Yohanna Katanacho

Unleashing Palestinian Christian Orthopathos:

Empowerment & Missional Justice Amidst Suffering

Wednesday, March 18, 2026 @ 12:00 PM

Abstract

This lecture unveils the transformative power of Palestinian Christian Orthopathos – a potent understanding of suffering that fuels empowerment and missional justice. The lecture will delve into the Sermon on the Mount, explore the profound suffering of the Apostle Paul, and illuminate other scriptural insights. The exploration forges a powerful connection between missional justice and radical peacemaking within the crucible of Palestinian suffering, revealing Christ’s suffering and teachings as a vital orthopathic worldview for navigating immense challenges.

Biography 

Yohanna Katanacho is currently the academic dean at Nazareth Evangelical College in Israel. He is a Palestinian Israeli Evangelical Christian who studied at Bethlehem University (B.Sc.), Wheaton College (M.A.) and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Master of Divinity & Ph.D.). He has taught at colleges and seminaries in many countries. He has authored or contributed to dozens of books and numerous articles in Arabic and English. Professor Rev. Katanacho is also the Lead Translator of the Colloquial Galilean Bible which is in the North Levantine Arabic dialect.

Response by Ron Dart

Ron Dart taught in the Department of Political Science-Philosophy-Religious Studies for 35 years at the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia. He was on staff with Amnesty International in the 1980s with the focus Religion and Human Rights in the Middle East. Ron was featured in the 2010 film With God on our Side (dealing with the Christian Zionist-Palestinian tensions) and his book Canadian Christian Zionism: A Tangled Tale is one of the first books on Canadian Zionist ideology. Ron has published 42 books and multiple articles, many dealing with Jewish-Christian Zionism and the Palestinians. Ron now teaches Classics at St. Stephen’s University which offers an MA with Bethlehem Bible College.

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Orthopathos (also commonly spelled orthopathy) is a theological term from Greek roots: ortho- meaning “right,” “straight,” or “correct,” and pathos (or patheia) referring to passion, affection, emotion, feeling, or suffering.It denotes “right affections,” “right passions,” “right feelings,” or “right emotions” — the proper alignment, formation, and orientation of the heart’s deepest sentiments, desires, motivations, and affective life toward God and in accordance with divine will.Orthopathos completes the classic Christian triad alongside:

• Orthodoxy — right belief / correct doctrine (head/mind)
• Orthopraxy (or orthopraxis) — right practice / correct action and behavior (hands/feet)

Together they form a three-dimensional vision of authentic Christian faith and spiritual formation: right thinking, right doing, and right feeling/loving.

Core Meaning and Emphasis Orthopathos stresses that genuine Christian life is not only cognitive (believing true things) or behavioral (doing good works), but deeply affective and relational. It involves cultivating “holy tempers” or godly dispositions — such as love for God and neighbor, compassion, humility, joy in God, hatred of sin, zeal for justice, peace, hope, and other fruit of the Spirit — so that the believer’s emotions, passions, and inner motivations are transformed and rightly ordered by the Holy Spirit.

It is not about fleeting or subjective emotional highs, nor mere sentimentality. Instead, it concerns a renewed heart whose affections align with God’s own heart: rejoicing over what delights God, grieving over what grieves God, showing compassion where God shows compassion, and being motivated by love rather than fear, pride, apathy, or disordered desires.

Historical and Theological Context: The term gained prominence in the 1970s–1990s among Wesleyan, Pentecostal, and some liberation theology circles (e.g., Samuel Solivan’s work on orthopathos as the liberating transformation of suffering/pathos by the Spirit, especially in contexts of oppression). It draws inspiration from figures like John Wesley, who emphasized the renewal of holy affections/tempers as central to salvation and sanctification. It has since appeared in evangelical, Reformed, and broader Protestant discussions as a way to insist that emotional and motivational formation is essential — not secondary — to discipleship.

Summary Orthopathos reminds us that loving God fully requires not only confessing truth and obeying commands, but having a heart that spontaneously feels and desires in ways that mirror God’s own character and passions. As one summary puts it, “the things that break the heart of God break the heart of His people, and the things that inflame the heart of God burn within His people.” 

Poem by Yohanna Katanacho

This is a season of weeping and mourning, but it is not void of hope.
Our tears are the bridge between brutality and humanity.
Our tears are the salty gates for seeing a different reality.
Our tears are facing soulless nations and a parched mentality.
Our tears are the dam preventing rivers of animosity.
For the sake of the mourning men, cry with us to reflect your amity.
For the sake of the poor children, cry with us demanding sanity.
For the sake of lamenting mothers, refuse violence and stupidity.
Love your enemies and cry with them is the advice of divinity.
Blessing those who curse is the path to genuine spirituality.
Pouring tears of mercy and compassion is true piety.
Pray with tears, for the sake of spreading equity.
Followers of Jesus: crying is now our responsibility.
But don’t cry for your friends only—cry also for your enemy.