A History of the Ecumenical Movement in Asia by Ninan Koshy is a scholarly work based on considerable research, narrating and interpreting the evolution and development of one of the most significant movements of the twentieth century in Asia.

Written from an authentically Asian perspective, it challenges several long-held assumptions and claims in ecumenical and church history. Tracing the beginnings of the Asian ecumenical movement to the stirrings of nationalism in Asia, it makes an objective assessment of the missionary movement's contribution to the Asian ecumenical movement, and the significant role of Asian church leaders in broadening and clarifying the meaning of ecumenism is clearly brought out.

Right at the very beginning the author dismisses the facile claim that "Christianity is moving South" by proving and affirming that Christianity is an Asian religion. The book begins with a chapter on early Asian Christianity and moves on through the inspiring saga of ecumenism in Asia. It closes with a fresh perspective on the prospects of the ecumenical movement in Asia. The history of the ecumenical movement is set against the backdrop of developments in Asian history, bringing out vividly not only the context in which the ecumenical movement functioned at various stages but also the demands the context made on the mission of the church.

The author has done a remarkable job in weaving together the varied histories of the Christian Conference of Asia, the Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs and the World Student Christian Federation Asia-Pacific Region, highlighting their common themes and concerns.

The late Dr Ahn Byung-Mu, author of this book, was one of the leading minjung theologians who fought against the Park military dictatorship during the 1970s and 1980s. He was forced to resign from his professorship at Hanshin University in 1975 because of his participation in the democratic movement through his writings and lectures as well as action. A year later, he was put in prison for participating in the pronouncement of the “Declaration for the Restoration of Democracy”.

The death of a factory tailor named Jeon Taeil in November 1970 turned Dr Ahn’s life to a new direction. Jeon Taeil, a junior high school graduate, studied labour law by himself and rallied his co-workers, who agreed to fight for the improvement of their poor working conditions with him. Because he was not successful he burned himself to death in the Pyunghwa market. His death was shocking news to many intellectuals, especially to Dr Ahn, who interpreted the death as a self-transcending action.

Dr Ahn had gone to Germany for his study of the historical Jesus. In his quest he devoured as many books as he could, but he did not find the historical Jesus in European New Testament scholarship. On his return, he taught New Testament studies at Hanshin University, applying the biblical methods that he had studied in Germany.

Finally after experiencing the self-transcending action of minjung such as Jeon Taeil and his own imprisonment, Dr Ahn began to live for and with minjung. As he recognized the power of minjung as the subject of history, despite their poverty and oppression, Dr Ahn turned his theological point of view on Jesus. For him, Jesus was no longer seen as a person but as an event. He took the position to believe not in “In the beginning ... there was a word” but “In the beginning ... there was an event’. He also claimed that one could not study the Gospel of Mark without noticing ‘Ochlos’ who were always surrounding Jesus and concluded that they are the subjects of history and its bearer. Minjung became the core of his study. With his new theological view, he began to read the gospels, especially Mark, again and thus wrote the present book, Jesus in Galilee, as the fruit of his studies.

The Christian Conference of Asia, along with the World Council of Churches has long been involved with peace issues. Its current theme, ‘Building Communities of Peace for All’, articulates a vision that is shared by each member of the ecumenical community. Within this are efforts and initiatives towards peace-building and conflict transformation as a way of overcoming the violence that is sweeping all across Asia.

This resource book is the result of two workshops jointly facilitated by CCA and the WCC, ‘The Role of Church Women in Overcoming Racial / Ethnic / Minority / Religious Discrimination in Asia’, held in Hsinchu City, Taiwan, in September 2000, and ‘Asian Indigenous/Dalit/Aboriginal Women Overcoming Violence’, held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in September 2003. It represents the personal thoughts and feelings, struggles and pain, analysis and reflection, hopes and aspirations of individual women, which in the process became common issues and concerns that needed common action. Through rituals of praise and healing, poetry and song, creative expressions and dramatic presentations, the whole experience brought a sense of spirituality that went beyond all the human borders of racism, sexism and class. Hence what is presented here is a woven piece, the one story of women’s experiences of violence and discrimination.