Scholarly Works
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://repository.ui.edu.ng/handle/123456789/363
Browse
53 results
Search Results
Item The rise of Ethiopian churches in Nigeria: a reaction against religious colonisation in Africa(Department of Religious and Cultural Studies Faculty of Humanities, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria, 2022) Mepaiyeda, S. M.Colonisation of Africa by the European nations in the 19th century could be adjudged as a means of development in some facets of life, yet its resultant effects among others was cultural enslavement of the indigenes. Such negative effect was rebuffed by a few educated A fricans withnationalistic consciousness. In a similar vein, A frican Christians reacted against what can be termed religious colonisation orchestrated by European Missionaries who among other evils, ostracised African Christians from the mainline churches because of polygamy, condemned the institution of chieftaincy and grossly discriminated against the natives in the polity of the Church. The inhuman treatment of Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther and Rev James Johnson exemplified this anti-African attitude of the European Missionaries. Hence the emergence of Ethiopian Churches in Nigeriatowards the end of the 19th century and at the turn of the 20th century served as a religious expression of nationalism in Africa. There fore, this paper seeks to investigate the dynamism of religious expressions of nationalism in Nigeria as typified by The African Church and others with nationalistic tendencies with a view to determining how the claims of religious nationalists interfaced with Henry Venn's principles of evangelisation in Africa. Historical method was adopted for the collection of data.Item Evaluating the significance of radical reformation exemplified by Lutheran spiritualists and the Anabaptists to global christianity(2021) Mepaiyeda, S. M.The efforts of the fourteen century revivalist movements served as eye-openers to the rots in the Church. All of them leveraged on Biblical information as strategy to sanitize the Church that was invaded by worldliness and guided largely by traditions, human pronouncements as well as some unscriptural practices. With the sixteen century decisive reformation masterminded by Martin Luther, people had thought that the efforts of the reformers were the last move that Christianity needed to sanitize the Church but the rise of radical reformers suggested that over-emphasis of some doctrinal issues at the expense of others of great importance by the classical reformers deprived the Church of reconstruction it needed. This paper attempts to examine the roles played by some individuals and groups to radicalize Christianity through their brand of reformation; and consequently bring to the fore the implications of their expressed concerns on the Church, using historical method.Item The interface between the sacrificial rites in yoruba religion and African indigenous churches(Nigerian Association of Church History and Missiological Studies, 2020-12) Mepaiyeda, S. M.The idea of sacrifice which by definition has remained multi-dimensional and generalised has continued to be an attractive concept in religious and theological discourse. The reason is that sacrifice seems to connote different meanings to different people, especially adherents of different religions. Even in the same religion such as Christianity for instance, people express divergent understanding of the concept. To some groups of Christians, the suffering and death of Jesus Christ epitomise the sacrifice sufficient for all generations. But some Christian denominations share the view of African Religions, which is similar to Judaist religion on sacrifice as a daily and practical offering of food, objects or the lives of animals to God, the ancestors or spirits for the purpose of achieving individual or general well- being of the society. This paper therefore seeks to bring to the fore some sacrificial practices among the African Indigenous Churches which have resemblance in Yoruba religion with a view to determining the validity of such practices within the biblical context and the history of African Christianity.Item The roles of indigenous missionaries and christians in the expansion of christianity in Nigeria, 1860-1969(AOSIS, 2019) Mepaiyeda, S. M; Popoola, T.The contextual perspective that this article challenges is the neglect of significant contributions of indigenous African missionaries and Christians by some early missionary historiographers whose writings largely focused on European missionaries. This created a lacuna in the proper documentation of African missionary enterprises. The research will not only serve as a platform to discover the socio-religious importance of past African Christian heroes of Nigerian origin but also provide additional information on existing African historiography not from the perspective of Europeans but Africans, using both theological and scientific approaches with the aim of presenting more accurate records in church history. This will serve as a biography of African Christianity. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article has intra- and interdisciplinary implications for African philosophy, African traditional religion and ethics because most theories and views of Africans in these fields are yet to be largely researched to bring into the limelight their relevance to African realities.Item Responsible stewardship of the environment: ecumenical and ethical antidotes for peace and eco-justice in Nigeria(Crowther Theological Publishers, Crowther Graduate Theological Seminar, Igbein, Abeokuta, Ogun State, 2019) Mepaiyeda, S.; Eluwole, S.The expectation of humans to live in a world that is peaceful has been a mirage because of their failure to recognise the nexus between justice and peace. It is no doubt that the concept of peace has taken central position in global conferences- political, economic or religious, yet, it seems people have only been paying lip-service to its realisation. Also, they fail to adequately address gender inequality, dehumanizing attitude of some stronger nations towards the weaker ones, and more significantly, the trending issue of the destruction of non-human creatures by humans. These factors among many others have orchestrated the tension that is being experienced in the cosmic order. This paper therefore advocates for mutual respect among humans irrespective of gender or race and responsible earth stewardship, especially by all Africans, so as to achieve peace in the society. Special emphasis has been placed on eco-justice considering its far-reaching significance to the restoration of peace. Sociological approach was adopted in gathering data that cut across many disciplines.Item Religion and the Nigerian state(VEDA Publications, 2019) Mepaiyeda, S. M.One interesting character observed about religion in Nigeria is that it has played both the anabolic and catabolic roles in the society. It has been used as a catalyst for building up as well as instrument for demolishing peaceful coexistence of the citizens of the country. Historical evidences attest to the fact that religious resurgence most especially in the northern part of the country led to violent riots that claimed the lives of more than 100,000 Christians and Muslims within a space of 34 years (1977 and 2011). From examination carried out on the perennial incidence of religio-political crises in Nigeria, factors responsible include the missionary spirit of the Christian faith which the Muslims could not tolerate; persistent attempts to nationalize sectional interest; the surreptitious use of religion by the government to achieve economic or political advantages and the reluctance to accept a change in certain areas. Having considered the effects of religious crises on the psyche of the citizens, the paper recommends that Nigerians must come to terms with the religious plurality of the country and the imperatives of secularity. Harmonious coexistence demands sacrifice from various religious groups within the state while attitudinal re-engineering is recommended at all levels of religious and political leadership. The expectation of humans to live in a world that is peaceful has been a mirage because of their failure to recognise the nexus between justice and peace. It is no doubt that the concept of peace has taken central position in global conferences- political, economic or religious, yet, it seems people have only been paying lip-service to its realisation. Also, they fail to adequately address gender inequality, dehumanizing attitude of some stronger nations towards the weaker ones, and more significantly, the trending issue of the destruction of non-human creatures by humans. These factors among many others have orchestrated the tension that is being experienced in the cosmic order. This paper therefore advocates for mutual respect among humans irrespective of gender or race and responsible earth stewardship, especially by all Africans, so as to achieve peace in the society. Special emphasis has been placed on eco-justice considering its far-reaching significance to the restoration of peace. Sociological approach was adopted in gathering data that cut across many disciplines.Item An examination of the ethical implications of violence in Abrahamic religions for Nigerian commonwealth(Nigerian Association for the Study of Religions (NASR), 2018-07) Mepaiyeda, S. M.Religion is a terrain that guarantees communion between the object of worship and adherents. This implies that religious beliefs and activities or practices of a particular religion should not be forced on adherents of other religions. But the contrary is the case in many climes, especially in Nigeria, where people flout the principles of religious pluralism. Often times, such disregard for tolerance of adherents of other religions in a diverse society, breeds violence that leads to monumental loss of lives and property thereby impinging negatively on Nigerian Commonwealth. Therefore, this research is highly interested, firstly, in the examination of the veracity of the claim by adherents of Christianity and Islam that their religions epitomise peace and secondly examine the factors that trigger religious violence vis-a-vis the ethical implications of such religious induced violence on the societal psyche. This becomes imperative in order to critically address its effects with a view to reducing inter and intra religious conflicts that have engulfed Nigeria in particular and some nations of the world in general. In view of the fact that this research falls within the ambit of contextual study, phenomenological method will be employed to carry out the primary investigation; while literary works of scholars shall be consulted in order to elucidate information on the subject matter.Item Historical analysis of the ecumenical development in Nigeria(2018) Mepaiyeda, S. M.The attempt to embark on this study was borne out of the desire to trace the origin of ecumenical efforts in their local and global contexts. Among many Orthodox Christians,1 it is generally accepted that the contemporary Ecumenical Movement began with the Encyclical of 1920 that emanated from the Patriarch of Constantinople but historical record disproves this assertion and shows that the contemporary Ecumenical Movement has its roots in the Protestant missionary movement of the 19th century. In addition, this paper argues that ecumenical engagements were driven by the desire of Evangelical Protestants to achieve a “unity in fellowship” amongst themselves for greater success in the mission field. This contradicts the notion that ecumenism arose out of the desire for “unity in truth” or doctrinal agreement. This research becomes necessary so that the historical facts of ecumenism from global context would be put in proper perspective in order to avoid the implication that any distortion could have on ecumenical development in Nigeria which is a fall-out of the World Missionary Conference that held in Edinburgh in 1910. The objectives of this study are to bring to the fore the synergy that existed among some Protestant churches that championed ecumenical developments in Nigeria and to articulate that mission is the force that drives ecumenism both globally and locally. Using historical and sociological approaches in this study, the paper submits that since the emergence of organized ecumenism in Nigeria, there has been a paradigm shift from sustaining the legacies and vision bequeathed by the founders because modern ecumenism leadership seems to be more interested in playing politics by their actions thereby causing more disunity among the Christians in Nigeria.Item Critiquing the motivations for Luther’s reformation(2018-06) Mepaiyeda, S. M.What informed the engagement of this topic is the mixed feelings or misrepresentations that some Christians express about Martin Luther, the Chief Pioneer or Prince of what we call Protestantism. While it is an established fact in a section of Christianity that Luther was a political reformer, others see him as a religious reformer. Such divergent opinions are capable of distorting historical facts and have the tendency of promoting erroneous ideas about the ideal that Luther stood for. Therefore, the concern of this paper is to investigate the socioeconomic, political and religious contexts which spurred reactions by some intellectual church men that eventually culminated in the 16th century reformation. This attempt becomes imperative in order to have a clearer picture of the situations before the reformation and to assess the strategies adopted by the reformers, especially Martin Luther in order to determining the veracity of the claim that Luther's reformation was politically motivated.Item An appraisal of the perspectives of the pentecostal and charismatic on theological education in Nigeria(West African Association of Theological Institutions, 2014) Mepaiyeda, S. M.This paper aims primarily at investigating the bases for the unfriendly attitude towards theological education. In addition, using historical antecedents as a benchmark, the paper will articulate the relevance of theological education in the expansion of God’s kingdom, with a view to reducing mediocrity in religious parlance and inculcate proper orientation in the development of church leaders in Nigeria. Though theological education remains a veritable platform to bring enlightenment to the souls and minds of individuals about God and his activities for the singular purpose of transforming and liberating men from the bondage of ignorance to knowledge; yet, a cursory look at the happenings among the Pentecostal and Charismatic circles in Nigeria suggests that majority of them have developed apathy towards such training. Even the few who have Bible Colleges de-emphasize rigorous theological study in their curricula, hinging such stand on many factors and assumptions.