Going the Extra Mile: Reflections on Biblical Studies in Africa and the Contributions of Joachim Kügler. (2024)

NOW also online at OPUS: http://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-bamberg/files/5599/BIAS12Prophetsopuss*1A2.pdf

This volume examines the phenomenon of prophets and prophecy in contemporary Zimbabwe. By applying insights from biblical studies and other approaches, the volume sheds light on how this contentious phenomenon has been discussed in the Zimbabwean context. The different chapters highlight the role of the Bible, gender, media, literature and other perspectives have influenced attitudes towards prophets and prophecy in Zimbabwe. While the phenomenon has been principally associated with the new wave of Pentecostalism, it remains critical to appreciate pre-existing attitudes towards prophets from African Initiated Churches (AICs), as well as traditional healers in African Indigenous Religions (AIRs). Contributors to this volume have explored the complexities that characterize prophets and prophecy. The volume is of interest to scholars in biblical studies, theology, religious studies, political science, anthropology, philosophy and other disciplines. General readers, church leaders and civil society activists will also find the chapters in this volume valuable.The Editors and Contributors: Dr David BISHAU | Dr Kudzai BIRI |Dr Tarisayi A. CHIMUKA | Dr Anna CHITANDO | Prof Ezra CHITANDO | Nehemia CHIVANDIKWA | Agness CHIWARA | Dr Masiiwa Ragies GUNDA | Joyline GWARA | Shakespear HAMAUSWA | Prof Joachim KÜGLER | Dr Francis MACHINGURA | Prof Fainos MANGENA | Dr Charity MANYERUKE | Molly MANYONGANISE | Dr Tapiwa Praise MAPURANGA | Pauline MATEVEKE | Samson MHIZHA | Obert Bernard MLAMBO | Clemenciana MUKENGE | Dr Canisius MWANDAYI | Prof Tabona SHOKO | Dr Nisbert Taisekwa TARINGA | Prof Lovemore TOGARASEI | Dr Obvious VENGEYI | Clive Tendai ZIMUNYA

BiAS 26 ERA 5, 2020

THE CONTRIBUTORS AND EDITORSBIRI, Kudzai (PhD)BISHAU, David (PhD) CHIKAFU, Philemon Tichafara (PhD) (late)CHIMERI, Dudzai (PhD)CHIMININGE, Vengesai (PhD)CHITANDO, Ezra (PhD)GWARA, Joyline (PhD)HUMBE, Bernard Pindukai (MA)KONYANA, Elias G. (PhD) KONYANA, Shoorai (MEd)MACHINGURA, Francis (PhD) MADZOKERE, Nyasha (MA)MAKAMURE, Clemence (PhD)MAPOSA, Richard (PhD) (late) MUSASIWA, Roy (PhD) MWANDAYI, Canisius (PhD) MUYAMBO, Tenson (PhD)NDLOVU, Lovemore (PhD)SIPEYIYE, Macloud (PhD) TOGARASEI, Lovemore (PhD) ZIMUNYA, Clive Tendai (PhD)

Bible in Africa Studies: Exploring Religion in Africa, 2020

This volume, based on a PhD thesis submitted to the University of Zimbabwe, investigates the resilience of Shona religion and culture among ZAOGA Pentecostal Christians. Whereas the Pentecostal ideology suggests that ‘old things’ have passed away, it appears that ‘old things’ continue to have high significance for the ‘new’. The book demonstrates how belief in avenging spirits, witches and witchcraft, value of words spoken prior to death, the role, status and significance of women, belief in unnatural events, liturgy and salvation have remained relevant to the lives of ZAOGA Shona converts. The patterns of continuity, discontinuity, extension, collaboration, contradiction, re-interpretation and rejection between Shona traditional religion and culture and ZAOGA are explored, challenging the framing of African Pentecostalism as a mere imitation and parroting of US theology. The conclusion is that while ZAOGA self-consciously presents itself as a sophisticated, trans-national and progressive Pentecostal movement, members continue to wrestle with Shona indigenous beliefs and practices. An African womanist framework is adapted to challenge ZAOGA to promote the well-being of women.

A bibliography listing key texts specifically concerned with contexts on the African continent, including issues of Bible translation. A select list specifically related to African/Black American contexts are listed separately at the end of the document. This bibliography is limited to monographs and edited volumes.The main body of this bibliography is specifically concerned with contexts on the African continent, including issues of Bible translation. The first section lists texts related to African Biblical Theology (including monographs on specific biblical texts) and African Hermeneutics. The second section lists commentaries (pp. 18–19) and the third, texts related to African Homiletics (pp. 20–22). A select list specifically related African/Black American contexts, including the Afro-Caribbean) (p. 23ff) is included separately in the fourth section. This bibliography is limited to monographs and edited volumes. The majority of texts included are in English, with a few exceptions. For French texts, see my « Herméneutique biblique dans les contextes africains : une bibliographie ».[latest revision: 8 April 2024]

Bible in Africa studies, 2014

Bible in Africa Studies, 2020

Religious texts are important for believers and this is true of the Christian faith where the Bible is taken as an inspired and holy word of God. The challenge for biblical scholars, theologians, environmentalists, ecologists and biblical readers would be the use of morally challenging biblical examples in the proclamation of the kingdom. Texts that sound environmentally unfriendly, for example, Genesis 1:28 (where God instructed His created beings to subdue and have dominion on the earth), Mark 5:1-20 (where the healing makes the herd of pigs be driven into the sea) and Jesus cursing a fig tree. These are typical examples of morally difficult texts on the relation between the kingdom of God and the environment. The following questions have been raised: What is the morality of Jesus’ actions in cursing the tree? Do biophobic biblical texts have an impact on Christians’ interactions with their environment? Is sustainable development possible in a context of biophobic tendencies? How best can such texts be interpreted in a context where there is an environmental crisis characterized by deforestation, contaminated waters, polluted air and rampant poaching? Are the texts sensitive and friendly to the environment? How would African Christians morally regard and interpret such actions on the environment? Traditional culture sanctions peoples’ behaviour and interaction with their environment. As a result, fruit trees are highly regarded amongst Africans. Any behaviour that destroys nature is not encouraged. It is, therefore, the task of this paper to discuss the miracle of the cursing of the fig tree in Matt 21:18-22 in the light of sustainable development and environmental theology. Further, how would a Zimbabwean Christian sustainably read Matt 21:18-22 for development?

Bible in Africa Studies 32, Bamberg: UBP, 2022

The tension between the Ndebele and Shona people dates backto the pre-colonial era and this has been one of the major threatsto Zimbabwe’s peace. The book proposes Paul’s ethics ofreconciliation in the Corinthian correspondence as an inspirationfor social cohesion between the Ndebele and Shona tribes.The volume deploys Pauline key symbols (Christ, the Cross ofChrist, Ambassador, New Creation, and Baptism) as epistemologicallenses in promoting identity tags that go beyond ethnicity.For these symbols to be eff ective, the author proposes setting upof the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), refrainingfrom using ethnic off ensive language, introduction of Ndebeleand Shona languages in schools, substituting ethnic provincialnames with neutral ones, substituting ethnic registration systemof people with a neutral one, and the devolution of power.THE AUTHOR: Ishanesu Sextus Gusha holds a PhD in NewTestament from University of Pretoria, SouthAfrica. Formerly a Senior Lecturer from Universityof Zimbabwe, he is now serving asChaplain at Palma de Mallorca (Spain) in theAnglican Diocese in Europe. His research interestsare in Biblical Theology, Interfaith Dialogue,Peace Building and Environmental Issues. Gusha is afellow of Communities Engaging with Diff erence and Religion(CEDAR); The King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centrefor Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID); andSouthern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI).

Bible in Africa Studies

The tension between the Ndebele and Shona people dates back to the pre-colonial era and this has been one of the major threats to Zimbabwe’s peace. Ethnic tensions have resulted in the loss of thousands of lives since the country’s independence in 1980, especially during the Entumbane clashes and Gukurahundi massacres. The government has in several ways tried to bring social cohesion between the two ethnic groups but with limited success. Four examples are: the initiatives done through the 1980 reconciliation pronouncement by Prime Minster Robert Mugabe, 1987 Unity Accord between PF ZAPU and ZANU PF, the Government of National Unity, and the Commission on National Healing and Reconciliation of 2008. The failures are mainly attributed to amnesia and the unwillingness to repent from past evils by the perpetrators. Seemingly, the major problem may be attributed to the fact that interested parties often played the mediatory role; and one cannot objectively be both player and referee. In...

Bible in Africa Studies, 2020

Bibel-in-Afrika-Studien, 2020

The chapter uses the story of Reverend Thomas Kuto Kalume, the first Kenyan African clergy to win a political seat in post-colonial Kenya, to illustrate the broad interface between religion and civic engagement. As Kalume fought against dependency syndrome, illiteracy, begging bowl-attitude and other vices that retards development, he demonstrated that development starts with the individual attitude. The story has huge lessons for post colonial Africa, a phenomenon where leaders lead ignorant masses who must be educated correctly irrespective of the risks that a leader may get into. Empowering the masses, at whatever political or social risk, is critical for the broader agenda of transforming Africa holistically.

"A bird with one wing does not fly."In the Church at large, the life of the Church is often far better represented by its feminine wing. But for theological articulations and development, the voice of the feminine wing is too often dismissed and neglected by domineering voices from its masculine wing. As a result, the Church tends to fly in circles (or sometimes, she simply fails to fly). In African Christian Theology, we need to develop BOTH wings, male and female. Here are some examples of works trying to bring a better balance, by or about or edited by African Christian Women. This list is not, of course, exhaustive. It includes a selection of important books of which I am aware, together with some articles and chapters have been discussed in the African Christian Theology group.[latest revision: 11 October 2023]

This is now the official and final online version of BiAS 20, which is identical with the printed version. The volume contains papers presented at the BiAS meeting 2014 in Windhoek (Namibia), with some additional contributions. Scholars from Nigeria, Cameroon, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia and Germany are dealing with the urgent question of how the Bible is involved in the widespread use of violence in political, social, religious, and gender conflicts. One leading question is how to deal with the textual representation of violence in the Bible. It is taken up by more general hermeneutical contributions. The other leading question is how biblical texts and/or concepts are used to cause and justify violence. This is taken up by a greater number of articles which deal with concrete societal and political contexts in Zimbabwe and other African countries. The conference in Namibia was supported as a Humboldt-Kolleg on the Bible and Violence in Africa by the German Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.The editors and contributors:Johannes HUNTER (Namibia), Joachim KÜGLER (Germany) |Solomon ADEMILUKA (Nigeria), Kudzai BIRI (Zimbabwe), Phillemon CHAMBURUKA (Zimbabwe), Sheila W. CHAMBURUKA (Zimbabwe), Theophilus U. EJEH (Nigeria), Stephanie FEDER (Germany), Ottmar FUCHS (Germany), Lucky HWATI (Zimbabwe), Francis MACHINGURA (Zimbabwe), Nyasha MADZOKERE (Zimbabwe), Molly MANYONGANISE (Zimbabwe), Obert B. MLAMBO (Zimbabwe), Canisius MWANDAYI (Zimbabwe), Jacques F. OWONO (Germany/Cameroon), Jeremy PUNT (South Africa), Eben SCHEFFLER (South Africa), Elizabeth VENGEYI (Zimbabwe), Pieter VERSTER (South Africa), Clive T. ZIMUNYA (Zimbabwe)

BiAS 28/ ERA 6, 2021

This volume BiAS 28/ ERA 6 captures the experiences of single women in Zimbabwe. It brings out the indigenous cultural socialisations that negatively impact on them. The vibrancy of Pentecostalism did not save them from stigma and negative perceptions but rather fuels their challenges and misery. The over-glorification of marriage over and above singlehood and in extreme cases denunciation of singlehood, has implications for single women, especially for those who have divorced. The attitudes and perceptions towards single women in the families, society and Church are largely adversarial and do not attach dignity and value, in a nation where marriage and motherhood remain important and cherished statuses. Therefore, the author adopts a multi-dimensional approach in analysing and critiquing the pitfalls of Shona indigenous cultures, limitations of Pentecostal gender ideology and proffers avenues that can create safe spaces for single women.

Bamberg : University of Bamberg Press, 2022 (Bible in Africa Studies ; 34), 2022

BiAS 34 is a study of material possessions in the Gospel according to Luke, relating their implications for Christians in Nigeria whose excessive quest for material wealth has become a problem. Adopting the Historical-Critical Method of exegesis and complementing it with the Social- Scientific Criticism, the book focuses on the parable of the Rich Fool in Lk 12:13-21 and the related teaching in Lk 12:22-30. It is argued that a thorough understanding of material possession in Luke’s gospel should take into account the background of severe social tensions among Christians in Luke’s community. The hermeneutics of the study shows that contemporary Christianity in Nigeria is marred by an excessive materialism which is against the teachings of the Lukan pericopes – especially, if prosperity is not shared with the poor.Kingsley Ikechukwu Uwaegbute holds a doctorate from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he also teaches New Testament Studies at the Department of Religion and Cultural Studies. He has published articles in reputable international journals. His research interest covers contextual and social-scientific interpretations of the New Testament, Christianity’s interaction with Igbo culture, and the intersection of religion and society.

Religions

The Exodus played an explicit and implicit role in sustaining the policy and practice of apartheid in South Africa and in various other places that went through the pains of colonization. Interestingly, the same Exodus also played a central part in the resistance to and the subsequent dismantling of the apartheid policy and practice in South Africa. That readers on both sides of the divide found solace in the Exodus was put down to the common assumption that guided both parties. The assumption of historicity caused the Exodus to be read as if it were a photographic record of what happened and the experience of oppression and discrimination by the readers assigned the Exodus a historical status for speaking to a historical situation. The assumption of historicity was central in the destructive uses of the Exodus thereby creating a cycle of oppressed–oppressors across the African continent, as groups took turns to seek out their own advantage. An assumption of justice was proposed as ...

The article has three parts. Firstly, we give an overview on how the Greek-Hellenistic imperialism provoked apocalypticism as a way of resistance to colonization (e.g. Egypt and Judah). Secondly, we show how the early African apocalypticism is very similar to that of the Ancient Near East. In many African countries, colonization was perceived as an apocalyptic phenomenon. Within this mind-set, apocalypticism became an information system that speculated about the true nature of time, space and being. This information system also gave solutions to how the coming destruction could be ameliorated by human ingenuity and actions. This ideology informed liberation movements like the Chimurenga and others. Thirdly, we analyse how the anti-imperial apocalypticism was calmed by an imperially formatted Christianity. Elements like the belief in heaven created a naïve world-denying attitude: ‘this world is not my home I am just passing through.’ Within the African apocalyptic mind-set, COVID-19 ...

Bible in Africa studies, 2021