"Scripture has always taken on the face into which it has been translated. . . We have had a Celtic text, a Gothic text, and an English text. When are we going to have an African text?" asked the Revd Dr John Pobee in his address on the "Interpretation of Scripture" to the 11th meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council in Dundee Scotland.

The question of biblical interpretation is seen as so important in the life of the Anglican Communion today that two sessions of the Council's meeting on Friday 17 September were dedicated to the subject. In the first session, Professor Pobee, a scholar, ecumenical leader in theological education, and bishop-elect in the Anglican Church of Ghana, offered a reflection on elements of scriptural interpretation. Although his paper had been distributed the night before, Professor Pobee spoke extemporaneously in a face to face discourse keeping with his African cultural norms of oral communication.

"There is a work of translation and interpretation to be undertaken if the traditions of one age are to become meaningful, relevant, and gripping for another age. . . . Each time we encounter and engage scripture" Professor Pobee stressed "we embark on a process of engaging the vehicle for the transmission of the traditions of the earliest Christian community."

Professor Pobee noted that the vehicle for translation is always that of the community's vernacular, the everyday language and symbols of the people. He stressed that since the 16th century Anglicans have valued the importance of local language as maintained in the XXIV Article of Religion "On Speaking in the Congregation in Such a Tongue as the People Understandeth." Professor Pobee discussed how the Pentecost paradigm, where a diversity of voices prevails, has begun to replace the unified Enlightenment paradigm of rational thought, that has informed Anglicanism for the last three centuries. He thus emphasized that biblical interpretation today must be done in an ecumenical and diverse context and with a variety of perspectives represented.

For Professor Pobee, there can be no single overriding interpretation of scripture; it must be done in community. Quoting his African forebears, he said "The one making the path cannot know if it is straight or not." Many, especially those whose cultures value oral expression over the written text, were affirmed by Professor Pobee's analysis and style of presentation.

Following a time of discussion in groups, members presented their responses and questions to Professor Pobee who responded with engaging wit and clarity. When asked about the differences in interpretation that might emerge from scattered villagers who are barely literate, the Professor replied: "They may be illiterate but they are not stupid; they may be uneducated but they think very deeply." In this way he affirmed the authenticity of every community of believers as it responds to the Word of God.

Communications Team ACC-11
Ian Douglas, Margaret Rodgers, Jim Rosenthal, Manasseh Zindo