In die Skriflig (Jul 2010)

Bible reading in Africa: the shaping of a reformed perspective

  • B. Wielenga

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4102/ids.v44i3/4.168
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 44, no. 3/4
pp. 699 – 722

Abstract

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In this article I try to develop a reformed perspective on Bible reading in Africa by ordinary readers. I explore the concept of ordinary readers in the context of recent hermeneutical discus-sions, and of the differences between their mode of reading and that of biblical scholars against the background ofthe reality of the oral or semi-literate cultures of Africa. A reformed perspec-tive, with its emphasis on the church as locus for Bible reading under the operation of the Holy Spirit, opens up a way forward out of the dilemma between ordinary and professional Bible reading. A reformed perspective can also clear the way for a gender-sensitive reading of the Bible in a continent where most Bible readers are women. This requires from those who read the Bible together an attitude of humility.

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