A Conversation with Jonathan Y. Tan: Re-introducing Asian American Theologies from Timothy Tseng on Vimeo.

Jonathan Tan wrote Introducing Asian American Theologies (Orbis Books) in 2008. This path-breaking book offered a breath-taking look at the landscape of the varieties of Asian American theologies that had been written at the time. It provided a comprehensive overview of mainline Protestant, feminist, liberationist, Catholic, Pentecostal and evangelical approaches to doing contextualized theologies in Asian American settings since the 19th century. On October 22, 2017 we had a conversation with Dr. Tan about the book and any new developments in the area of Asian American Theologies.

About the Author
Jonathan Y. Tan is Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan Professor of Catholic Studies in the Department of Religious Studies and affiliated faculty in the Chinese, Ethnic Studies, Asian Studies, and International Studies programs at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio (USA), as well as Co-Chair of the American Academy of Religion’s World Christianity Group.

Jonathan holds a Ph.D. from The Catholic University of America (Washington, DC), a M.A. from the Graduate Theological Union (Berkeley, California), and a LL.B. (Honours) from the National University of Singapore Law School.

Previously, he taught at Australian Catholic University (Sydney, Australia) Xavier University (Cincinnati, Ohio) and The Catholic University of America. Jonathan is the author of Introducing Asian American Theologies (Orbis Books, 2008). His recent book, Christian Mission among the Peoples of Asia (Orbis Books, 2014) has been named by the International Bulletin of Missionary Research as one of 15 outstanding books of 2014 for mission studies. He is also the lead editor of World Christianity: Perspectives and Insights (Orbis Books, 2016), which has been named by the International Bulletin of Mission Research as one of the 10 outstanding books of 2016 for mission studies, and co-editor of Theological Reflections on the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016).

About Introducing Asian American Theologies

This examination of the development of Asian American theologies in North America includes the immigrant experience of Asians from the mid-nineteenth century until the present, the nature of Asian American Christianity, and the themes that appear across traditions and denominations. Tan highlights the contributions of key Asian American theologians and scripture scholars and describes the more distinctive theologies that have developed among the diverse groups of Asian Americans, including Catholics, mainline Protestants, Evangelicals, and Pentecostals. A challenging final chapter presents four areas in which Asian American theologians can work together in the future.