Christian churches of the global south have grown rapidly in recent years, and they now represent a majority of the world's Christians. Asian Christians have accounted for a significant segment of that growth, with special vitality in countries such as Singapore, the People's Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea. The majority of Asia's Protestants adhere to theologically conservative styles of Christianity, though many creative theologies have come from intellectuals in the more liberal streams of the faith.

The thirteen chapters of Christian Theology in Asia focus primarily on those liberal theologies, though one chapter is devoted solely to evangelicals and Pentecostals, and several others also take them into account. In addition to its preface and introduction, the book contains country-specific chapters on India (two chapters), Indonesia, Japan, China, and Korea, while six thematic chapters address such topics as the ecumenical movement, feminist theology, and Christians' theological engagement with the region's religious pluralism. All but one of the authors bear Asian names (several were still working or teaching in Asia), all have Protestant affiliations, and the book's primary focus is Protestant theologians and theologies.

Some of the strongest chapters have a single-country focus. The best is the chapter on Korea by the book's editor, Sebastian C. H. Kim. Ranging from early missions to the present-day churches, it details a broad range of theologies, giving equal weight to liberals and conservatives, to both socially oriented minjung and individually focused Pentecostal “wholeness” theology (to take just two examples), while summarizing Koreans' critiques of both. Choong Chee Pang's chapter on theology and churches in mainland China is particularly strong on the most recent decades, including consideration of studies of Christianity by secular Chinese scholars. Nozomu Miyahira's chapter on Japan traces developments from the first Christian contacts in the sixteenth century and explores a rich variety of theological initiatives in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

There are also strong thematic chapters on the ecumenical movement, evangelicals and Pentecostals, and religious pluralism and dialogue. S. Wesley Ariarajah surveys the contexts, history, institutions, and issues of the Asian ecumenical movements, including intersections with and divergences from Western exemplars. Hwa Yung's chapter on evangelicals and Pentecostals traces the work of key figures and organizations, along with a few of their contributions to local Christian discourses. M. Thomas Thangaraj's article on Asian Christian responses to religious pluralism outlines several approaches characterizing Christian attitudes toward Asian religions. He then outlines ways in which Asians have addressed such issues as the Bible's relation to other Asian scriptures, the relation of Christian concepts of God and Jesus to the god concepts and savior figures of other traditions, and the relationships between Christian churches and other communities of faith.

Despite these strengths, the book as a whole is disappointing. Several chapters advocate favored points of view rather than providing the descriptive analyses suggested by the title and the preface. The chapter on Asian feminist theologies fails to give any detailed examples of Asian feminist theology (though an early footnote points readers to more useful treatments), and it fails to cite any Asian-language sources while complaining of others' failure to do so. A chapter (not Thangaraj's) advocating intertextual dialogue with others' sacred scriptures proves to be motivated by the persistence of folk religious practices in a “grassroots” (i.e., poor and uneducated) congregation the author once pastored, seemingly unaware that this persistence references cultural “texts” very different from the literary ones on which the chapter focuses.

One also wonders why the book deals almost exclusively with the “left wing of the left wing” of Asian Christianity, while recognizing that most Asian Christians are theological conservatives. For example, at least four chapters deal with or even advocate interreligious dialogue of a type that sometimes treats the Bible as no more authoritative for Christians than other religions' scriptures, while only one chapter, plus part of the Korea chapter, deals substantively with Asia's evangelicals and Pentecostals, most of whom would consider such approaches anathema. Even the book's considerations of evangelicals say little about their apologetic adaptations to the Asian context, and more could have been said about the complex ways in which they have modified and contextualized evangelical rhetoric and church organizational styles, sometimes without realizing they are doing so.

Finally, one wonders why the book overlooks the Philippines (a Christian majority country), Singapore (a missionary-sending country where Christianity is well represented among the educated), and the Chinese diasporas of Southeast Asia and the United States (among whom Christianity has long been more readily welcomed than in China or in the host societies of countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand). Nor is it clear why the chapter on Indonesia almost entirely omits discussion of Muslim–Christian intellectual and political interactions, in favor of a history of Christians' failure to explicitly assimilate the government's doctrine of pancasila, a concept whose secular-political origins and multicultural orientations probably inspire few conventionally religious Christians or Muslims, even those who consider it a social and political necessity.

Nevertheless, if these limitations are taken into account, there is much to recommend. The chapters on India, interreligious dialogue, and ecumenical movements are useful, and the India chapters are especially strong on interreligious issues. The chapters on China, Japan, and especially Korea also contain useful information. Nevertheless, the book could have used a stronger editorial vision and a conclusion synthesizing the various issues. Thus, although several chapters are useful for research, instruction, and general reading, they must be used selectively.