The two volumes under review here represent very different approaches to a similar end, which is to broaden and to further historicize the idea that Christianity is not only a Western religion. But they also take an important additional step to show us that Christianity can assume surprising incorporations, reinterpretations, and rejections once it has been localized into an Asian context. The volumes take as their focus the reception of Christianity in South Asia and East Asia, as well as in Asian America. While they are grounded in different fields (biblical studies in one; history and East Asian studies in the other), they both provide useful explorations and can serve as starting points for new research on Asian Christianities in all their variety.
R. S. Sugirtharajah, now an emeritus professor at the University of Birmingham, is probably best known for introducing the category of postcolonial criticism to traditional biblical studies....
