Overview

"The publication and attention given to postcolonial work has flooded the field of academia, yet not much attention has been paid to the precolonial, premissional, and colonial eras, and receptions of the Western Missionary Bible and its impact on the colonization of Global South nations; schools in this area had to wrestle with the study of the Bible from kindergarten to college. Through vigorous readings of the New Testament and other related subjects, indigenous Christian converts demanded that the Bible needed to be translated into various vernacular and ethnic languages. The hunger for engaging the Bible in the linguistic worldview of people led to the process of translation, printing, and distribution into rural and urban centers. Hence the journey of the Bible and its reception in the Global South is what is referred to as ""Vernacular Translation as Incarnation"" (taken from John 1:14). Therefore, this book is an invitation to postcolonial readers of the Bible, as well as an urgent invitation to both Europe and North America to consider having the Bible in schools so that young minds can be engaged by it. Without translations of the Bible into the vernacular, Christianity would not be growing as it is in the Global South nations, namely Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Hence, vernacular translations of the Bible are indeed incarnational."

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9781498221306

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Reviews

"""While Christianity is waning in the West, it is experiencing explosive growth in the Global South. Israel Kamudzandu shows us that the key factor to that growth was the translation of the Bible into the vernacular. The result is vibrant new expressions of Christianity that experience the reality of God in their midst and may in turn lead to its renewal in the West. If you want to understand global Christianity and where it is heading this is an essential read."" --Henry H. Knight III, professor emeritus of Wesleyan studies and evangelism, Saint Paul School of Theology ""Showing how God became 'incarnate' in the various vernacular Bible translations and hymnody of the Global South, Israel Kamudzandu makes a convincing case that God's word cannot ultimately be colonized or silenced. Especially for those in the North American Church who want to see how God's presence and power embodied in vernacular translations made the Bible a liberating rather than an enslaving tool in the Global South, this book is a good place to start."" --Andy Johnson, chair of biblical theology, Nazarene Theological Seminary ""This book helps us who live within the bubble of English to understand how different Christianity is in the Global South, where salvation is not just for the individual soul, but transforms entire cultures. As Christ was incarnate, Israel Kamudzandu argues that from the nineteenth century, the Bible became incarnate in the indigenous languages and hymnody of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, which generated both individual and national resurrection. Might not we Westerners learn holistic human transformation from our Southern brothers and sisters?"" --David L. Balch, professor emeritus of New Testament, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary/GTU/CLU"

Author Information

Israel Kamudzandu is an associate professor of New Testament studies at Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City.

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