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118 pages

English

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The gospel of Christ is a gospel of peace, yet Christianity has not escaped the specter of religious violence. The legacy of the church has not only been one of patient suffering and forgiving love but also of brutal bloodshed. With tensions between Christians and non-Christians on the rise in many areas of the world, the question of how the church is to respond to religious violence is a pressing one, encompassing issues of ecclesiology, theology, and missiology.
Dr. Mipo E. Dadang explores the contextual realities that have led some believers in Northern Nigeria to embrace violence as a justifiable response to persecution. Drawing on extensive interviews, he provides an overview of the history of the church in the region, the impact of local theologies and traditions on mindsets and behaviors, and the insight of local believers into the catalysts, and solutions, to violent conflict. Alongside this phenomenological study, he provides a powerful biblical and theological foundation for understanding bloodshed as a violation of God’s created order. He weaves together biblical teachings, the example of the early church, and the theology of Martin Luther to demonstrate that the people of God are called to reject, prevent, and eliminate violence, replacing it with creative alternatives. This deeply powerful book has implications for every Christian seeking to live out the gospel of Christ in peaceful co-existence with their neighbors.

Sujets

Religion

Christianisme

Missions

Christian Ministry

Philosophie et théologie

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Publié par	Langham Creative Projects
Date de parution	30 mai 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781839736865
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0750€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Religious violence has massive implications for Christian faith. Christianity is rooted in Christ’s ethics of love, humility, compassion, just-peacemaking, and nonviolence. Mipo E. Dadang helps Christians in Nigeria and beyond to grasp not only the importance of paying attention to Christ’s nonviolent teaching, but also how violent conflicts negatively shape and influence Christians in contexts of religious violence – to the extent that they can easily become unaware captives of a fanatical faith-based group. Dadang’s work draws our attention to the fact that religious violence and current Christian responses are key issues facing Christianity in Nigeria and beyond. Dadang carefully and diligently addresses the implicit challenge posed by the continuous religious violence in Northern Nigeria, and he enables us to appreciate the gravity of the issues involved. He dissects and teases out the role of the Bible in helping Christians to correctly analyze, interpret, and explain the implications of any social-context bedeviled by religious violence. Towards a solution to the current dilemma and impasse, he specifically concentrates on describing and examining the trajectory of violent responses to religious violence among some Christians in Northern Nigeria. Dadang is deeply disturbed by the fact that instead of Nigerian Christians learning Christ’s ethics of war – love, nonviolence, just-peacemaking, and so on – they are becoming influenced by their traditional world’s method of responding to violent conflict. For Dadang, a way out of this impasse is to realize that, “Violence is a problem that the church needs to address if the church is to preach the gospel in a nonviolent environment” (p. 3). The plain truth is that some Nigerian Christians are yet to learn how to respond nonviolently. With the increasing ethnic, political, economic, and religious violent conflicts in Nigeria, the message of this book needs to be popularized and brought home to all Christian faiths and denominations.
Sunday Bobai Agang, PhD
Professor of Christian Ethics, Theology and Public Policy,
Provost, ECWA Theological Seminary, Jos
This book is one of a kind when it comes to addressing religious violence in Nigeria. It is a delightful guide full of important information for those of us who want to fully engage with handling the issue of religious violence. The book provides biblical and theological insights regarding the right response for believers in the context of religious violence. The book is not just theoretical but very engaging and practical in nature. The author provides deep theological conversations in an easy-to-read manner. The book provides the right theological response for believers in Northern Nigeria who are facing violent persecution on daily basis. The author grapples with both literature and personal experience to describe the reality of religious violence in Nigeria and gives theologically grounded ideas for practice that will build up the church in Northern Nigeria amidst violent persecution. I recommend this book to all theological institutions, families, youth workers, churches, and to all those who are concerned with religious violence around the globe.
Nathan H. Chiroma, PhD
Dean, School of Theology,
Pan Africa Christian University, Nairobi, Kenya
Mipo Dadang has experienced religious violence first hand, yet demonstrates in this penetrating study that such violence is not God’s will, nor can it be justified biblically – no, not even in the portrayal of Yahweh in the Old Testament. In the death of Jesus all violence has been met and surpassed, providing the God-pleasing payment for the sins of the whole world. The book grapples with violence as a missiological problem and offers solutions that will benefit not only those directly affected in northern Nigeria, but all Christians everywhere.
John G. Nordling, PhD
Professor of Exegetical Theology,
Concordia Theological Seminary, Indiana, USA
Mipo Dadang has done a thorough job of addressing the issue of religious violence against believers in Jesus Christ in the Nigerian context. His thoughtful research drives home the point that God is sovereign over the affairs of men and that his children can respond supernaturally to suffering because of their trust in him. Dadang is very persuasive in his conclusions, using sound biblical theology to support them. He has personally experienced what he is writing about and that is what makes his arguments so forceful. I strongly encourage every believer to read this book, especially those who are currently going through persecution for their faith.
Marc Wooten, PhD
Adjunct Professor of World Religions,
Asia Biblical Theological Seminary, Philippines

A Cry For Help
A Missiological Reflection on Violent Response to Religious Tension in Northern Nigeria
Mipo E. Dadang

© 2022 Mipo E. Dadang
Published 2022 by Langham Monographs
An imprint of Langham Publishing
www.langhampublishing.org
Langham Publishing and its imprints are a ministry of Langham Partnership
Langham Partnership
PO Box 296, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA3 9WZ, UK
www.langham.org
ISBNs:
978-1-83973-572-1 Print
978-1-83973-686-5 ePub
978-1-83973-687-2 Mobi
978-1-83973-688-9 PDF
Mipo E. Dadang has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or the Copyright Licensing Agency.
Requests to reuse content from Langham Publishing are processed through PLSclear. Please visit www.plsclear.com to complete your request.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan.
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-83973-572-1
Cover & Book Design: projectluz.com
Langham Partnership actively supports theological dialogue and an author’s right to publish but does not necessarily endorse the views and opinions set forth here or in works referenced within this publication, nor can we guarantee technical and grammatical correctness. Langham Partnership does not accept any responsibility or liability to persons or property as a consequence of the reading, use or interpretation of its published content.

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“Cast your cares on the Lord
and He will sustain you;
He will never let the righteous be shaken.”
Psalm 55:22
Contents

Cover

Abbreviations

Acknowledgments

Abstract

Chapter One Violence as a Missiological Problem

Historical Background of Nigeria

Purpose of the Research

Rationale for the Research Problem

Religious Violence

Research Concern Over Time

Brief Picture of the Research Design and Method

Statement of the Research Questions

Chapter Two Biblical Literature and Luther’s Works

Old Testament Literature

New Testament Literature

Martin Luther’s Works

Chapter Three Essential Contributing Literature

Early Christian Pacifism

First-Century Response

Second- and Third-Century Response

Fourth-Century Response

Current Literature

Violent Response

Nonviolent Response

Observation

Chapter Four Research Design and Method

Limitations

Delimitations

Research Questions and Operational Questions

Introduction to the Field Research Findings

Description of the Participants Respondents

Chapter Five Research Findings and Analysis

Research Question One: Social and Religious Context

Research Question Two: How Do Christians in Northern Nigeria Describe What the Christian Message Means to Them?

Research Question Three: Causes of Religious Violence

Research Question Four: Solutions to the Problem of Religious Violence in Northern Nigeria

Conclusions

Chapter Six Research Conclusions, Implications, and Recommendations for Further Research

Introduction

Findings from Field Research

Research Findings and Implications

Missiological Contribution of the Response to Violence

Recommendations for Further Research

Epilogue

Appendix One Interview Protocol

Appendix Two The Transmittal Letter

Appendix Three The Demographic Questionnaire

Appendix Four Field Research Coding System

Appendix Five Incidents of Provocations against Christians

Bibliography

About Langham Partnership

Endnotes
Abbreviations
LW Luther’s Works NLFA New Life for All TEKAN Association of Christians in Nigeria COCIN Church of Christ in Nations CAN Christian Association of Nigeria SIM Sudan Interior Mission CRK Christian Religious Knowledge O.I.C Organization of Islamic Conference ECWA Evangelical Church Winning All AEM African Evangelism Mission AIM African Industrial Mission FCS Fellowship Christian Students CMS Church Missionary Society
Acknowledgments
I remain grateful to God for his unmerited grace and love of salvation upon me and for providing men and women with the various resources and professional skills I needed to complete the Doctor of Philosophy degree studies at Concordia Theological Seminary (CTS). Although the journey of my academic pursuit has been characterized by many challenges, God has been faithful. I want to thank God and people who surrounded me with consistent prayers and financial support