An African Commentary on the Letter of James (Global Readings)
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
Africa is a necessary but an often neglected continent. So also is the letter of James necessary but neglected. Yet there is perhaps no biblical text that speaks to the life situation in Africa in the twenty-first century more directly than the book of James. An African Commentary on the Letter of James is an attempt to hear the message of James’s letter from a non-Western social and cultural setting. It seeks to demonstrate how one’s worldview, language, culture, economic status, and religion make a significant difference in appropriating the message of the biblical text. The commentary explores how the written word impacts the readers in a predominantly oral culture. It attempts to hear what James is saying from a different context but, in doing so, explains James with a different “voice.” Like the letter of James itself, the commentary uses pithy sayings, proverbs, and aphorisms to explain the meaning of the text.
- Uses pithy sayings, proverbs, and aphorisms to explain the meaning of the text
- Presents an effort to hear the message of James’s letter from a non-Western social and cultural setting
- Shows how worldview, language, culture, economic status, and religion make a difference in appropriating the biblical message
- James 1:1–27
- James 2:1–26
- James 3:1–18
- James 4:1–17
- James 5:1–20
The importance of the letter of James to the church in Africa is not lost on anyone who is interested in the development of Christianity on the continent. This is a letter that speaks to contemporary African socio-economic and political realities. Readers will find in Adewuya’s simple but profound volume studies on what a portion of the Scriptures has to teach us about the relationship between faith and the public sphere in contemporary Africa.
—Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, Trinity Theological Seminary
Drawing on the resources of African proverbs and stories, as well as his personal experience, Adewuya spotlights the pastoral and formational message of the letter of James. But this commentary is not just for Africans. Adewuya’s sensitivity to the letter’s communal dimension and to its message of hope for the marginalized will enable Western Christian to read James more faithfully. If you are looking for an outstanding example of contextual interpretation that remains faithful to the biblical text, this book is for you!
—Dean Flemming, MidAmerica Nazarene University, emeritus
Adewuya has filled in a hole on our bookshelves that many of us may never have known we had. In a commentary that is exegetical and scholarly, he models exegeting well through story, through history, and through the experience of the African peoples. This is a commentary for the community.
—Mariam Kovalishyn, Regent College
- Title: An African Commentary on the Letter of James (Global Readings)
- Author: J. Ayodeji Adewuya
- Series: Global Readings
- Publisher: Cascade Books
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Pages: 120
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- ISBNs: 9781498284387, 9781498284394, 9781498284400, 1498284388, 1498284396, 149828440X
- Resource ID: LLS:FRCNCMMGLBRDNGS
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-11-27T20:04:57Z
J. Ayodeji Adewuya is professor of Greek and New Testament at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary, Cleveland Theological Seminary. He is the author of several books, including Holiness in the Letters of Paul: A Necessary Response to the Gospel (2016) and 1 Corinthians: A Pastoral Commentary (2019).