BiAS 7 – The Bible and Politics in Africa
Conclusion
A feminist interpretation of the recurrent biblical passages requires that
one appreciates the paradigm shift that Pentecostalism has brought
about in relation to women preachers in the church. Pentecostalism in
Zimbabwe has done a sterling job in upholding the right for women to
preach ‘openly and unhindered’. From the foregoing discussion, it
emerges that the bible is amenable to multiple and conflicting interpre-
tations. Those Pentecostals (and members of the larger society) who are
opposed to women preaching appropriate the bible in defense of their
position. Those Pentecostals who support the ordination of women
appeal to the same bible to back up their stance. The politics of the fe-
male body seems to be a continuous battle. With the current concerns
raised by women pressure groups and the vigorous worldwide concerns
for equity between sexes, the problem of women’s representation per-
sists, not only in Zimbabwe, but world over. This debate, from the diver-
gent views regarding women preachers, will take some time for ideas to
converge and to see meaningful change of attitudes. The female body
remains highly contentious with regards to this issue and many more to
be unveiled with the passage of time. It remains a matter of preferred
political standpoints: that which allows women to preach or that which
forbids them. Notwithstanding, credit must be given to Pentecostalism
which has given space to women who have dared to enter into a pre-
dominantly male terrain: that of preaching in the church. The Bible is
therefore an open text that has the capacity to generate politics within
the church. Its reading is never neutral: it will always be political.
References
Bateye, B.O, ‘Paradigmatic Shift: Reconstruction of Female Leadership Roles in
the New Generation Churches in South -Western Nigeria’, Christianity in Af-
rica and the Diaspora: the Appropriation of a Scattered Heritage, Afe Adogame,
Roswith Gerloff and Klaus Hock (eds), London: Continuum, 2008, 113-125.
Crumbley, D.H, Spirit, Structure and Flesh: Experiences in African Instituted
Churches amongst the Yoruba of Nigeria, Univ. of Wisconsin Press: England,
2008.
Dete, M, ‘God working through women’, in The Sunday Mail, March 13-19, 2011.
Dube, M, ( ed), Other Ways of Reading: African Women and the Bible, Geneva:
WCC Publ., 2001.
Holmes, Mary, What is gender: Sociological Approaches, London: Sage Publ.: 2007.
Jackson, L.A, ‘Stray Women’ and ‘Girls on the Move’: Gender, Space and Dis-
ease in Colonial and Post- Colonial Zimbabwe’, in Kalipeni, Ezekiel, and Ze-