BiAS 7 – The Bible and Politics in Africa
Judas, could have been done by any of the disciples.^24 The figure of
Judas is important in the salvation history, although, the gospel evangel-
ists invite condemnation of him instead of praising him for what he did
in making an unimaginable choice based on the prophecy of God. Judas’
action led to the union between God, Christ and humanity; something
that can be used in applauding the existence of multi-party democracy. If
Zimbabwe prides herself in multiple politics democracy, then opposi-
tional politics and this kind of democracy belong together. People must
be careful when reading the gospels about Judas especially on the issue
of suicide, which must not be used to make judgmental statements
about Judas let alone those engaging in opposition politics. This is im-
portant in analyzing the political landscape of Zimbabwe where the
figure of Judas features mostly in describing opponents.
The Place of the Bible in the Zimbabwean Public Space
The role that characters found in the Bible play in the lives of Zimbab-
weans is not surprising considering the place that the Bible has taken
since the coming of missionaries in the 16th century. The Bible has
socially occupied an uncontested place in the hearts and minds of many
Zimbabweans; making Zimbabwe a de facto Christian state. It has not
spared even non-Christian believers as it is always quoted on issues of
life especially at peaceful and sorrowful gatherings like weddings, politi-
cal rallies and funerals. It is a common thing to find Bibles of different
sizes, versions and covers with different colours in most of the places
that one can think of; a pointer to the importance that the Bible is ac-
corded in Zimbabwean social, economic, political and religious life.
Businesspersons as well as politicians have not fallen behind in the
incorporation of biblical figures and ideas so as to have an appeal to the
broader audience. It is common in Zimbabwe to find business institu-
tions with biblical names even though the owners are not believers.
The influence of Christianity in the Zimbabwean world of business
dawned clearly on my mind during the 16th of March to the 27th of April
2011 during my PhD research, when I realised that a sizable number of
the public transport (kombis and taxis) had biblical verses/texts and
statements inscribed on them. The popular biblical inscriptions are:
Hebr 11:1, 1Petr 5:10; Psa 23:1, Isa 54: 17 and Prov 10:22. Some of the
(^24) K Barth, Church Dogmatics, Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1957, 471.