>\n
Athena does see the Church growing in the Philippines. The country is 80% Catholic, thanks to about 500 years of Spanish rule, but Protestants are increasing (a significant Muslim minority lives in the south and has been in the\u00a0news<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0for the ISIS-driven siege of Marawi).<\/p>\n
Athena with the ScholarLeader delegation at ATS.<\/sub><\/p><\/div>\n
In 2017, Athena received the\u00a0ScholarLeader of the Year Award<\/strong><\/a><\/em>, in recognition of her dedication to theology and the marginalised. As part of that award, she will work with a leading school in Colombia, in March 2019, on the topics of women and violence. She notes, \u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity for them to learn from me, and I\u2019m also going to learn and listen.\u201d<\/p>\n
This <\/i>article<\/a> is by Evelyn Reynolds, Director of Communications at ScholarLeaders International, and first appeared on the ScholarLeaders <\/i>website<\/a>. ScholarLeaders works with Langham to support a\u00a0number of Scholars from the Majority World.<\/i><\/p>\n
Prayer Guide May 2019 Printer Friendly 2<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"