Reading Jeremiah in Africa , livre ebook

Langham Creative Projects - Bungishabaku Katho

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

133 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

The book of Jeremiah is often presented as one of the most difficult texts in the Bible, yet it is also a text that speaks with immediacy and power to some of the greatest challenges facing our world today.
In Reading Jeremiah in Africa, Dr. Bungishabaku Katho offers a study that is both accessible and deeply relevant to the particularities of an African context. In a series of ten selected passages, Dr. Katho demonstrates the many parallels between Jeremiah’s Judah and a continent that continues to experience the complex and devastating realities of poverty, injustice, and war. Katho reminds us, however, that Jeremiah is also an exercise in imagination. It is a book of hope, and Katho, like Jeremiah, dares to dream past the present and into a future where God is known and humans flourish.

Informations

Publié par	Langham Creative Projects
Date de parution	10 mai 2021
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781839735042
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0040€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Bungishabaku Katho provides an important and welcome addition to our rich corpus of Jeremiah studies. The particular gain of this exposition is that he reads Jeremiah through the context of African political culture. He shows the ways in which the text makes especially compelling sense when read in this context. The gain for Western readers is to see that our conventional readings of the prophet are culturally conditioned, so that a very different cultural context permits us to see much that we had not been able to see. I readily concur with his verdict that much of the text sounds “as though it had been written by a prophet of our own time.” As this is true in African context, so it is equally true in Western context. Given the broad and deep crisis in our culture, attention must be paid to this careful and discerning study.
Walter Brueggemann, PhD
William Marcellus McPheeters Professor Emeritus of Old Testament,
Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia, USA
This is something genuinely new under the sun – a fresh reading of the most anguished biblical prophet against the background of contemporary Africa. Katho’s textual analysis is equally informed by experiences of wrenching social crises and by the vibrant hope that sustains African Christians. Western Christians need to learn from this book what it is to read the Bible within the context of a faith community that knows its future depends entirely on the mercy and grace of God.
Ellen F. Davis, PhD
Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology,
Duke Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina, USA
In this important book, we hear the voice of Jeremiah speaking through the voice of a courageous African scholar and church leader to his beloved – but troubled – continent and its Christians. It is a careful, perceptive, honest, and ultimately hopeful treatment of Jeremiah in light of Africa, and of Africa in light of Jeremiah. Katho’s work is also a model for all Christians of contextual theological interpretation of Scripture.
Michael J. Gorman, PhD
Raymond E. Brown Professor of Biblical Studies and Theology,
St. Mary’s Seminary & University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Bungishabaku Katho, a Jeremiah scholar by his own right, looks at the African continent through the lenses of the prophecy of Jeremiah. Just as Jeremiah’s ministry was to a people God loved, Katho relates Jeremiah’s message to the African situation from the point of view of love for the continent and a deep desire that the continent returns to and maintains that which Yahweh loves – justice, righteousness, and loyalty to God, among other virtues – as expressed in many anthems and constitutions of African nations.

A departure from Yahweh’s will leads to judgment, but Yahweh is both a God of judgment and a God of forgiveness, restoration and blessings. In this book, Katho’s voice is clearly shouting, “my beloved continent, let us return to Yahweh and his ways as we deal with each other and seek to serve God.” This book is an excellent exposition of select passages from Jeremiah and a message for Africa each of us should read, reflect on and apply.
Samuel M. Ngewa, PhD
Dean of Graduate School,
Africa International University, Nairobi, Kenya

Reading Jeremiah in Africa
Biblical Essays in Sociopolitical Imagination
Bungishabaku Katho

© 2021 Bungishabaku Katho
Published 2021 by HippoBooks, an imprint of ACTS and Langham Publishing.
Africa Christian Textbooks (ACTS), TCNN, PMB 2020, Bukuru 930008, Plateau State, Nigeria
www.actsnigeria.org
Langham Publishing, PO Box 296, Carlisle, Cumbria CA3 9WZ, UK
www.langham.org
ISBNs:
978-1-83973-213-3 Print
978-1-83973-504-2 ePub
978-1-83973-505-9 Mobi
978-1-83973-506-6 PDF
Bungishabaku Katho has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or the Copyright Licensing Agency.
Requests to reuse content from Langham Publishing are processed through PLSclear. Please visit www.plsclear.com to complete your request.
Unmarked Scripture translations in this work are the author’s own.
All Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, Anglicised, NIV®. Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc®. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Chapter 2 first appeared as “Idolatry and the Peril of the Nation: Reading Jeremiah 2 in an African Context.” In Anglican Theological Review 99, no. 4, edited by Stephen E. Fowl, 713–728. Chicago: Anglican Theological Review, 2017. Used with permission.
Chapter 6 first appeared as “Knowledge of YHWH and True Glorification: A Contextual Reading of Jeremiah 9:22–23.” In Old Testament Essays 17, no. 1, 78–102. Pretoria: Old Testament Society of South Africa (OTSSA), 2004. Used with permission.
Chapter 9 first appeared as “Seek the Peace of the City . . . for in Her Peace There Shall Be Peace for You (Jeremiah 29:4–9).” In Old Testament Essays 26, no. 2, 378–1364. Pretoria: Old Testament Society of South Africa (OTSSA), 2013. Used with permission.
Chapter 10 first appeared as “The New Covenant and the Challenge of Building a New and Transformed Community in DR Congo: A Contextual Reading of Jeremiah 31:31–34.” In Old Testament Essays 18, no. 1, 109–123. Pretoria: Old Testament Society of South Africa (OTSSA). Used with permission.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-83973-213-3
Cover & Book Design: projectluz.com
The publishers of this book actively support theological dialogue and an author’s right to publish but do not necessarily endorse the views and opinions set forth here or in works referenced within this publication, nor guarantee technical and grammatical correctness. The publishers do not accept any responsibility or liability to persons or property as a consequence of the reading, use or interpretation of its published content.

Converted to eBook by EasyEPUB

To N. Feli Vicky, with love and gratitude
and to
Bryant M. Kaumbo, Nolan B. Anyete, Khylah N. Kaumbo, and Bradely Kaumbo,
my grandchildren
Contents

Cover

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1 Called to Serve in a World Coming to an End

Historical and Literary Context (vv. 1–3)

The Prophet’s Call (vv. 4–5)

Jeremiah’s Excuses (v. 6)

Yahweh’s Reaction (vv. 7–8)

Yahweh’s Commission (vv. 9–10)

Two Visions (vv. 11–16)

Why the Judgement on Judah? (v. 16)

Conclusion (vv. 17–19)

2 Idolatry and the Peril of the Nation

Historical and Literary Context

Israel’s History Matters (v. 4)

Yahweh Abandoned by His People (v. 5)

Trivialization of God (vv. 6–7)

Failed Leadership (v. 8)

Conclusion

3 Agonizing for a Blind People

Historical and Literary Context

Structure

Jeremiah’s Agony for Judah (vv. 19–21)

Reason for the Judgement (4:22)

Conclusion

4 Poverty and Knowledge of God

Historical and Literary Context

In the Streets of Africa’s Cities (vv. 1–5)

The Rich Guilty of Not Knowing God (v. 5)

Conclusion

5 The Anatomy of a Dysfunctional Community

Historical and Literary Context

Structure

A Story from Kinshasa

God Wishes to Leave Jerusalem

Inside the Dysfunctional Community (vv. 2b–3)

No Option but Judgement (9:7–9)

The Root Problem: A Contextual Reflection

Conclusion

6 The Secret of True Greatness and Power

Historical and Literary Context

Structure

Interpretation

False Concept of National Greatness (v. 23)

True National Greatness (v. 24)

Conclusion

7 The Use and Abuse of Political Power

Historical and Literary Contexts

The Monarchy in Israel

The Abuse of Power: Jehoiakim (vv. 13–19)

The Right Use of Power: Josiah (vv. 15b–16)

Judgement on Jehoiakim (vv. 18–19)

Conclusion

8 Weak Leadership and the Dismantling of Judah

Historical and Literary Context

Structure

The Vision

Good and Bad Figs (vv. 5–7)

National Crisis and the Role of the Leader

Power Vacuums in African Leadership

Promises to the Exiles

Conclusion

9 Seek the Peace of Babylon: Constructive Presence in Exile

Historical and Literary Context

Structure