It's an exciting time to be reading the Bible. As we increasingly encounter readers with perspectives, experiences, and cultures different from our own, we can incorporate new ideas and approaches to interpreting Scripture. When diverse interpretations from various social locations are gathered together, we gain new vistas and a fuller image of the text.
In Reading the Bible Around the World, a crosscultural team of scholars describes and workshops global readings in biblical interpretation, focusing on passages in both the Old and New Testaments. By presenting a range of readings from different regions and people groups, with particular attention to marginalized groups, the authors demonstrate the importance of contextually sensitive approaches. They help us build up key values for reading Scripture in the twenty-first century: self-awareness, other-awareness, and true dialogue.
Who we are shapes how we read. Guided by these expert teachers, readers will gain a deeper understanding of the influence of their own social location and how to keep growing in biblical wisdom by reading alongside the global Christian community.
Table of Contents:
1. Introduction: Why We Need Global Approaches
Justin Marc Smith
2. Latin American Approaches
Federico Alfredo Roth
3. African Approaches
Alice Yafeh-Deigh
4. European and Euro-American Approaches
Justin Marc Smith
5. Asian Approaches
Kirsten Sonkyo Oh
6. Diasporic Approaches
Kay Higuera Smith
Conclusion
Federico Alfredo Roth
Scripture Index
About the Author :
Kirsten Sonkyo Oh (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is on the faculty of Azusa Pacific University in biblical and religious studies and practical theology.
Kay Higuera Smith (PhD, Claremont Graduate University) is on the faculty of Azusa Pacific University in biblical and religious studies and practical theology.
Alice Yafeh-Deigh (PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary) is on the faculty of Azusa Pacific University in biblical and religious studies and practical theology.
Federico Alfredo Roth (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is on the faculty of Azusa Pacific University in biblical and religious studies and practical theology.
Justin Marc Smith (PhD, University of St. Andrews) is on the faculty of Azusa Pacific University in biblical and religious studies and practical theology.
Review :
"Biblical interpretation is undergoing a tectonic shift, from regarding Western methods and concerns as the only correct way of reading Scripture to embracing the many faithful ways of reading that are emerging from cultures around the world. I cannot imagine a more skillful, hospitable, and accessible introduction to the expanding conversation than this remarkable volume. This is biblical interpretation in the form of dialogue rather than debate, with each participant offering treasures both old and new from the storehouses of their cultures. I look forward to the conversations it will generate in the classroom."
L. Daniel Hawk, Ashland Theological Seminary
"Reading the Bible Around the World is a bold invitation to engage the biblical text with a posture of epistemic humility and hermeneutical generosity, however unfinished. Each chapter helps us develop different levels of intercultural competence through interpretive routines that guide us toward mutual belonging and co-reading the Bible. Ultimately, this work is an introduction for how to re-form our racial-patriarchal reading habits, forged through centuries of inhabiting colonial modernity spaces and identities that have formed us into self-sufficient entrepreneurs of single truths. This is a text highly recommended for the global Christian of today and tomorrow."
Oscar García-Johnson, associate professor of theology and Latinx studies at Fuller Seminary and author of Spirit Outside the Gate
"Wow, finally a book that explores different interpretations of Old and New Testament readings from the perspectives of marginalized communities. To think that the invisible and voiceless can widen our lens of these readings! I can tell you that Reading the Bible Around the World will surprise you at every turn. Since technology has made our world smaller, this is a must-read for scholars, ministers, laity, and chaplains who are ready to embrace a deeper understanding of how diverse constituencies read, interpret, and live out their understanding of the Bible."
Joanne Rodríguez, executive director of the Hispanic Theological Initiative
