Gathaka, The Bible and Democracy in Africaions, and since parties can be forced to form coalition governments now andagain, this opens a way for consented politics.^47
However he is quick to warn that multi-partism in not a panacea for
political ills or a magic wand to introduce a new era of peace and stabil-
ity.
While there were so many politicians that agitated for democracy did the
Church involve itself in the midst of this fight? The church leaders were
convinced that, the Church, being the bearer of the word of God, should
exercise its prophetic role by calling upon the state to seek the will of
God and to be obedient to God as it rules on God’s behalf to establish
law and justice as stipulated in Romans 13:1-7. Here the Bible explicitly
enumerates the duties of the state the chief of which is to administer
justice. Justice is the chief characteristic of God’s intervention in the
world. It entails actively promoting righteousness and human wellbeing.
The Church is given courage to involve itself because it has the Bible
which speaks of all issues that negate democracy as violations of human
rights, inequality and all forms of injustices. Benson informs us that the
evangelical mainstream Kenyan churches assign to the Bible a unique
authority and importance. The scriptures are understood not merely as a
product of long- dead human authors, but as a present communication
from the living God.^48 The church, therefore, being the custodian of
God’s word, must be able to transmit the right knowledge that will liber-
ate people and promote the common good of all, so that God’s love,
justice and righteousness can reign over the whole creation-even in the
present world. The church’s reading of the scriptures motivated and
shaped their engagement with the state. The church leaders believe
themselves obliged to measure any state’s action by the standards of the
scriptures and to compel the state to attend to the scriptures by lively
preaching.^49 Benson further describes pragmatism of the church in this
area. He points out that the churches, from their reading of the Bible,
were committed to seeking justice and fair dealing (both economic and
forensic) and freedom of expression, association and worship. The
churches were agreed that the state has been established by God and de-
(^47) Kobia, The Quest for Democracy in Africa, p 33.
(^48) Benson, Ideological Politics versus Biblical Hermeneutics, p 188.
(^49) Benson, Ideological Politics versus Biblical Hermeneutics, p 191.