Research Articles (Religion Studies)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/17108

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The African masculinity and values in contemporary society
Ekeke, Emeka C.; John, Elizabeth Okon (National Association of Social Workers (Zimbabwe), 2025-04)
This study explored the connection between African masculinity and cultural values, tracing its historical roots, significance, and modern challenges. Prior to colonisation, African societies emphasized communal responsibility, respect for elders, and provider roles, to shape masculine identity. However, post colonisation, urbanization, globalization, and changing gender dynamics introduced new complexities to these values. African men try to harmonize customs with modernity, meeting role expectations alongside contemporary demands. Furthermore, economic shifts challenge provider roles, while evolving gender norms reshape relationships. The study employed literary method and qualitative content analysis to examine the subject in-depth and argued that amid such changes, embracing inclusive masculinities, collaborative leadership, and gender equality empowers African men. Findings showed that dynamic adherence to values integrates customary practices and modernity to safeguard culture. This interaction shapes African masculinity, impacting norms, equity, and identity; and remained a crucial part of modern society, adapting to challenges while reshaping fundamental principles.
Teologiese perspektiewe op digitale nalatenskap
Beyers, Jaco (Litnet, 2025-08-15)
AFRIKAANS : Die verskynsel digitale nalatenskap (ook bekend as digital afterlife, digital immortality of digital traces) is die aandagspunt van hierdie ondersoek. Digitale nalatenskap moet verstaan word as kontekstueel ingebed binne die vakgebiede van digitale menswetenskap en digitale teologie. Die velde moet dan weer verstaan word teen die agtergrond van die Vierde en Vyfde Industriële Rewolusies wat die debat tussen godsdiens en wetenskap voed. Hierdie studie benader die verskynsel van digitale nalatenskap in ’n deskriptiewe wyse en ’n teologies-fenomenologiese perspektief van die verskynsel volg. Vier perspektiewe op digitale nalatenskap word aangebied: (a.) beheptheid met onsterflikheid, (b.) oorbeklemtoning van immanensie, (c.) die skep van ’n nuwe rou ritueel, en (d.) die illusie van beheer. Op grond van hierdie perspektiewe word die studie afgesluit met verskeie implementeerbare voorstelle. Verdere navorsing oor die tegniese aard van digitale nalatenskap is noodsaaklik aangesien die verskynsel steeds in die proses is om verskeie vorme aan te neem. ’n Kwalitatiewe ondersoek na die verskeie uitdrukkingsvorme van digitale nalatenskap kan uit hierdie teoretiese beoordeling volg. Die rol van Kunsmatige Intelligensie (KI) op digitale nalatenskap is ook nog nie volledig verdiskonteer nie. Die ondersoek kan aangevul word met die beoordeling van etiese implikasies van die verskynsel.
Taking hands to save creation : an African perspective on ecotheology
Beyers, Jaco (AOSIS, 2026-04-30)
African and Western thought differ in their approaches to the eco-dilemma. The primary difference is rooted in a distinct worldview. A predominant Western dichotomy between the material and the spiritual, and the sacred and profane, results in an attitude of dominion over nature. An African perspective on unity between humankind and nature can foster a peaceful coalition between humans and nature. Humans and nature are not in combat, competing for survival, but rather in a reciprocal relation of interdependence. Whether this ideal is clearly visible is questionable. This African way of existence opens possibilities for a responsible ecotheology. This contribution aims to provide a unique perspective on ecotheology from an African context. An African ecotheology is rooted in Traditional African Religions, Christianity and African philosophy. Some of the main characteristics of an African perspective on ecotheology are: (1) a strong sense of community based on the concept of ubuntu that binds people to creation; (2) nature is considered sacred and demands respect; (3) the social connection to land is more than ownership and inheritance, but also the binding factor in society; and (4) healing includes restoring broken relationships between humans and nature. These characteristics are explored through a literature review to identify scholarly work that contributes to these frameworks for understanding ecotheology. This contribution departs from a religious study perspective and does not pretend to be a theological evaluation. One monolithic African perspective on ecotheology is impossible. INTRADISCIPLINARY AND/OR INTERDISCIPLINARY IMPLICATIONS : Different perspectives enrich how the global threat of eco-disaster can be addressed through theology. By taking hands, people from different religious perspectives can attain a more responsible way of addressing ecological disasters.
Rethinking botanical healing in world religions : nexus, gains, gaps, and recommendations for improved healthcare
Orogun, Daniel (Springer, 2026-03)
This article examines the perspectives of selected global religious groups in Asia, the Americas, and Africa on herbal medicine (HM). It highlights their nexus and sheds light on the gains, gaps, and challenges arising from the interaction or disconnection between spirituality and herbalism. It raises four questions bordering on (1) the spiritual undertones of herbal medicine, (2) the nexus, gains, and gaps of HM, (3) the implications of the gains, gaps, and challenges on improved healthcare, and (4) possible recommendations to address the gaps and challenges. The study reveals that problems affecting the effectiveness and maximization of HM for improved healthcare stem from stakeholders. These include (a) religious groups that reject and demonize HM via poor theology and indoctrination, (b) herbalists with superstition, intentional secrecy to monopolize knowledge of herbal medicine, and substandard application of the products, (c) health policymakers who pay poor or no attention to the regulation and manufacturing standards, and (d) consumers who subscribe to HM without herbal historical knowledge and medical advice. As a recommendation, five key points are presented to support a rethinking process for maximizing the benefits of herbal medicine and enhancing healthcare.
Anti-COVID-19 vaccine narratives among African and North American Neo-Pentecostals (Part 2) : public health impacts and theological response to leadership gaps and lessons
Orogun, Daniel (Springer, 2026-05)
This study concludes a two-part interdisciplinary study examining the relationship between religious beliefs, actions, and health behaviors. Through a literature review, secondary data, and available media narratives, it examines the reactions of some African and North American Neo-Pentecostals during the pandemic. Part 1 revealed that the causes of anti-COVID-19 narratives, resistance, and hesitancy are historical, social, economic, theological, and technological (new media) (Orogun, 2026). This final exercise (Part 2) responds to the narratives and causes from public health impact and spiritual leadership perspectives. The public health implications discussed include (1) increased mortality and leadership vacuum, (2) families and communities’ grief, trauma, and emotional distress, and (3) broken trust in the government and health authorities. The spiritual leadership response articulated robust theological precedents in times of plagues and related health crises to show (a) the theology of medicine that shaped the worldview of leaders in biblical history and (b) the algorithm of strategies they deployed to manage plagues and related health challenges. Finally, lessons are presented to close the anti-COVID-19 narrative gaps in view of possible recurrence.
Anti-COVID-19 vaccine narratives among African and North American Neo-Pentecostals (Part 1) : evidence, causes and lessons
Orogun, Daniel (Springer, 2026-01)
The gap in the worldview of spiritual leaders regarding public health and safety became apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic. It engendered narratives and health behaviors that led to the deaths of many. This interdisciplinary study examines the relationship between religious beliefs, practices, and health behavior. In two parts, this empirical research, through a literature review, secondary data analysis, and available narratives in academic and media spaces, deconstructs the activities of some African and North American Neo-Pentecostals during the pandemic. Part 1, presented here, provides evidence of the narratives and discusses the causes of misinformation and hesitancy. Part 2 addressed the public health implications, the ideal theological response, leadership gaps, and lessons learned. Three fundamental points are evident in both parts. The first is a poor “theology of medicine” in health crises. The second is the poor leadership approach to crisis management. The third is the long-term tension and a lack of synergy between health professionals, health policymakers, and spiritual leaders. The outcome of Part 1 revealed that the causes of anti-vaccination narratives are rooted in theological, social, and economic factors. Part 1 concludes with a summary of the lessons and an overview of what to expect in Part 2 of the exercise.
Text, theory and methodology : ruminations from the horizon of a reader from the south
Makalima, Otto (AOSIS, 2025-11-14)
This article marks the tenth year of Welile Mazamisa's passing, as a proverbial burning down of a library. It contains a recollection of lessons gleaned from memory of his own ruminations as he lived and mused from his horizon as a reader from the south. In his own dialectic fashion, a reflection on the text, theory and methodology is discussed as a possible lesson and perhaps, also a quo vadis question to the contemporary biblical scholar and theologian in South Africa, concerning these categories of scholarship. It seems fair to say that among lessons to still be learned from Mazamisa, is this lesson: a critical reader is to be mindful of the centrality of the text, the urgency of theory and the necessity of methodology in the process of reading and appropriating the reading of the text. In conclusion, an application is made to the decolonisation project and the credibility of theology as an academic discipline in South Africa (SA). CONTRIBUTION : This article contributes to the discourse of hermeneutics and decolonisation and also to the discourse of hermeneutics and the question of the credibility of theology as an academic discipline in South Africa
Kutanda botso [self-shaming] : a suffering-related therapeutic ritual in Shona society
Museka, Godfrey; Manyonganise, Molly (AOSIS, 2025-10-15)
The concept of human suffering forms an integral part of almost all world religions. In the African Indigenous Religion, the focus of this article, suffering is considered an unordinary mundane experience. As such, the sufferer and his or her significant others often ask: Why this suffering? Why is it happening to me? What or who caused it? What should I do to alleviate it? These questions point to the idea that in the African Indigenous Religion, suffering has a cause and an antidote. This article, therefore, seeks to add voice to discourses on religio-cultural approaches to suffering, a subject matter that has so far been scantly addressed in African Indigenous Religion related literature. We explore one of the most dreaded forms of spiritualised suffering, kutanda botso [self-shaming], its perceived causes, manifestations and remedies. The argument advanced in this article is that when suffering is moralised and spiritualised, it tends to be perceived as unusual; hence, actions that require appeasement and/or redressive therapeutic rituals are brought to the fore. CONTRIBUTION : This study adds voice to the existing body of literature on the nexus between African Indigenous Religion and suffering. In particular, it explores kutanda botso-related suffering as one of the most feared extreme forms of suffering among the Shona followers of the indigenous religion in Zimbabwe. The ritualisation of suffering and the grounding of kutanda botso as a therapeutic ritual are knowledge insights that the article seeks to add to the extant literature.
From ritual to renewal : religious festivals as catalysts for national unity in Nigeria
Onuorah, Chioma Patricia (AOSIS, 2025-09-18)
Religious festivals and ceremonies are more than spiritual expressions; they are vital cultural activities that reflect shared beliefs, foster identity and promote unity among adherents. In Nigeria, where religious and ethnic diversity is profound, these festivals often serve as powerful tools for community bonding and cultural continuity. However, despite their unifying potential, religious interactions are frequently marred by intolerance, conflict and political manipulation, which threaten the peace and development of the nation. This article explores the intersection of religious festivals, social harmony and sustainable development, focusing on how these communal celebrations can be harnessed to foster peace and coexistence among Nigeria’s major religious groups: Christianity, Islam and traditional African religion. Employing a qualitative research approach that includes interviews, document analysis and participant observation, the study investigates the cultural and social significance of religious festivals. Findings reveal that when inclusively celebrated, these festivals create spaces for interfaith dialogue, cultural education and mutual respect. They help reduce prejudices, heal divisions and provide opportunities for collaborative community development. The article argues that policy frameworks and religious leadership should recognise and support these festivals as tools for peacebuilding and national integration. The article concludes that, when properly harnessed, religious festivals have the potential to harmonise communities, mitigate conflicts and contribute meaningfully to Nigeria’s development agenda. CONTRIBUTION : This study significantly contributes to understanding religious festivals in Nigeria as instruments of peacebuilding, interfaith dialogue and national development. It offers original insights into their ability to enhance social cohesion, mitigate religious tensions and support sustainable progress, thereby enriching both scholarly discourse and policy formulation.
Between the cross and the Parousia consumption: an analysis of Paul’s love ethics and its contemporary lessons
Letsosa, Rantoa; Orogun, Daniel (Unisa Press and Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group, 2025)
Scriptural accounts demonstrate that by Jesus’s sacrificial death and transformation by the Holy Spirit, God’s salvation became available in Christ, who gives new life and produces a new reality characterised by developed conformity to the royal law of love. Paul’s ethics within the context of his training as a Pharisee, which schooled him in the rigid demands of the law, was transformed by his union with Jesus Christ, who fulfilled the law by his death and the power of the Holy Spirit. Consequently, when the Spirit is present, the new life becomes the beginning of salvation and is characterised as a blessing of a new age. This is what Paul’s Christocentric ethics of love is all about: Spirit- driven, love-focused, new creation-based, and eschatologically oriented. This article examined Paul’s love ethics under five theological principles that influenced his philosophy. The article further viewed Paul’s love ethics from the perspectives of early Christians such as Augustine, Aquinas, Chrysostom, and Luther. Further contemporary thoughts were attempted before the discussion snowballed to issues of racial, social, and economic justice as well as cohesion. The article concluded with lessons showing that with love rightly ordered (Ordo amoris), humans can coexist in society.
Exploring the impact of western influence on human-nature relation perceptions of environmental religious ethics in Africa
John, Elizabeth Okon; Ekeke, Emeka C.; Enang, Nelson Robert (Adonis and Abbey Publishers, 2025-09)
The argument of the influence of Western worldview over traditional religious environmental ethics as the cause of environmental problems in Africa has not been analysed holistically. Most scholars in Africa as far as this issue is concern have ignored some salient matters needed to fill the existing gap, such as: the adverse consequences of considering nature as a sacred entity, the wide margin between theoretical ideologies of traditional religious environmental ethics and its actual practices, and environmental problems orchestrated by human evolution/development. This article adopts the library research method. It employed the historical and analytic research tools and adopted the Cultural Ecological Theory of Julian H. Steward in investigating the subject matter. The article deviates from the conventional notion about Western influence over traditional religious view of human-nature relations; it tries to show that environmental problems have been in existence prior to Africans’ encounter with the Western worldview. It holds that though Judeo-Christian environmental ethics (Western worldview) is anthropocentric it is deontological in approach to human-nature relations. The paper finds that although numerous African cultures continue to express veneration for nature, socioeconomic challenges, including poverty and underdevelopment, frequently compel environmentally detrimental activities such as illicit logging and poaching. One thing remains certain, the primary factor responsible for environmental degradation is the pursuit for a supposed meaningful life without taking into consideration the impact of our actions and activities on human-nature relations.
A comparative study of eschatology in Christianity and African traditional religion
Ekeke, Emeka C.; Ekpenyong, Ekpenyong O. (AOSIS, 2024-01-30)
The concept of eschatology remained a captivating theological subject that theologians dedicated substantial time and resources to comprehend. Contrary to popular belief, some Christians may not prioritise theological discussions about eschatological details. Eschatological discourse – the fate of the universe, including humans and the physical world – may also be prioritised. Death, the second coming of Christ, judgement, rewards, heaven and hell are some of the eschatological themes that fascinate and disturb people because of limited understanding about the afterlife. African tradition religion (ATR) has been criticised for omitting eschatology in its belief system which this study debunks. This study showed that Christianity and ATR have the concept of eschatology and identified the main points of convergence and divergence in their eschatologies to demonstrate that ATR’s eschatology is well-established but different from Christianity’s. This paper adopts theoretical research, often referred to as conceptual research, since it is aimed at advancing knowledge. Christianity and ATR agree that physical death ends life in the body, and death symbolises the afterlife. Earthlings have limited time to fulfil their duties. Both sides agree that the soul and spirit survive death and resurrection. Christianity and ATR share many beliefs and traditions across sects, ethnicities and regions. These factors influence the eschatology of each tradition. Both faiths agree that present decisions impact fate and eternity. They also agree that God opposes immorality, but the virtuous will inhabit a place of joy. Positive and negative conduct are punished differentially. INTRADISCIPLINARY AND/INTERDISCIPLINARY IMPLICATIONS : This work discusses end-of-life issues that strongly relate to systematic theology and African traditional religion, emphasising that while their eschatologies differ, they share a belief in life after death. African traditional religion should not be mocked as a religion without eschatology.
African accounts of religious conversations and interventions in mental healthcare
Orogun, Daniel (Unisa Press, 2024-08)
The importance of healthcare has attracted conversations from healthcare professionals, as well as other groups like the United Nations, academic institutions, governments, the private sector, and religious organisations, all contributing to healthcare conversations because healthcare is foundational to human survival. However, there are questions on the quality and gaps of conversations and interventions regarding mental health among religious groups. This is because the quality of healthcare delivery may be rooted in the quality of conversations and interventions. This study explores the quality of mental healthcare (MHC) conversations and interventions in Traditional Religions, Christianity, and Islam in Africa. It interrogates past and recent conversations and interventions within the frameworks of spiritual care (SC) as a form of compassion science, interreligious collaborations, spiritual healings, and allopathic collaborations. Lastly, it places a searchlight on the loopholes of spiritual care in MHC and recommends closure where possible in the pursuit of improved healthcare and well-being in Africa.
Waarde van Philipp Melanchthon se beskouing oor die verhouding tussen teologie en filosofie
Van Wyk, I.W.C. (Ignatius William Charles) (AOSIS, 2025-02)
The article starts with a brief biographical overview of Melanchthon’s life and work. His theological understanding is examined through two articles, published for the first time in 2023 in which he elucidates the meaning of theology and the role of preaching from rhetorical and dialectical perspectives. The third section explores the relationship between theology and philosophy. His early commentaries on Romans (1520) and Colossians (1527) reveal his critical stance towards the scholastic tradition. He argues that theology and philosophy should be distinguished, asserting that philosophy (as represented by Aristotle) cannot substitute the teachings of Paul. Theology, he contends, is not merely philosophical ethics. The distinction between theology and philosophy is further elaborated by examining the question of God. Whilst theology seeks to inspire prayer to God, philosophy aims to foster knowledge of God. The fourth section discusses the concept of Bildung [education and development] as the place where theology and philosophy can collaborate. The final section offers practical recommendations for how Akademia can contribute to Bildung in South Africa. CONTRIBUTION : This article advances the ongoing discourse on the relationship between theology and philosophy, addressing the associated challenges of development and education.
Religious violence in Nigeria : an obstacle to effective public service delivery
Ibenwa, Christopher N.; Uroko, Favour Chukwuemeka; Okemini, Ogbonna O.a (AOSIS, 2025-04)
In Nigeria, despite the lofty programmes embarked upon by different administrations to better the lives of Nigerian citizens, the extent to which these services are provided, in most cases, has remained stuck in swampy ground because of the pervasiveness of religion. Departing from the underlying causes approach, this study undertakes an analytical inquiry into how religious violence has hindered the smooth operation of public service delivery in Nigeria. A logical method of analysis was adopted. Findings showed that religious violence has remained endemic in the country since the last two decades. The adherents of the two dominant religions in Nigeria – Christianity and Islam – have fought more wars than they had sought peace. This has deterred the government’s efforts in providing the required services that will benefit the Nigerian people. In view of these findings, the study recommends reforming the structure of the public sector and personnel management in Nigeria in a way that would help to check incidences of religion-based violence among the citizens. CONTRIBUTION : One of the most important is ignorance or a lack of understanding of the teachings of the faith being maintained by Christians or Muslims. Despite the government’s numerous initiatives aimed at improving the lives of Nigerians, execution has remained a struggle because of considerations related to religious beliefs.
Women, biblical texts and COVID-19 in Zimbabwe : navigating the mental health terrain
Manyonganise, Molly (Africa Journals, 2024-03)
From its onset in Zimbabwe, COVID-19 disrupted the mental health of many Zimbabweans. Its quick transmission and viciousness caused fear and panic as people tried to ensure their safety from infection. When lockdown was first declared as the death toll slowly climbed up, it became clear that a number of people would suffer from mental health problems mainly because of isolation, failure to take care of the sick loved ones as well as stigmatization of those who got infected and recovered. In most cases, name calling resulted from ignorance of how to treat those who had recovered from the disease. While recovery was celebrated, the recovered patients were labelled as ‘vaya vakamborwara neCOVID’ (those ones who once suffered from COVID) or ‘pamba peveCOVID-19’ (the home of the COVID-19 sufferers, sic). As infection cases soared and hope seemed to be lost, many people turned to religion. The genderedness of the pandemic became clear as women suffered the most, both as carergivers for the sick as well as from Gender-based Violence (GBV). In such cases, the deployment of biblical texts took centre-stage in most Zimbabwean societies and beyond as women tried to make meaning of their situation. The purpose of this article, therefore, is to investigate how biblical texts were deployed by women for the sake of taking care of their mental health in a threatening environment. The intention is to establish the many ways that religion becomes a useful resource in pandemic contexts particularly for the mental wellbeing of women in Zimbabwe. This is largely a qualitative paper which utilizes in-depth interviews of women in Harare’s Central Business District (CBD). The African Womanist Approach informs the study.
'When faith is not enough' : encounters between African indigenous religious practices and prophetic Pentecostal movements in Zimbabwe
Manyonganise, Molly (MDPI, 2024-01-16)
African Pentecostalism remains the fastest growing form of Christianity on the African continent. Scholarship on Zimbabwean Pentecostalism has noted how the emergence of New Pentecostal Movements (NPMs), specifically Prophetic Pentecostalism (PP), has increased this growth. Apart from other attracting factors, such as the Holy Spirit, claims of faith healing, deliverance and prophecy, among others, African Pentecostalism is known for its emphasis on faith as a major anchor of any Pentecostal Christian. Hebrews 11, with its emphasis on faith, is, therefore, a central scripture in this Christian tradition. However, the emergence of NPMs at the height of the Zimbabwean crisis from the year 2008 to the present, has challenged Zimbabwean Pentecostal Christians from their sole dependency on faith. The crisis called for much more than faith could stand on its own. Hence, NPMs responded to this need by infusing indigenous religious practices with biblical ones as a way of strengthening believers through the crisis. Prophetic Pentecostal Movements (PPMs) in Zimbabwe introduced touchable objects such as anointed towels, handkerchiefs, wrist bands, stickers, oils and even condoms. While this appears to be sophisticated syncretism, a critical analysis of the practices shows how steeped they are in the African indigenous religious worldview. This article, therefore, seeks to examine the religious encounters between indigenous African religious practices and Pentecostal practices as practiced in the NPMs in Zimbabwe. The focus of this paper is to establish the resilience of indigenous religious practices within a Christian tradition that claims to have totally broken from the past. It further argues that the fast growth of PPMs depends on the ‘Christianization’ of indigenous religious practices, which are presented to believers as ‘purely biblical’. This is largely a desktop research project in which secondary sources were used as sources of data.
Influence of spirituality on bitter kola consumption among Pretoria residents in response to COVID-19 and related Illnesses
Orogun, Daniel; Koenig, Harold G. (MDPI, 2024-12-11)
The agrarian continent of Africa has many fruits with nutritional, medicinal and spiritual values. Regardless, Africa leads the statistics of poor healthcare globally. Two major challenges in Africa’s healthcare system are poor access and the high cost of medical healthcare. Among others, the effects of such challenges include low responsiveness to medical treatment and a high mortality rate. However, it seems the nosophobia that accompanied the global mortality rate during the COVID-19 pandemic may have triggered a spiritually influenced alternative. One of the traditional alternatives was a subscription to Garcinia Kola, popularly known as Bitter Kola (BK). This article, majoring in spiritual and not psychological influence, raised a hypothetical question: does spirituality influence Africans’ traditional response to COVID-19? To answer this question, Sunnyside in Pretoria was chosen as a demography to investigate the hypothesis. Data were collected via mixed research methods. There were 16 qualitative respondents, including sellers, herbalists and clergies, and 75 consumers as quantitative respondents under probability sampling. The results analysed using Excel and Python’s regression analysis demonstrated strong connections between consumers’ spiritual motivations, the sales period, the sales rate, and the swift traditional response to the pandemic and related illnesses. The outcome validated the influence of spirituality on 60.9% of quantitative respondents and showed how 25–72% responded to COVID-19 symptoms with BK. Likewise, 87.5% of qualitative respondents consumed BK via indigenous spiritual knowledge in response to the pandemic. Subsequently, this article discussed the benefits, limitations and lessons of spiritual influence on BK consumption in the post-COVID-19 era
A duplication of marriages? An ethnographic account and assessment of the necessity for both traditional and Christian marriages for African Christians
Dube, Elijah Elijah Ngoweni (Africa Journals, 2024-03)
This article is based on ethnographic research for a doctoral study that was conducted in 2016 among the Ndau people of Chimanimani, Zimbabwe. The article described and assessed the practice of some African Christian churches, especially missionary founded churches, to conduct ‘white church weddings’ after getting married customarily. The study employs a postcolonial approach as a theoretical lens. It argues for a hybridized form of Christian marriage that takes into cognizance the validity of African customary marriages in and for themselves, while at the same time appreciating the importance ascribed to ‘church weddings’ in especially missionary-founded churches. The study uses the case study of the Ndau people, but the phenomenon is widely practised among African Christians across the continent. In the article, doctoral thesis findings were related with Erlank’s (2014) work on marriages in South Africa. The article offered description, critique (postcolonial, gender, class), and suggested interventions. Critical phenomenology was utilized to assess the findings and to expose the power relations that exist in the hierarchical treatment of African customary marriages as of an inferior status compared to church weddings. The economic aspect of the duplication of marriages was also foregrounded. The article underscores the importance of ethnographic research on religion as a human phenomenon in Southern Africa and beyond, as well as a critical assessment of the phenomenon. It provided several possible interventions for African missionary-founded churches.
They have killed your prophets : Roman Catholic Church priests in Nigeria and (non) state actors
Uroko, Favour Chukwuemeka (AOSIS, 2024-07-03)
This article examines why Roman Catholic priests are targeted by kidnappers and Islamic extremists in Nigeria. Although there have been studies carried out on kidnapping in Nigeria, to the best of the researcher’s knowledge, the literature on why Roman Catholic Church priests are targets of kidnappers in Nigeria is difficult to find. In this study, the literature was extended to this area. Data were collected through classified documents from national and international gazettes and periodicals and analysed using documentary analysis. According to the findings, Roman Catholic priests are heavily involved in citizen education and human rights awareness in Nigeria and command media attention whenever they are attacked. Furthermore, the huge financial returns from the priests and their active participation in politics are other motivating factors for their present victim status. The recommendations are also discussed. CONTRIBUTION: Roman Catholic priests of Nigeria are targeted because of their active participation in politics, their efforts to strengthen Christianity in Nigeria, their role in educating citizens about their rights and privileges, and the large ransoms obtained from the relatives of these priests when they are kidnapped. These circumstances have practical implications for theology.

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