During the second half of the nineteenth century Mexican public life took a secular turn which was to become radicalised in the first two decades of the twentieth century, and which has resulted in a very modern paradox where, in spite of more than 90% of the roughly 121 million Mexican nationals identifying with Christianity (in any of its historical expressions), “the Mexican state is secular.” This ideological stance is implied in the legal framework that shapes public life —its centennial constitution—, and is explicitly stated in the law of religious associations; it also explains why education funded by the State —from elementary to higher education— must be secular.
This kind of secular paideia offers scant (at best), or no space at all, for academic theological inquiry and research, presenting an obvious obstacle for critical engagement with the sources of the Christian faith (i.e. Old and New Testaments) and the Christian tradition in order that they may inform biblical teaching in general, and theological reflection on contemporary issues in particular.
To illustrate this pitiful lack of institutional support for theological research, we would highlight the latest annual report (i.e. 2017-2018) presented by ANUIES (Spanish acronym for National Association of Universities and Higher Education Institutions) where no theological research programme features —this covers 187 officially recognized institutions, both public and private, throughout the whole Mexican territory.
On the other hand, there are 9,359 Christian religious associations registered with the Mexican government, roughly 60% of which are classified as evangelical and 2% as protestant. These numbers reflect the steady growth of the evangelical church as a whole in Mexico, and further highlight the need for theologically trained church leaders within the various growing biblical traditions and denominations.
What is more, as the challenges of (a) insecurity and violence, (b) economic inequality (almost 1 in 2 Mexicans live in poverty), and (c) corruption facing Mexican society are also on the rise, the need for a biblical and prophetic voice, is now more needed than ever.
proαgΩn’s objective is to provide an alternative to this situation by opening up a space for academically rigorous biblical and theological research in Mexico, which as well as informing and promoting sound and relevant biblical teaching in churches and other public institutions, will also seek to be a voice in the Mexican public square and thus break the secular monopoly over it.
Vision
- To rehabilitate the theological discourse in the Mexican public square.
This discourse is derived from the biblical narrative, enlightened by Christian tradition, sustained by ongoing academic research, and in a continuous critical dialogue with other intellectual disciplines —thus providing an alternative to the secular framework that currently shapes public life in Mexico.
- To take an active part in developing leaders for institutions with a public role (whether ecclesiastical, academic, governmental, business-like, or the media).
Mission
proαgΩn’s intellectual and practical endeavour will focus on four areas:
Research
Drawing from both the latest scholarship in biblical studies and from systematic theology, proαgΩn will engage in biblical and theological research so that we may (i) approach the biblical text in a critical and constructive way in the light of its historical context (whilst relying also on alternative critical approaches); and so that we may (ii) address any pressing issue, whether local or global, from a biblico-theological standpoint.
In the medium term, proαgΩn will seek to develop a posgraduate course to channel this research endeavour.
Education
To design a syllabus or curriculum aimed at training three kinds of people:
- People committed to biblical and theological teaching in local churches.
- People with leading roles in churches, public institutions and socially-minded organizations.
- People whose work as journalists, lawmakers, policy-makers, judges, police officers, or army officers, has an impact in the public square.
To offer courses on (a) Christianity, (b) theology, philosophy and politics, (c) political theology, (d) theological ethics, (e) natural law, among others, to higher education institutions whose mission, priorities or lack of resources may prevent them from developing their own modules but may be willing to outsource them.
Communication
To establish links between biblical and theological scholars (the academy), the church and society, thus opening up a space to disseminate academic research through conferences, forums for discussion or debates (with an apologetic approach).
Participation
To participate in the national debate with a theological perspective on any pressing issue being aired in the public square.
About the name
The term proαgΩn derives from the transliteration of the Greek verb προαγω (proagõ) in its participial mode, i.e. προαγων (proagõn), which means leading forward, leading onward (LSJ), going before, leading the way (BDAG). This term features in a story in Mark's gospel, when Jesus and his disciples are walking towards Jerusalem: "Now, they were on the road going up into Jerusalem, and Jesus was leading the way for them" (Mark 10.32). In some ways, that walk ended on a cross, with Jesus being executed (cf. Mark 15.24, 30, 32), first, and then in a tomb, where his corpse was laid down (cf. Mark 15.42-46).
However, after Jesus’ resurrection, the term is used again when an angel tells the disciples that Jesus was going ahead of them and would meet them again (Mark 16.7) in the place where he had began his public ministry (cf. Mark 1.9, 14). When they meet face to face Jesus tells them "all authority on heaven and in earth has been given to me" (Matthew 28.18).
Inspired by these very passages from the Gospel narrative, proαgΩn adopts this term as its name because it aims to become an intellectual enterprise whose theological orientation is entirely christological, where the exalted Jesus and his reign become the epistmological point of reference for all analysis and research of this Christian paideia.
proαgΩn’s christological orientation is visually conveyed in its logo, since it highlights in red the Greek letters α (alpha which is equivalent to ‘a’) and Ω (capital omega which is equivalent to ‘o’) —a divine title encompassing Old Testament allusions (cf. Isaiah 41.4; 44.6; 48.12; Revelation 1.8; 21.6) that the exalted Jesus claimed for himself in the Apocalypse (Revelation 22.13; cf. 22.16). Equally, the red color in these letters evokes the redemptive nature of Jesus’ transaction in buying back, by his blood, an international people for God the Creator, as is conveyed in the one of the central visions of the Apocalypse (Revelation 5.9; cf. 1.5; 7.10, 14).