Lee explores a framework for doing theology by and for the Asian Americans. It is part of his own journey as a Korean American migrant who spent major part of his adult life in the United States.
At the very outset of the book, he highlights his own journey as an Asian Christian from the reformed tradition in a white male dominated society. This experience ignites his theological reflection.
He explores the issue of contextuality and particularity in the first two chapters. He concludes that the election of the people of God and covenant with them is the context for theological reflection. So, this paves the way to his conclusion that “Asian American Theology is about God revealed in Jesus Christ.”
The heart of the book is the third chapter where he suggests a quadrilateral as the heuristic tool for interpreting Asian American experience. Asian American Quadrilateral (AAQ) is the intersection of Asian heritage, migration experience, American culture, and racialization.
The rest of the book elaborates on this quadrilateral (AAQ). However, the last two chapters scrutinize the personal and communal aspects of Asian American theology. Here the pastor in Lee comes to the forefront prescribing trauma theory and interpersonal neurobiology to manage the Asian American experience in the white dominated context.
The book indeed offers fresh theological insights on the Asian American experience and how to manage it positively.
This book is yet another contribution to the discussion on how to read the Bible. It deals with the question if it is valid for the reader to bring their own theological framework to their reading or not?
Hilber, John W. Ezekiel: A Focused Commentary for Preaching and Teaching. 2019
By this work, Hilber has demonstrated how to write commentary for pastors and teachers who are the major consumers of Bible commentaries. Many commentaries very technical the ordinary pastors and students of the Bible. On the other extreme are commentaries who compromise exegesis for detailed suggestions for application. What is unique about this commentary is that it has a proper balance between exegesis and application; and is not too technical for the non-specialist.
What makes this a very user-friendly commentary is its structure. In the short introduction, the author gives us an overview of the Book of Ezekiel. He also offers some advice on how to divide the book into ‘teachable units.’ This is followed by suggestions on how to apply the text to the context of the preachers and their listeners.
He divides the Book into teachable units. The key themes of each unit are presented in the form of bulleted lists. He then presents the specific context of this passage in the wider context of the Book of Ezekiel. In the section that follows titled ‘Interpretive Highlights’ comments on the significant verses are given. So, we don’t have comments on all verses and words or phrases! Only what is essential for our understanding of the key themes of the passages are discussed. Besides these, all units also have a section called ‘Theological Bridge to Application’ where the key themes of each unit are seen in the light of the larger Biblical theology. In the last section, titled ‘Focus of Application’ the author makes broader suggestions as to how that particular section speaks to contemporary situations that we live in.
This indeed is a commentary where the reader gets what they need to preach and teach without having wade through mind-boggling details. Every reader would long for similar volumes from Hilber on other books of the Bible.