Bible gets African interpretation
By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NAIROBI, Kenya - Biblical scholar Tokunboh Adeyemo long ago decided something was wrong with how the message of God was being spread in Africa, a continent where competition for souls is fierce.

‘‘The Bible was not written against the cultural background of Africans,’’ Adeyemo told The Associated Press in a recent interview. ‘‘The Bible came through from Western missionaries, and the interpretation they gave was based on their own cultural background.’’

That prompted the Nigerian-born Adeyemo and other scholars and theologians to create Africa Bible Commentary, a 1,600-page book released this summer by Africans, for Africans, using African proverbs and idioms to apply the Bible’s teachings to contemporary problems such as AIDS, corruption and female genital mutilation. the rest