Langham Scholar Herry Susanto from Tyrannus Bible Seminary, discuss the God’s redemptive plan for both human and non-human creation and how it speaks to his home country of Indonesia in this webinar which provides much food for thought. Herry is currently studying the relationship between the Christian faith and the ecological crisis, with the goal of helping Indonesian churches address environmental issues from a biblical perspective at Otago University.
Addressing ecological problems
“Every year, we send smoke to our neighbouring countries like Malaysia or Singapore because of these plantations. It is something that triggered me to write on this topic.
“I also found especially in the Indonesian context we don’t have a profound theological basis for the Church to address ecological problems.
“It doesn’t mean there’s no conversation about faith and ecological crisis – we have some discussions about this but mostly we use Genesis 1 and 2 as the foundation for Christian ecological concern.
“I think we need something deeper: we need something that can connect Christian ecological concern with the work of Christ because since Christ is the important foundation for Christian faith so it’s important also to correlate Christian ecological concern with Christ.
Cosmic redemption
“So that’s why I come up with this topic cosmological redemption and eco theology in the Indonesian context that focuses on Paul’s letters, especially Colossians.”
Herry explained that his PhD will compare and contrast other philosophical ideas of cosmic redemption in the Indonesian context.
He also shared about the problem of ‘dualism’, particularly in evangelical circles: the idea that the physical world doesn’t matter as much as the spiritual. Herry hopes that this perspective will change, as discussions are had about the Bible’s connection between the spiritual and material (the ‘sacred and the secular’).
How to pray
Please pray for Herry as he edits his dissertation. Pray also that he will be a blessing to the Indonesian Church when he and his family return.
Listen to Langham Australia’s Out of the Margins podcast episode with Herry Susanto talking about his research.
