Journal Editorial by Jean-Claude Loba-Mkole
The ultimate authority of the Christian Bible remains the person of Jesus. He is the apex that co... more The ultimate authority of the Christian Bible remains the person of Jesus. He is the apex that confers the intrinsic authority to each canonical book and the extrinsic authority behind the lists of canonical books recognised either by the Roman Catholic Church or Protestant churches. This article has established that in the biblical cultures, Jesus' authority is recognised in canonical gospels and in extra canonical writings. In the Catholic Church, this authority is celebrated in the liturgy, expanded from the canonical biblical books and translated into the canon law. In the current Protestant Church in Africa, Jesus' authority empowers the ministers to significantly impact their audiences. This article aims at showing how Jesus is the apex of biblical canons, the authority that grants the status of sacredness to Christian, canonical and biblical books. It uses an intercultural approach involving three cultural frames of reference whereby the Protestant Church leadership will represent a contemporary culture, while the Roman Catholic Church stands for traditional church culture, and Jesus' authority reflects an original biblical culture. Consequently, the article consists of three parts: the impact of Scripture on the contemporary Protestant Church in Africa, the authority of biblical canon in the Roman Catholic Church and Jesus' authority in original biblical cultures. Contribution: The article has established that in the biblical cultures, Jesus' authority is recognised in canonical gospels and in extra canonical writings. In the Catholic Church, this authority is celebrated in the liturgy, expanded from the canonical biblical books and translated into the canon law. In the current Protestant Church in Africa, Jesus' authority empowers the ministers to significantly impact their audiences.
Acta Theologica 39(1):156-180, 2019
Christian canonical Scriptures may include books from Tanakh, Septuagint and New Testament. Sever... more Christian canonical Scriptures may include books from Tanakh, Septuagint and New Testament. Several theories have guided the translation of those books into different languages within the canonical boundaries of Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant churches. Those theories have mostly been more recently inspired by Nidaās functional equivalence theory. However, the Skopos or functionalist theory, as championed by Nord, is now emerging as a new approach without necessarily rejecting all the achievements of functional equivalence. This article aims to show how an intercultural approach goes beyond functional and functionalist theories to integrate canonical insights into the production of the Bible translations.
Key words: intercultural translation, functional equivalence, Skopos theory, Biblical canons.
Interculturality in Peace-Building and Mutual Edification (Rom 14:19), 2019
This article shows that according to Romans 14:19, peace-building and mutual edification are clos... more This article shows that according to Romans 14:19, peace-building and mutual edification are closely interrelated. This hypothesis is substantiated through an intercultural method, which explores the issues of peace from a triple perspective: a contemporary culture (DR Congo), an original Biblical culture (Rm 14:19) and a past Church culture (Church Fathers). These three frames basically agree that for restoring and maintaining peace, it is important to fight against its main cause, namely, sin. It is equally important to cultivate things that promote peace and
mutual edification.
This article raises the question of the balance between prayer and work. This topic is discussed ... more This article raises the question of the balance between prayer and work. This topic is discussed through an intercultural approach of Paul's recommendation about praying and working without ceasing (1 Th 1:9; 3:10). The main hypothesis postulates that constant prayer and work are associated with the concepts of thanksgiving (words of the Īµį½ĻĪ±ĻĪ¹ĻĻ-lemma) and exemplarity. It is argued that Pauline recommendations about praying and working without ceasing prove to be supported not only by an original biblical culture, but also by a church culture as well as a currently emerging African culture.
The aim of this study is to show similarities and differences
The confession in Mark 14:62 seems to be the most ,comprehensive Christological compendium of a v... more The confession in Mark 14:62 seems to be the most ,comprehensive Christological compendium of a very early Christian community. This passage reveals Jesus' identity as the Christ, Son of God and Son of man. It has a performative meaning that operates not only for Jesus' earthly life and death, but also for his resurrection and parousia: "You will see" (Mark 14:62b). Some theologians portray Jesus Christ as Ancestor or African King. The purpose of this study is to show how far the African concepts of "ancestor" and "king" can be relevant and legitimate in the light of the Christology of Mark 14:62.
This article raises the question of the balance between prayer and work. This topic is discussed ... more This article raises the question of the balance between prayer and work. This topic is discussed through an intercultural approach of Paul's recommendation about praying and working without ceasing (1 Th 1:9; 3:10). The main hypothesis postulates that constant prayer and work are associated with the concepts of thanksgiving (words of the Īµį½ĻĪ±ĻĪ¹ĻĻ-lemma) and exemplarity. It is argued that Pauline recommendations about praying and working without ceasing prove to be supported not only by an original biblical culture, but also by a church culture as well as a currently emerging African culture.
A bstract: This paper aims at showing that Bible translators would satisfactorily overcome the ch... more A bstract: This paper aims at showing that Bible translators would satisfactorily overcome the challenges posed by the inadequate interpretations of ĻĪ±ĻĪøį½³Ī½ĪæĻ in 1 Cor 7:25-38 if they could take into consideration the findings of Chrys Caragounis. These findings ā based on historical-critical research-include among other things a triple meaning of ĻĪ±ĻĪøį½³Ī½ĪæĻ (young virgin woman, young virgin man and the state of virginity), a preference for alternative reading Ī³Ī±Ī¼Īµį½·ĻĻ (imperative singular) instead of the plural form Ī³Ī±Ī¼Īµį½·ĻĻĻĪ±Ī½, and an interpretation of į½Ļį½³ĻĪ±ĪŗĪ¼ĪæĻin the sense of sexual urges in place of flower of age. These findings are strengthened by some inputs from intercultural analysis, highlighting that variants Ī³Ī±Ī¼Īµį½·ĻĻĻĪ±Ī½ and Ī³Ī±Ī¼Īµį½·ĻĻ can be understood as parallel readings that point to the diversity in the ways of interpreting the very issue during the times of the original biblical cultures; and secondly it has also elucidated the importance of ĻĪ±ĻĪøį½³Ī½ĪæĻ phenomenon in Church cultures.
The aim of this paper is to discuss NT canons, using an intercultural method in dialogue with his... more The aim of this paper is to discuss NT canons, using an intercultural method in dialogue with historical and canonical approaches. While focusing on NT canons, this study presumes that a Christian Bible is made of two sub-collections, the Old or First Testament and the New or Second Testament. It also assumes that each of the two sections may have canonical and non-canonical books, but not deuterocanonical books, suggesting that the term " deuterocanonical " is inappropriate for designating books that faith communities regard as either canonical or non-canonical.
This article raises the question of the balance between prayer and work. This topic is discussed ... more This article raises the question of the balance between prayer and work. This topic is discussed through an intercultural approach of Paul's recommendation about praying and working without ceasing (1 Th 1:9; 3:10). The main hypothesis postulates that constant prayer and work are associated with the concepts of thanksgiving (words of the Īµį½ĻĪ±ĻĪ¹ĻĻ-lemma) and exemplarity. It is argued that Pauline recommendations about praying and working without ceasing prove to be supported not only by an original biblical culture, but also by a church culture as well as a currently emerging African culture.
The aim of this study is to show similarities and differences between Greek and Swahili texts of ... more The aim of this study is to show similarities and differences between Greek and Swahili texts of the New Testament, especially at the lexical, morphological , syntactic, and semantic levels. It uses an intercultural approach that compares Greek, Latin, and Swahili texts, and argues that there is a great deal of similarity between the Greek and the Swahili languages at the grammatical level, except for the Greek deponent form, which has no formal equivalent in Swahili.
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Journal Editorial by Jean-Claude Loba-Mkole
Key words: intercultural translation, functional equivalence, Skopos theory, Biblical canons.
mutual edification.
Key words: intercultural translation, functional equivalence, Skopos theory, Biblical canons.
mutual edification.
proceeds through the mediation of a triple set of cultures, namely
the original biblical cultures, established church cultures (or church
traditions) and the current target cultures (or present target audiences). These entities are distinctive and yet linked, as they all appear to be driven by the dynamics of heritage, which involve a process of reception, actualization and transmission. As a matter of illustration, a current target culture is, in a way, a creative actualization of meanings received from the original biblical cultures and those of the church cultures of which a certain amount of experience will be tested and transmitted to the next generations. This book specifically focuses on how Gospels have been received, actualized and transmitted as a heritage through the three sets of cultures above mentioned.