The Academy of the Poor: Towards a Dialogical Reading of the Bible

by Gerald O. West

What roles do biblical scholars play in contexts where the Bible is a significant text within poor and marginalized communities? Gerald West reflects on what their role is by drawing on liberation hermeneutics (with a focus on race, class and gender), inculturation hermeneutics (with a focus on culture), and postmodernism (with a decentred 'focus'!). He argues that recent trends in the field of biblical studies open up space for serious dialogue (and perhaps even collaboration) between readers of the Bible in the academy and readers of the Bible in poor and marginalized communities.

181 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book articulates how trained Bible scholars can read the Bible with 'ordinary readers' (people on the margins) and conduct a contextual Bible Study. West is from South Africa and thus this book reflects that context.