Our Vision

It is a shared view among the constituents of the Asia-Pacific Theological Union that the primary vocation of education is to ensure freedom and dignity for all human beings. Guided by the ethical values of the Reign of God, educational institutions should foster the development of critical scholars who become agents of social transformation.
This philosophy draws inspiration from the biblical emphasis on God’s preferential love for the weak, excluded, and marginalized. Therefore, APTU’s program encourages theological learning centers to actively engage in “theology for and with” the poor, marginalized, and neglected communities.

Additionally, the theological institutions in the Asia-Pacific region recognize their Teutonic captivity in theological imagination, which led them to alienate themselves from their own cultures and traditions. This colonial legacy promoted the image of a Crusading Christ, whose whole mission was to conquer the indigenous people by demonizing their wisdom. Besides, the colonial Christendom advanced a binary soteriology, claiming that truth resided solely within the Christian world, requiring the Christian mission to dismantle and delegitimize the truth cherished in traditional cultures.

In contrast, the Asia-Pacific Theological Union (APTU) embraces the concept of the Universal Christ, whose gratuitous love embraces all creation, transcending space and time.

The Asia-Pacific Theological Union believes that engaging in theological education is a testament to the Creator God, who continually renews all creation, enabling people to experience a fuller humanity. This is achieved by fostering communities grounded in love, forgiveness, equality, selfhood, mutual respect, justice, and other ethical and biblical imperatives.