Kurios
Vol. 12 No. 2: August 2026

From shema to shomea: Tracing a theology of listening as a foundation for Christian value education among the digital generation

Andri Budiman (Sekolah Tinggi Teologi Injili Philadelphia Tangerang)



Article Info

Publish Date
30 Aug 2026

Abstract

Generation Z and Generation Alpha are formed within a digital ecosystem that structurally trains distraction rather than listening, a crisis addressed far more often through psychology or technology criticism than through theology. Scholarship in Christian religious education (PAK) in Indonesia typically invokes Scripture as a general source of values rather than excavating it philologically as a theological locus in its own right. This article constructs a text-grounded theology of listening by tracing the Hebrew root shama from the Shema Yisrael command (Deu. 6:4–9) to Solomon's request for a lev shomea, “a hearing heart” (1 Kgs 3:9), asking how this theology is constructed and how it can be transformed into a pedagogical framework for Christian value education among Generation Z and Alpha. Using a library-based, exegetical-intertextual method, the study analyzes six canonical texts sharing the shama root or its conceptual resonance through a text–theme–value–indicator procedure. The study finds a coherent, obedience-oriented theology of listening, translated into four educational virtues—patience, relational humility, discernment, and responsive obedience—and four correspondingly designed pedagogical practices that directly counteract digital distraction.

Copyrights © 2026






Journal Info

Abbrev

kurios

Publisher

Subject

Arts Humanities Education Social Sciences Other

Description

KURIOS (Jurnal Teologi dan Pendidikan Agama Kristen) merupakan wadah publikasi hasil penelitian teologi dan Pendidikan Agama Kristen dengan nomor ISSN: 2614-3135 (online), ISSN: 2406-8306 (print), yang diterbitkan oleh Sekolah Tinggi Teologi Pelita Bangsa ...