Ghana launches the Africa Study Bible
Ghana on Monday launched the maiden Africa Study Bible (ASB) as a pacesetter in using the African experience and Christian doctrines and values to create a deeper understanding of the Gospel.
The document, which is inspired by God, has notes written by over 350 African contributors from 50 countries using the Holy Bible: New Living Translation and more than 2,600 features that illuminate the truth of Scriptures with a unique African perspective to serve as an amazing tool for personal and spiritual growth of the church.
The introductions explain each book’s content and connect biblical themes to African contexts, with application notes, to inspire readers to apply the scriptural truth to their everyday life.
There are also touch points that reveal unique perspectives using contextual and culturally relevant indigenous ways to understand God’s word through explanatory notes, African proverbs and idioms among other things to make reading easy and friendly.
The articles give practical advice on how to live faithfully in 50 essential areas including Marriage, Law and Grace, and further provides a narrative timeline that highlights God’s work in Africa.
Additional features include easy-to-read print, topical concordance and index, full-colour presentation section, Bible overview reading plan, in-text maps, charts and timelines, and the ASB App to be downloaded on Android or iOS platforms.
The launch, which was performed by former Vice President Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah Arthur, was a collaborative effort between the Challenge Enterprises of Ghana, operators of Challenge Bookshops, the Oasis International, the Tyndale House Publishers and the Bible Society of Ghana.
Dr Mathew Elliot, the President of Oasis International, said the concept of the ASB was specifically birthed after extensive talks among African leaders, the Oasis International, and the Tyndale House Publishers, who concluded that, if attempted, the ASB would focus on discipleship and life transformation by providing tools to help grow Christians deep in their faith.
Mr Sam Okudzeto, the Chairman of Challenge Enterprises of Ghana, said he did not consider it a coincidence that the ASB was being launched at a time when the country was celebrating her 60th Independence Anniversary and, therefore, urged Christians to effectively use the new resource to change attitudes.
The Right Reverend Professor Emmanuel Asante, the Chairman of the National Peace Council, addressing the question of whether: “God Still Speaks to Us Today,” said if Christians learnt to effectively use the Bible, they would encounter God uniquely through the use of their own local languages.
The Apostle Professor Opoku Onyinah, the Chairman of the Church of Pentecost, who chaired the launch, endorsed the ASB as a beneficial resource.
Some renowned members of the clergy and scholars said the ASB was a welcoming blessing to the body of Christ in Africa, which was becoming a centre piece for divine visitation.
They believed that the ASB would provide effective teaching and better application of the Bible that would help to reduce the long hours and amount of money spent by pastors and teachers of the Bible.
They expressed joy that most difficult concepts, names, periods and situations that African readers grapple with have been greatly simplified by the ASB, making them relevant and easier to understand.
Source: GNA