The Buddhist Studies and Dialogue Group of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific has published a collection of lectures by world-renowned theologian Fr Michael Amaladoss SJ into a book titled, “Peoples’ Theology in Asia”.
The book draws from a series of lectures the author gave to Jesuit scholastics participating in the East Asia Theological Encounter Program (EATEP) from 2006 to 2018. EATEP is an intensive course on Asian contextual theology designed to supplement the theological formation of young Jesuits in Asian cultures and religions. These lectures were also given by Fr Amaladoss to audiences in Chennai where the series received an enthusiastic response.
“Theology is our search for a better understanding of our faith in relation to our lives. It is encountering God in the way God challenges our lives and our relationships. This is affected by the historical, geographical, cultural, and religious circumstances in which we live. For those of us living in Asia, our situation will affect our experience of God and the way we speak about it. This is Asian theology. This book is an attempt to share my reflections and provoke your own thinking!” writes Fr Amaladoss.
He explains that Asian countries are multi-cultural and multi-religious, but share similar theological issues. “The Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, over the last 45 years, has created a common theological atmosphere in South, South-East and East Asia. This is the area I have in mind while speaking of an ‘Asian’ theology. We can also speak of an Asian way of thinking as compared to the African and the Euro-American ways, as I try to show in an introductory chapter. So I think that this book will be accessible and useful to my different Asian audiences though they will have to apply what they read to their particular situations and their challenges.”
Fr In-gun Kang SJ, EATEP Director and Coordinator for the Buddhist Studies and Dialogue Group, says in his foreword to the book: “Fr Amaladoss underscores the fact that theology is not only a ‘faith seeking understanding,’ but a peoples’ living experience of the liberating God in their seeking the total transformation of themselves and the world. Therefore, the author of theology is no academic thinker or writer, but the people of God themselves.” He highlights how “Fr Amaladoss aptly points out that peoples’ experiential theology in Asia can be summarised as the three-fold dialogue of the Gospel with the poor, the cultures, and the religions.”
The book is divided into three parts. The first part on Our Mission in Asia includes chapters on mission as dialogue, Jesus Christ amidst the religions, and the various images of Jesus in an Asian cultural and religious context. The second part, God with Us, delves into people’s experience of God in various forms of Asian spirituality. The book concludes with the Challenges We Face, detailing the different challenges Asian churches face in journeying towards the Kingdom of God with people of other religions and all people of goodwill.
“Peoples’ Theology in Asia” is available to download for free in pdf, and epub files for both iOS and Android devices.