It is often claimed that women abuse inevitably emanates from patriarchy. Using ancient Israel and Africa as contexts, this article assesses the correlation between patriarchy and violence against women. The article suggests in these contexts, it is not all men are who are perpetrators of women abuse; rather, there is evidence of female perpetrators of sexual violence against men; and that in the ancient and modern societies, there is also homosexual violence. Rather than patriarchy, the major cause of women abuse is a personality disorder characterised, among other traits, by aggression against women, alcoholism and drug abusethe latter two traits are often responsible for women abuse. Being accustomed to domestic violence from youth and low socioeconomic status are also causes of women abuse.
In Mal. 3:8-12 the Israelites are accused of robbing God in terms of defaulting in payment of tithes and offerings. This article examined this text and appraised its influence on attitudes to tithing in Nigerian churches, particularly those that make tithe payment compulsory. The essay employs the descriptive and exegetical methods. Contrary to the suggestion of a three-tithe system in the OT by some scholars, the article postulated that each of the D and P accounts on tithing represents a separate tithing tradition at a different time in Israelite history. The tithes demanded of the people in Mal. 3:8-12 are in respect of the Priestly tithing law. The article concluded that Mal. 3:8-12 is not applicable to modern Christians for several reasons. In the OT only farmers who were landowners paid tithes; hence if this text were to be applied today, collecting tithes from other professionals would amount to breaking the law. In contrast to the modern church ministers, the Levites were paid tithes because they were traditionally denied land ownership. Since there are no laws preventing Nigerian pastors from owning land, they are not qualified to receive tithes. Most importantly, the doctrine of compulsory tithing does not find support in the NT. Keywords: Malachi; tithes; Levites; churches; Nigeria
The Hannah narrative bears close affinities to the African context with respect to the problem of barrenness. Hence, employing the exegetical approach and contextual analysis, this article examines the narrative in relation to the attitude of the church in Nigeria towards the problem of barrenness among its members. The suffering of Hannah resonates with the travails of childless African women; yet, beyond the weekly or monthly prayer services for them, the church has not exploited these similarities enough to assist its barren members. This article states that the church can organise regular programmes to address issues such as causes of barrenness as well as the role of male and female cells in the conception process. It also needs to teach the right attitude of friends and relatives towards childless couples so as to reduce the psychological effects of childlessness particularly on the women. The church can also identify with childless couples by introducing them to the practices of child adoption and surrogacy when all efforts to have children by the natural process fail. As there will always be childless persons in spite of all efforts to have children, the church has the responsibility to make its members accept the fact that children are a gift from God, and that matrimony must not necessarily end in parenthood. Finally, the church in Nigeria needs to assure childless members that they can live happy and fulfilled lives despite their situation of childlessness.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This research involves the disciplines of the Old Testament and Christian Ethics. It examines 1 Samuel 1:1–20 in relation to the attitude of the church in Nigeria towards its childless members, stressing that the church can do more in identifying with them.
Proverbs 22:1 accords premium to "a good name" above riches. The book belongs to the OT wisdom tradition which has been adjudged as most suitable for character teaching. Hence, this study examines the text in the light of the concept of character, with specific focus on attitude to money in Africa, using the Nigerian context as an illustration. The work proposes that Prov 22:1 is relevant in contemporary Africa where the loss of regard for reputation has led to corruption and the concomitant unemployment and poverty. Recent events in Nigeria, for instance, have shown a total breakdown of respect for the age-long African value system so much that exconvicts of corruption are actually celebrated on release from jail. The work therefore calls for a reawakening of the traditional African value system in which theft was more or less a taboo as people aspired for the ideals of "a good name." To achieve this there is a need for African leaders to engender policies that would enforce the traditional values to be inculcated in their subjects. More importantly, leaders at all spheres of the African community must lead by example in the aspiration for the ideals of "a good name." A *
A]n entire group of people living at the same period of time, or the average length of time that such a group of people live … Neither of these meanings fits the usage of ְדֹות ּתֹול . (1980:380) 1.Only verses 1-4a are relevant for this work because its focus is on the issue of the marriage of Hagar to Abram.2.'Sarai' and 'Abram' are used as in the text, not 'Sarah' and 'Abraham' as the matriarch and patriarch are respectively known subsequently.Barren and advanced in age, Sarai proposed to Abram to take her maid, Hagar, as a wife so that they might have children through her. To some interpreters, this is sexual exploitation of Hagar. Using a reader-oriented approach, this article re-examines this mode of interpretation as well as assesses the perspectives in which the Hagar narrative appeals to the African reader. We found out that, when studied against its social background, the Abram-Hagar union is better understood as legitimate surrogacy. The research also found out that the text appeals to the African reader in the contexts of the problem of childlessness and modern surrogacy. The childless African reader thus finds solace in this narrative as it is suggestive of surrogacy as a pragmatic solution to his or her problem.
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