Vivid and Vibrant: A Book Review of The New Testament in Color

How can we read the Bible from a different perspective? In The New Testament in Color, IVP Academic presents a multiethnic Bible commentary.

Socially Located Interpretation

Edited by Esau McCaulley, Janette H. Ok, Osvaldo Padilla, and Amy Peeler, this book is magnificent. It is unapologetic in claiming a place in the commentary space. This is a commentary that champions socially located interpretation. It focuses on a cross section of contributors from North American ethnic minorities. In the introduction, McCaulley states: “we do not assume that our cultures stand over the texts, but through the interaction of person, text, history, and culture, truths that others might miss shine out all the more brilliantly.”

While the commentaries on the individual books of the New Testament are excellent, what I found most intriguing were the included series of articles related to ethnic identity and bilbical interpretation. These helped me better grasp the vantage point of each contributor. Esau McCaulley wrote on African American Biblical Interpretation, Janette H. Ok on Asian American Biblical Interpretation, Osvaldo Padilla on Hispanic Biblical Interpretation, T. Christopher Hoklotubbe (Choctaw) and H. Daniel Zacharias (Cree-Anishinaabe) on Turtle Island Biblical Interpretation, and Michael J. Gorman on Majority-Culture Biblical Interpretation: Reading While White.

Theologically Orthodox, Multiethnically Contextual

In Janette H. Ok’s section on Asian American Biblical Interpretation, she provides Daniel D. Lee’s Asian American quadrilateral as a distinctive framework for Asian Americans to talk about Asian American identity: (1) Asian heritage, (2) migration experience, (3) American culture, and (4) racialization. Asian American biblical interpretation includes reading from the minority experience, including marginalization, erasure, and tokenization, while anticipating and working toward greater justice, inclusivity, and equality. The book achieves its aim of being theologically orthodox and multiethnically contextual.

I consulted Jarvis J. Williams’ commentary on Romans as I prepared a sermon. Interestingly, in Romans 2 — Williams mentions White superiority but makes the point that we are all capable of being racist and claiming superiority over others. In Romans 3, Williams’ declares that “God’s judgement is multiethnic.” Jews and Gentiles can be justified by faith in Jesus Christ. In Daniel K. Eng’s commentary on James, he brings up various relatable concepts in the Asian American experience. The model minority, the principle of reciprocity, striving after educational credentials and marketplace success, and more. This is a commentary that will help you see and better understand different communities.