An African Commentary on the Letter of James

Africa is a necessary but an often neglected continent. So also is the letter of James necessary but neglected. Yet there is perhaps no biblical text that speaks to the life situation in Africa in the twenty-first century more directly than the book of James. An African Commentary on the Letter of James is an attempt to hear the message of James's letter from a non-Western social and cultural setting. It seeks to demonstrate how one's worldview, language, culture, economic status, and religion make a significant difference in appropriating the message of the biblical text. The commentary explores how the written word impacts the readers in a predominantly oral culture. It attempts to hear what James is saying from a different context but, in doing so, explains James with a different "voice." Like the letter of James itself, the commentary uses pithy sayings, proverbs, and aphorisms to explain the meaning of the text.