Filipino Scholar Completes PhD at NTC and returns to teach at APNTS
by Dr. Peter Rae
Dick Eugenio with his Supervisor, Dr T A Noble
Last Friday saw the culmination of three and a half year’s careful research as Dick Eugenio, from Manila, sat down to defend his PhD thesis. The next hour saw him subjected to careful questioning from his examiners – Professor Trevor Hart, Professor of Divinity at St Andrews University, and Dr David Law, Reader in Christian Thought at the University of Manchester. When he emerged, he had been awarded the PhD, and with the highest commendation.
This was not only a success for Dick himself, but also for the network of people and institutions who have resourced him. A graduate of Asia- Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary, he has been supported by APNTS in his PhD studies, and will be heading back to Manila in January to start take up teaching duties. He has also been supported by Nazarene Theological College, Manchester, where he has undertaken his PhD research, and been mentored as a teacher. And NTS (Kansas City) has had a hand in his success: Dr Tom Noble, Professor of Theology at NTS and Senior Research Fellow at NTC, Manchester, has served as his academic supervisor. Dick is a product of the ‘global church,’ working together for kingdom goals.
Finances to underwrite Dick’s costs have come from APNTS and his home region; from donors in the US and Korea; from benefactors in England and Scotland; and from the plain hard work of Dick and Mary Ann, his wife. He comments: “I thank the church and everyone for their support. My diploma serves as a testimony of the one worldwide Nazarene family.”
NTC is also delighted to have secured future funding for postgraduate scholars from the majority world: Two students — one from Nairobi and one from Beirut – will arrive in Manchester in January as the first two recipients of the ‘Don and Bonnie Irons’ scholarships.
NTC Manchester is a partner college of The University of Manchester, and so all of its degrees are awarded by the University: This offers a remarkable opportunity for students from around the world to receive a world-class qualification that opens doors in many cultures. NTC currently has 45 PhD students from 12 countries. In October, eight students graduated with the PhD.
Dick Eugenio’s thesis is entitled Communion with God: The Trinitarian Soteriology of Thomas F. Torrance.
