Although the arrival of the Bible in Africa has often been a tale of terror, the Bible has become an African book. This volume explores the many ways in which Africans have made the Bible their own. The essays in this book offer a glimpse of the rich resources that constitute Africa's engagement with the Bible. Among the topics are: the historical development of biblical interpretation in Africa, the relationship between African biblical scholarship and scholarship in the West, African resources for reading the Bible, the history and role of vernacular translation in particular African contexts, the ambiguity of the Bible in Africa, the power of the Bible as text and symbol, and the intersections between class, race, gender, and culture in African biblical interpretation. The book also contains an extensive bibliography of African biblical scholarship. In fact, it is one of the most comprehensive collections of African biblical scholarship available in print. This publication has also been published in paperback, please click here for details.

This book is critically important for Bible translation theorists, postcolonial scholars, church leaders, and the general public interested in the history, politics, and nature of Bible translation work in Africa. It is also useful to students of gender studies, political science, biblical studies, and history-of-colonization studies. The book catalogs the major work that has been undertaken by African scholars. This work critiques and contests colonial Bible translation narratives by privileging the importance African oral vitality in rewriting the meaning of biblical texts in the African sociopolitical, political, and cultural contexts.

Section 1: The Bible and broad political discourses in Africa. "Rewriting" the Bible or de-biblifying the public sphere? Proposals and propositions on the usage of the Bible by public figures in Zimbabwe/ by Masiiwa Ragies Gunda. The Bible and the quest for democracy and democratization in Africa: the Zimbabwe experience / by Eliot Tofa. The Bible and the quest for developmental justice: the case of orphans in Namibia / by Jannie Hunter. The Bible in the service of pan-africanism: the case of Dr Tafataona Mahoso's pan-african biblical exegesis / by Obvious Vengeyi. The ANC's deployment of religion in nation building: from Thabo Mbeki, to "the RDP of the soul", to Jacob Zuma / by Gerald West. The Bible and democracy in Africa: how biblical science can contribute towards the establishment of plurality and democracy, the Bible as a relevant tool in the quest for engendering plurality / by Jephthah Kiara Gathaka. Section 2: Some readings of the Bible in/for political discourses in Africa. Contextual theological reading of the Bible with indigenous communities: the case of the Basarwa/San in Botswana / by Moji Ruele. A theological reflection on Romans 13:1-7 in the 21st century Zimbabwean politics / by Phillemon M. Chamburuka. The Judas Iscariot episode In the zimbabwean religio-political debate of "selling out" / by Francis Machingura. Inspiring for liberation - legitimizing for occupation : interpretations of the Exodus from southern Africa / by Stephanie Feder. Politics of feeding: reading John 6 (and 1 Cor 11) as documents of socio-political conflicts / by Joachim Kügler. "If my people ..." a critical analysis of the deployment of 2 Chronicles 7:14 during the Zimbabwean crisis / by Ezra Chitando. Towards a new reading of the bible in africa - spy exegesis / by Canisius Mwandayi. Empowering the poor: the Bible and the poor in informal settlements in Africa with reference to Mangaung, South Africa / Pieter Verster. Section 3: The bible, gender and politics in Africa. The politics of "biblical manhood": a critical study of masculinity politics and biblical hermeneutics in a Zambian pentecostal church / Adriaan S. Van Klinken. The bible as a source of strength among Zimbabwean women during socio-economic and political crises / by Elizabeth Vengeyi. An analysis of the application of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 and 1 Timothy 2:11-14: the politics of pentecostalism and women's ministries in Zimbabwe / by Tapiwa Praise Mapuranga.

Publisher's description: Quickly changing concepts on gender roles are a pivotal issue in after-colonial African societies. Many women (and men) are calling for a radical change as they feel traditional gender concepts as being oppressive, inhuman and un-Christian. Gender equality, gender fairness is on their agenda. On the other hand, for many men (and women) these societal changes are painful "gender troubles" and seem to be dangerous for gender-based identity, threatening traditional African values. Volume 22 of the BiAS series deals with this central topic by asking what gender troubles have to do with the Bible. Are biblical texts an obstacle for women's liberation? Is the Bible a divine guaranty for male supremacy or rather an advocate for gender equality? What are "redemptive masculinities" and how do they relate to a new, truly Christian understanding of the role of women in church, society and state? - Scholars from different disciplines and several countries are dealing with these urgent questions to help scholars, students, pastors, politicians and members of Christian churches to find a way to more gender fairness and "gender joy."

In today's demands for moral absolutes, the puritanism of early Christian Donatists is reflected. Maureen A. Tilley's study gives new insight into the Donatist church by focusing attention on the surviving Donatist controversies. She persuasively shows how Donatist interpretations of Scripture correlate with changes in the social setting of their church.

Africa and the Bible is a collection of essays about the African influence on and presence in the Old Testament, written over Gene Rice's more than fifty years of scholarly service at Howard University School of Divinity. They focus on characters with African heritage such as Ebed-melech and Jehudi in Jeremiah, and the prophet Zephaniah himself, as well as dealing with texts that have been misinterpreted to the detriment of African-Americans such as the story of the curse of Canaan, in which Ham and all his dark-skinned descendants are the ones viewed as cursed. One article provides evidence that the original worshippers of YHWH may have been from the land of Kush! One of Rice's earliest articles deals with the story of Joseph and relates it to Jim Crow; Rice finds in the story a model for racial reconciliation that is still relevant today. With a foreword by his colleague of many years, Cain Hope Felder, Professor of New Testament at Howard University School of Divinity, now retired, and a preface by Jonathan Rice, Gene Rice's son, the book is a treasure-trove of carefully researched, thought-provoking articles, and a perfect supplement to be used alongside a Hebrew Bible textbook.

This second volume delves into the intricate dynamics that surrounded the use of Scripture by North African Christians from the late-fourth to the mid-seventh century CE. It focuses on the multivalent ways in which Scripture was incorporated into the fabric of ecclesial existence and theological reflection, as well as on Scripture’s role in informing and supporting these Christians’ decision-making processes. This volume also highlights the intricate theological and philosophical deliberations that were carried out between and among influential North African Christian leaders and scholars—in diverse cultural and geopolitical settings—while paying attention to the complex manner in which these Scripture-laden discourses intersected the wide variety of religious opinions and ecclesiastical and/or theological movements that so clearly marked this region in this era.

This handbook explores the formation of Christianity in Northern Africa from the second century CE until the present. It focuses on the reception of Scripture in the life of the Church, the processes of decision making, the theological and philosophical reflections of the Church Fathers in various cultural contexts, and schismatic or heretical movements. Volume one covers the first four centuries up until the time of Augustine.