African American biblical hermeneutics or African American biblical interpretation is the study of the interpretation of the

Christian Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

, informed by

African American history African-American history began with the arrival of List of ethnic groups of Africa, Africans to North America in the 16th and 17th centuries. Former Spanish slaves who had been freed by Francis Drake arrived aboard the Golden Hind at New Albi ...

and experiences.

History

Vincent L. Wimbush Vincent Lee Wimbush is an American New Testament scholar, known for his work in African American biblical hermeneutics. Biography Wimbush received a BA in philosophy from Morehouse College (1975), an M.Div. (1978) from Yale Divinity School, and ...

traces the history of African American biblical hermeneutics to the earliest encounters African Americans had with the Bible as a consequence of their forced enslavement and exportation from the African soil to the Americas, and the direct and indirect activities of Europeans to convert Africans. Hence, the Bible was perceived as the Book for Europeans to interpret, which in turn gave justification for European Christian domination. However, as African Americans began to claim Christianity as their own, African American biblical hermeneutics arose out of the experiences of

racism in the United States Racism in the United States comprises negative attitudes and views on race or ethnicity which are related to each other, are held by various people and groups in the United States, and have been reflected in discriminatory laws, practices and ...

. The discourse has been dominated by two core paradigmatic events in the Bible,

the Exodus The Exodus (Hebrew language, Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yeẓi’at Miẓrayim'': ) is the founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four books of the Torah (or Pentateuch, corresponding to the first five books of the ...

from Egypt and the

ministry of Jesus The ministry of Jesus, in the canonical gospels, begins with his baptism in the countryside of Roman Judea and Transjordan, near the River Jordan by John the Baptist, and ends in Jerusalem, following the Last Supper with his disciples.''Chri ...

, both used to articulate God's concern for those under social and political bondage. For biblical scholars like Wimbush, Charles Copher, and

Cain Hope Felder Cain Hope Felder (June 9, 1943 – October 1, 2019) was an American biblical scholar, serving as professor of New Testament language and literature and editor of ''The Journal of Religious Thought'' at the Howard University School of Divinity. H ...

, they have advocated for a suspicion of Euro-American readings of the Bible which promote a pervasive Eurocentrism. Since the 1988 publication of

Renita J. Weems Renita J. Weems (born June 26, 1954) is an ordained minister, a Hebrew Bible scholar, and an author. in 1989 she received a Ph.D. in Old Testament/Hebrew Bible studies from Princeton Theological Seminary making her the first African American woma ...

's ''Just a Sister Away'', there has been a growing interest in a womanist approach to reading the Bible. While some have seen this as a derivative of feminist biblical hermeneutics,

Nyasha Junior Nyasha Junior is an American biblical scholar. Her research focuses on the connections between religion, race, and gender within the Hebrew Bible. She holds a PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary. She was associate professor at Temple Univer ...

argues that it has "multiple sources, including U.S. women's activism, womanist scholarship in religion-related fields, and feminist biblical scholarship." Others, such as

Esau McCaulley Esau McCaulley (born 1979) is an American biblical scholar and assistant professor of New Testament at Wheaton College, Illinois, canon theologian for the Anglican Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others, as well as a theologian-in-residence ...

, have argued that the discourse around African American biblical interpretation has been dominated by Black liberation theology between the 1920s to the 1960s. As such, this trajectory tends to over-emphasize political liberation as the main concern of the Bible, while overlooking conversionistic and holiness strands that can be found in the pulpits. Hence, McCaulley advocates for a recovery of what he calls "Black ecclesial interpretation."

References

African-American culture Biblical exegesis Hermeneutics Christian theology of the Bible African-American Christianity {{US-stub

History

See also

References