African Biblical Hermeneutics and the Decolonial Turn

Dear Colleagues,

African Biblical Hermeneutics was born out of the desire by African scholars to develop approaches to the study of the Bible that both pass the test of scientific rigour and respond to the existential needs of the contemporary African reader. The premise of the relevance of this field of study to contemporary Africa, however, requires constant innovation in response to a rapidly changing social context. It demands that scholars keep abreast with the complex transformations in the religio-cultural landscape of the continent while continually developing new tools and approaches for engaging both text and reality. This call for papers invites scholars to engage African Biblical Hermeneutics from perspectives including but not limited to methods and approaches, gender, the interpretation of the Bible in pluri-religious contexts, mother-tongue exegesis, and post-colonial and decolonial readings. In your engagement, we invite you to also engage the following two fresh-from-the-press books, Kenneth N. Ngwa’s Let My People Live: An African Reading of Exodus. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2022, and Andrew Mbuvi’s African Biblical Studies: Unmasking Embedded Racism and Colonialism in Biblical Studies. London: T&T Clark, 2022.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the guest editors (ramanh@unisa.ac.za; mikmensah@ug.edu.gh) or to the Religions editorial office (religions@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer-review.

Dr. Hulisani Ramantswana
Dr. Michael Kodzo Mensah
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.