African Biblical Studies Research Articles

African Biblical Studies: Unmasking Embedded Racism and Colonialism in Biblical Studies, by Andrew M. Mbuvi

African Biblical Studies: Unmasking Embedded Racism and Colonialism in Biblical Studies, by Andrew M. Mbuvi

Sustainability Hermeneutics: The New Task of African Biblical Studies

As a new and emerging approach to biblical interpretation, Sustainability Hermeneutics (SH) combines aspects of the environment, economy, and society in its interpretation of biblical texts. Such an approach to biblical interpretation shows the interaction of the environment, economy and society in biblical texts in line with the understanding of sustainability. It is therefore integrative and holistic. This article argued that such an approach holds so much promise for African Biblical Studies (ABS) at a time when the African continent is faced with myriads of developmental issues. While Sustainability Hermeneutics ingrains biblical texts into an integrative African worldview, the article also argued that the urgency of the use of Sustainability Hermeneutics in African Biblical Studies lies in the fact that the Bible and its messages still make sense to many African Christians. So, Sustainability Hermeneutics, if well utilised in African Biblical Studies, will motivate many African Christians to take actions that will lead to sustainable African societies.

Situating “Biblical Studies” within “Biblical Studies”

Critical Review Essay of: Mbuvi, Andrew M. African Biblical Studies: Unmasking Embedded Racism and Colonialism in Biblical Studies. London: T&T Clark, 2022. Pp. xiv + 234. £85.00 (hardback), £28.99 (paperback).

Re-Examining יְהוָה רֹעִי in Psalm 23: Implications for Akan Translations and African Biblical Studies

Psalm 23 is one of the psalms that are familiar to Ghanaians. The translation of יְהוָה רֹעִי in some Akan mother-tongue languages avoid the use of the shepherd imagery. The Mfantse translation, however, is very unique among the Akan translations. Its uniqueness lies in the translation of the shepherd imagery. The ‘shepherd’ is an indispensable imagery or a metaphor in the text. The rendering of יְהוָה רֹעִי as Awurade ne me hwefo in the Twi translations misses the imagery that the source text seeks to convey. This paper examines the place of ’adônâ rõ‘i in the source language and its translations in the Akan versions of the Bible. It deduces its implications for African Biblical Studies and suggests that in the next revision of the Twi translations due consideration should be given to the shepherd imagery.

African Biblical Studies: Unmasking Embedded Racism and Colonialism in Biblical Studies, written by Mbuvi, Andrew M.

African Biblical Studies: Unmasking Embedded Racism and Colonialism in Biblical Studies, written by Mbuvi, Andrew M.

African biblical studies and the question of methodology: A focus on New Testament scholarship in Nigeria

African biblical studies (ABS) focus on biblical interpretation in Africa. Although new, it has gained massive recognition among African biblical scholars as the biblical interpretation focus that best suits the peculiar challenges that face African Christians. Its emergence, of course, was reactionary to the Western approach to the interpretation of the Bible in Africa and the practice of Christianity as well, which failed to take into cognisance the peculiar needs of African Christians. In New Testament scholarship in Nigeria, ABS has come to dominate biblical interpretation, being the most preferred by New Testament scholars. However, this article notices a persistent problem with regard to methodological rigour in ABS in Nigeria. This article aims to call the attention of New Testament scholars in Nigeria to methodological rigour while engaging in ABS as this is also part of the reasons breaking into mainstream New Testament scholarship has become a problem for many of these scholars. This equally leads to poor global visibility and competitiveness on the part of many Nigerian New Testament scholars. The approach to the discussion in the work is analytical and descriptive with a touch of personal observation.Contribution: This article calls attention to the need for ABS scholars in Nigeria to emphasise methodological rigour in their research. While this will lead to recognition of the works of ABS practitioners in Nigeria and beyond, this article makes a case for academic excellence which is the hallmark of good biblical scholarship.

Mother-Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics: A Critical Assessment of the History of an Emerging Approach in African Biblical Studies

This study investigates the history, proponents, constituting elements, challenges, methodology, and future directions of Mother-tongue Biblical Hermeneutics (MTBH) as an emerging hermeneutical approach in African biblical studies. It observes that the translation of the Bible into African mother -tongues has influenced the emergence of MTBH. Based on this observation it posits that MTBH will continue to dominate Ghanaian biblical studies in the years ahead as the Bible gets translated into many more Ghanaian languages. After an overview of African biblical studies, the study establishes a correlation between the production of mother-tongue Bibles and the emergence of MTBH. It charts the course of MTBH by looking at its Ghanaian pioneers. Through an analytic assessment of selected works of currently established practitioners of MTBH, the study presents the constituting elements, challenges, methodology, and future directions of the approach. Moreover, it presents some selected institutions in which MTBH is practised and its practical results. The study finds that a dominant focus of MTBH has been resolving translation-related problems using advanced exegetical and hermeneutical tools. Consequently, less has been done in the area of mother-tongue Bible commentaries and innovative and creative mother-tongue hermeneutical reflections. Keywords: Mother-tongue Biblical Hermeneutics, African Biblical Studies, Mother-tongue Bibles, African Christianity, Ghanaian Biblical Studies

WORD OF INTRODUCTION

This issue of Scriptura is the second publication for which the Southern African Biblical Studies Society is responsible. It continues the policy of the Society to publish articles specifically relevant to the field of Biblical Studies and Bible Education.The articles in this present issue were all read at the Annual Congress of the Society held in May 1988 at the University of Pretoria. The overall theme of the Congress was Biblical Studies: Education and Praxis. The underlying direction of the entire Congress was methodological as the decision had been taken to obtain speakers who were experts in their own field of methodology from whom we as Biblical Scholars could learn.

Современная христианская философско-теологическая мысль в Африке: особенности и проблемы

 статье представлен междисциплинарный анализ малоизученной проблематики становления и развития профессиональной христианской теологии в странах субсахарской Африки, осуществленный на стыке африканистики, философии и религиоведения. В ранний период развития африканской теологии главной проблемой был поиск точек соприкосновения автохтонной культуры и религиозных верований с христианством, стремление доказать, что можно быть христианином, не отказываясь от своей культуры. Стержнем африканской теологии являются библейские исследования, что объясняется исключительной ролью Библии в странах Африки (Библия – это и сакральный предмет, и основной учебник в начальном и среднем образовании, и книга для чтения, и реальное Слово Божье). Метод библейских исследований – инкультурация герменевтики, то есть интерпретация Священного Писания с позиций африканского контекста. В африканской теологии существуют специфические формы, зависящие от регионально-исторического и гендерного контекста: постколониальная, постапартеидная и феминистская теология. Идеолого-методологическим подходом в африканской теологии является афроцентризм, который, по мнению африканских богословов, определяет «историю цивилизации и спасения с Африкой и африканцами в центре», в связи с чем ведется поиск африканского присутствия в Библии. Основными парадигмами африканской теологии являются Освобождение и Реконструкция, исследуемые на основе библейских прецедентов. Статья основана на малоизвестных африканских материалах. Авторы приходят к выводу, что в Африке существует оригинальное, отличное от Европейского христианское богословие, позволяющее понять специфику культурно-идеологического климата современной Африки.

EDITORIAL

This special edition of Scriptura contains once again selections of papers presented at the Southern African Biblical Studies Society at its Tenth Annual Meeting held on 24 and 25 May, 1991. The Conference, hosted by the University of South Africa, had as its theme: Values and education of a new generation.

WORD OF INTRODUCTION

The annual congress of the Southen African Biblical Studies Society was held in Johannesburg on 14 and 15 may 1993. Following the Society's approach over the past few years, the focus was on issues relevant to the teaching of the Bible within our present context. This year the theme of the Congress centred on: Old and New Methods of Teaching the Bible.

African Biblical Studies: An Introduction to an Emerging Discipline

African Biblical Studies (ABS) can be characterized both as innovative and reactionary: Innovative, because it refuses to be confined by the methodologies, ancient concerns, and principles that govern biblical studies in the ‘west’ (used throughout this article to refer to the majority Euro-American scholars while recognizing the presence of other groups), and instead charts a course that is more interested in making biblical interpretation relevant to present realities. Reactionary, because its driving force is partly a critique of the inadequacy of western biblical studies in providing meaningful responses to concerns that are pertinent to African communities. A genuine ABS is therefore an amalgamation of multiple interpretive methods, approaches and foci that reflect a creative engagement of the African cosmological reality and the Bible.

The “Poor” in Ancient Israel – and in Contemporary African Biblical Studies

The academic discipline of biblical studies experiences an increasing tendency to engage in burning issues of our own time. The contemporary globalization of the subject – with more and stronger exponents outside its traditional Western habitat – challenges a discipline that used to be defined as a purely historical enterprise whose only purpose was that of providing textual and historical raw materials for others, such as the supposedly “real” theologians of systematic theology, practical theology, or missiology. Using examples provided by African biblical scholars who interpret biblical concepts of poverty, the article argues that the academic discipline of biblical studies has a mandate to participate in the current struggle for justice and human dignity, and to do so with its particular insights and toolsvis-à-visthe biblical texts.

African biblical studies: Illusions, realities and challenges

African Biblical Studies is a biblical interpretation for the purpose of transformation in Africa. It is the biblical interpretation that makes the ‘African social cultural context a subject of interpretation’. It is also the rereading of the Christian Scripture in a premeditatedly Africentric perspective. It means that biblical interpretation is done from the perspective of the African worldview. The purpose of this article is to discuss some illusions or misunderstandings, realities and challenges facing African biblical studies. Some of these illusions are that African Biblical Studies is fetish, syncretistic and primitive, local and not popular or universal. The basic distinctive realities and challenges facing African Biblical Studies are also critically discussed for the purpose of understanding what African Biblical Studies is and to make African Christianity more authentic in Africa.

READING THE BIBLE IN AFRICA: ACCOUNTING FOR SOME TRENDS PART I

In theology African culture, thought and worldview had to wait until the demise of colonialism to be fully explored? In post-colonial (or neocolonial, Martey 1993) Africa there is an ever-increasing emphasis on theology as perceived and done in Mrica: also in the field of the academic study of the Bible. Equally, the demise of Apartheid heralded an increased emphasis on African theological- and African biblical studies in South Africa, if theological journals are anything to go by. There is no doubt that the discovery of the contribution Africa can make to biblical studies is, even if a belated, a very rightful and necessary one although the study of the Bible seemingly does not rank amongst the priorities of African Theology. As in all efforts to make the Bible address contemporary settings and concerns, many dangers accompany the efforts to relate the Bible to African culture and more especially vice versa: the attempt to establish Africa as the most only! appropriate setting or context for understanding the Bible. At best, studies on the relationship between Africa and the Bible will then become a fad. At worse, these kind of studies can leave nothing intact or distinct of either the Biblical writings and its setting6 or African culture(s). This contribution aims to contribute to the current debate on biblical studies in Africa, by mapping out a few contours of the Bible's appropriation in Africa in the past as well as some general perceptions within the debate, all of which takes place within the context of African culture. It is therefore advisable to begin the discussion with a few brief comments on culture, especially the African variety(-ies).

The task and distinctiveness of African biblical hermeneutic(s)

This paper deals with the nature of African biblical hermeneutic(s), its task and distinctiveness. African biblical hermeneutic is the principle of interpretation of the Bible for transformation in Africa. It can also be called African cultural hermeneutic(s) or African biblical transformational hermeneutic(s) or African Biblical Studies. The task of African biblical hermeneutic(s) includes, firstly and foremost to formulation of a biblical hermeneutic that is liberational and transformational; secondly, to break the hermeneutical hegemony and ideological stranglehold that Eurocentric biblical scholars have long enjoyed; thirdly, to understand the Bible and God according to Scripture and African culture and tradition; fourthly, to interpret the Bible existentially; fifthly, to blacken the Bible; sixthly, to reappraise the Bible in order to correct the effect of the cultural ideological conditioning to which Africa and Africans have been subjected in the business of biblical interpretation; and seventhly, to promote African culture, tradition and identity. African biblical hermeneutic(s) has the following methodological distinctiveness: communal reading and interpretation, Bible as power, Africa and Africans in the Bible, African comparative, African evaluative, using Africa to interpret the Bible and using the Bible to interpret Africa, the promotion of distinctive life interest, and African identity.

WHY BOTHER WITH HEBREWS? AN AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE1

This papers discusses the New Testament studies in Africa, unlike those in an Anglo-American setting, tend not to stand on their own ‘African biblical studies is one strand in the closely woven cord that is African Theology. The separation of biblical studies from other theological disciplines, so common elsewhere, does not happen in African biblical studies.

Current Debates On Biblical Hermeneutics in South Africa and the Postcolonial Matrix1

AbstractPostcolonial studies would seem to offer many advantages for academic and other discourses within and about post-apartheid South African society, including new, broad hermeneutical perspectives for biblical studies. Indeed, a number of current scholarly debates in South African biblical studies are related to the postcolonial paradigm: the tension between African versus Western readings, 'ordinary' versus 'trained' readings, and nationalist versus hybridical readings. juxtaposing some postcolonial biblical-critical voices and these debates is valuable in accounting for many of the important concerns that postcolonial readings raise, showing the significance and value of postcolonial studies, but is also important in the renewed attention to an appropriate ethics of interpretation in the biblical studies guild.

Die Bybelkundekernleerplan van die Suider-Afrikaanse Bybelkundevereniging

The Core Syllabus of the Southern African Society for Biblical StudiesIn this evaluation of the Core Syllabus of the Southern African Biblical Studies Society, two factors are taken into account: the history of this society, and the trends in curriculum design which influenced the formulation of this syllabus.