Vol. 3 No. 2 (2026) – OralityTalks

A New Chapter: IOS & KTS

Danyal Qalb and Wilson McMahon — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 01:15:35 +0000

The first article is Joshua Frost’s second part of Emotion Exegesis, followed by two articles about orality and missional data. Lara Hevevelt describes the orality data gap and explains why bridging it is crucial, while Bud Houston shows how the Bible uses statistical data and how the Joshua Project is moving toward new ways to better capture people-group data.

John Paul Arceno wonderfully explains how digital media is both an extension and a limitation for communication. Greet Racharia historically shows how orality is deeply integrated into Hinduism.

Jerome Cepeda developed a game to make Bible studies in this church in the Philippines more engaging and David Ige uses the arts, symbols and rituals as a discipleship tool in Nigeria. Finally, Elsen Portugal writes about how the arts and symbols are used for our collective memory. This issue also includes an interview with Jill Zwyghuizen, the academic dean of Koinonia Theological Seminary (KTS), which is now the academic partner of OTJ. To top it all off, Sulamita Sousa shares her book review of Engaging Jesus with Our Senses.

Emotion Exegesis for Faithful Oral Bible Translation: From Theory to Practice: Method and the Role of AI (Part 2)

Joshua C. Frost — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 01:15:30 +0000

This is the second of a two-part article adapted from a presentation at the Oral Bible Translation National Consultation in Brazil. Part 1 established that emotions are foundational to cognition, shaped by culture, and present in every dimension of language. This second part presents a practical method for emotion exegesis and discusses the responsible use of AI tools in this work.

Watch the related webinar presentation.

Read part 1.

Check out further resources about orality in holistic hermeneutics at OralityResources.International.

Resources

The Orality Data Gap

Lara Heneveld — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 01:14:39 +0000

The global missions data ecosystem tracks languages, Bible translation status, people-group identifiers, and evangelical presence with respected precision, yet it of-ten overlooks whether a people group is high-orality-reliant, learning and communicating what matters through story, song, proverb, and conversation rather than text. The most-cited estimates place high-orality-reliant people at 62% to 80% of the world’s population, a spread of roughly 1.5 billion people. Official literacy statistics misrepresent the problem by counting incomplete data rather than functional engagement, and most Christian workers default to literate communication tools and styles. The gap is widening as AI tools, trained on digital script, underserve oral communities. Building on ION’s Global Orality Research Project and the newly developed Global Orality Mapping Project (GOMAP), the article proposes a shared orality classification, a reusable assessment instrument, a field in existing schemas, and attribution rules, reframing the gap as a stewardship issue.

Watch the related webinar presentation.

Measuring What Matters in Orality: Why Tracking the Mission Is a Native Oral Practice, What Scripture Counted, and the Biases That Distort Our Reporting

Bud Houston — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 01:14:20 +0000

Missions researchers frequently encounter the objection that counting is a text-based, Western imposition on high-orality-reliant communities, and that such communities cannot meaningfully report on the progress of the gospel among them. This article argues the opposite. Counting the mission is a native oral practice that Scripture models, formats, and regulates. Drawing on the Table of Nations, the commanded censuses, the research brief of Numbers 13, and the reporting pattern across the book of Acts, it demonstrates that the biblical record counts constantly while supplying at least eight data formats requiring no literacy: genealogy, song, marker with question, calendared feast, naming, multiple witnesses, public recitation, and story handed on. The article then examines the scriptural guardrails on counting and their contemporary analogies, identifying eight re-porting biases that inflate or suppress figures in high-orality-reliant contexts. It concludes by presenting the Phases of Engagement framework as a conversational instrument that can be administered through interviews and confirmed by wit-nesses, and it offers principles for designing reporting instruments that fit the carriers a community already uses.

Watch the related webinar presentation.

Orality and Digitality: Extending and Limiting Human Communication

John Paul Arceno — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 01:14:12 +0000

This article aims to show how digital technologies (or simply, digitality) extend and limit human communication, specifically orality. It is divided into four parts. The first part sets the background that language, speech, or communication is one of the first technologies found in Genesis 1-2. Then, it demonstrates that today’s cultural language is digitality. The second part answers the question: “If today’s cultural language is digitality, how then should Christians understand and navigate this techno-digital age?” In this part, the article presents the themes of human flourishing and fallenness. The third part explores current perspectives on digital technologies and clarifies that the extension of human communication is part of en-fleshed realities. It is embodied and holistic. Moreover, while digitality extends hu-man communication, it also limits it; extension is not equivalence. The fourth part offers a concluding thought.

Watch the related webinar presentation.

The Development of Hindu Religion in India: An Orality-Oriented Perspective for Christian Ministry among Hindus

Greeto Racharia — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 01:14:03 +0000

This article examines the historical development of Hinduism in India through an orality-oriented perspective and explores its implications for contextual Christian ministry among Hindus. The study highlights that Hinduism evolved not merely as a system of written doctrines but as a living religious tradition deeply shaped by oral transmission, ritual performance, storytelling, devotional songs, communal participation, and cultural adaptation. Beginning with the proto-religious practices of the Indus Valley Civilization and continuing through the Vedic, Puranic, Bhakti, and modern reform movements, the article demonstrates how oral traditions preserved religious memory, spiritual authority, and cultural identity across generations. Particular attention is given to the sacred role of sound, recitation, myths, epics, bhajans, kirtans, and folk narratives in shaping Hindu religious consciousness and making spirituality accessible to diverse communities. The article further argues that the oral and performative dimensions of Indian culture carry significant implications for Christian ministry in India. Biblical storytelling, songs, testimonies, dramas, and relational engagement are therefore presented as culturally meaningful methods for communicating the gospel within India’s oral religious environment. The article concludes that dialogical ministry, rooted in cultural sensitivity and historical understanding, can contribute to a more authentic and contextually grounded Christian engagement with Hindu communities while remaining faithful to the message of Christ.

Watch the related webinar presentation.

Story-Shaped Faith: Reimagining Discipleship Through Story and Play

Jerome Cepeda — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 01:13:56 +0000

Discipling a multigenerational church, especially helping young people engage meaningfully in theology, has long concerned me. I want them not only to learn theological truths but also to be transformed as they understand God and deepen their relationship with Him. This has led me to consider how theology can become a lived process of spiritual formation, beyond knowledge transfer, in a church whose generations learn, communicate, and practice faith differently. I have also reconsidered storytelling’s role in theological reflection. Stories can do more than communicate established truths: they can help people encounter God, interpret their experiences, and deepen their understanding of Him. To bring this into disciple-ship, I began developing a game that makes biblical narratives accessible, engaging, and less intimidating to the next generation. This article explores how narratives can foster theological reflection and discipleship, particularly among young people. It shows how stories, when approached intentionally and creatively, can open new ways to engage biblical narratives and support an engaging, transformative discipleship process.

Discipling Youths from Dysfunctional Homes: Orality Approach

Oluseyi David Ige — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 01:13:47 +0000

This article offers a creative case study on utilizing oral narratives and symbolic rituals to facilitate worldview transformation in traumatized youth. It follows Abdul, a Nigerian youth raised in a dysfunctional home marked by abandonment, rejection, and unresolved grief. Framed by a centered-set approach to discipleship, the study traces a scripturally anchored journey in which biblical narratives of the abandoned-but-restored are reenacted through a three-stage ritual of separation, liminality, and reincorporation, while songs and symbols drive the doctrine of adoption “deep into the bone.” Such experiential, oral, art-based discipleship, it concludes, can restore identity and transform worldview in traumatized youth.

The Architecture of Memory: Why Art is Everywhere?

Elsen Portugal — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 01:13:36 +0000

During a short trip to Washington, D.C., I found that art is everywhere, and not just for decoration. Monuments, rotunda paintings, and sculptures help create a collective memory for a nation. Even the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Un-known Soldier, with a precise choreography, goes beyond the practical purpose of protecting the tomb: it communicates meaning, identity, and embeds memory into the hearts of individual citizens and the collective soul of a nation. So, I asked again: how did the designers know artistic forms were vital to building a nation? Have we swept that understanding away when we started isolating art into its own elite, functionless silo? I suggest, along with arts philosophers, that art was meant for function, not just “disinterested contemplation.” Perhaps, just as God’s earth was unfinished while “without form, and void,” that indeed form is a need, not just an option for a completed work. Truth needs the Spirit of God in action to trans-form; yet it is also demonstrably true that art forms can powerfully penetrate hearts and bear fruit.

Adopting Orality Studies at Koinonia Theological Seminary: Challenges and Opportunities

Jill Zwyghuizen and Jerome Cepeda — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 01:12:58 +0000

Jerome Cepeda, one of our Orality Collaborators, sat down with Dr. Jill Zwyghuizen in Davao on September 11, 2026. She is an Old Testament scholar, teacher, and the academic dean of Koinonia Theological Seminary (KTS). Jill joined us to discuss the newly launched Orality Studies program. The interview has been lightly edited for clarity and readability.

Engaging Jesus with Our Senses: An Embodied Approach to the Gospels

Sulamit Sousa — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 01:12:42 +0000

Hanger, J. M. (with Macaskill, G.). (2024). Engaging Jesus with our senses: An embodied approach to the gospels. Baker Academic. ISBN 978-154-09667-2-8.