BODIJA JOURNAL | A Philosophico-Theological Journal

God as Refuge and Stronghold in Psalm 91 in Contemporary Nigerian Situation of Insecurity

Luke Emehiele Ijezie — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 15:03:20 +0000

Life in the contemporary Nigerian society is menaced by many forces, both natural and supernatural. All these make people to live in fear, as these forces not only shorten life but render living a great burden to bear. The text of Psalm 91, like many psalms, presents God as the surest hope of strength and protection. Psalm 91 expresses great confidence in the protecting power of God in the face of any imaginable hostile force. This essay examines the argument of this psalm and brings it to bear on the many complex situations of insecurity in Nigeria. The analysis will follow a synchronic approach, taking seriously the present nature of the text of the psalm.

Habermas’ Critical Social Theory of Knowledge: A Paradigm for 21st Century West African Socio-Political Order

Fabidun Francis Kayode — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 15:04:26 +0000

It is common place among philosophers that knowledge possesses a pragmatic value for humans both at private and communal levels. This is evident in Habermas’ critical social theory that consider knowledge as a tool at the service of human interests. Habermas rejected the prevailing positivists’ conception of knowledge in epistemology and the social sciences as identification of static facts. This paper posited that Habermas’ critical social theory of knowledge has a great propensity to chart a map to success for the recent socio-political consciousness, interests and anticipations in the 21st century West African socio-political order. However, this new political consciousness or awareness permeating the West African region portrays an outlook of not transcending the realm of wishful thought due to the absence of any concrete theoretical framework. With the aid of the analytical and the hermeneutical methods to explain different concepts in Habermas’ position and to articulate their application in the new historical or socio-political experience of West African, the paper recommended that adopting Habermas’ critical rationality as a theoretical framework will enhance the new socio-political experience in the West African sub-region. It further identified the academia, political parties, social media, media houses, organisations in religious groups as possible agents that will aid the realisation of new 21st West African socio-political dispensation.

Rethinking the Ideas of Individualism, Collective Responsibility and Unjust Indictment

Edema A. Philip, Ph.D — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 15:05:32 +0000

This work is a critical examination of the ideas of individualism, collective responsibility and the issue of who takes the blame or responsibility for mistake or error committed within the society or within a particular group of people. The question and discourse of individualism and collective responsibility cuts across the areas of ethics, law, politics and the general philosophical discourses. This paper carefully crafted within the realm of ethics, raises critical questions whether a collective can be defined as a moral agent capable of taking blame when the situation calls for it or is it only the individual that can be termed a moral agent? To answer this question, two schools of thought have emerged, the one calling for the taking of a collective as a moral agent that is capable of moral evaluation and the one taking a collective as a non-moral agent incapable of moral evaluation, independently of the moral agents that are occupants of the collective. This debate will be critically looked into and thereafter reach a reasoned conclusion. The methodology adopted by this work is critical analysis, conceptual clarification, and reconstruction of relevant materials. The paper reiterated that there are consequences for every action whether caused by the individual person or by a group of individuals. Ultimately, the paper concludes that either the individual or collective action whether good or bad has its consequences on the society and diminishes the principle of common good. Thus, there is need to promote the principle of shared responsibility which will translate to the welfare and wellbeing of humanity.

Reimagining Ecumenism in Africa with Saint Augustine of Hippo

Hilary Ndu Okeke, Ph.D — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 15:06:43 +0000

The ancient African Church was laden with crises of heresies and schisms. They disorganized the peace and unity of the one perfect Church of Christ in Africa even before Augustine became bishop of Hippo. The Church in North Africa then witnessed several controversies and divisions with concomitant dialogues aimed at uniting the groups that kept excommunicating themselves. That resulted in a movement that was not ecumenical but designed to unify the Church. Both Cyprian as the bishop of Carthage and Augustine at Hippo remained firm in their understanding that the Church in her nature is called to be a visible unity of the body of Christ. This article examines some significant biblical images adopted by the African fathers especially Augustine of Hippo in resolving the ecclesial disunity in North Africa. It further recommends that Africa’s contemporary ecumenists align themselves with some of the principles inherent in this work.

Thomas Aquinas on Christ’s Death and Resurrection: Responding to the Mystery of Death

Francis ’Kunle Adedara — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 15:07:48 +0000

On whether Christ was the cause of his own Resurrection, Thomas Aquinas says, “Christ’s Godhead was not separated from His soul, nor from His flesh. Consequently, both the soul and the flesh of the dead Christ can be considered in two respects: first, in respect of His Godhead; secondly, in respect of His created nature. Therefore, according to the virtue of the Godhead united to it, the body took back again the soul which it had laid aside, and the soul took back again the body which it had abandoned: and thus, Christ rose by His own power” (ST III, q. 53, a. 4). The conclusion Thomas draws here is premised on what he said earlier in ST III, q. 50, aa. 2, 3 that, when Christ died, the Godhead was not separated from his flesh, and there was not a severance between His Godhead and His soul. Thus, he rose again by his power as God. This essay makes the case that since we are united with Christ by virtue of the human nature that he took to himself, we shall also rise with him. Christ’s Godhead is the principal efficient cause of his own resurrection and our resurrection; and his humanity is the instrumental efficient cause of our resurrection, because we are united with him on account of the flesh that he took to himself. It is in this sense that this essay proposes that Christ’s resurrection sheds light on the mystery of human death, since the human body also rises again as did the body of Christ.

Collaboration of Priests and Bishops in the Presbyterium of the Early Church

Joseph Paul Iyamah — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 15:08:55 +0000

The theological reality of the presbyterium has profound significance when we examine its origin and use from the New Testament and its theological and juridical evolution in time leading to the Second Vatican Council. Since the theme of this work relates to collaboration between bishops and their priests, we will examine the topic from a collegial and ministerial perspective. Our consideration in this paper is greatly limited by the fact that it only attempts an overview of the situation, and sec ondly, it focuses only on some selected Fathers who were specifically cited in the conciliar documents. The question before us in this regard is the nature and understanding of the subject of cooperation between the bishop and the presbyterium before the Second Vatican Council, since the Council is credited with having rediscovered the institution of the presbyterium and strengthened the cooperation between bishops and their priests. For this we attempt to look at the scriptures and early Christian communities for collaboration in the ecclesiastical ministry of the Church. Though there is difficulty in making a definitive evolution that occurred within the sacred ministry, we hope we can obtain essential elements relating to the primitive organization of the Church from the Sacred Scriptures and the ancient patristic texts.

Rereading Ruth 1:15-16 in the Light of Loss of Faith Among Married Women in Yorubaland

Richard Omolade — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 15:10:16 +0000

Marriage is an institution carefully regulated by many cultures and religions. Sometimes when conflict arise, cultural practices tend to supplant religious prescriptions though once in a while religious prescriptions hold sway. This article examines the practice of mixed marriage among the Yoruba of Western Nigeria and the tendency for female spouses to take up the religions of their husbands, leaving behind their cradle faith. This practice is often justified by citing Ruth 1:15-18, “Do not ask me to abandon or forsake you! For wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge, your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” The article calls for a rereading of this passage from Ruth and insists that Ruth’s position, while not negating the practice of marriage, ranks adherence to God higher than the choice of one’s husband as is sometimes the case among Yoruba women. The paper argues that the practice of the faith should be a joyful and liberating experience, not a slave mentality and a life-sentence to a husband’s dungeon of capricious wills and desires.