Translation as Incarnation

"""While Christianity is waning in the West, it is experiencing explosive growth in the Global South. Israel Kamudzandu shows us that the key factor to that growth was the translation of the Bible into the vernacular. The result is vibrant new expressions of Christianity that experience the reality of God in their midst and may in turn lead to its renewal in the West. If you want to understand global Christianity and where it is heading this is an essential read."" --Henry H. Knight III, professor emeritus of Wesleyan studies and evangelism, Saint Paul School of Theology ""Showing how God became 'incarnate' in the various vernacular Bible translations and hymnody of the Global South, Israel Kamudzandu makes a convincing case that God's word cannot ultimately be colonized or silenced. Especially for those in the North American Church who want to see how God's presence and power embodied in vernacular translations made the Bible a liberating rather than an enslaving tool in the Global South, this book is a good place to start."" --Andy Johnson, chair of biblical theology, Nazarene Theological Seminary ""This book helps us who live within the bubble of English to understand how different Christianity is in the Global South, where salvation is not just for the individual soul, but transforms entire cultures. As Christ was incarnate, Israel Kamudzandu argues that from the nineteenth century, the Bible became incarnate in the indigenous languages and hymnody of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, which generated both individual and national resurrection. Might not we Westerners learn holistic human transformation from our Southern brothers and sisters?"" --David L. Balch, professor emeritus of New Testament, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary/GTU/CLU"