Julius Bautista and Lim, F.K.G., eds.

Christianity and the State in Asia: Complicity and Conflict
Oxford and New York: Routledge, 2009

In this volume, contributors from diverse disciplinary and institutional backgrounds offer in-depth analyses of the complex interactions between Asian nation-states and Christianity in the context of modernisation and nation-building. Exploring the social and political ramifications of Christian conversions in Asia and their impact on state policies, the book analyses how Christian followers, missionaries, theologians and activists negotiate their public roles and identities vis-à-vis various forms of Asian states, particularly in the context of post-colonial nation-building and socio-economic development.

Reviewers’ comments:
“The chapters here are brief, engaging, and come with useful bibliographies, making this a worthwhile introductory offering for a global Christianity, an 'afterword' for students of colonial-era Christian mission, and possibly good material for political scientists looking for case studies of how minority religious groups interact with states.” (Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 63: 856)

“Taken all together, the chapters in the book provide much food for thought in the editors’ claim that “there is much more fluidity in the ways in which Christians in Asia deal with their spiritual and civic obligations” (p. 2). Indeed, the collection illuminates well the notion that studies of Asian Christianity cannot be merely understood in reductionist frameworks that simply privilege the minority demographic status of Christians in Asia.” (SOJOURN 27(1): 194-197)