Elizabeth W. Mburu (born 1968) is a Kenyan theologian who is a professor of New Testament and Greek at the International Leadership University, Africa International University and Pan Africa Christian University in Nairobi. Her book, African Hermeneutics, seeks to provide a uniquely African approach to interpreting the Bible.
Mburu grew up in Nairobi in a family with six children.[1] She is a third generation Christian, and her grandfather was involved in the translation of the Bible into Kikuyu in the early 1900s.[1] Mburu became a Christian herself in 1993 and began to work with street children, leading to a desire for further training.[1]
Mburu has a Master of Divinity from Nairobi International School of Theology and a Master of Sacred Theology from Northwest Baptist Seminary.[1] She received her PhD in New Testament from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) in 2008 with a thesis titled "Qumran and the Origins of Johannine Language and Symbolism", which became her first book.[2] She was the school's first female PhD graduate.[3] While there, she served as managing editor of the seminary's newsletter, Academicus.[1]
Mburu taught at Montreat College in the United States before returning to Kenya where she has taught at the Africa International University.[1][3] She is a curriculum evaluator for the Association of Christian Theological Education in Africa and African regional coordinator and commissioning editor for Langham Literature.[3] She joined the Board of the Africa Bible Commentary in 2017 and was New Testament editor for its revision.[3] She is also on the boards of a number of journals including the South African Baptist Journal of Theology, Conspectus Journal and Pan Africa Christian University Journal.[1]
Mburu's book, African Hermeneutics proposes an intercultural approach that moves from theories, methods and categories familiar to the African world into the world of the Bible, without "taking a detour through any foreign methods".[1][4][5] She has said she was motivated to write the book due to the rapid growth of the church in the global South, particularly Africa, a lack of contextual resources available to her students, and the challenges of syncretism.[1] She said her work also "challenges and broadens the lens of Western assumptions and interpretation because it presents Western readers with a different way of looking at texts".[1] Her analogy of a four-legged stool is summarised by Frederick Mawusi Amevenkhu and Isaac Boaheng in their book Biblical Exegesis in African Context as a "suitable model for the African context".[4]
In 2019, Mburu received an Outstanding Academic Achievement Award from SEBTS and gave the keynote address at a celebration held during the 71st annual Evangelical Theological Society meeting.[1][6]
Mburu is married to Caxton and they have three children.[1]
