“Visio Dei, Vision Pro: Beatific Vision and Technological Singularity,” Liberty Theological Review Vol. 9, no. 1 (August 2025): 144-166.
Abstract:
This paper offers a retrieval of the classical Christian theology of beatific vision. The reason behind this is the challenges posed by the progress of digital technology, including Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, and robotics, which are prevalent today. This rapid progress somehow threatens the classical view of beatific vision with its version of technological singularity. Hence, the retrieval of the beatific vision, which is grounded in divine ontology, is much needed. The paper is divided into three parts: (1) Visio Dei, which discusses the doctrine of beatific vision, (2) Vision Pro, which discusses technological singularity, and (3) conclusion, which offers several theological criticisms on technological singularity.
KEYWORDS: beatific vision, artificial intelligence, technological singularity, digital theology, classical theism
“Baptist Apocalypticism in the Philippines: Narratives and Theologies (1900-2020s),” TALA Kasaysayan: An Online Journal of History 7, no. 2 (December 2024): 37-55.
Abstract:
The paper contends that eschatology, specifically apocalyptic theology, shapes a vital influence in forming the Baptist movement—and most Evangelicals—theology in the Philippines. In the 1500s, Spain offered the Roman Catholic Christian faith to the Filipinos as a means of colonization. Likewise, after more than three centuries, American missionaries came and proclaimed Protestant Christianity—in the form of Evangelicalism, including the Baptist faith. These missionaries arrived with a colonizing mindset; hence, historically and theologically speaking, Filipino Baptists originated within a Western American evangelical context. While the above statement is valid, Indigenous narratives, experiences, and theologies require representations locally and globally. Hence, this paper offers a Filipino perspective of a historical sketch of the early stages of the Baptist movement in the Philippines as a prophetic fulfillment.
Moreover, the paper argues that the Baptist movement in the Philippines is rooted in eschatological, apocalyptic theology from the beginning to its recent developments. Initially, the paper introduces how Baptist missionaries—and Evangelicals—entered the Philippines with a colonial mindset. Next, it offers a brief historical religious background of the Philippines and a definition of a Filipino Baptist identity known as ‘Baptist Quadrilateral.’ In addition to this quadrilateral, the paper argues that eschatology is vital to Filipino Baptist identity. This final section presents how apocalyptic theology shaped the Baptist movement from its beginnings through this contemporary period.
KEYWORDS: Filipino Baptist, Baptist Apocalypticism, Baptist Missions, Global Evangelicalism
“Utopian Virtual Reality in Ready Player One: Responding with Real Hope and the Christian Teleos,” in Film, Philosophy and Religion, ed. William Anderson (Wilmington, Delaware: Vernon Press, January 2022), 69-88; [$91].
Abstract:
This chapter provides a synopsis of virtual reality and attempts to understand the virtual world in Ready Player One (RPO) called OASIS (Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation). It explores utopian ideals and hope based on the quest of the film and why these must fail in human terms. The chapter also provides theological reflections and offers real Eschatological Hope through Digital Theology and the Teleos of the Kingdom of God based on the Living Creator and Savior God.
KEYWORDS: Avatar, Deism, Digital Theology, Eschatological Hope, God is Dead, Kingdom of God, Nietzsche, Ready Player One, Teleos, Virtual Reality, Virtual World
“A Southern Baptist Story in the Philippines: The Life and Ministry of Henry P. Silbor, 1938-2010,” TALA Kasaysayan: An Online Journal of History 4, no. 1 (June 2021): 46-77.
Abstract:
This paper offers a biographical work of Henry P. Silbor (1938-2010), a fine portrait of a Filipino Southern Baptist pastor. Silbor was one of the driving forces towards the “Filipinization” of the Southern Baptist denomination—both convention and seminary level—in the Philippines during the late twentieth century. Moreover, the paper explores the historical narratives of two Baptist groups that arrived in the Philippines—the American Baptist in 1900, and the Southern Baptist in 1948, which are both significant in the study.
This exploration sets the backdrop for Silbor’s ministry. Towards Filipinization, Silbor advocated for Filipino leadership in the Luzon Convention of Southern Baptist Churches (LCSBC). Unfortunately, the missionaries turned over the leadership of the convention, later including the seminaries, to the Filipinos then departed the Philippines. This transfer of leadership was not the ideal Filipinization for Silbor; preferably, he thought of working alongside the missionaries and not being left behind. To this challenge, Silbor called for serious pastoral equipping, church discipleship, sending missionaries, and theological training even during his last years.
KEYWORDS: Philippine Baptist History; Filipino Southern Baptist; Baptist Filipinization; Southern Baptist in the Philippines
“Is Virtual Baptism a ‘Real’ Baptism?” in Technology and Theology, ed. William Anderson (Wilmington, DE: Vernon Press, October 2020), 149-167; [$64].
Abstract:
Virtual baptism is a new mode of baptism that is both immersive and interactive. This chapter will present the essence and relevance of technology, virtual reality, and digital culture in Christianity and its ordinance of baptism. In the first part, I will trace the historical roots of the meaning of believer’s baptism, its mode, and the development of its theological meaning. The second part will describe the church in the virtual world, techno-culture society, and virtual reality. The third part will discuss the integration of virtual reality as immersion applied to believer’s baptism. I will argue that virtual baptism is a viable, valid mode of baptism both theologically sound and culturally relevant.
KEYWORDS: Baptism, E-Baptism, Immersion, Tecno-Culture, Virtual Reality, Virtual World
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