Combing his situatedness in the realities of the Asian context with resourceful reimagining of the world of the early teachers of faith, the author innovatively explores the ongoing relevance of issues and themes in the world of the early church in a vastly different but strangely similar contextual environment. These essays reinforce the importance of continuing to rediscover the world of the early church in seeking to invigorate contemporary theological reflection and praxis.

Persecution of the minority and the question of identity; the varied understandings of religious texts; the complex attitudes to women, especially those on the margins; the need and necessity of almsgiving, the persistence of poverty, and the actuality of prosperity; the gnawing nature of envy; the possibility and results of forgiveness; the wounded and furrowed body are the complex themes that mark the reality of our everyday existence today. Yet these were also themes that were interrogated by the early teachers of faith, especially in the time after the New Testament. The church then as now is faced with confrontation and clashes, with challenges and controversies, with competition and conflict, and it is not just the uncertain future that is at stake, but also the unstable past. Creatively navigating the world of the early teachers of faith and the challenges facing Christianity in Asia today, the author reaches back and constructively re-reads the challenges that the early church faced in order to move forward in addressing the topics that theological discourse must deal with today.