Conspectus Volume 35

Abstract

In the first article, “Theologizing in Africa: With Special Reference to Bible Translation in Chichewa,” Ernst Wendland emphasizes the many ways in which Bible translators function as theologizers. To illustrate this, he focusses on the New Testament Study Bible in Chichewa, reflecting on the art of conveying the meaning of a biblical text in understandable ways in order to serve the reader(/hearer) well. Next, Lioy, Dan T. argues for the basic categorization of human speech as either verbum efficax or verbum inefficax in his article, “The Destructive Power of the Tongue as a Verbum Inefficax: A Canonical-Literary Reading of James 3:1–12 through the Lens of Speech-Act Theory.” Employing speech-act theory, Lioy discusses efficacious speech as the proclamation of the gospel and inefficacious speech as marked by James in 3:1–12, concluding that efficacious speech promotes human flourishing, while inefficacious speech leads to decay. In his article, “Salt and Light: Reading Matthew 5:13–16 within the Context of the Matthean Community,” Frans-Johann Pienaar explores the rhetorical effect of Jesus’s command to be salt and light in the lives of the original audience of Matthew’s Gospel. Pienaar argues that Jesus’s words in Matthew 5:13–16 come as a challenge to an audience facing daily temptation to assimilate after the destruction of the temple in AD 70. Next, Charles Owiredu discusses the metaphors used for menstruation in the Old Testament in his article, “Euphemisms and Metaphors for Menstruation in the Old Testament and Two Ghanaian Bible Translations.” Owiredu analyzes the metaphorical conceptualizations of menstruation in the Hebrew Bible and then compares them with their translations in two Ghanaian Bibles, Twi and Gã, demonstrating that in both Ghanaian and Israelite thought, ideas around indisposition and separation are prominent when language about menstruation is concerned. Finally, in his article, “Reimagining the Role of the Pastor as a Teaching Elder in the Twenty-First-Century Church of Central Africa Presbyterian Nkhoma Synod Context: A Situational Audit of Lilongwe City Congregations,” Maxwell Chiwoko underscores that most preaching in the Nkhoma Synod is done by laypeople. The author argues for a reimagining of the fulfillment of the teaching responsibilities of pastors and for more effective training for laypersons. The issue concludes with three book reviews. Robert Badenberg reviews Who Do You Say I Am? Christology in Africa (2021), edited by Rodney L. Reed, and David K. Ngaruiya. This is followed by a review of Nijay Gupta’s, Tell Her Story (2023), written by Joshua R. Barron. Finally, Robert P. Menzies reviews Adams, Scott's book, In Jesus’ Name: Johannine Prayer in Ethical, Missional, and Eschatological Perspective (2022).