Babel, Jerusalem and ... Kumba:Missiological Reflections on Genesis 11

This second article, Babel, Jerusalem and ... Kumba was originally written for the 50th anniversary of the Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Kumba in 2002. In the traditional exegesis Genesis 11 and Acts 2 have often been played off against each other. In this article I want to challenge this general Christian interpretation and establish a new balance between these two passages. Eventually I will use this intepretation to evaluate the missionary enterprise of the past, as well as to evaluate its implications for the missionary thinking in the African historical churches today, in this case the missionary thinking in the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon. The artical was later also published in the International Review of Mission, Vol. XCII, No. 366 (July 2003): 406-421