Elizabeth Mburu | |
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 Mburu speaks at the 2019 Africa Baptist Theological Education Network conference] | |
| Born | 1968 (age 55–56) Kenya |
Elizabeth W. Mburu (born 1968) is a Kenyan theologian who is a professor of New Testament and Greek at the International Leadership University, Africa International University and Pan Africa Christian University in Nairobi. Her book, African Hermeneutics, seeks to provide a uniquely African approach to interpreting the Bible.
Mburu grew up in Nairobi in a family with six children. [1] She is a third generation Christian, and her grandfather was involved in the translation of the Bible into Kikuyu in the early 1900s. [1] Mburu became a Christian herself in 1993 and began to work with street children, leading to a desire for further training. [1]
Mburu has a Master of Divinity from Nairobi International School of Theology and a Master of Sacred Theology from Northwest Baptist Seminary (now Corban University). [1] She received her PhD in New Testament from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) in 2008 with a thesis titled "Qumran and the Origins of Johannine Language and Symbolism", which became her first book. [2] She was the school's first female PhD graduate. [3] While there, she served as managing editor of the seminary's newsletter, Academicus. [1]
Mburu taught at Montreat College in the United States before returning to Kenya where she has taught at the Africa International University. [1] [3] She is a curriculum evaluator for the Association of Christian Theological Education in Africa and African regional coordinator and commissioning editor for Langham Literature. [3] She joined the Board of the Africa Bible Commentary in 2017 and was New Testament editor for its revision. [3] She is also on the boards of a number of journals including the South African Baptist Journal of Theology, Conspectus Journal and Pan Africa Christian University Journal. [1]
Mburu serves in the African Biblical Studies Consultation Steering Committee with Kidist Bahru Gemeda, Misheck Nyirenda and Abeneazer G. Urga at the Evangelical Theological Society. [4] Papers presented at the consultation's special session in 2022 were published in Conspectus Journal Special edition (Vol. 35 No. 2) in 2023. Mburu and Abeneazer G. Urga guest edited the special edition. [5]
Mburu's book, African Hermeneutics proposes an intercultural approach that moves from theories, methods and categories familiar to the African world into the world of the Bible, without "taking a detour through any foreign methods". [1] [6] [7] She has said she was motivated to write the book due to the rapid growth of the church in the global South, particularly Africa, a lack of contextual resources available to her students, and the challenges of syncretism. [1] She said her work also "challenges and broadens the lens of Western assumptions and interpretation because it presents Western readers with a different way of looking at texts". [1] Her analogy of a four-legged stool is summarised by Frederick Mawusi Amevenkhu and Isaac Boaheng in their book Biblical Exegesis in African Context as a "suitable model for the African context". [6]
In 2019, Mburu received an Outstanding Academic Achievement Award from SEBTS and gave the keynote address at a celebration held during the 71st annual Evangelical Theological Society meeting. [1] [8]
Mburu is married to Caxton and they have three children. [1]
Biblical hermeneutics is the study of the principles of interpretation concerning the books of the Bible. It is part of the broader field of hermeneutics, which involves the study of principles of interpretation, both theory and methodology, for all forms of communication, nonverbal and verbal. While Jewish and Christian biblical hermeneutics have some overlap and dialogue, they have distinctly separate interpretative traditions.
The historical-grammatical method is a modern Christian hermeneutical method that strives to discover the biblical authors' original intended meaning in the text. According to the historical-grammatical method, if based on an analysis of the grammatical style of a passage, it appears that the author intended to convey an account of events that actually happened, then the text should be taken as representing history; passages should only be interpreted symbolically, poetically, or allegorically if to the best of our understanding, that is what the writer intended to convey to the original audience. It is the primary method of interpretation for many conservative Protestant exegetes who reject the historical-critical method to various degrees, in contrast to the overwhelming reliance on historical-critical interpretation in biblical studies at the academic level.
Graeme L. Goldsworthy is an Australian evangelical Anglican theologian specialising in the Old Testament and Biblical theology. His most significant work is a trilogy: Gospel and Kingdom, Gospel and Wisdom, and The Gospel in Revelation. Goldsworthy has authored several other books including According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible, and Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture. He holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Cambridge in England, and Master of Theology and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia.
Kevin Jon Vanhoozer is an American theologian and current research professor of Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) in Deerfield, Illinois. Much of Vanhoozer's work focuses on systematic theology, hermeneutics, and postmodernism.
Vern Sheridan Poythress is an American philosopher, theologian, New Testament scholar and mathematician, who is currently the New Testament chair of the ESV Oversight Committee. He is also the Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Biblical Interpretation, and Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary and editor of Westminster Theological Journal.
Peter Eric Enns is an American Biblical scholar and theologian. He has written widely on hermeneutics, Christianity and science, historicity of the Bible, and Old Testament interpretation. Outside of his academic work Enns is a contributor to HuffPost and Patheos. He has also worked with Francis Collins' The BioLogos Foundation. His book Inspiration and Incarnation challenged conservative/mainstream Evangelical methods of biblical interpretation. His book The Evolution of Adam questions the belief that Adam was a historical figure. He also wrote The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It and The Sin of Certainty: Why God Desires Our Trust More than Our 'Correct' Beliefs.
Andreas Johannes Köstenberger is Research Professor at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Until 2018, he was Senior Research Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) in Wake Forest, North Carolina. Kostenberger now teaches in an adjunct position at BJU Seminary in Greenville, SC. His primary research interests are the Gospel of John, biblical theology, and hermeneutics.
Matthew Vellanickal is a New Testament scholar and a vicar general of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Archdiocese of Changanassery.
Jesse Ndwiga Kanyua Mugambi is a professor of philosophy and religious studies at the University of Nairobi with professional training in education and philosophy of religion.
Stanley E. Porter is an American-Canadian academic and New Testament scholar, specializing in the Koine Greek grammar and linguistics of the New Testament.
Eugene Haines Merrill is an American Old Testament scholar who has worked as a distinguished professor of Old Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary and 2010 president of the Evangelical Theological Society.
Paul P. Enns is an evangelical Christian pastor, biblical scholar and writer who serves as a full-time minister at Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz, Florida, and as adjunct professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is notable as one of the translators of the updated New American Standard Bible and as the author of The Moody Handbook of Theology.
Robert A. J. Gagnon is an American theological writer, professor of New Testament Theology at Houston Baptist University, former associate professor of the New Testament at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (1994–2017), an expert on biblical homosexuality, and an elder in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). He holds a BA from Dartmouth, an MTS from Harvard Divinity School, and a PhD from the Princeton Theological Seminary.
Carol Ann Newsom is an American biblical scholar, historian of ancient Judaism, and literary critic. She is the Charles Howard Candler Professor Emerita of Old Testament at the Candler School of Theology and a former senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University. She is a leading expert on the Dead Sea Scrolls, Wisdom literature, and the Book of Daniel.
Phyllis Ann Bird is an American feminist scholar in biblical hermeneutics. She is Professor Emerita of Old Testament Interpretation at Garrett–Evangelical Theological Seminary and McCarthy Professor of Biblical Studies at the Pontifical Biblical Institute. Bird is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, and was one of the translators of the New Revised Standard Version.
Mitzi J. Smith is an American biblical scholar who is J. Davison Philips Professor of New Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary. She is the first African-American woman to earn a PhD in New Testament from Harvard University. She has written extensively in the field of womanist biblical hermeneutics, particularly on the intersection between race, gender, class, and biblical studies. She considers her work a form of social justice activism that brings attention to unequal treatment of marginalized groups.
Lynn H. Cohick is an American New Testament scholar, author, professor, and administrator at Houston Christian University.
Karen H. Jobes is an American biblical scholar who is Gerald F. Hawthorne Professor Emerita of New Testament Greek and Exegesis at Wheaton College. She has written a number of books and biblical commentaries. In 2015, she received the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association's Christian Book of the Year Award for "Bible Reference" books. Jobes currently serves as the first female president of the Evangelical Theological Society.
Sister Mary Coloe is an Australian religious sister and New Testament biblical scholar who specializes in the Gospel of John. She is a member of the Sisters of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, a Roman Catholic religious order dedicated to teaching and service to the poor. She is a professor at Yarra Theological Union, in Box Hill, Victoria, Australia.
Jeannine K. Brown is an American New Testament scholar who focuses on the Gospels, Hermeneutics and New Testament literary analysis. She is a professor at Bethel University in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
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