Preface and Acknowledgements
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Summary
Perhaps the most striking single feature of Christianity today is the fact that the church now looks more like that great multitude whom none can number, drawn from all tribes and kindreds, people and tongues, than ever before in its history. Its diversity and history lead to a great variety of starting points for its theology and reflects varied bodies of experience. The study of Christian history and theology will increasingly need to operate from the position where most Christians are, and that will increasingly be the lands and islands of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific.
As Andrew Walls rightly points out above the rise of world Christianity has led to much greater diversity, and also generated interest in the history and theology of churches in non-western contexts. The purpose of this volume is to examine the emerging forms and themes of theologies in Asian Christianity, which have been shaped by the Christian communities in their interaction with the societies around them. The question this volume wishes to address is not how the churches in Asia have expanded in terms of numbers but how they have sustained their identity by developing their own theologies.
The focus of this volume is on the relation of these distinctive theologies to the specific historical contexts from which they have emerged. Considerable study has been done, both in English and vernacular languages, on the history of Christianity in different Asian countries.
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- Christian Theology in Asia , pp. xi - xivPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008