TOWARDS INTERCULTURAL CONTEXTUAL BIBLE STUDY: A REVIEW OF THE ADOPTION OF CONTEXTUAL BIBLE STUDY (FROM SOUTH AFRICA) IN THE WEST OF SCOTLAND

Abstract

Introduction In recent times, some biblical scholars have argued that the way forward in biblical interpretation is to focus on the reciprocity and cultural exchange of Bible readings by biblical interpreters. Scholars like Hans De Wit (1) have therefore advocated the initiation of a project that will involve communication and interaction between different cultures, and the undertaking of joint and reciprocal Bible reading projects between diverse cultures, using the same text among ordinary readers. Termed Intercultural of the Bible, the project was proposed at a consultation at the Free University of Amsterdam in July 2000. In the written proposal, Prof. De Wit stated that intercultural Bible study involves Reading of the Bible together by Christians in diverse social and cultural situations. (2) In the Netherlands, this project is being undertaken jointly by the Free University of Amsterdam and the Netherlands Reformed Church. (3) This is because of the conviction of both bodies that there are missionary po ssibilities of achieving an intercultural dialogue on faith by reading Bible stories together ordinary people from Germany, Indonesia, Latin America, Nicaragua, Brazil, South Africa, East and West Africa, etc., and then of developing an empirical hermeneutic involving interculturality as well. The interchange of biblical interpretative practice that began in 1995 between the Institute for the Study of the Bible (ISB) in South Africa and the Glasgow Contextual Bible Study group in the West of Scotland fits into the general framework described above. This paper will explore what happened when the Contextual Bible Study hermeneutical methodology of the ISB in the Natal Province of South Africa was initiated in the West of Scotland, and then. review its progress and the possibilities that it provides for intercultural reading of the Bible. Prof. Gerald West of the School of Theology, University of Natal, visited Glasgow University in 1995 as a visiting scholar to the Faculty of Divinity. During this visit, Prof. West gave' a series of lectures, seminars and workshops which generated a lot of discussions respect to reading the Bible from the perspective of people. (4) Biblical scholars, theological students, pastors and lay Christian leaders and workers who attended the lectures, seminars and workshops were challenged to envisage new possibilities of reading the Bible with people. Committed to reading the Bible people in South Africa, Gerald West sees the possibilities of doing the same in any context. Participants at his lectures, seminars and workshops started asking questions such as: 1. Do we in the West of Scotland have the type of and people that Gerald West is talking about? 2. Is it possible to read the Bible the underprivileged or the underclass in Scotland and have the same liberative effect and response that is happening in Africa, particularly, South Africa? These questions were asked because the West of Scotland is part of the Western European context, where there is the assumption by most people that liberation theology makes claims that are not related to Western societies. Formation of the Contextual Bible Study group in Glasgow Prof. West's visit and the discussions it generated led to the formation of the Contextual Bible Study group, consisting of biblical scholars from the University of Glasgow and volunteers who are mostly trained readers, all interested in reading the Bible groups in the West of Scotland. Their objective is to identify groups and to use the ISB hermeneutical methodology of contextual Bible study in South Africa to read the Bible them. The Contextual Bible Study group (CBS group) in Glasgow made a distinction in their definitions of poor and marginalized people in the West of Scotland. …