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Andrew M. Mbuvi makes the case for African biblical studies as a vibrant and important emerging distinct discipline, while also using its postcolonial optic to critique biblical studies for its continued underlying racially and imperialistically motivated tendencies. Mbuvi argues that the emergence of biblical studies as a discipline in the West coincides with, and benefits from, the establishment of the colonial project that included African colonization. At the heart of the colonial project was the Bible, not only as ferried by missionaries, who often espoused racialized views, to convert “heathens in the distant lands,” but as the text used in the racialized justification of the colon...
Temple, Exile and Identity in 1 Peter will generate a fresh and perhaps even a new understanding of the main themes of 1 Peter, which include questions of identity, suffering, hope, holiness, and judgment. Mbuvi explores the temple imagery in the epistle of 1 Peter and focuses on the use of cultic language in constituting the new identity of the Petrine community. He contends that temple imagery in 1 Peter undergirds the entire epistle. 1 Peter directly connects the community's identity with the temple by describing it in terms reminiscent of the temple structure. He calls the members of the community "living stones", formulating an image that has been categorized as a "Temple-Community." This concern with the temple characterizes the restoration eschatology in the Second Temple period with its focus on the establishment of the eschatological temple. Restoration of Israel was also to be characterized by hope for the re-gathering of the scattered of Israel, the conversion or destruction of the Gentiles, and the establishment of God's universal reign, all of which are reflected in the discourse of the epistle.
While there are many commentaries written today, most have been products of Euro-American scholars who have sought to address questions and concerns of the western church. The New Covenant Commentary Series (NCCS) has provided an opportunity for scholars from the non-majority communities in Biblical Studies to engage fully with NT writings without bracketing their diverse backgrounds in the interpretive process. Consequently, in Andrew Mbuvi's interpretation of Jude and 2 Peter, the author seeks to both be faithful in the first century Greco-Roman world setting of the letters while also allowing aspects of his postcolonial, African, and liberation theology interests to inform his hermeneutic...
This volume foregrounds biblical interpretation within the African history of colonial contact, from North Atlantic slavery to the current era of globalization. It reads of the prolonged struggle for justice and of hybrid identities from multifaceted contexts, where the Bible co-exists with African Indigenous Religions, Islam, and other religions. Showcasing the dynamic and creative approaches of an emerging and thriving community of biblical scholarship from the African continent and African diaspora, the volume critically examines the interaction of biblical texts with African people and their cultures within a postcolonial framework. While employing feminist/womanist, postcolonial, Afroce...
The meaningful juxtaposition of academics (“experts”) with the day-to-day lives of nonacademics (“nonexperts”) has animated Gerald O. West’s work from the beginning. Seeking to bridge this chasm, West’s approach of reading the Bible with the “ordinary people” (typically marginalized communities) became a core practice not only of his church work but of his scholarship. West has been a strong proponent of taking seriously the “ordinary reader” as a viable and legitimate contributor to our understanding of biblical interpretation. Not only does this undo the “ivory tower” elitism that tends to pervade academic halls of learning, but it also reflects a form of scholarly humility that has been a mainstay of West’s and should be perpetuated more broadly in biblical scholarship.
This book brings together a number of African anti-corruption policy makers from across different academic disciplines, religions, and generations. It engages in processes of economic, social, and political transformation to eliminate poverty and inequity, through individual and institutional means. Through historical and contemporary perspectives on authority structures, institutionalised myths, beliefs, and rituals of authority, the volume explores how to correctly mobilise and influence citizens’ behaviour and attitudes towards accountability, transparency and probity, all of which are key to strengthening national integrity systems all over Africa, and are needed for equity and sustainable development. The book strongly advocates that corruption is everybody’s business. All the chapters in some way commemorate the inaugural anti-corruption year of the African Union in 2018 by interrogating how mechanisms to eliminate inequity and poverty can be built in Africa.
Christian Perspectives on Transforming Interreligious Encounter underscores the urgency of interreligious dialogue for contemporary society, aiming to foster interfaith understanding, justice, and peace. The initial section focuses on novel approaches to engaging with the religious Other through non-Christian sacred texts. Contributors explore the Jewish-Christian relationship, offer Christian interpretations of Hindu, Buddhist, and Confucian scriptures, and discuss the Qurʾān's potential to refine Christian theology. The dangers of comparative theology are warned against, and alternative perspectives, such as Asian liberation theology, are proposed for situating religion critically, as we...
The question of contextual theology and its relevance to Africa in this time of globalization, whereby there are rampant uncontrolled changes in cultures, technologies, economic policies, and even people’s religious lives, is very urgent. How is contextual theology relevant in the ever-changing contexts of the church in Africa? Indeed, there are a number of challenges which contextual theology faces within the church in Africa, which need to be addressed contextually. Some such challenges include poverty, rampant violence, homosexuality, alcoholism, the resurgence of prosperity gospel materialistic prophets and incurable illnesses like Ebola, HIV and AIDS, and the current coronavirus (COVI...
Matthew crowds more Old Testament quotations and allusions into the prologue than anywhere else in his gospel. In this volume, Nicholas G. Piotrowski demonstrates the narratological and rhetorical effects of such frontloading. Particularly, seven formula-quotations constellate to establish a redemptive-historical setting inside of which the rest of the narrative operates. This setting is defined by Old Testament expectations for David’s great son to end Israel’s exile and rule the nations. Piotrowski contends that the rhetorical effect of this intertextual storytelling was to provide the Matthean community with an identity—in a contentious atmosphere—in terms of God’s historical design for the ages, now fulfilled in Jesus and his followers.
What is the current state of the field known as biblical studies? How will biblical studies continue to develop in this diverse, globalized, and digital age? In this book, a diverse group of scholars who are known for their innovative practice of biblical interpretation come together to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the critically acclaimed journal, Biblical Interpretation, by sharing their thoughts on and questions about the assumptions, practices, and parameters of biblical studies as well as their desires and fears about its disciplinary future. Covering a wide range of topics, geographical regions, resources, understandings, and viewpoints, this exceptional collection of essays will make you and help you rethink the conventions and convictions of biblical studies as an academic discipline.