The Bible and Other Asian Holy Books (Samartha)

The question of the “Asian Jesus” confronts us immediately with the question of how contemporary Asian Christians understand their own religious tradition. What, in their view, are the most important theological notions? Asian Christianity cannot be understood apart from its relation to the other great Asian world religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Taoism and Confucianism) and to the immense masses of the hopelessly poor.

To illustrate this starting point, we will look at three Asian theologians (Samartha, Song and Pieris) in this first chapter of Part II. All three have given a close accounting of the above starting point from their own context, each with his own emphasis. Samartha and Song are concerned primarily with the sources of Asian theology, whereas Pieris' concern is the current situation in Asia. All three have left abundant traces in Asia and have acquired an authoritative position both within and outside of Asia, which can be seen in the honorary doctorates, visiting professorships and executive positions in Asian theological institutions and organizations. They can certainly be considered representative for the 1980s and 1990s.

Who Jesus is in Asia is coloured not only by the biblical tradition but also by familiarity with the written sources of other religions. These sources also contain stories of divine or human figures who travelled the path between the divine and the human in a special way and to whom believers preferably turn. To get a good view of the Asian Jesus, we have to reflect first on how Asian Christians relate to those sources.