Abstract
In oral cultures such as (traditional) African cultures and the cultures that eventually produced the Christian Bible, women formed an integral part of the art of storytelling. In patriarchal cultures where the normativity of a male is taken for granted, once orality was tampered with by that which happens in the sphere traditionally reserved for men as in, for example, the introduction of literacy, the important role of women as storytellers, including the telling of the stories of Jesus of Nazareth (read: biblical discourse) gets tampered with by subordination and silencing amongst others. Whilst the participation of women in ordained ministry and the delivery of public biblical discourse still remains a challenge in many African ecclesiastical settings, the advent of the digital era (cf. tele-evangelism in this essay) is not necessarily helpful towards the affirmation of women, especially first ladies in the context of huge ministries and mega churches. Contribution: The present essay seeks to answer the following main question: If the intersection among orality, gender, sacred texts and biblical discourse are analysed in the context of the full participation of African Christian women, especially the wives of the ‘men of God’, which power dynamics regarding gender and biblical discourse can be unravelled?
Highlights
In the digital age, personal computers and other subsequent technologies are introduced in order to enable the transfer of information with ease and speed
As this article engages orality in the context of religious discourse and as we have hinted the role that women played especially as storytellers prior to the canonisation of the text of the New Testament, acknowledging women’s roles as equal participants in the ministry of the gospel of Jesus, it may be worthwhile by way of an introduction to the biblical discourse constructed by grassroots African Christian women, to make some remarks about the African unwritten scriptures
As I draw to conclusion, the discourse on the intersection among power, orality, gender and biblical discourse, especially in contexts that have historically not affirmed the ministry of women, I would like to focus on the role of pastors’ wives especially those whose husbands are either founders of large ministries and churches
Summary
Personal computers and other subsequent technologies are introduced in order to enable the transfer of information with ease and speed.
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