African Christian scholars have, quite unknowingly, provided a window on how the Arab culture would most likely view the Bible, if they were Christian. As it turns out, African culture and Arab culture are remarkably similar. Using cultural dimensions (one of the principle areas in my PhD dissertation), there is very little differentiation between African culture and Arab culture.
Sub-Saharan Africa is predominately Christian, and its scholars have produced excellent Bible commentaries and study Bibles with a sub-Sahara African lens. The Arab world is predominately Muslim and has produced little in terms of Christian literature, which makes it hard to directly know how the Arab world would likely view a passage. Studying the Christian literature of sub-Saharan Africa provides researchers with an incredible opportunity to view the Bible through the Arab cultural lens vis-à-vis the sub-Sahara African lens. Granted this is not a perfect lens, but it is probably the best we have at the moment.
Like my fellow African Christian scholars, I unintentionally provided a window on the Arab culture and how they would likely interpret the Bible if they were Christian. While the cultural closeness of the Arab world and sub-Saharan Africa were clear in my research, the implication of how this can illuminate the distinctly possible view of Arabs on the Bible escaped me (and once again reminded me that I am not as smart as I think I am).
During a very providencial conversation over tea with James Bryanson about the cultural similarities between the Arab world and sub-Saharan Africa, it became clear to James that my research had potential value to better understanding the Arab world. This conversation was the catalyst for me to start repackaging my PhD research into a more accessable format. Please pray for this repackaging. Also if you have any comments and/or suggestions with this endeavor let me know.
Also please pray for personal support and that God would grant success in finding people who will pray for, take mission trips to and give to Africa Theological Seminary.
