Wil Gafney

Africa and the Bible

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“The scholarship of Professor Gene Rice, in and out of the classroom, has nurtured the biblical literacy of generations of seminarians and shaped the scholarly vocation of biblical scholars at the Howard University School of Divinity, myself among both categories. It is profoundly gratifying to have his critical essays collected and reintroduced for new generations of students and scholars. I found these essays enlightening as a student and foundational as a scholar; they are referenced among my current work. While no collection could offer the unacquainted reader the experience of being taught and mentored by this great man, his sagacity and careful thoughtfulness come through his written word. It is my pleasure to commend them to the reader.”

Insights from African American Interpretation

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Mitzi Smith ably traces the arc of African American biblical interpretation. She extends that arc with her own contributions, interpreting passages from both Testaments. She reintroduces the reader to ​parables rooted in the atrocity of slavery, lays their brutality bare, and interprets them through the experience of African Americans. She does this while bringing postcolonial and social political theory to bear resulting in a text that critically reassess the utility of master/slave and kingdom rhetoric as religious​, Christian language, particularly in congregational contexts. Her work on the Levite's tortured and butchered low-status wife offers a powerful analysis of the dehumanizing​ "dismembering" that results in trafficking, domestic, sexual, and institutional violence.”

Postcoloniality, Translation, and the Bible in Africa

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Dube and Wafula have assembled a critically-needed anthology querying the impact of Western biblical translation for Africans, laying bare the colonial values smuggled into biblical and other texts. The contributors lay bare the colonial patriarchal agenda that assigned male gender to God in African languages in which God was not previously a male construct, and elucidate the fabrication of an anti-black Christianity hostile to indigenous cultural religious and spiritual practices. This collection will be a valuable pedagogical tool for unmasking the supposed neutrality in translation of any literature, and for assessing the continuing consequences of the colonial enterprise for all who read, teach, preach, study, and translate the scriptures.​”

The Evolution of Adam

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Enns’s still-relevant The Evolution of Adam is thoughtful, accessible, and timely. Enns facilitates a conversation between traditional approaches to reading the Scriptures and scientific understandings of the world, the cosmos, and the human species. He does this by drawing attention to the contexts in which the Scriptures were produced and interpreted and by discussing how those contexts contribute to an understanding of Scripture that may be new to contemporary readers. His nine theses provide a concise, comprehensible approach to what can be a difficult conversation.”

Trans Biblical

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Joseph A. Marchal, Melissa Harl Sellew, and Katy E. Valentine have compiled an impressive work on biblical interpretation from trans perspectives and experiences that are not limited to trans persons. The contributions move beyond the theoretical to the practical and pedagogical, covering texts from the Hebrew Bible, New Testament, rabbinic literature, and early Christian writings. Among the chapters are an excellent overview of the intersection of trans history and biblical interpretation and a reconsideration of the trans-cis binary and the trans*ness of John’s Jesus using an African communal hermeneutic. The volume is fresh, engaging, and insightful. Explicit and implicit pedagogies are among the book’s strongest features.”

Wisdom from the Witch of Endor

Christian Living

“It is a rare privilege to hear again the literary voice of such an esteemed and beloved scholar and teacher. Though not one of the students in her classroom, the scholarship of Tikva Frymer-Kensky shaped me as a budding biblical scholar. Now, the web of her wordcraft captures me again in this rich exegetical unfolding of another woman who mastered her craft. Dr. Frymer-Kensky’s words of wisdom are at times sermonic, at times didactic, and always meticulously rigorous. This is a treasure I look forward to sharing and assigning.”