Bible Interpretation, Evangelization and Faith: Nigerian Context

In Christianity evangelization entails bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ into all the strata of humanity from within and making it new. Evangelization efforts in Nigeria have been going on for more than a century. Indeed it has made a noticeable inroad of growth. The evidence is seen. Thunderous sounds are heard from all corners of villages and cities, of Christian church activities; series of strategies are explored by multitude of Christian denominations aimed at “packaging and selling out” one’s denomination to attract more adherents; imposing and well architectural-designed structures of Christian places of worship are seen in many cities. Yet in the same society, all forms of atrocities and abominations of man’s inhumanity to man, lack of basic Christian virtues of honesty, justice, and respect for sacredness of human life are witnessed. In the light of the foregoing, this paper seeks both to presume the general shallowness of Christian faith in Nigeria and to blame it to flaw in the understanding of the Bible as a Christian text. It critically analyzes the three Christian concepts: Bible interpretation, evangelization and faith, exposing their interrelatedness and the challenges posed by such reality to an authentic Christian living.