The Asian Jesus

by Michael Amaladoss

In beginning this book, Michael Amaladoss states that images are important in helping us grasp who Jesus was and is. Following that insight, he unfolds the way in which nine images from Asian literature, culture, and religion open new horizons on the Founder of Christianity. The images Sage, Way, Guru, Satyagrahi (witness to truth), Avatar (incarnation of the divine), Servant, Compassionate One, Dancer, and Pilgrim.

Amaladoss helps us read the New Testament with new eyes. Not only does a Jesus more familiar to the peoples of Asia emerge, but we see how the East has helped the entire world Christian family gain a richer perspective on the man from Galilee.

Genres: Theology, Biblical Studies, Spirituality

192 pages, Paperback

First published September 27, 2006

Reviews

[Dhanaraj Rajan · Rating 3 out of 5]

May be three and half stars....

The theologian gives certain Asian images which are applicable to Jesus.

Image is a personal construct and arises out of one's faith. The base for any image is the 'dialectic relationship between the person and his life and the cultural and historical setting of the surrounding.' For the former, the example would be Jesus, the Crucified and for the later the image would be Jesus, the Rabbi (teacher).

Thus, the theologian tries to find the images that are typically Asian and finding the images he also gives the necessary explanation. The images exclusively dealt are: Jesus, the Sage; Jesus, the Avatar; Jesus, the Satyagrahi; Jesus, the Guru; Jesus, the Servant; Jesus, the Way and Jesus, the Compassionate.

Why does he search for Asian images? Because Jesus has always been presented by the West as a Westerner. This might result in exclusivism and alienation of Jesus from non-Christian Asians.

[Daniel Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a look at the various Catholic theologies that have emerged in different Asian cultures. This book looks at how Christian belief interacts with and can be informed by Asian spiritual beliefs and religions, focusing mainly on India and South Asia (Jesus as Satyagraha, as Avatar, as Dancer, as Guru) but also with some time spent on East Asian Buddhism and Taoism (Jesus as the Way, Jesus as the Sage). The book was written by an Indian Jesuit who is at the forefront of developing modern Asian theologies. What I really liked was the focus on images and archetypes - while the author outlines these new visions of Jesus, the idea is that these can be left somewhat to the poetic imagination, just like more traditional views of Christ such as High King, High Priest, Liberator, etc.

[Carie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insight into how Asian religions view Christ.

[Jacob · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is way too long and focuses on the topic for probably not more than 50% of the entire text. Scattered and lost, this book doesn’t know how to concentrate. Too bad, because the topic itself is very fascinating.

Don’t get me wrong, I gained a lot of interesting insight from this book. I just don’t appreciate that I was forced to wade through a lot of pointless and off-topic content besides.