AbstractKwame Bediako of the Akrofi-Christaller Memorial Institute of Theology, Mission and Culture based in Akropong-Akwapim in Ghana, was a stalwart in the field of African Christianity and Theology. He was called home to glory in June 2008 at the age of 63 years. Converted from atheism whilst studying for a doctorate degree in French and African literature at the University of Bordeaux in France, Bediako embraced a conservative evangelical faith. He went on to do a second PhD in Theology under the tutelage of Andrew F. Walls in Aberdeen. Bediako returned to Ghana in 1984 to found the then Akrofi-Christaller Memorial Center for Mission Research and Applied Theology. Through that initiative, now a fully accredited tertiary theological educational institute, Bediako pioneered a new way of doing theology through his emphasis on mother-tongue hermeneutics, oral or grassroots theology, and the study of primal religions as the sub-structure of Christian expression in the majority Two Thirds World. These ideas are outlined in his major publications, Theology and Identity, Christianity in Africa, Jesus of Africa, and the many forceful and insightful articles scattered in local and international journals in religion and theology. For many years to come, although living in glory, Bediako's evangelical intellectual heritage will continue as a leading reference point for all those seeking to understand Africa's place in the history of world Christianity.

AbstractThis study of Rom 3:25a and the concept of ilasterion seeks to illustrate the importance of biblical interpretation in a multicultural context by generating a dialogue between the Greek text, which reflects a blend of Palestinian and Hellenistic worldviews, and translations into some European and Ghanaian languages that carry their own sociological, linguistic, and theological perspectives. It concludes with comments on the implications of the findings for the production of study Bibles, commentaries, and other Scripture-engagement materials for African audiences.--C.R.M. Abstract Number: NTA52-2008-2-1093

AbstractThis 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, Afrocentric, social engagement, creative writing, reconstruction, and HIV/AIDS perspectives, the authors all engage with empire in their own ways: in specific times, forms, and geography. This volume is an important addition to postcolonial and empires studies in biblical scholarship. The contributors are David Tuesday Adamo, Lynn Darden, H. J. M. (Hans) van Deventer, Musa W. Dube, John D. K. Ekem, Ernest M. Ezeogu, Elelwani B. Farisani, Sylvester A. Johnson, Emmanuel Katongole, Malebogo Kgalemang, Temba L. J. Mafico, Madipoane Masenya (ngwan'a Mphahlele), Andrew M. Mbuvi, Sarojini Nadar, Elivered Nasambu-Mulongo, Jeremy Punt, Gerrie Snyman, Lovemore Togarasei, Sam Tshehla, Robert Wafawanaka, Robert Wafula, Gerald West, Alice Y. Yafeh-Deigh, and Gosnell L. Yorke.

AbstractThe book, in the main, discusses issues relating to mission, ecumenism, and theological education and is presented in four sections. The first segment discusses works on ecumenical and theological education and assesses the relevance of the World Council of Churches. Other issues discussed in this segment relate to the interrelationships that exist between academic theology, ecumenism, and Christianity. The World Missionary Conference held in Edinburgh in 1910, which set the agenda for world-wide mission in a promising manner in the 1920s, is also assessed in this section of the work. 0The second segment, which covers Religion and Public Space, discusses works that examine the relationships between religion and power, religion and development, religion and traditional religious beliefs, and religion and practices in Africa. The third segment of the book treats Religion and Cultural Practices in African and how all these work out in couching out an African theology and African Christianity. Some of the issues discussed in this section related to African traditional philosophy, spiritism, and the interrelationships that exist between African Christianity and African Traditional Religion.0The last segment of the book discusses the issue of African biblical hermeneutics and specifically looks at contemporary hermeneutical approaches to biblical interpretations in Africa.

AbstractThis paper makes a case for a methodology for doing African Biblical Hermeneutics. It builds on the ideas of earlier scholars of Biblical Hermeneutics in Africa who focused on continuity between the Old and New Testaments with reference to their hermeneutical and personal uses in Africa as follows: during social interactions, expressions of courtesies, expression of sympathy and support for the oppressed, the marginalised and the “common person”. Also in criticism of Western scholarship in African theological hermeneutics, feminist exegesis of the Bible, ecumenical and gender issues in Africa. This work argues that current state of Biblical Hermeneutics in Africa is about interpreting the Bible from the perspective of African languages because God speaks into the African context in African idioms. The author proposes a methodology for doing Mother-Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics which is lacking in the works of earlier scholars.

AbstractBiblical Studies is the study of the Judeo-Christian Bible and related texts. It seeks to determine the meaning of the biblical books or given passages, especially as intended by the biblical writers for their addressees. Biblical Studies over the past few centuries have been categorized into three broad areas. First, there are those that locate the meaning of the text in the world behind the text; second, those that locate the meaning of the text in the world within the text; and third, those that locate the meaning of the given text in world in front of the text. The third method has opened the way for Biblical Studies to be undertaken, using the mother-tongue translations of the Bible. In the paper, the writer has argued scholarly that, the mother-tongue Bibles in Ghana have enough problems that call for academic engagement. The significance of this study is that, it has added another dimension to the already existing methodologies for Biblical Studies. Scholars and readers of this paper will be exposed to this methodology which they may want to use in the academic study of the Bible. The author recommends the mother-tongue biblical hermeneutics approach to the Departments of Religious Studies in Universities and Theological Seminaries in Africa, for, it will in no doubt add to biblical scholarship worldwide.