We are pleased to announce the release of the Asia Bible Commentary, available immediately for the Accordance Bible Software Library.
What follows below is from the series preface by Federico G. Villanueva.
In recent years, we have witnessed one of the greatest shifts in the history of world Christianity. It used to be that the majority of Christians lived in the West, but Christians are now evenly distributed around the globe. This shift has implications for the task of interpreting the Bible from within our respective contexts, which is in line with the growing realization that every theology is contextual. The questions that we bring into our reading of the Bible will be shaped by our present realities as well as our historical and social locations. There is a need therefore to interpret the Bible for our own contexts.
The Asia Bible Commentary (ABC) series addresses this need. In line with the mission of the Asia Theological Association Publications, we have gathered Asian evangelical Bible scholars to write commentaries on each book of the Bible. The mission is to “produce resources that are biblical, pastoral, contextual, missional, and prophetic for pastors, Christian leaders, cross-cultural workers, and students in Asia.” Although the Bible can be studied for different reasons, we believe that it is given primarily for the edification of the Body of Christ (2 Tim 3:16–17). The ABC series is designed to help pastors in their sermon preparation, cell group leaders or lay leaders in their Bible study groups, and those training in seminaries or Bible Schools.
Each commentary begins with an introduction that provides general information about the book’s author and original context, summarizes the main message or theme of the book, and outlines its potential relevance to a particular Asian context. The introduction is followed by an exposition that combines exegesis and application. Here, we seek to speak to and empower Christians in Asia by using our own stories, parables, poems, and other cultural resources as we expound the Bible.
The Bible is actually Asian in that it comes from ancient West Asia, and there are many similarities between the world of the Bible and traditional Asian cultures. But there are also many differences that we need to explore in some depth. That is why the commentaries also include articles or topics in which we bring specific issues in Asian church, social, and religious contexts into dialogue with relevant issues in the Bible. We do not seek to resolve every tension that emerges but rather to allow the text to illumine the context and vice versa.
The volumes in this series are also available individually. Volumes include:
- Judges by Athena E. Gorospe with Charles R. Ringma
- Lamentations by Federico G. Villanueva
- Psalms 1-72 by Federico G. Villanueva
- Micah by Johan Ferreira
- Matthew by Samson L. Uytanlet with Kiem-Kiok Kwa
- 1, 2, 3 John by Gilbert Soo Hoo with Pervaiz Sultan
The Asia Bible Commentary Series is available for Accordance as a set or by individual volume.
Asia Bible Commentary Series (6 Volumes)
List Price $122.40
Regular Price $99.90
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Individual volumes:
- Judges (Regular price $24.90)
- Lamentations (Regular price $15.90)
- Psalms 1-72 (Regular price $24.90)
- Micah (Regular price $15.90)
- Matthew (Regular price $24.90)
- 1, 2, 3 John (Regular price $15.90)