The African Bible - Why?

The Bible is the Word of God to people, to all peoples throughout the centuries. It is the History of Salvation that God planned and carried out in Jesus Christ, a salvation for all, without exception. God has revealed this Plan of Salvation to us through the Prophets and lastly through Jesus. Often the Bible has been compared to a Letter that God wrote to us. Since this Letter was meant for everybody, right from the beginning the Bible (the Old Testament and the New Testament) has been translated into languages known to people: from Hebrew to Aramaic, and then to Greek, Latin, English, Kikuyu, Luganda, Acholi, Chichewa, and so on. All these translations have been made in order to help people to read the Word of God in a language they understand. This was and is the first step of inculturating the Word of God.

In answer to the appeal of the African Bishops and the invitation of Pope John Paul II, the Daughters of St Paul courageously undertook the project of publishing The African Bible for the people of Africa with the collaboration of African Biblical Scholars and other experts in different fields of knowledge. This is an effort to inculturate the Bible in Africa. We can say also that this is a step forward in the process of evangelization. Up to now we have been using Bibles inculturated for the people of America, or of Europe, etc.. Now we have a first effort to inculturate the Bible for the people of Africa.

In 1993 the Pontifical Biblical Commission issued a very important document approved by Pope John Paul II, entitled The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church. Talking about inculturating the Bible it says, "Inculturation of the Bible has been carried out from the first centuries, both in the Christian East and in the Christian West, and it has proved very fruitful. However, one can never consider it a task achieved. It must be taken up again and again, in relationship to the way in which cultures continue to evolve."

The document goes on pointing out something very interesting and very important: "In countries of more recent evangelization, the problem arises in somewhat different times. Missionaries, in fact, cannot help bring the Word of God in the form in which it has been inculturated in their own country of origin. New local churches have to make every effort to convert this foreign form of biblical inculturation into another form more closely corresponding to the culture of their own land."

The African Bishops on their part stressed "the particular importance for evangelization of inculturation, the process by which catechesis takes flesh in the various cultures." They consider "inculturation an urgent priority in the life of the particular churches, for a firm rooting of the Gospel in Africa. It is a requirement for evangelization, a path towards full evangelization, and one of the greatest challenges for the Church on the continent on the eve of the Third Millennium" (Ecclesia in Africa, n. 59).

In 1994 Pope John Paul II launched the new evangelization for the Third Millennium, inviting Christians to "turn with renewed interest to the Bible" (Tertio Millennio Adveniente, n. 40). In the Apostolic Exhortation, Ecclesia in Africa, he wrote: "In order that the Word of God may be known, loved, pondered and preserved in the hearts of the faithful (cf. Lk 2:19.51), greater efforts must be made to provide access to the Sacred Scriptures" (n. 58).

  How Can the Bible Be Inculturated?

It is clear that the Bible is a very special Book. The Church considers the Bible "as Word of God, addressed both to itself and to the entire world at the present time" (Interpretation of the Bible). It stands above everyone and cannot be changed. Therefore the biblical text is the same for everyone and for all times.

Christians are invited to read the Bible "in the Church," meaning, in the light of the long tradition of the Church. Everyone knows that the Catholic Bibles always have introductions and notes. These introductions and notes are the result of many years of study from the time of the Apostles. It is a means to understand the Word of God today in this present situation. Here, then, is where the work of inculturation can be done, and where the African Bible is inculturated.

Inculturation "looks to the diversity of place: it ensures that the biblical message takes root in a great variety of terrain" (Interpretation of the Bible). However, there is not total diversity of cultures because "every authentic culture is, in fact, in its own way the bearer of universal values established by God." Therefore, in The African Bible one finds the universal richness of the tradition of the Church, the updated information in the field of exegesis, theology and African culture, that is, elements which try to bridge the Word of God to the people of Africa. African culture and Traditional Religions are valued in their positive aspects, overcoming their limits and correcting them when they are not according to the Word of God.