Review of Jesus, Prosperity Gospel and Poverty in Africa
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Ata Erdag
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- Latest Review: Jesus, Prosperity Gospel and Poverty in Africa by Elijah Oladimeji
Review of Jesus, Prosperity Gospel and Poverty in Africa
[Following is a volunteer review of "Jesus, Prosperity Gospel and Poverty in Africa" by Elijah Oladimeji.]
In a world where religious beliefs are weakening slowly and drifting towards secularity, it is fascinating to see that the opposite happens in Africa. Elijah Oladimeji introduces the rise of Christianity in African communities in relation to the harsh conditions and poverty and provides a simplistic reasoning behind it through the gospels of pastors in African churches. In Jesus, Prosperity Gospel and Poverty in Africa, the author managed to touch on various aspects from how Africans living in poor conditions can maintain their belief to God and the solidarity inside their communities as well as an objective introduction to the principles of gospels with a lot of excerpts and stories from the Bible.
Firstly, I liked how Elijah intended to compile the aforementioned aspects in such an extremely short reading of 69 pages and kept his clear tone throughout the book. It makes it easy to follow and does not require so much patience to finish it. Also, the book offers a diverse range of insights about African culture. Especially there were a few touchy parts that normally you would not expect to dive into when you look at the title of the book. For instance, the illustration of a pastor’s own private life, marriage and monetary problems or how prospective students of Africa can not pursue their dreams to study abroad due to financial issues and faithful people of a Church can dispense remedy.
Yet, there are also negative things to say about the book. Although it strictly mentions that this book is not written for academic purposes, I believe it is still lacking numerical data and research to showcase the severity of the poverty. The title refers the whole African continent yet the foundation of the text and data derived are from minorities. I also spotted just a few grammar mistakes that would normally be tolerable but given the length of the book, they do standout. Elijah Oladimeji clearly has his own style of writing but he repeats himself unnecessarily with almost no change in sentences that made me feel as if I am reading the same sentence. Additionally, Biblical quotes and stories comprise a big portion of this book that makes it rather ambiguous as opposed to being explanatory on particular religious teachings for non-Christian but curious readers. Lastly, pages are not numbered and it does not look good.
To conclude, Jesus, Prosperity Gospel and Poverty in Africa by Elijah Oladimeji is a gracious and purely intended but poorly mashed up booklet that provides a mediocre reading. Therefore, I give this book two out of four starts.
I would mostly recommend it to people who are interested in African Studies to diversify their perspective or anyone who has a background in teachings of Christianity. People who are not familiar with Christian gospels might look for other sources to start learning about it since this book does not provide an outlined foundation.
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Jesus, Prosperity Gospel and Poverty in Africa
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
In a world where religious beliefs are weakening slowly and drifting towards secularity, it is fascinating to see that the opposite happens in Africa. Elijah Oladimeji introduces the rise of Christianity in African communities in relation to the harsh conditions and poverty and provides a simplistic reasoning behind it through the gospels of pastors in African churches. In Jesus, Prosperity Gospel and Poverty in Africa, the author managed to touch on various aspects from how Africans living in poor conditions can maintain their belief to God and the solidarity inside their communities as well as an objective introduction to the principles of gospels with a lot of excerpts and stories from the Bible.
Firstly, I liked how Elijah intended to compile the aforementioned aspects in such an extremely short reading of 69 pages and kept his clear tone throughout the book. It makes it easy to follow and does not require so much patience to finish it. Also, the book offers a diverse range of insights about African culture. Especially there were a few touchy parts that normally you would not expect to dive into when you look at the title of the book. For instance, the illustration of a pastor’s own private life, marriage and monetary problems or how prospective students of Africa can not pursue their dreams to study abroad due to financial issues and faithful people of a Church can dispense remedy.
Yet, there are also negative things to say about the book. Although it strictly mentions that this book is not written for academic purposes, I believe it is still lacking numerical data and research to showcase the severity of the poverty. The title refers the whole African continent yet the foundation of the text and data derived are from minorities. I also spotted just a few grammar mistakes that would normally be tolerable but given the length of the book, they do standout. Elijah Oladimeji clearly has his own style of writing but he repeats himself unnecessarily with almost no change in sentences that made me feel as if I am reading the same sentence. Additionally, Biblical quotes and stories comprise a big portion of this book that makes it rather ambiguous as opposed to being explanatory on particular religious teachings for non-Christian but curious readers. Lastly, pages are not numbered and it does not look good.
To conclude, Jesus, Prosperity Gospel and Poverty in Africa by Elijah Oladimeji is a gracious and purely intended but poorly mashed up booklet that provides a mediocre reading. Therefore, I give this book two out of four starts.
I would mostly recommend it to people who are interested in African Studies to diversify their perspective or anyone who has a background in teachings of Christianity. People who are not familiar with Christian gospels might look for other sources to start learning about it since this book does not provide an outlined foundation.
******
Jesus, Prosperity Gospel and Poverty in Africa
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
