Asian American Biblical Interpretation (AABI) has come of age in recent years. Publications continue apace with works as recent as the encyclopedic T&T Clark Handbook of Asian American Biblical Hermeneutics (2019). In addition, Asian American biblical scholars have now attained the highest and most visible positions in the academy including presidents and deans of seminaries, the presidency of the Association of Theological Schools and even most recently the highest office in our premier guild, President of the SBL. Yet, most of such scholarship and representation has come from non-evangelical or mainline theological schools. Evangelicals are less represented.
This new research group provides a space for Asian American evangelical scholars to engage with, critique, integrate and indeed pave new ground in current approaches in Asian American Biblical Interpretation. The fact that the majority of Asian American Protestants are evangelical makes their voices even more imperative. “Asian American” is understood in its broadest sense to include East, Southeast, South Asian and Pacific Islander Americans. Asian American biblical interpretation by its very nature is interdisciplinary. Thus, invited guests will include theologians, historians, sociologists and scholars from other disciplines to inform our research.