Elizabeth W. Mburu

Elizabeth W. Mbūrū (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. She as the first woman to gain a PhD from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, North Carolina, USA. Her book, African Hermeneutics, seeks to provide a uniquely African approach to interpreting the Bible.

Early life and education Mbūrū grew up in Nairobi in a family with six children. She is a third generation Christian, and her grandfather was involved in the translation of the Bible into Kikuyu in the early 1900s. While there, she served as managing editor of the seminary's newsletter, Academicus. She is a curriculum evaluator for the Association of Christian Theological Education in Africa and African regional coordinator and commissioning editor for Langham Literature. Papers presented at the consultation's special session in 2022 were published in Conspectus Journal Special edition (Vol. 35 No. 2) in 2023. Mbūrū and Abeneazer G. Urga guest edited the special edition.

Mbūrū 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". 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.

Selected publications Books

Chapters

Personal life Mburu is married to Caxton and they have three children.