The Bible and Politics in Africa

BiAS 7 – The Bible and Politics in Africa

In the African religious heritage God is both transcendent and immanence.

When the Bible becomes accessible to African converts to Christianity, it

becomes a companion text in their daily lives, because they can identify

themselves and resonate with the biblical rhythm of life, especially in the

Old Testament and in the synoptic gospels

Owing to the convergence between African and biblical ontologies, African

interpretations of the Bible often become preoccupied with the search for

resonance, rather than a quest for dissonance. Thus a difference in empha-

sis is observable, between missionary and expatriate readings of the rela-

tionship between Africans and the Bible, and the African perception of that

relationship. Whereas the modern missionary enterprise has brought the

Bible as a condemnation of African culture, African converts have found in

the Bible the affirmation of their dignity as human beings created in the im-

age of God. With this affirmation, they have been able to resist the imposi-

tion of biblical hermeneutics which sought to fashion African converts in

the image of their missionary mentors.^19

Hermeneutics

Hermeneutics is broadly defined as ‘the science of interpretation’ or ‘the
attempt to understand something that someone else has said or written.’
G. P. Benson informs that ‘In the field of biblical studies, hermeneutics
defines the rules one uses when seeking out the meaning of the scrip-
tures. It raises questions about the nature of knowledge, the use of lan-
guage, and the scientific and ontological presupposition operative in the

mind of the exegete.’^20 The New International Webster’s Encyclopedic

Dictionary of the English Language defines hermeneutics as ‘the science

or art of interpretation, especially of the scriptures.’^21 Interpretation

represents either of two technical words, “exegesis” or “hermeneutics”
which were originally synonyms but now are arbitrarily distinguished:
exegesis, the detailed specific explication of a text; hermeneutics, the

theory underlying such explication.^22

(^19) Mugambi, J.N.K. Christian Theology and Social Reconstruction, Nairobi, Acton Publ.,

2003. p 118.

(^20) G.P. Benson, Ideological Politics versus Biblical Hermeneutics, Kenya’s Protestant
Churches and the Nyayo State in H.B.Hansen and Michael Twaddle eds, Religion and
Politics in East Africa, Nairobi, East African Educational Publ., 1995 p 188.
(^21) The New International Webster’s Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language, Trident
Press International, 2003 edition, Columbia.
(^22) Grobel, K. Interpretation, History and Principles of, in The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the
Bible; Volume 2, Abingdon Press, Nashville: 21st Printing 1996.