Muslims are coming to Christ all around the world. But what should a church composed of Muslim-background believers in Jesus look like? How contextualized can/should such a church be? I recently read an outstanding book dealing with the central biblical-theological and missiological questions surrounding this central question: . The book’s author, S. T. Antonio (a pseudonym) is a personal friend who currently lives and ministers in the Middle East among Arab Muslims. I reached out to him and asked whether he might be willing to do an interview about his new book. I am delighted that he agreed.

Berding: Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Antonio: I grew up in a Christian family in a non-denominational Bible church. I’m an alumnus of 91 where I attended Torrey Honors College and majored in Biblical and Theological Studies, and where I also had the privilege of learning from you and other professors what it looks like to love God with mind and heart. I then headed eastward to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill., where I did an M.Div. and Th.M. focusing on missiology. I met my wife at Trinity in the middle of her Ph.D. studies and we followed the Lord’s call to serve in the Middle East among Arab Muslims, which we have been doing for the past six years. We have served in two different countries in various humanitarian and educational capacities, seeking to love our Muslim neighbors that they might be transformed by the love and grace of Jesus and spread that grace to others. I also serve as editor for a journal called Seedbed: Practitioners in Conversation which cultivates conversation among mission practitioners among unreached peoples.

Berding: Why did you write this book?

Antonio: I wanted to help myself and my fellow disciple-makers think biblically and theologically about the nature of the church and how that applies to Muslim discipleship and the “insider movements” debate. While I was at Tri