There is a growing recognition that God’s design is for us to read Scripture alongside the whole church in all of its cultural and linguistic diversity. Exploring the New Testament in Asia is a textbook for students and scholars of the New Testament to help the church hear and see the good news of Jesus anew. This collection of essays offers theological reflections on New Testament themes from Asian perspectives, while addressing contextual issues in light of the New Testament. Touching on topics such as salvation, holiness, poverty, ethnic tensions, reconciliation, honoring elders, persecution, and hospitality, the scholars in this book demonstrate the importance of a varied contemporary context for understanding the New Testament. The result is a theological contribution that is both contextually relevant and biblically faithful.

Understanding and assessing the New Testament writings from Asian viewpoints provides a unique and original outlook for interpretation of the Christian Scriptures. To that end, An Asian Introduction to the New Testament is the first book of its kind to take full account of the multireligious, multiethnic, multilingual, multicultural, and pluralistic contexts in which Asian Christians find themselves. Into this already complex world, issues of poverty, casteism, class structure, honor and shame aspects, colonial realities, discrimination against women, natural calamities and ecological crises, and others add more layers of complexity. Perceiving the New Testament in light of these realities enables the reader to see them in a fresh way while understanding that the Jesus Movement emerged from similar social situations. Readers will find able guides in an impressive array of more than twenty scholars from across Asia. Working with volume editor Johnson Thomaskutty, the authors make a clear case: the kernels of Christianity sprouted from Asian roots, and we must read the New Testament considering those roots in order to understand it afresh today.

Exploring the Old Testament in Asia is the first evangelical Old Testament textbook written both from and for an Asian cultural context. Rooted in the theological conviction that God still speaks through the Old Testament in all its fullness, the twelve essays in this book address key theological issues pertinent to the diverse cultures and contexts of Asia. Touching on topics from polytheism and kinship bonds to Scripture translation and the biblical conception of wisdom, the writers position themselves in conversation with Asia’s rich spiritual, cultural, and literary heritage. The result is a theological contribution that is both contextually relevant and biblically faithful.

This volume addresses the most important issues related to the study of New Testament writings. Two respected senior scholars have brought together a team of distinguished specialists to introduce the Jewish, Hellenistic, and Roman backgrounds necessary for understanding the New Testament and the early church. Contributors include renowned scholars such as Lynn H. Cohick, David A. deSilva, James D. G. Dunn, and Ben Witherington III. The book includes seventy-five photographs, fifteen maps, numerous tables and charts, illustrations, and bibliographies. All students of the New Testament will value this reliable, up-to-date, comprehensive textbook and reference volume on the New Testament world.

Written by scholars with extensive experience teaching in colleges and universities, the Exploring the Bible series has for decades equipped students to study Scripture for themselves. Filled with classroom-friendly features, this first volume, now it its third edition, provides an accessible introduction for anyone studying Jesus, the Gospels, and Acts.

As a Chinese woman, a feminist theologian, and a biblical scholar, Pui-lan Kwok brings a new perspective and voice to the task of hermeneutics. Her multidimensional reading of the Bible draws on a tradition much older than that of the West while it simultaneously incorporates the insights of contemporary feminist and Third World theologies. Seeing herself as "wanderer" between the worlds of East and West, Pui-lan Kwok draws on the work of contemporary biblical scholars, as well as the millennia-old commentaries on the Book of Change, the Dao de Jing, and the Bhagavad Gita. Her creativity and imagination come into play as she gradually, inseparably links reader, text, and context. The first three chapters locate the context from which she approaches the Bible as an Asian woman. Pui-lan considers Asian traditions as well as the social biography of Asian peoples and discusses the complex issues of using the Bible in feminist theology. Chapters Four and Five approach the unique Asian context with its long traditions of orality and exegesis of ancient scriptures. Chapter Six analyzes the challenges of Asian critics to western interpretations of scripture and raises sharp issues of colonial oppression. Finally, Discovering the Bible in the Non-Biblical World shows how the multiple oppressions of women provide a context for rediscovering the Bible's liberating message. "Must reading for anyone engaged in biblical studies, cross-cultural education and feminist theology. I highly recommend this richly instructive and powerful book."ùElisabeth Schassler Fiorenza Harvard Divinity School "An important addition to the fast-growing literature on Asian biblical discourse."ùR.S. Sugirtharajah University of Birmingham "A significant contribution to the hermeneutical conversation arising from the global context of reading of the Bible."ùSharon H. Hinge Wesley Theological Seminary