Dictionary Of Asian Christianity, ed. Scott Sunquist, with David Wu Chu Sing & John Chew Hiang Chea, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids. 937 pages + List of entries, Preface, Introduction, list of Contributors, and end-maps. Approx. AUD$130.
Pundits speak of this as the Asian century and others note the increasing impact of Asian inputs on the world Christian scene. In this setting, DAC is a welcome and valuable reference tool that should help Asians and non-Asians have a better understanding of both the past story and present shape of Christianity in the region.
DAC was 10 years in the making and arose from a series of conferences between Asian Christian leaders under the impetus of Trinity Theological College Singapore and the Association of Theological Education in SE Asia. Numerous contributors from Asia and elsewhere have contributed 1260 entries with a geographical scope that includes west Asia for the first seven centuries and thereafter covers the region from Pakistan to the east, excluding Russia, PNG and other Pacific islands. The fact that this work is published at all (and could easily be doubled in size) and has so many distinguished Asian contributors is an artefact of thriving Asian Christianity. The fact that the chief editor, publisher and many contributors are non-Asian illustrates the extent to which Asian Christianity is interwoven with, and still somewhat dependent on, the world Christian movement.
The work aims to move beyond a simple dictionary format, and instead provide a ‘thick description’ (pxxiii) and a ‘fresh perspective on the misleading assumption that Christianity is a western religion’ (pxxi). DAC is generally phenomenological and historical in approach and reflects its assumption that ‘Christianity develops in each context in dialogue with the local context (pxxiii) and the struggle to talk about a ‘truly ecumenical Christian history of Asia’ (pxxi). These assumptions provide an ideological drive to the work, which sometimes becomes an apologia for features of Asian Christianity rather than a descriptive dictionary. For example, the article on Contextualisation (pp211-214) and Confucianism and Christianity (pp208-210) move somewhat beyond sympathetic description.
The work is rich in scope, with articles on historical, socio-economic, geo-political aspects, as well as significant entries on other religious bodies. For example, the articles on Buddhism (p98-104) and Islam (p395-403) provide helpful overviews. This rich scope means that the work will, to some extent, be used as a general guide to Asian religion and culture.
However, this rich scope is achieved at a significant cost. By conscious decision and in order to keep the work of manageable size and nature, Protestant missionary societies, significant individual churches, theological colleges and other educational institutions are purposefully excluded. Some significant examples of these are mentioned in articles on other topics in DAC; however, the general result is lop-sidedness. For example, consider the omission of the China Inland Mission / Overseas Missionary Fellowship. OMF is a large, long-present and highly significant body in the history of Chinese and Asian Christianity and remains a key body in many east Asian countries. Astute readers will find articles on people and activities associated with OMF, but the entry-level reader may leave DAC with misleading impressions.
As a contrast, non-Asian Protestant bodies such as the Bible Society (p77) and IFES (p385) appear, as does generous coverage of all manner of Roman Catholic activities. Indeed, it is sometimes hard to see why some articles were included, while others were excluded, and likewise to account for the balance in length between articles. To illustrate, Theological Education by Extension (TEE) is a widespread and powerful educational tool in Asia (as elsewhere) but has neither a separate article nor a mention in the general one on Theological Education (pp838-842). Any dictionary provokes dispute over exclusions / inclusions and the length of articles, but arguably, a dictionary of Asian Christianity that includes an article on the movement against Nuclear Weapons (p610) but excludes bodies like OMF has a problem of definition!
As a result, readers seeking a comprehensive overview of significant bodies impacting on Christianity in Asia will need to supplement DAC with other sources – if they can find them. One might hope for a clearer editorial hand to give better balance to the scope of articles in succeeding editions – with entries included by significance of subject’s contribution to the Asian story, rather than exclusion by label.
That being said, DAC will open up new vistas for many readers. Some articles cover topics common to other reference works, but sometimes with better length and quality than standard works (for example, compare the ODCC and DAC articles on Jacob of Edessa). Other articles cover familiar topics, but with a revealing Asian focus, for example, the articles on Bible Society (pp77-79) and Bible Translation (pp79-88). A third welcome category is articles on distinctly Asian topics, which will be eye-openers to many non-Asian (and Asian) readers. Among these are articles covering Asian Christian leaders who are as significant in their field as the more widely recognised familiar faces from the west – for example the article on the Chinese evangelist Ji Zhi-wen (pp418-419).
As might be expected with many contributors and source materials of varying paucity, there is an uneven focus and quality to articles. For example, only one quarter of one column of the four-column entry on Cambodia (pp111-113) is given to the present scene and only 24 words are given to present day Protestantism. The result is a misleading impression of the contemporary Cambodian church, which, in fact, includes much Protestant activity in primary evangelism, discipleship, theological education (including TEE) and Christian aid and development work. Similar problems can be identified elsewhere, for example the diminutive mentions of the house church movement in China (p145) and of the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Indo-China (p160).
Several Christian leaders who are well-experienced in particular Asian fields were consulted when preparing this review. A common response was to welcome sincerely the work, but to be critical of articles relating to their field of activity and interest. This is unsettling. If DAC is open to criticism at their points where a reader knows the subject, how can readers be assured of its reliability on subjects unknown to them?
A work like DAC will have several kinds of users. One will be the reader already familiar with part of the field and able to find their way around DAC and form their own assessment of individual articles. Another will be readers new to the field. Such a reader will learn much about Asian Christianity from DAC, but may also leave the work with some misleading impressions because of the above problems. In this respect, a prudent use of DAC will be as a key and guide to further explorations in other places, rather than as a normative work.
The work is well presented with good type-face and binding, an introductory list of all articles, clear end-maps, pointers to further reading and generally good proof-reading (although note ‘Pakastan’ on pxxxi).
The above criticisms are probably inevitable in a first undertaking of this nature, size and scope. Nevertheless, DAC is bound to be widely consulted and long remain a valuable starting point for both casual enquiries and serious research on Christianity in Asia.
DAC is a wonderful step in documenting the story of Asian Christianity and is a timely publication in what has been dubbed 'the Asian century'.
No comments:
Post a Comment