Interface between Igbo Theology and Christianity is a timely book that provides new scholarly thinking concerning the convergence of Christianity and Igbo Traditional Religion taking place in the Igbo culture area. This book, a fruit of multidisciplinary conversation among Igbo scholars and Igbophiles, offers concepts, themes, issues, and case studies with deep ethnographic details, some of which do not exist anywhere else in print. It is a major statement of how modern Igbo scholars, social scientists, philosophers, theologians, liturgists, and active pastors and parish priests, understand the intersection of Igbo Traditional Religion and Christianity in postcolonial Nigeria. The editors and authors of the chapters of this book draw from their wealth of experience to offer to students, scholars, researchers, community-based organizations and NGOs, and practitioners in interfaith dialogue a “must have” manual to engage in and develop mutual respect and trust among Christian denominations and between them and Igbo Traditional Religion. This book will serve as a blueprint for a deep dialogue among the Igbo in both city and rural settings, in the context of clan and community life context and in the Christian parish setting. The book will certainly appeal to numerous communities in Africa wishing to share similar local experiences and collective memories, but which do not have the channels to talk about themselves in scholarly writing.

An inclusive and innovative account of religious ethical thinking and acting in the world. Rather than merely applying existing forms of philosophical ethics, Religious Ethics defines the meaning of the field and presents a distinct and original method for ethical reflection through comparisons of world religious traditions. Written by leading scholars and educators in the field, this unique volume offers an innovative approach that reveals how religions concur and differ on moral matters, and provides practical guidance on thinking and living ethically. The book’s innovative method—integrating descriptive, normative, practical, fundamental, and metaethical dimensions of reflection—enables a far more complex and nuanced exploration of religious ethics than any single philosophical language, method, or theory can equal. First introducing the task of religious ethics, the book moves through each of the five dimensions of reflection to compare concepts such as good and evil, perplexity and wisdom, truth and illusion, and freedom and bondage in various theological contexts. Guides readers on understanding, assessing, and comparing the moral teachings and practices of world religions Applies a disciplined, scholarly approach to the subject of religious ethics Explores the distinctions between religious ethics and moral philosophy Provides a methodology which can be applied to comparative ethics for various religions Compares religious traditions to illuminate each of the five dimensions of ethical and moral reflection Religious Ethics: Meaning and Method will help anyone interested in the relation between religion and ethics in the modern world, including those involved in general and comparative religion studies, religious and comparative ethics, and moral theory.

Doing theology Under the Palaver Tree, in honor of one of Africa's foremost theologians, Elochukwu E. Uzukwu, is a momentous undertaking, which draws from the diverse African continent, her various peoples and rich natural resources. A down-to-earth God-talk that evokes the reign of God among us, the book is a theological treasure trove. The quality, depth, and range of the conversation partners in this volume represent a high-water mark of the best scholarship in Africa today on ecclesiology and the future of the African church and the world church. The authors, through dialoguing with multidisciplinary dimensions of theological thoughts, offer new language with which to engage foundational issues in theology, liturgical practices, communion and community, leadership and charism, the relationship between the local and universal church, and social engagement and cultural questions as well. In exploring the depth of this tome, with its methodological approaches in interpreting, understanding, and evaluating the changing faces of Christianity, scholars and theologians will be challenged to reflect on some of the most pressing current questions and issues facing the church in Africa and the world, in rebirthing the image of the people of God, and a synodal church under the iconic and symbolic African palaver tree.

It is in honour of the silver jubilee of Most Rev. Anthony J. V. Obinna’s episcopacy that this book is put together in this first volume titled Emerging Conversations on Theofiliation: Essays in Honour of Archbishop Anthony J. V. Obinna. This volume discusses and enlarges insights inherent in Archbishop Obinna’s theological thinking on theofiliation. Therefore, the contributors to this volume critically examine his idea of theofiliation from their areas of speciality as a further exploration of this theological term. The willingness of the contributors has resulted in a collection that envisage the eclectic and heterogeneous scholarly vision of its honouree. Besides, the contributors to this maiden edition encompass both illustrious theologians and promising researchers in theology, philosophy, psychology, and management. The themes discussed by the contributors are grouped into biblical/comparative study, systematic/pastoral, ethical/management, philosophical/political, and anthropological issues. The enriching and diverse collections of this volume have five thematic sections of nineteen chapters that theofiliation brings together. “This Festschrift in honour of Amarachi Obinna is a compendium of usable knowledge. The authors have dealt with various themes largely inspired by the theology and practice of the archbishop. This conviction leads to the reflections on theofiliation, the reinGodment of all creation. The Festschrift is truly a treasure” (Prof. John Obilor, Imo State University Owerri). “This book is an insightful reading which will serve as an inspirational theological wellspring for emerging scholars engaged in articulating a robust African contextual theology to which it breathes fresh air. The spirit of dynamism in Archbishop Obinna’s novel brainchild of theofiliation is manifested in its applicability to wide-ranging academic disciplines” (William Odeke Owire, KU Leuven).

Theology has a rich tradition across the African continent, and has taken myriad directions since Christianity first arrived on its shores. This handbook charts both historical developments and contemporary issues in the formation and application of theologies across the member countries of the African Union. Written by a panel of expert international contributors, chapters firstly cover the various methodologies needed to carry out such a survey. Various theological movements and themes are then discussed, as well as biblical and doctrinal issues pertinent to African theology. Subjects addressed include: • Orality and theology • Indigenous religions and theology • Patristics • Pentecostalism • Liberation theology • Black theology • Social justice • Sexuality and theology • Environmental theology • Christology • Eschatology • The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament The Routledge Handbook of African Theology is an authoritative and comprehensive survey of the theological landscape of Africa. As such, it will be a hugely useful volume to any scholar interested in African religious dynamics, as well as academics of Theology or Biblical Studies in an African context.

Divided into 3 parts, this handbook provides a wide-ranging survey and analysis of the Christian Church. The first section addresses the scriptural foundations of ecclesiology; the second section outlines the historical and confessional aspects of the topic; and the final part discusses a variety of contemporary and topical themes in ecclesiology. Compiled and written by leading scholars in the field, the T&T Clark Handbook of Ecclesiology covers a range of key topics in the context of their development and importance in each stream of historic Christianity and the confessional traditions. The contributors cover traditional matters such as creedal notes, but also tackle questions of ordination, orders of ministry, and sacraments. This handbook is extensive enough to provide a true overview of the field, but the essays are also concise enough to be read as reference selections.

This book explores in depth Ikpu-ala as a social justice value in the Igbo social justice system. The traditional social justice concept of ikpu-ala provides an important conceptual framework through which adult Igbo Christians can engage in a critical and conscious theological reflections upon how they can make the Igbo Christian community fully authentic and faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is a process that will highlight the total transformation of the Igbo society, which began with the arrival of the missionaries in 1885. This reflection is based on the Igbo experience and understanding of Omenala, the Igbo moral code, in which the world of the material and the spiritual, while occupying distinct domains, nonetheless remain deeply intertwined. In this book, the author explores that for the Igbo community, the reality of theology has evolved as a distinct from of experience that is deeply connected with tradition for the sake of praxis (Don Browning, 1995). Consequently, the author not only sees Ikpu-ala as authentic Igbo social justice value but also considers it as something that can be integrated into the Christian social values without either destroying Igbos longstanding cultures or traditions. The author highlights two key lessons from the Igbo integration of ikpu-ala into Christian social justice: (1) that the Igbo Catholic Church should engage the Igbo culture and traditions in a theological interactive reflections for the incarnation of the Word among the Igbo Catholics, and (2) that Ikpu-ala, with its theological values, can assist the Igbo Catholic Church in the sacrament of reconciliation and so transform the twenty- first century Igbo Catholic into an integrated and authentic Christian.

Drawn from the Conference on World Christianity, this provocatively titled book, invoking images of “culture collision,” “particularity,” and the “global South”, prompts for profoundly new understandings of apparently polar themes: inculturation, universality, and world Christianity. Since the emergence of world Christianity is not an epiphenomenon, but central to the question of how the gospel is good news for today’s world, readers concerned about the theological issues related to the possibilities for a genuinely new evangelization will find this volume. It will also be of interest to students and scholars of African ecclesiastical history, world Christianity, and inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue. Cyril Orji is Associate Professor of theology at the University of Dayton, Ohio, USA. He specializes in systematic and fundamental theology with particular emphasis on the theology and philosophy of Bernard Lonergan, whom he brings into conversation with the works of the American pragmatist and semiotician Charles Sanders Peirce. Dr Orji also collaborates in inter-religious dialogue and the intersection of religion and culture – inculturation, post-colonial critical theory, and Black and African theologies – and engages in communal practices of communicative theology in the development of local/contextual theologies. He has published numerous articles in various peer-reviewed journals, and is the author of A Semiotic Approach to the Theology of Inculturation (2015), An Introduction to Religious and Theological Studies (2015), The Catholic University and the Search for Truth (2013), and Ethnic and Religious Conflicts in Africa: An Analysis of Bias and Conversion Based on the Work of Bernard Lonergan (2008).

This Handbook offers an analysis of the relation between football and politics, based on over 30 case studies covering five continents. It provides a detailed picture of this relation in a wide number of European, American, African, and Asian states, as well as a comparative assessment of football in a global perspective, thus combining the general and the local. It examines themes such as the political origins of football in the studied country, the historical club rivalries, the political aspects of football as a sports spectacle, and the contemporary issues linked to the political use of football. By following the same structure with each study, the volume allows for the comparison between largely investigated cases and cases that have seldom been addressed. The Handbook will be of use particularly to students and scholars in the fields of sport studies, political science and sociology, as well as cultural studies, anthropology and leisure studies.

Anchored in postcolonial theory, this book highlights the concept of “postcolonial soliloquies” as an original idea in analyzing West African literature. It uses the political theory of “dialogue” to broaden the reader’s understanding of history, culture, identity and indigenous memories. The book shows how the novels of T. Obinkaram Echewa plunge into the known territory of colonial history with new boundaries.