After celebrating 50 years in public ministry, Dallas-based pastor Tony Evans became the first African American to publish a study bible and commentary.
“What I want to say to African Americans is if you see what’s really in the Bible, you can find yourself there,” he said in an interview with Religion News Service. “You don’t have to lose yourself to believe in Jesus. In fact, much of who we are is in Jesus.”
Evans, pastor of Oak Cliff Fellowship and founder of The Urban Alternative, released the study Bible and commentary in partnership with LifeWay.
“Paying attention to context is extremely important if you want to accurately understand what the Bible is saying,” he wrote in the Bible’s opening instruction letter. “If you don’t pay attention to the context, you are in danger of trying to make the Bible say something that it doesn’t actually say.”
His church celebrated with a three-hour “Kingdom Legacy Live” event that included musicians Kirk Franklin and LeCrae, who praised Evans as the father figure they never had. Video tributes also were aired from former President George W. Bush and former football player Herschel Walker.
It was important to Evans to highlight the black presence in Scripture. In his interview, he specifically mentioned Ham’s lineage dating back to African people; Moses’ wife, Zipporah, being the…
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