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.

As Asia is the cradle of many religions, the New Testament writings should be interpreted by accepting its pluriform religious and ideological aspects. The existence of multiple Christian denominations also demands balanced interpretation. This book demonstrates inclusive biblical claims within multireligious and multidenominational contexts.

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.

The words, phrases, and stories of the New Testament permeate the English language. Indeed, this relatively small group of twenty-seven works, written during the height of the Roman Empire, not only helped create and sustain a vast world religion, but also have been integral to the larger cultural dynamics of the West, above and beyond particular religious expressions. Looking at the New Testament through the lens of literary study, Kyle Keefer offers an engrossing exploration of this revered religious text as a work of literature, but also keeps in focus its theological ramifications. Unique among books that examine the Bible as literature, this brilliantly compact introduction offers an intriguing double-edged look at this universal text--a religiously informed literary analysis. The book first explores the major sections of the New Testament--the gospels, Paul's letters, and Revelation--as individual literary documents. Keefer shows how, in such familiar stories as the parable of the Good Samaritan, a literary analysis can uncover an unexpected complexity to what seems a simple, straightforward tale. At the conclusion of the book, Keefer steps back and asks questions about the New Testament as a whole. He reveals that whether read as a single document or as a collection of works, the New Testament presents readers with a wide variety of forms and viewpoints, and a literary exploration helps bring this richness to light. A fascinating investigation of the New Testament as a classic literary work, this Very Short Introduction uses a literary framework--plot, character, narrative arc, genre--to illuminate the language, structure, and the crafting of this venerable text. About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.

Jesus in the sutras, stele, and suras -- The heavenly elder brother -- A Judean jnana-guru -- The non-existent Jesus -- A Jaffna man's Jesus -- Jesus as a Jain tirthankara -- An Upanishadic mystic -- A minjung messiah -- Jesus in a kimono -- Conclusion: Our Jesus, their Jesus

A founding member of the Jesus Seminar presents a new edition of the New Testament that includes ten more recently discovered texts, selected by a council of scholars and spiritual leaders, along with the classic books.

Toward Decentering the New Testament is the first introductory text to the New Testament written by an African American woman biblical scholar and an Asian-American male biblical scholar. This text privileges the voices, scholarship, and concerns of minoritized nonwhite peoples and communities. It is written from the perspectives of minoritized voices. The first few chapters cover issues such as biblical interpretation, immigration, Roman slavery, intersectionality, and other topics. Questions raised throughout the text focus readers on relevant contemporary issues and encourage critical reflection and dialogue between student-teachers and teacher-students.

Witherington provides a much-needed introduction to the ancient art of persuasion and its use within the various New Testament documents. More than just an exploration of the use of the ancient rhetorical tools and devices, this guide introduces the reader to all that went into convincing an audience about some subject. Witherington makes the case that rhetorical criticism is a more fruitful approach to the NT epistles than the oft-employed approaches of literary and discourse criticism. Familiarity with the art of rhetoric also helps the reader explore non-epistolary genres. In addition to the general introduction to rhetorical criticism, the book guides readers through the many and varied uses of rhetoric in most NT documents-not only telling readers about rhetoric in the NT, but showing them the way it was employed. This brief guide book is intended to provide the reader with an entrance into understanding the rhetorical analysis of various parts of the NT, the value such studies bring for understanding what is being proclaimed and defended in the NT, and how Christ is presented in ways that would be considered persuasive in antiquity. - from the introduction

A one-volume commentary, written and edited by South Asian Biblical scholars on all the books of the Bible.

"Liew is one of the most articulate, creative and sophisticated biblical scholars in North America. What Is Asian American Biblical Hermeneutics? has not caused me to question that judgment. A set of provocative questions, arguments, issues, and problems, the book opens a window onto what it means for human beings to try to negotiate a rather complex contemporary world, with evidence of increasingly blurred but also thick ideological and social-cultural boundaries and overlapping but also recognizable and isolable identity formations. That Liew does this by using and bringing together the category "Asian American" and the phenomenon of the reading of "the Bible" as sharp analytical wedge is all the more fascinating. This impressive book represents the collapse of the center and a major shift in orientation to the peripheries. It is a major achievement and a major challenge." —Vincent L. Wimbush, Claremont Graduate University "A groundbreaking achievement! Dr. Liew uses his amazing breadth of scholarship to challenge Eurocentrism in biblical studies and secularism in Asian American studies at once. Like Gender Trouble, The Future of an Illusion, and other original work, this book will become a classic in Asian American biblical hermeneutics, setting the terms of debate for years to come. After Liew, reading the New Testament will never be the same again."—Kwok Pui-lan, Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts This is the first single-authored book on Asian American biblical interpretation. It covers all of the major genres within the New Testament and broadens biblical hermeneutics to cover not only the biblical texts, but also Asian American literature and current films and events like genome research and September 11. Despite its range, the book is organized around three foci: methodology (the distinguishing characteristics or sensibilities of Asian American biblical hermeneutics), community (the politics of inclusion and exclusion), and agency. The work intentionally affirms Asian America as a panethnic coalition while acknowledging the differences within it. In other words, it attempts to balance Asian American panethnicity and heterogeneity, or coalition building and identity politics.