Abel Aruan
Villanova University, Villanova, PA
Abel is an indigenous Batak who is concerned about the extractivist culture corroding the Asia-Pacific, particularly in Indonesia. Trained as a scholar of religion (Southeast Asia Bible Seminary and Boston University, respectively), his research focuses on social and ecological justice in the matrix of religion and politics, in general, and the receptions of (Christian) political theologies in the post-1492 world system, in particular. His critical studies employ post/decolonial critiques, queer theories, and social reproduction theory in addition to ethics, history, and anthropology of religion. Currently, Abel serves as the Vice-Chairperson of the Indonesian Theologians Association and co-convener of College Theology Society’s “Theology, Ecology, and Natural Science” unit—both for the 2025-2028 term, as well as Graduate Assistant for Political Theology Network.
