Abstract
Daniel D. Lee's book, Doing Asian American theology, is a self-fulfilling prophecy where the author systematically and critically builds an Asian American theology using several conceptual stands and as an Asian American himself. Lee guides the reader through the throngs of social, political, racial, ethical, psychological, and theological trenches toward building a relevant Asian American theology through his proposed framework, Asian American Quadrilaterals. The end of the book marks its achievement of the set goal by inviting others to join in working on Asian American theology for the Imago Dei.
Lee is a Korean American, Theology, and Asian American studies assistant professor and the academic dean of the Center for Asian American Theology and Ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary. Lee has worked in the area of Asian American theology both at the seminary and church levels for several years. He earned his Ph.D. from Fuller Theological Seminary for his study of reformed theologian Karl Barth and contextualized theology. Lee's education and experience are echoed fervently throughout this book.
Lee opens his book with an introduction that tells a story of his early childhood move to the USA and the discovery of his struggle with two identities. For him, Asian American is an identity with the cultural, theological system, and sociological aspects full of ups and downs. Through reading Reformers’ works and studies in Asian American studies, he came to terms with his identity and place within the kingdom of God in time. Lee's long journey, coupled with diverse theological conceptualization, helped him to formalize Asian American theology, whereby there is a holistic engagement with God and his Gospel as Asian American. Lee's work also opens the door for the universal church's edification by the gifts of Asian American believers altered profoundly by the Gospel. He presents his ideas in nine chapters; the first two chapters will build the foundational thoughts of the book. The following five chapters introduce and explain each of the four paradigms of the Asian American Quadrilateral, leading into the last two chapters on personal and communal aspects of Asian theology and its application.
Lee deals with the nature of theology and justifies the need for contextualized theology in the first chapter stating that there is no acontextual theology but that all are specific to their context. Incarnational, Pentecostal, and relational contextuality are discussed and fall short without the governing thoughts of the source of contextuality, the nature of God and his elect, Israel. Theological contextuality calls for exposed examinations that assume the presence of a normative theology without cultural influence. Lee shows the role of a universal manifestation of the revelation of God understood through particular theologies. There is no universal normative theology; all theologians grapple with their setting to form their interpretation of the universal manifestation.
Chapter two grounds contextualized theology on the everlasting relationship of covenantal God and his elect Israel. Lee proposes that all other people should start doing theology as gentiles grafted into God's chosen people. Finally, Lee traces the history of anti-Semitism and the denial of accepting or addressing Jesus as a Jew. These positions hold lasting soteriological implications through their rejection of the particularities of Jews and Jesus. The reclaiming of these concepts, Lee argues, will allow Asian American theology to develop with its particularities rather than humanity's universal essentialism.
In the third chapter, Lee traces the development of the term “Asian American” by Asian Americans themselves to take back control and power in their identity. However, the vast diversity of Asian Americans remains an issue. Lee shows language as one expression of Asian Americanness, which can be a tool for self-awareness or understanding one's reality. The contextualization of language should consider Asian American hybridity and provide a concrete analysis of what it means. Language should also help with intersectionality between the two identities, Asian and American. Lee showed the demand for interdisciplinary work and the contribution of contextual language to it. The interpretative need has allowed Lee to make an original contribution of an open, fluid, and dynamic integration of the concepts to categorize new information about Asian American theology. Asian American Quadrilateral (AAQ), in Lee's own words, “Defines Asian American context as an intersectionality of the four contextual themes: Asian heritage, migration experience, American culture, and racialization” (p. 67).
Chapter four deals with cultural heritage, indicating cultural influences brought to America by Asians. Asian American cultural heritages permeate and are static as the cultures of the migrants are capsulated in their time of the move, without the global interaction it would have in contrast to the culture's original location. Based on demographic representation, Lee lists the prominent Asian American cultural heritages in the United States. He then shows the tools to use the cultural archetypes that impact, using cultural specificity and historical rooting to understand and respond to the current experiences. Finally, Lee presents culture as a neutral element, where our presumptive theological approach could be enriched or incubated.
In chapter five, Lee considered the second element in the AAQ, migration, with the concept of loss. The migration of Asians to the United States spans an extended historical time with varied experiences of the immigrants. The American dream that lured many has been one major factor in the migration and settlement of Asian Americans; Lee laments how this dream has been instrumental in propagating modern-day idolatry among many migrants. There are theological themes associated with the migration of people, and through this archetype, he attempts to make sense of each to build an Asian American theology. Lee presents the loss of oneself, family, and heritage as the consequences of migration, which need theological severe inquiry and response. Lee exposes how a theological understanding of migration and its results will help in the formative migration perception.
Chapter six presents American culture and representation as the third part of AAQ. Lee opens interestingly by showing that the hybrid Asian Americanness through socialization is both Asian and American; however, the dominant identity can result from following the prevailing culture within their demographical composition. The first three significant aspects of American culture are Western intellectual tradition, missionary and colonial history, and White mainstream American Evangelicalism. Lee dissects each to produce meaningful perspectives in doing Asian American theology. Lee argues the last point with several examples and details, where Asian American misrepresentation and lack of representation are crucial to the problem of Asian Americans’ representation in full humanity. The assumptions of complete assimilation, White/Black racial binary, and considering Asian Americans as perpetual foreigners allow for the persistence of misrepresentation.
Lee shows anti-Asian American racism through historical recounts, macro and microaggressions, and systemic racism in chapter seven. This chapter addresses the last paradigm in the AAQ, presenting the role of racism and racialization as the previous archetype to work toward understanding Asian American identity and building a relevant theology. Lee closes the chapter by showing how calling out racism could be the first step in the solution, especially within the overarching Black/White binary that ignores the impact of racism on Asian American. This leads him to refer to Barth's idea of kingdom-like, a lifestyle that speaks against injustice and racism. Lee's recurring theme of Imago Dei thus cumulates at the point of humanity as images of God without forgetting their particularities to bring forth Justice.
Chapter eight dives deep into identity fragments through multiple self-expressions as race and ethnicity in the case of Asian Americans and their dual identity as Asians and Americans. This duality is associated with trauma experienced from different forms of racism; in this case, microaggression is most visible. Lee insightfully suggests that a support group, engaging in bodily activities, and accepting the whole self could help to cope and heal from this type of trauma. Lee articulates that many Asian American experiential tendencies could be attributed to the identity of a “Trauma induced fragmented self” (p. 178). Through his work with Fuller Seminary colleagues, he points out that using language to understand and express trauma, narrative storytelling, and community, where healing could safely occur, can bear relevant solutions. The goal is not to condense oneself to one aspect of identity but rather an integration of all our identities toward following Christ.
Lee finishes his discussion in chapter nine by presenting “critical mixed economy embodied ecclesia” as a relevant starting point within the working of Asian American churches. Lee proposes this as opposed to the multiracial churches, which are considered solutions for racism within the church. With the Black/White binary, systemic White dominance attempts to mold everyone into one picture, which is unacceptable. Starting with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan William's mixed economy church with strong diversification culture, Lee enhances it by adding criticality, which attends to the historical and structural forces within the community and embodies indicated considering the whole humanity in the ecclesia, which allows Lee to come to a full circle of his discussion of building theology as gentiles in response to an entire Jewish Jesus. The book completes with a suggestion to a different form of Asian American Christian ministries to think about the particularities of Asian Americans consciously and to work on an embodied Asian American theology critically.
The archetypes and framework that contribute to building an Asian American theology are the most decisive stance of the book. Lee has set out to complete a work that could function as a framework for further endeavors in theological studies. His invitation at the end of the book to others to start working on theology, centered on God through their particularities, can begin with the strong presupposition and initial work Lee has done in this book.
While considering all theology through a covenantal relationship with God, Imago Dei and man's particularity contribute as a starting solution to underlying racial problems in our theological endeavors. Lee's substantial philosophical and theological grounds are White European reformed theologian Barth shining the most. Lee utilized this idea to bring internal consistency and validity to building Asian American theology from particularity. Though his standing grounds are diverse, he was conscious of his personal and social identity as an Asian American, thus creating a theology as one. This could serve as a prototype of his presuppositions. Reading this book, even without any relation to Asian American identity, readers could understand and interpret the concept easily toward contextualizing the work into their communities.
The book, however, requires some form of theological and philosophical backgrounds, if not more disciplines to be well understood. The penmanship utilized jargon left to the reader to grasp their meaning from context or seek definition. Making the concepts far and annihilates readers without a higher education qualification. The complexity affects the book's goal, which was to reach the hands of the “person” toward building Asian American theology or another following particularity. The author could benefit the readers with a guide to read or a slower pace of content presented in short and more chapters.
True to his strong reformed academic background, Lee has supplemented this work with an excellent framework to start doing Asian American theology. The book can be utilized across the board of race and ethnicity while enhancing all forms of Asian American ministries. Workshops and training sessions could be featured with the concepts in this book and use the book to reach mainly Asian American pastors, ministers, and leaders.