2 research outputs found
A Critique of Discrimination on the Basis of Poverty in the Epistle of James: A Case study of the Church of the Brethren Gavva Area
No full textii iii This thesis argues that the Epistle of James provides the resources that will address the problem of discrimination and exploitation in the Church of the Brethren in Gavva area. In order to argue this, I establish that Gavva area is a peasant society. I argue that the Epistle of James addresses the situation of the peasants in the first century Palestine. The peasants were discriminated against and exploited by the wealthy and the elites in James ’ time. This prompts James to condemn the wealthy landowners and the merchants for their attitude toward the peasants. I examine the Epistle against the model of the moral economy developed by Sahlins and modified by Moxnes in The Economy of the Kingdom (1988). They delineate three categories of reciprocity: generalized, balanced and negative reciprocity. These are used as the basis of analysis of James and then extended also to an analysis of the moral economy of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria. Further empirical study reveals that the poor in Gavva area are living in poverty and are discriminated against because they did not have opportunity to receive early educational trainin
‘Of Holy Names’ and Integrity in Business in the Contemporary Nigerian Society
No full textBusiness and commercial outfits are named after divine names and attributes of God. Hardly will one visit or take a walk around any city in Nigeria without noticing commercial outfits or businesses named after God. Be that as it may, one will expect such businesses and owners to be of highly infectious integrity! But that make not be the case, as wrong measures, shortfalls and cutting-corners are the order of the day in businesses in Nigeria. This study, therefore, looks at businesses that have a religious connotation in their registration identity and Christian businessmen and women; with a view of assessing them from the biblical injunction of integrity in business and how faithful they are to what they professed. Purposive selection of businesses that have divine affiliation and one hundred samples of those who patronise them will form the fulcrum of this work. The questionnaire used was interpreted and analysed through descriptive statistics It is believed that whosoever is named with God should depart from 'iniquity' and live up to the expectation of what they believed and confessed, to be a shining light to others as the Bible enjoins
