Samuel Escobar

Juan Samuel Escobar Aguirre (28 November 1934 – 29 April 2025) was a Peruvian evangelical theologian, missiologist, educator, and author. He co-founded the Latin American Theological Fellowship and wrote extensively on mission, Latin American theology, and the relationship between evangelism and social responsibility.

Early life and education Escobar was born on 28 November 1934 in Arequipa, Peru. He was raised in the Evangelical Church of Peru. In 1957, Escobar graduated with a degree in pedagogy. From 1972 to 1975, he worked as General Director of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Canada. He returned to Latin America to continue his work with IFES and build indigenous theological networks.

In 1970, following the first Congreso Latinoamericano de Evangelización (CLADE I) in Bogotá, Escobar co-founded the Fraternidad Teológica Latinoamericana (FTL), serving as its president until 1984. The FTL brought together Latin American evangelical theologians and promoted theological work developed within the region.

From 1985 to 2005, Escobar was Thornley B. Wood Professor of Missiology at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (now Palmer Theological Seminary) in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. He was also adjunct professor at Eastern University and later a consultant on theological education for the American Baptist Churches USA.

Personal life and death Escobar married Lily Artola in 1958, and they had two children together. He died in Valencia, Spain on 29 April 2025, at the age of 90.

International influence Escobar participated in several international evangelical congresses, including:

Berlin Congress on Evangelism (1966) Lausanne III (Cape Town, 2010), where he chaired the advisory council

Theological views Escobar argued that Christian mission should include both evangelism and social responsibility. He criticized forms of missionary work that treated Latin American churches as dependent on North American or European leadership and advocated the development of theology and church leadership within Latin America.

Escobar's papers are housed and preserved at the Wheaton College Archives and Special Collections.

Selected works Escobar authored more than twenty books, including:

La Fe Evangélica Y Las Teologías De La Liberación (1987) Paulo Freire: Una Pedagogia Latinoamericana (1993) Servir Con Los Pobres En América Latina: Modelos de Ministerio Integral (1997) Un pueblo en tiempo de misión (1999) Changing Tides: Mission in Latin America (2002) The New Global Mission: The Gospel from Everywhere to Everyone (2003) La Palabra: vida de la iglesia (2006) In Search of Christ in Latin America: From Colonial Image to Liberating Savior (2019) People in Mission: An Autobiographical Reflection (2021) Samuel Escobar: An Anthology: Collected Essays on Mission, Culture and Theology (2022) Un pueblo en tiempo de misión (2022)