BiAS 7 – The Bible and Politics in Africa
or particular text or section of the Bible. The section opens with the
thought-provoking contribution by Masiiwa Ragies Gunda who tackles
the use of the Bible in the public sphere, especially by politicians. By
reviving the 1990s call by Canaan Banana (1993) for a new Bible, Gunda
asks whether “rewriting the Bible” can be a viable option for the search
for a just society. Realizing the important position of the Bible in many
African communities, Gunda argues that “the exclusive claims of Juda-
ism, Christianity and Islam are so fundamental to their existence that it
is close to impossible to “rewrite” a universally valid Bible, not only
because of clear cultural differences but also because each religious
tradition has a set of non-negotiables.” If the Bible cannot be rewritten
as suggested by Banana, can African communities consider de-biblifying
the public sphere in the quest for establishing a just society in Zim-
babwe? A third alternative is suggested as the critical biblification of the
public sphere, where politicians and public figures have to be taken to
task whenever they make use of the Bible to sustain or evade genuine
questions regarding their public roles and functions hence Gunda notes
“by critical biblification we mean that gradually a critical appropriation
of the Bible should become a part of public discourse in Zimbabwe. We
should bid farewell to the days when people (public officials and reli-
gious leaders) would get away with careless appropriations of the Bible.”
Eliot Tofa brings to the fore one of the topical questions in biblical and
democratic discussions: what has the Bible got to do with democracy?
One could also pose an even broader question; can religion with the
exclusive claims that apparently militate against plurality become a re-
source for democratization? Further can the Bible be a resource for
democratization? These and other questions are asked and answered
using the Zimbabwean experience. In carrying out a synopsis of Zim-
babwean history, Tofa argues that “although, the country’s constitution
allows multi-party politics, Zimbabwe largely remained a de facto one
party state in the post-independence era. Arguably, the post-colonial
state somewhat betrayed the spirit and letter of the struggle against
colonialism and it has occasioned brutish suffering among the citizens.”
It is this element of suffering that occasioned the conference and the
discussions that cut across this volume. Questions are raised against
post-colonial African governments mainly because they have either
ignored the suffering of the masses or they have actively sponsored such
suffering to finance their own luxuries. The chapter challenges the idea
that God will defend the poor where it appears to be in the service of the