What's the primary argument of your book?
My book, The Path to Salvation in Luke’s Gospel: What Must We Do? investigates Luke's message of salvation in relation to socio-economic issues, and thus concerns salvation of the rich as well as the poor. With a narrative reading of Luke's Gospel built on careful examination of its socio-economic context, the book demonstrates that Luke's message of salvation is best understood as: 1) Divine mercy which champions the cause of the poor and redresses the injustice of the world, 2) Its human embodiment, and 3) Divine reward promised to those who enact mercy.
I argue that Luke's question of 'what must we do?' juxtaposes salvation with 'doing', posing interesting questions with respect to the salvation of the rich. It highlights good news to the poor in terms of divine mercy and justice, shows that the reception of divine mercy calls for practices which embody it, and above all clarifies Luke's notion of salvation of the rich which will happen as participation in the salvation of the poor. In conclusion, I challenge the readers by asking the question along with Luke's audience: What must we do?
What led you to study this subject?
I was troubled by the passage: 'Good news to the poor' in Luke 4:18-19 ever since I worked among the poor in Bangladesh and in the Philippines in the early 2000s. That very question bothered me once again while taking an MA intensive at Nazarene Theological College (NTC) in 2012. I thought I finally needed to tackle this question by investigating what it meant in Luke's Gospel.
How does your book contribute to the field?
It contributes to the understanding of Lukan soteriology particularly in terms of divine mercy and justice which calls for an active human response in tangible terms. Hence it incorporates Luke's interest in socio-economic issues into Luke's message of salvation.
What does it mean to you to be a scholar in the Wesleyan tradition?
Well, I guess working within a Wesleyan tradition gives me more freedom to be inclusive when engaging with different and challenging ideas or interpretations of the Scripture. But this may be an assumption that the other traditions do not offer this freedom. They may do.
How do you see your scholarly work as part of your ministry?
My scholarly work does not discuss in depth the aspects of the ministry although the key ideas or the implications of my study often emerge from my ministry contexts. They correspond by 'so what' questions after exegetical studies of the scriptural passages. Partly because I have been trained as a biblical scholar, I tend to go back to the Scripture to ask and dig deeper into the questions that I may have in practical ministry settings. Then some of the findings in the Scripture challenge me to reflect further on the practices of ministry. They are interconnected and intertwined in many ways.
What are some of the differences between writing a doctoral thesis and writing a scholarly monograph?
I have not been able to write a monograph yet after my doctoral thesis was published. In my case, my doctoral thesis was published almost in an identical form as a monograph.
Did you find new evidence or learn new information while rewriting?
In most cases, those who read Luke's Gospel through the lens of wealth and poverty climax at Luke 19, the account of Zaccheus where the rich tax collector is saved. I still agree with this reading, but I found Luke 14 where the banquet dialogue envisions the messianic banquet where the marginalised are invited and where the rich are invited with the poor to be a central focus when one reads Luke's travel narrative (Luke 10-19) chiastically.
What made NTC and Manchester ideal places to undertake your doctoral studies?
The worshipping community life of NTC and its environment in addition to the academic resources offered by University of Manchester indeed made NTC Manchester an ideal place to do my PhD studies.
What are some other projects in progress or ones you're looking forward to post-publication?
I am working on an article on Bible and Mission at this moment. I'd like to work on books on religion and wealth in the Book of Acts and an East Asian diaspora reading of the NT, both of which have been on my agenda for some time now. I will be meeting with a publisher with these ideas this summer.
What advice do you have for recent doctoral graduates who want to publish their theses?
I guess one needs to be practical in terms of what is most needed - whether one wants to have a publication history asap (then, try with a quicker one instead of the ones which let you wait for months or even a year) or whether one wants to have a good scholarly publication. The latter may take longer to hear from the publishers, but it is worth trying. Speak to the recent graduates who recently published their works as they have a better idea of what is going on with some well-known publishers. For instance, some well-known publishers already have a long list of PhD publications in which case they tend not to take new PhD theses for publication.