The Bible and Africa: Some Trends Towards Advancing African Biblical Scholarship

Abstract

Viewing the dominance of the Western Scholarship that produce the Western Knowledge on the System and Philosophies in academic space of Africa, shows that African culture has been derogatorily undermine. It is in this regard that even the Bible was read and interpreted in the tradition of Western Scholarship. This has made Africa to be misrepresented in Biblical Scholarship. Significantly, this has made even the white missionaries from the west who introduced Christianity in Africa unable to meet up with the African expectations. It is in an attempt to account for the holistic worldview of African culture and the Bible that the rapid exploration of African Scholarship of Biblical subjects is being encouraged. African Scholarship stands a better chance to defend the continent as far as theological and biblical discussion is concerned. However, despite the significant influence and development of African Biblical Scholarship, there is still high expectation compared to what is obtainable in the western world. It is to this effect that this work attempts to highlight some factors that resulted to poor Biblical Scholarship in Africa. It also seeks to highlight some trends towards advancing African Biblical Scholarship.