TORONTO –(CANADIAN CHRISTIAN NEWS SERVICE) — A one-volume commentary, written and edited by South Asian Biblical scholars on all the books of the Bible, is set to release this October, and has a definite Canadian touch.
The South Asia Bible Commentary (SABC) is a project of Langham Partnership International and partners. Langham is the organization founded by the late evangelical scholar, author and leader John Stott.
Langham is a global network with a Canadian arm that supports the work of Langham in the areas of preaching, literature and scholars around the world.
The SABC is approximately 1824 pages long with contributors from across South Asia.
Isobel Stevenson, a Canadian Langham Literature editor, was the editorial advisor and an editor for the project, helping to lead a team that included another Canadian, Krysia Lear, an Ontario-based proofreader.
“It was a great privilege to serve the church worldwide in this way,” says Stevenson. “I have noted that people tend to judge the health of Christ’s body by the health of the Church in Canada. But while we are right to worry about local issues, it is also good to know that God’s Church is growing dramatically elsewhere. And that this harvest of blessing also poses challenges for those trying to disciple new converts.”
Krisyia Lear comments: “Canada’s multi-culturalism adds colour and taste to my life, and
reading commentaries by Indian, Nepali and Sri Lankan writers, to name a few, enriched my understanding life in Christ and my relationship with God. As a Canadian I felt privileged to play a role in bringing this valuable work to publication.”
“As far as the work itself,” says Lear, “being Canadian meant I had to think in ‘South
East Asian English’ and style and play with time zones as I exchanged files
with the designer in New Zealand. I also had an opportunity to coach some
Indian seminary students who reviewed files for errors in cultural and social references. I believe that SABC will be a valuable resource and widely used for teaching in South Asia, and for some writers it will provide an example of how to apply scripture to their context.”
The SABC includes chapters on such issues as the caste system and violence against women, examined through the lens of the Bible and South Asian culture.
Dr. Jacob Cherian, editor and South Asian scholar, describes the commentary’s team: “The writers are all South Asian-scholars from India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka contributed to the volume. The editors are from all over the world-India, the U.S., England, and Australia. The production team includes people from the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. It’s a beautiful example of Christians coming together. We go passage by passage, making sure people understand the gist of the section and drawing parallels from a South Asian perspective.”
The vision of Langham Partnership is to see churches in the Majority World equipped for mission and growing to maturity in Christ through the ministry of pastors and leaders who believe, teach and live by the Word of God.
The mission is to strengthen the ministry of the Word of God through: nurturing national movements for training in biblical preaching (Langham Preaching); multiplying the creation and distribution of evangelical literature (Langham Literature); and strengthening the theological training of pastors and leaders by qualified evangelical teachers (Langham Scholars).
The SABC is expected to be officially released October 6, 2015 by Zondervan Publishing. It is available for pre-order July 8.
Website: www.langham.org
Contact: Karen Stiller, communications coordinator (to arrange interviews)
Phone: 905.982.0697
Email: canada@langham.org