The brainchild of the Evangelical Alliance South Asian Forum (SAF), which represents South Asian Christians in mainstream churches, Discovering Jesus Through Asian Eyes (Good Book Company) addresses 16 common questions. Among them are ‘Is Christianity a Western religion?’ ‘Isn’t it better to follow the religion of your family?’ and ‘What do Christians mean by calling Jesus the Son of God?’
A team of writers – several of them from Hindu, Muslim and Sikh backgrounds – wrote a booklet of answers to these questions, based on their own experiences with biblical points of reference. Other contributors wrote about why they converted to Christianity.
SAF national coordinator Manoj Raithatha said: ‘When I first became a Christian three years ago, my Hindu family and friends would ask me, “Don’t all roads lead to heaven?” I decided to swot up on the scriptures so I could give them reasoned and seasoned answers.
‘I later discovered that my fellow South Asian believers had been asked similar questions, so together we decided to publish a booklet giving questions and answers.’
The booklet was then developed into the course, which is available for use by churches.
