Journal: Conspectus
Volume: CONSPECTUS 40:1 (Oct 2025)
Article: Editorial
Author: Basilius M. Kasera

SATS 40:1 (October 2025) p. 5

Editorial

Basilius M. Kasera

Today, perhaps more than ever, the African evangelical witness is required to participate in key theological conversations. At Conspectus, our task is to be the vehicle that echoes these witnesses through the ministry of writing. While the present volume sounds polemical, it is better understood as heralding. It is not a defence, but rather a reminder of the need to rightly divide the Word of truth. We are pleased to present a volume that brings Africa into conversation with Scripture as authority for faith and conduct. This volume is not merely hermeneutics for academic purposes; it is a commitment to remind the church to uphold the revealed truth.

The articles in this volume testify to how Christian academics participate in this activity of witnessing within the demanding spaces of academia. We are grateful to the team of peer reviewers whose contribution in shaping the author’s work cannot be overstated. Each of the articles presents a unique case but contributes to a unified message: faithful, Christocentric biblical hermeneutics.

The first article, The Author-Intended Meaning: The Priority of Scripture over Culture as a Key to the Future of African Christianity, by Kevin Smith argues, in conversation with Hirsch, Chou, and Kato, that Christianity cannot thrive without a hermeneutic that upholds the authority of Scripture. The article demonstrates the dangers of biblical interpretation that rejects the author’s intended meaning. Smith posits that evangelical hermeneutics should be canonical, Christo-centric and contextual; then only does the Bible become authoritative for faith and life.

In the second article, The Speaking God: Divine Revelation in Hebrews and Its Implications for African Biblical Hermeneutics, Abeneazer G. Urga advocates for an African Biblical Hermeneutics that is contextually relevant yet faithful to Scripture. Engaging with the book of Hebrews, he responds to the growing hermeneutics of suspicion that rejects the authorial intent and authority of Scripture in favor of African lived experiences.

The third article, The Hermeneutical Dimension of Bible Translation—A Study of Rendering Ruth 1 in Two Bantu Languages of South-Eastern Africa, by Ernest R. Wendland, demonstrates how Bible translation is inherently a hermeneutical activity. Wendland uses an evangelical framework to demonstrate what hermeneutics-in-action looks like when translators are committed to Scripture and strive to faithfully render its meaning in African languages. His article counters approaches that treat African language Bible translation and its ensuing hermeneutics as an afterthought.

In the fourth article...