Resourcing the Arab Church: 3 new theological resources released in February 2015

Three Biblical reference books to help Arab Christians get a deeper insight into the Scriptures have just been released by LSESD’s publishing house, Dar Manhal Al Hayat (DMAH). The books have been produced in conjunction with the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS) and were launched at a special event at ABTS on Monday 23 February.

One is the first Arabic translation of Dr David A. de Silva’s An Introduction to the New Testament: Context, Methods & Ministry Formation. The book is recognised as a key reference in the study of New Testament theology at colleges across the world. Dr de Silva, who is Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Greek at Ashland Theological Seminary in the United States, was at the launch event and gave a seminar on ‘Patron-Client Relationships and Metaphors of Salvation in the New Testament’.

Lebanese historian Dr Issa Diab was also at the event for the launch of his book An Introduction to the Old Testament. He spoke on salvation too, comparing the concept in the Old and New Testaments.

The final book to be launched was the Arabic translation of Professor Grant R. Osborne’s The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. The book, first published in English in 1991, is seen as a classic and won the 1993 Christianity Today Critics Choice Award. ABTS has worked with DMAH to identify the most-needed theological titles to translate to Arabic; and DMAH, in turn, set out to ensure the highest standards for each translation.

These three books are responding to the needs of Arabic-speaking seminary students for Biblical resources in their own language. Sawsan Tannoury, Publishing Manager for DMAH, said these new translations would enrich Arab world libraries. “The Arab world is in dire need of good theological resources,” she said. “In this period of persecution and political upheaval, we must build a firm platform for the Arab Church to encourage Christian leaders, help them in their Biblical studies, and empower them to pursue God’s will for their ministries all over the Middle East.

“Our vision at DMAH is to see leaders, pastors and Bible School students using these deep content references along with their Bibles,” she said. “We believe in teamwork. Our work with ABTS started nine years ago, and amongst the fruits of this hard work are these three books filled with lots of theological doctrines and historical events.” As well as print editions, all three books are due to be available in digital format when LSESD’s new ebookstore KONOOZ is launched later this year.

By Chris Hall | LSESD | March 2015