Crossing the Niger: An Ecumenical Option for the Post-Reformation Mission Conflict in Nigeria
(2017) Bulletin of Ecumenical Theology — Vol. 29, n° 1, p. 113-138 (2017)
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- In carrying the Gospel to mission lands, the missionaries equally carried with them the division that came out of the 16th century Reformation. Both the Gospel and the division were planted in these mission territories with detrimental effects till date. In the light of this problem, this article discusses Christian division in South-eastern Nigeria, otherwise known as the Lower Niger Region. In other words, it traces the division from the period of the missionary enterprise in the Lower Niger and links the division to the bitter consequences of the Reformation. The article however seeks an ecumenical option as a remedy to the situation today and thus argues that the ecumenical key to resolving the division can only be located within the traditional African structure of community rather than in the doctrinal discussions that often take the centre stage in contemporary ecumenical dialogue. In offering this ecumenical solution, it is suggested that the starting point of dialogue should be the question of African identity.
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Okpaleke, I. P. (2017). Crossing the Niger: An Ecumenical Option for the Post-Reformation Mission Conflict in Nigeria. Bulletin of Ecumenical Theology, 29(1), 113-138. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/245967 (Original work published 2017)