When Evil Strikes: Faith and the Politics of Human Hostility

by Sunday Bobai Agang, Ronald J. Sider (Foreword by)

Overview

Human hostility is not the narrative of a selected few. Since the fall of the grandparents of the human family, Adam and Eve, all humans have continued to participate in the reality of evil. Accordingly, the question is no longer whether evil will strike, but rather, when evil strikes, how should humans, particularly Christians, respond to it? This book offers a relevant and effective theology and ethics for addressing the issue of Christian response to violence in Nigeria and beyond. It situates the whole gamut of the reign of human hostility in its various manifestations: self-interest and greed for power, deception and social injustices, governmental official corruption, terrorism and so on. It encourages humans to take seriously both the fact of God creating humans good and the fall serving as the gateway of evil into the human race. It recognizes the complexity of human problems. Yet it offers possibility for just peacemaking. In spite of the horrific violence across the globe, humans are still able to do tremendous good. Thus the book recognizes the paradox of humanity: humans are capable of doing tremendous good and equally capable of doing tremendous evil.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781498235679
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	06/22/2016
Series:	African Christian Studies Series , #10
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	298
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Sunday Bobai Agang is both a Langham and a ScholarLeaders scholar. He lives and works in Nigeria. Agang is Associate Professor of Christian Ethics, Theology and Public Policy at ECWA Theological Seminary Kagoro (ETSK), Nigeria. He has published several articles on various theological issues. He is author of The Impact of Ethnic, Political, and Religious Violence on Northern Nigeria, and a Theological Reflection on Its Healing (2011).
Ronald J. Sider (PhD, Yale) is Senior Distinguished Professor of Theology, Holistic Ministry&Public Policy at Palmer Theological Seminary, and President Emeritus of Evangelicals for Social Action. He is the author of over thirty books including Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger (1977), The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience (2005), Christ and Violence (reprinted 2001), Saving Souls, Serving Society (2005), and I Am Not a Social Activist (2008).

Table of Contents

Foreword Ronald J. Sider ix

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xix

Introduction xxi

Part 1 Unmaking the Truth 1

Chapter 1 Whose View of Human Hostility Matters? 3

Chapter 2 How Evil Entered the Human Race: The Bible and Human History 13

Chapter 3 Why Peace Eludes Nigerians 24

Chapter 4 Religious Fragility and Failing Symbiotic Interactions 37

Chapter 5 Classical Christian Approaches to Violence 51

Chapter 6 Christian Nonviolent Just Self-Defense 56

Chapter 7 The Contemporary Quest for Self-Defense 72

Part 2 Unmasking Falsehood 87

Chapter 8 The Suffering Servant in Isaiah and the African People 89

Chapter 9 Tribes, Tribalism, and the Christian Faith 104

Chapter 10 How to Handle our Destroyers 121

Chapter 11 Creative Models of Just Peacemaking in Nigeria 136

Part 3 Unmasking the Mission of the Church 163

Chapter 12 The Mission of the Church Distracted 165

Chapter 13 The Church's Missions and the Public Arena 177

Chapter 14 Restorative Justice and Insurgency 204

Chapter 15 Violence and Christian Eschatology 222

Chapter 16 Conclusion 245

Bibliography 253

Sunday Bobai Agang's Bio 267