The Bible, HIV/AIDS and African-South African women: a bosadi (womanhood) perspective

Abstract

The observation that the Christian Bible has historically played an important role, either for good or for evil, in differing African contexts, be it on the continent or in the Diaspora, cannot be disputed. The reality is that the Bible continues to play a crucial role in the lives of many African Christian believers. Notwithstanding the popularity of the Bible in our contexts, its use, particularly by those in power, has not always been helpful. As a matter of fact, in many of our church contexts, the womenfolk who come to church, overwhelmed by the pressures of everyday life, find some of our biblical interpretations more ‘wounding’ than healing. Yet many of our churches are mostly populated by women and girls. Statistics have shown that women, particularly those of African descent (both on the continent and in the Diaspora), are the hardest hit by the pandemic of our time: HIV/AIDS. The present text seeks to answer the following question: How should the plight of our day, one which hits the womenfolk the most, impact on our biblical hermeneutics as scholars, theologians, pastors and laity alike, in a way that will benefit all persons, but particularly those on the margins of our societies?