30 - The Bible in society

Summary

Throughout the modern period the Bible's role in society has been substantial. Sunday school and Bible-study groups continue to shape people and society. Forty years after the debates began in England, biblical debates over slavery raged in the United States, until the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. Both sides in the slavery debate appealed vigorously to the Bible. The cultural underpinnings of slavery were colonial expansions by Western countries. Zionism witnesses uniquely to colonialism. Third World womanist liberationists exposit, white feminist expositions too are found wanting, as in the notable article by Indian writer Mukto Barton. This chapter shows why discernment in biblical interpretation on social moral issues has been difficult in the past, and why it continues to be difficult today. The culture of the global South is closer to the social, cultural and intellectual milieu of biblical times and thus the Bible appeals, producing phenomenal church growth.