Andrew M. Mbuvi

Tinyiko Maluleke

Aliou Cisse Niang

Alice Yafeh-Deigh

Kenneth Ngwa

The meaningful juxtaposition of academics (“experts”) with the day-to-day lives of nonacademics (“nonexperts”) has animated Gerald O. West’s work from the beginning. Seeking to bridge this chasm, West’s approach of reading the Bible with the “ordinary people” (typically marginalized communities) became a core practice not only of his church work but of his scholarship. West has been a strong proponent of taking seriously the “ordinary reader” as a viable and legitimate contributor to our understanding of biblical interpretation. Not only does this undo the “ivory tower” elitism that tends to pervade academic halls of learning, but it also reflects a form of scholarly humility that has been a mainstay of West’s and should be perpetuated more broadly in biblical scholarship.

A Festschrift in Honor of Gerald O. West

Biblical Hermeneutics in Context and the Struggle for Meaning

While there are many commentaries written today, most have been products of Euro-American scholars who have sought to address questions and concerns of the western church. The New Covenant Commentary Series (NCCS) has provided an opportunity for scholars from the non-majority communities in Biblical Studies to engage fully with NT writings without bracketing their diverse backgrounds in the interpretive process. Consequently, in Andrew Mbuvi's interpretation of Jude and 2 Peter, the author seeks to both be faithful in the first century Greco-Roman world setting of the letters while also allowing aspects of his postcolonial, African, and liberation theology interests to inform his hermeneutics. Mbuvi reads the epistles within the context of first century Greco-Roman Associations since the communities of Jude and 2 Peter seem to share significant commonalities with these groups. The Fusing Horizons sections address aspects of concern to the Church, with inclination towards issues that have occupied the church outside of the western world (the Global South), home to the majority of Christians today. Mbuvi's useful analysis shows that Jude's and 2 Peter's message remains as relevant today as when the letters were written.

Andrew M. Mbuvi

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