In his quest to identify practices that strengthen the faith of African Christians, Magesa examines the nature of being church today in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

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.

‘Biblical Exegesis in African Context’ explores how the Church in Africa can affirm its uniqueness in terms of the African identity and experiences, and at the same time, remain faithful to the gospel message. The volume begins with an explanation of exegesis and hermeneutics, and the agenda for the rest of the book is set. The second chapter deals with textual criticism, which is the task of determining the originality of a biblical text. In chapter three, issues related to the context of the text are considered, after which the volume proceeds to examine the various literary forms present in the Bible— prominent among them being— Narrative, Law, Poetry, Prophecy, Wisdom Literature, Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, Epistles and Revelation. The authors then dedicate the next chapter to discussions on socio-rhetorical interpretation. The final chapters of the book deal with matters solely related to the context of Africa; this part intends to equip readers to be able to interpret the Bible from African cultural perspectives and then apply the gospel message meaningfully to the life of African Christians. Chapter seven deals with the emergence and historical development of African Biblical Studies (ABS), noting its relevance and how Africans can benefit from it. The main contention of the chapter is that Africans will better understand and apply God’s word to their lives if they read the Scriptures in an African way. The volume then explores how African languages can be used to derive the meaning of scripture and apply it to real-life situations. Here, the authors contribute to the development of MTBH by developing a methodological framework for this interpretative tool. The next chapter of the volume deals with mother-tongue theologizing in Ghana. The final chapter considers the legitimacy of female leadership in the Church within the African context through the examination of two Pauline texts. This volume will be of interest to undergraduate and graduate seminary students, students of Biblical Interpretation in religions departments, as well as practicing pastors.

This collection interrogates and engages the biblical text, colonial and postcolonial subjectivities and cultural assumptions, as well as lived experiences that encompass varying Africana contexts and Diasporas. In order to do this, it deploys methodologies, exegetical analyses and critical and constructive communal epistemologies. Framed by historical, literary, cultural and theological engagements of issues around wealth and power, gender, sexualities and masculinities, HIV and AIDS, as well as the crises of war and mass violence, the book will be very useful for students, academics, clergy and laity committed to Africana-conscious epistemologies and methodologies, and the impact on biblical studies.

What is inculturation? How is it practiced and what is its relationship to colonial and postcolonial discourses? In what ways, if any, does inculturation represent the decolonization of Christianity in Africa? This book explores these questions and argues that inculturation is a species of postcolonial discourse by placing it in the larger context of what has now come to be known as Africanism and by showing how the latter - and through it inculturation itself - fully participates in the history of postcolonial struggles for indigenous self-definition in Africa. The thirteen contributors to this volume represent a group of young scholars from the southern, eastern, and western regions of Africa. They come from different disciplines: theology, philosophy, and biblical studies. Although they take different approaches to the question of inculturation, the fact that they engage it at all is illustrative of the methodological significance of inculturation in African theology.