One caveat, however, before proceeding. Any presumed trans-cultural
theological claim always emerges historically and thus is particularly consti-
tuted by some cultural-linguistic ferment or combination thereof. Hence,
trans-cultural theological truths are articulable only through the process
of their contestation, certainly preliminarily if not also in the longer run.
Such disputation may result in the demise of such claims, or else their
(gradual) reception across space and time will be indicative of their trans-
culturality, however provisional such might be. The point is that theologi-
cal claims are posited contextually in faith, and their ultimate truthfulness
will have to run the gamut of multi- and inter-cultural adjudication. Going
forward I will focus on Asian America as my inter-cultural site, but in
order to invite also the multiple other cultural articulations that are essen-
tial for a truly trans- cultural achievement to emerge.
A SIAN AMERICAN PENTECOSTAL QUESTIONS
AND TRAJECTORIES
I now explore the relevance of Asian American Pentecostal perspectives
on hermeneutics in light of the preceding discussion. 15 My goal here is
to clarify the historicity of hermeneutical dynamics striving toward trans-
cultural relevance. We shall see how multi- and inter-culturality facilitates
and prompts, however challenging the obstacles, trans-cultural theologi-
cal thinking.
We begin with the obvious, that the Asian American Pentecostal
(AAP) site is triadically constituted and, in that sense, triadically contested,
but at three different levels. First, each of the terms of AAP is irreducibly
plural. Asia can be understood historically (perennially disputed surely),
politically, geographically, culturally, or religiously, among other dimen-
sions, but the result is the same: dynamic and shifting perspectives that
can be broken down into practically innumerable categories of analysis. 16
Similarly, American is no less pluralistically comprehensible. Even at the
explicitly theological level (as opposed to any other register such as the
political or geographical, just to name two important categories of analy-
sis), one encounters not only ethnic perspectives but also a range of theo-
logical traditions claiming to represent the American experience. 17 This
does not mean that the notions of Asia or America cease to be meaning-
ful, but that any assertions regarding Asian-ness or American-ness inevi-
tably function at high levels of abstraction and can only be deployed as
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