7 BiAS - Bible in Africa Studies THE BIBLE AND POLITICS IN AFRICA Masiiwa Ragies Gunda & Joachim Kügler (Eds.) UNIVERSITY OF BAMBERG PRESS Bible in Africa Studies Études sur la Bible en Afrique Bibel-in-Afrika-Studien 7 Bible in Africa Studies Études sur la Bible en Afrique Bibel-in-Afrika-Studien edited by Joachim Kügler, Masiiwa R. Gunda, Lovemore Togarasei & Eric Souga Onomo in cooperation with Ezra Chitando and Nisbert Taringa Volume 7 University of Bamberg Press 2012 The Bible and Politics in Africa Editors-in-Chief Masiiwa Ragies Gunda & Joachim Kügler University of Bamberg Press 2012 Bibliographische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliographie; detaillierte bibliographische Informationen sind im Internet über http://dnb.ddb.de/ abrufbar Dieses Werk ist als freie Onlineversion über den Hochschulschriften-Server (OPUS; http://www.opus-bayern.de/uni-bamberg/) der Universitätsbiblio- thek Bamberg erreichbar. Kopien und Ausdrucke dürfen nur zum privaten und sonstigen eigenen Gebrauch angefertigt werden. Herstellung und Druck: Digital Print Group, Nürnberg Umschlagfoto: Computergraphik von Joachim Kügler Umschlaggestaltung: Joachim Kügler/Dezernat Kommunikation und Alumni der Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, Teresa Zak Text-Formatierung: Masiiwa Ragies Gunda/Joachim Kügler/Irene Loch © University of Bamberg Press Bamberg 2012 http://www.uni-bamberg.de/ubp/ ISSN: 2190-4944 ISBN: 978-3-86309-090-6 (Druckausgabe) eISBN: 978-3-86309-091-3 (Online-Ausgabe) URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:473-opus4-4726 TABLE OF CONTENTS MASIIWA RAGIES GUNDA & JOACHIM KÜGLER INTRODUCTION......................................................................................7 SECTION 1: THE BIBLE AND BROAD POLITICAL DISCOURSES IN AFRICA.......21 MASIIWA RAGIES GUNDA “REWRITING” THE BIBLE OR DE-BIBLIFYING THE PUBLIC SPHERE? PROPOSALS AND PROPOSITIONS ON THE USAGE OF THE BIBLE BY PUBLIC FIGURES IN ZIMBABWE ..............................................................22 ELIOT TOFA THE BIBLE AND THE QUEST FOR DEMOCRACY AND DEMOCRATIZATION IN AFRICA: THE ZIMBABWE EXPERIENCE..................42 JANNIE HUNTER THE BIBLE AND THE QUEST FOR DEVELOPMENTAL JUSTICE: THE CASE OF ORPHANS IN NAMIBIA......................................................61 OBVIOUS VENGEYI THE BIBLE IN THE SERVICE OF PAN-AFRICANISM: THE CASE OF DR TAFATAONA MAHOSO’S PAN-AFRICAN BIBLICAL EXEGESIS................81 GERALD WEST THE ANC’S DEPLOYMENT OF RELIGION IN NATION BUILDING: FROM THABO MBEKI, TO “THE RDP OF THE SOUL”, TO JACOB ZUMA ..115 JEPHTHAH KIARA GATHAKA THE BIBLE AND DEMOCRACY IN AFRICA: HOW BIBLICAL SCIENCE CAN CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PLURALITY AND DEMOCRACY, THE BIBLE AS A RELEVANT TOOL IN THE QUEST FOR ENGENDERING PLURALITY...................................................................145 SECTION 2: SOME READINGS OF THE BIBLE IN/FOR POLITICAL DISCOURSES IN AFRICA .................................176 MOJI RUELE CONTEXTUAL THEOLOGICAL READING OF THE BIBLE WITH INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES: THE CASE OF THE BASARWA/SAN IN BOTSWANA. ........177 PHILLEMON M. CHAMBURUKA A THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION ON ROMANS 13:1-7 IN THE 21ST CENTURY ZIMBABWEAN POLITICS......................................191 5 FRANCIS MACHINGURA THE JUDAS ISCARIOT EPISODE IN THE ZIMBABWEAN RELIGIO-POLITICAL DEBATE OF “SELLING OUT”... 212 STEPHANIE FEDER INSPIRING FOR LIBERATION – LEGITIMIZING FOR OCCUPATION. INTERPRETATIONS OF THE EXODUS FROM SOUTHERN AFRICA ............. 236 JOACHIM KÜGLER POLITICS OF FEEDING: READING JOHN 6 (AND 1 COR 11) AS DOCUMENTS OF SOCIO-POLITICAL CONFLICTS................................ 251 EZRA CHITANDO “IF MY PEOPLE …” A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE DEPLOYMENT OF 2 CHRONICLES 7:14 DURING THE ZIMBABWEAN CRISIS....................... 274 CANISIUS MWANDAYI TOWARDS A NEW READING OF THE BIBLE IN AFRICA – SPY EXEGESIS..... 290 PIETER VERSTER EMPOWERING THE POOR: THE BIBLE AND THE POOR IN INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS IN AFRICA WITH REFERENCE TO MANGAUNG, SOUTH AFRICA. ............................. 314 SECTION 3: THE BIBLE, GENDER AND POLITICS IN AFRICA ........................... 340 ADRIAAN S. VAN KLINKEN THE POLITICS OF “BIBLICAL MANHOOD”: A CRITICAL STUDY OF MASCULINITY POLITICS AND BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS IN A ZAMBIAN PENTECOSTAL CHURCH....................... 341 ELIZABETH VENGEYI THE BIBLE AS A SOURCE OF STRENGTH AMONG ZIMBABWEAN WOMEN DURING SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CRISES............................... 363 TAPIWA PRAISE MAPURANGA AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF 1CORINTHIANS 14:34-35 AND 1TIMOTHY 2:11-14: THE POLITICS OF PENTECOSTALISM AND WOMEN’S MINISTRIES IN ZIMBABWE.................................................. 379 NOTES ON THE CONTRIBUTORS ............................................................ 395 6 Masiiwa Ragies Gunda & Joachim Kügler Introduction Since the beginning of 2009, we started thinking about the creation of platforms for collaboration between African biblical scholars and their European counterparts, especially German scholars. We were thinking of how we could expand our collaboration, which had started in 2006. The first major breakthrough was our decision to co-edit a series, Bible in Africa Studies (BiAS), soon in its tenth volume. Further, we came up with the idea of organizing a conference that could be a starting point in establishing some kind of networking between biblical scholars of the north and south. As our idea gained traction, we were extremely elated when the Hanns Seidel Stiftung (HSS) saw value in our idea and de- cided to become our partners. Our idea and the conference, running on the theme “The Bible and Politics in Africa (and the West?)”, was there- fore made real through the funding of the HSS. Between 29 July and 1 August 2010 biblical and theological scholars coming from Africa (spe- cifically Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe), coming from their different bases in Af- rica, Europe and the United States of America converged at Kloster Banz, Bad Staffelstein, Germany alongside European biblical, theological and missiological scholars with interest on Africa, coming from Ger- many and the Netherlands. The conference delegates eventually agreed to alternate the conference between Germany and Africa, with the follow up conference being hosted in Botswana in July 2012. We hope this is the beginning of a long and productive collaboration. The theme “The Bible and Politics in Africa (and the West?)” shows that the Bible was a significant component of the conference discussions because we thought the Bible was a powerful resource for both good and bad. This interest was based on the observation that “the Bible has so- cially occupied an uncontested place in the hearts and minds of many Zimbabweans [African Christians in general]; making Zimbabwe a de facto Christian state” (Machingura in this volume). In situations where the Bible is “the last court of appeal” (Gunda 2010:21), it is only logical to expect the Bible to be among the most important resources for trans- formation. When one considers the words of Gerald West’s protagonist in his article in this volume “You will see; Jacob Zuma knows the Bible 7 BiAS 7 – The Bible and Politics in Africa much better than Thabo Mbeki” one begins to appreciate the importance that is attached not only to Bible knowledge but most importantly Bible usage across African societies today. Our interest in the Bible was also driven by the realization that “what gives biblical faith its foundation and shape is the idea of God who has acted in history” (McClanahan 1999:178-9), suggesting that not only is the Bible a resource for Christian spirituality, it also is a resource for daily living in ways that some of the contributions in this volume will try to elaborate. In doing this, we sought to challenge ourselves as biblical scholars to consider responses to the challenges facing the African continent, which make these chal- lenges clearly multisectoral and thereby calling upon all to respond. The second major component of the theme was politics, politics in Af- rica or politics in the West. While the interest was on the interface be- tween the Bible and Politics in Africa, we were not interested in limiting politics to national or party politics only, or even to a single political system. We did not and do not think that the Bible speaks for a single and particular political system, we rather are more agreeable that central to the desired biblical human community is the demand for justice, equity and equality. We were, therefore, driven by a loose understanding of politics as “anything that involves decision making, and usually char- acterised by diversity and conflict” according to Tapiwa Mapuranga in this volume. This broad understanding of politics meant the conference discussions and presentations touched on varied subjects and this is fairly reflected in this volume. The third major component of the theme has to do with Africa, the context from which most of the discussions would be emanating from or would be targeted at. Africa today is a divi- sive subject such that the „mention of the African continent brings many memories and images flooding into our minds. For some, Africa is synonymous with strife, hunger, corruption and lately human rights abuses. For others, Africa is synonymous with rich resources, minerals, metals and fertile soils. Yet for others, Africa is synonymous with “rampant mass victimization”, exploitation and plunders through slavery,