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87 pages

English

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Violence against ethnic minorities is a recurring theme in human history. The God of the Bible, however, is a God of the marginalized, the powerless, and the overlooked. To be a minority is to inhabit the heart of God’s story not its fringes.
In this book, Dr. Sunday Bobai Agang addresses the discrimination, oppression, and violence facing minorities in Africa and the church’s calling to stand against such injustice. Drawing upon covenantal theology and the biblical motif of a remnant, Agang explores God’s heart for those commonly devalued, silenced, excluded, and ignored. While our human societies are obsessed with power and might, God’s economy is one where the first are last and the weak confound the strong. This book is a powerful reminder of the source of true identity and the foundation for lasting peace and human flourishing.

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Publié par	Langham Creative Projects
Date de parution	10 mai 2021
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781839734793
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0022€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Africa is blessed with a rich diversity of cultures, ethnicities and nationalities. However, such diversity can also lead to dierences in moral, political and religious outlook. e situation becomes much more complex when there are unequal power relations, competition for limited material resources, and a his-tory of conict. Prof. Agang addresses concerns such as these with clarity and wisdom as he draws upon the biblical motif of the “remnant.” He rightly shows that the loving power of God supersedes the powers of all political, cultural, economic and ethnic identities. e key to peace and human ourishing, he proposes, is a clearer understanding of the implications of living in a covenantal relationship with God and all of God’s creation. is book contains a wealth of theological and pragmatic wisdom to aid “remnant” minority communities and those who occupy majority social positions to live more justly and faithfully for the sake of God’s perfect will and the achievement of the common good. is is a very important book! Dion A. Forster, PhD Director, Beyers Naudé Centre for Public eology Chair, Department of Systematic eology and Ecclesiology, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

e rst sentence of the preface toGod of the Remnantgrabbed me and I read the book non-stop. Sunday Agang is familiar with the fate of minorities in Africa. He knows suering, but he found a door that unlocks a road less trav-elled. He explains what “remnant” means in Scripture and how God uses small minorities through dicult times to keep faith and hope alive. In doing so, Agang gives the reader a set of glasses – one can see the patterns of history! e majesty of the covenantal God unfolds. Being in the presence of God changes the way you see yourself: identity gets redened, self-condence is regained, shame is removed, despair vanishes and hope is rekindled. e acceptance of being a remnant is not an instant individualized cure from miseries leading to a hassle-free life! In this book, you are invited to take the rst steps on an Abrahamic journey and before your very eyes the footprints of the one who set aside the privileges of deity appear. H. Jurgens Hendriks, DLitt Emeritus Professor, Practical eology and Missiology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa Program Coordinator, Network for African Congregational eology (NetACT)

e task of the theologian is two-fold; namely, to understand the message of the Bible and to apply that message to the contemporary situation. InGod of the Remnant: e Plight of Minority Ethnic Groups in Africa, Professor Sunday Agang has not only brought out the meaning of the biblical concept of remnant but applied it to the plight of many ethnic minorities. ere are thousands of ethnic minority groups all over Africa who suer all kinds of indignities such as isolation, oppression, intimidation, deprivation, poverty, violence and de-spair. Juxtapose the plight of ethnic minorities with the majority ethnic groups who live in auence, protection, and prosperity and oppress minority groups. ese extreme realities and tensions are with us and the Christian must make sense of it all. Agang emphasizes that God is the one who giveslove, mercy, grace and hopefor those who are victims of violence and extreme social ills. is is an apt study that will nd meaning and relevance for the many struggles, questions, tensions and severe aictions of many African ethnic minorities. Samuel Waje Kunhiyop, PhD Professor of Systematic eology and Ethics, ECWA eological Seminary, Kagoro, Nigeria Author,African Christian Ethics

is book by Professor Sunday Agang speaks powerfully to the situation of the minority ethnic groups in Africa.Marginalizationis the key word that describes their fate. Citing the example of Nigeria, the colonial masters empowered three regions: namely, North, East, and West. In these regions, the key players are the Hausa, Fulani, Igbo, and Yoruba. e rest of the over ve hundred minority nationalities became subsumed non-entities and mere numbers to be manipu-lated for political gains by the majority tribes. ese minority ethnic groups are despised, marginalized, persecuted, and downtrodden. But Prof. Agang does not stop in this state of hopelessness and despair. From the biblical concept of the remnant, he sees a “beacon of hope” for the minorities – they can serve as a source of blessing to the rest of humankind. What a huge encouragement for the marginalized and discouraged remnant! I enthusiastically recommend this book for the persecuted remnant in Africa and beyond. Rev. Bitrus A. Sarma, PhD Professor of Biblical Studies (NT), Provost, ECWA eological Seminary, Kagoro, Nigeria

God of the Remnant

The Plight of Minority Ethnic Groups in Africa

Sunday Bobai Agang

Published 2021 by HippoBooks, an imprint of ACTS and Langham Publishing.

Africa Christian Textbooks (ACTS), TCNN, PMB 2020, Bukuru 930008, Plateau State, Nigeria www.actsnigeria.org

Langham Publishing, PO Box 296, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA3 9WZ, UK www.langhampublishing.org

ISBNs: 978-1-83973-058-0 Print 978-1-83973-477-9 ePub 978-1-83973-478-6 Mobi 978-1-83973-479-3 PDF

Sunday Bobai Agang has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identied 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.

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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 (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

British Library CataloguinginPublication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-83973-058-0

Cover & Book Design: projectluz.com

e publishers of this book actively support theological dialogue and an author’s right to publish but do not necessarily endorse the views and opinions set forth here or in works referenced within this publication, nor guarantee technical and grammatical correctness. e publishers do 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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Contents

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xi Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 e Remnant Motif in the Scriptures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 From Genesis to Chronicles: God’s Work with a Remnant. . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 e Voices of the Prophets: e reat and Promise of a Remnant. . . . . . .6 Ezra and Nehemiah: e Preservation and Humility of a Remnant . . . . . .9 Paul: God’s Grace and Mercy to a Remnant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Remnants Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Survivors of Trauma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 18 Minority Ethnic Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Minority Religious Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Minorities within the Church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Hope for Remnants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Remnants and God’s Covenant Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 e Concept of a Covenant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 e Nature of God’s Covenants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 Implications of Covenant eology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Covenants and Hope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Covenants and Conduct. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 Covenants and Condence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 Covenants and Concern. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 e Reality of a Divided Humanity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Divisions and Sin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 Divisions and Judgement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 Despair Is Not an Option. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 Remnants, Assumptions and Injustice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Assumptions Have Consequences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 Assumptions in Africa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52