CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN THE FACE OF TERRORISM AND INSECURITY IN NIGERIA

IN SEARCH OF A PRAGMATIC CONTRIBUTION

Abstract

Religious education is one of the reliable avenues of passing on the faith to the next generation. A religious group is confident in such a way of transmitting the theology, dogmatic belief system and practices provided the teachers are trained instructors in the religion. In a community where religious education is denied by authorities or terroristic approach to exclude such a faith orientation, the faith group is only left with an option of relying on the church or mosque for preaching and teaching the members. Christian religious education passes through a number of challenges that affect the faith communities in Nigeria. The study focuses on Christian religious education in the face of terrorism and insecurity in the country with the aim of arguing for inter-religious Cooperation in addressing the challenges from terrorism and other devices that motivates insecurity. The research followed practical theological methodology by Richard Osmer of situational hermeneutical interpretation using the four tasks: description, interpretation, normative, and pragmatic. Religion was argued to be potent, not only capable of motivating tension but also crucial for addressing the challenge. Therefore, in the context of pluralistic society or inter-religious co-existence, cooperation among the faith groups was also argued as means of understanding common interest and challenges outside the inter-religious cooperation.