Amos Yong. The Future of Evangelical Theology: Soundings from the Asian American Diaspora. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2014. See here for IVP’s page about the book.
Amos Yong teaches theology and mission at Fuller Theological
Seminary. He was born in Malaysia, a Muslim-controlled country, and he
is of Chinese descent. His parents converted to Pentecostalism, and he
grew up in that form of Christianity. He is married to a woman of
Mexican descent.
The Future of Evangelical Theology includes articles that
Dr. Yong has written. Essentially, the book is about how Pentecostalism
and evangelicalism can address and interact with the globalization of
evangelical Christianity, as evangelicalism ceases to be a primarily
Western phenomenon. Yong focuses primarily on Asian and Asian American
evangelicalism, but he seems to believe that his insights can apply to
evangelicalism’s interaction with other people-groups as well, and he
discusses issues that are certainly pertinent to other people-groups.
Yong engages a variety of topics: How can Western evangelicalism and
Pentecostalism address the globalization of evangelical Christianity,
when their roots have not been particularly sensitive to cultural
diversity? Is it a problem that a number of Asian-American evangelicals
gravitate towards Asian-American churches? How should evangelical
Christians address the issue of undocumented immigration and the
economic exploitation of immigrants? Is it appropriate to translate the
Gospel into terms that make sense to Asians within their culture,
without compromising the Gospel or resorting to syncretism? (And, of
course, Yong points out that Western white culture has its own
understanding of Christianity, so it is not as if Western evangelicalism
has some pure form of Christianity, whereas other forms are
accommodations to culture.) How should Asians who convert to
evangelical Christianity deal with their own culture: should they
discard parts of it? In the course of his discussion, Yong educates the
reader about the various manifestations and contexts of Asian
evangelicalism. Yong also talks about the problem of how many Americans
regard Asian-Americans as a “model minority,” a stance that stigmatizes
other minorities.
Yong’s proposals are all right—-they largely amounted to appreciating
diversity, getting along, and standing up for justice. What made the
book good, in my opinion, was Yong’s discussions of the specifics of
Asian evangelicalism. Yong talked about how Asian evangelicalism looks
different in different countries because it interacts with a variety of
cultural features. Yong offered reasons that certain Asians convert to
evangelicalism: the aspects of their own culture that may draw them to
an evangelical belief system. Yong also referred to one Asian Christian
belief that there is the possibility of salvation for one’s departed
ancestors, which combined reverence for ancestors with a belief in
Christ’s atonement.
Yong’s autobiographical narrative was also valuable, as was his
honest discussion about his struggles as a Christian on the issue of
money: he and his wife are part of the upper middle-class, and can that
negatively impact his view of the poor or undermine his calling as a
Christian?
Yong also refers to a number of other works, and those interested in this topic will most likely find them valuable.
My thanks for Intervarsity Press for sending me a complimentary review copy of this book.